Tag: "public option"

Obama to Town Hall Gathering: The public health plan will be just like the US Postal Service

During Tuesday’s so-called “town hall” in New Hampshire (in which a schoolgirl warned the president that there were people outside holding signs that said “mean things” about his plan), the president gave the US Postal Service as an example to calm our fears about a new government program, the “public option,” destroying private health insurance.

The president said, “UPS and FedEx are doing just fine, right? No, they are. It’s the Post Office that’s always having problems.” (Laughter.)

He’s got that right. The Postal Service is going to need a taxpayer bailout of $7 billion this year. And despite the president’s claim, it doesn’t have competition in its core market of letter delivery. It’s illegal for FedEx or UPS to undercut the government’s price on letter mail. It’s also illegal for any other entity to send mail to a Post Office Box. And the Postal Service maintains that they – not you – are the real owners of your mailbox.

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Aug 12, 2009 | 11 comments | by

Hits & Misses – 2009/8/6

Obesity/Ambulance Update: Lincoln Fire and Rescue is considering putting a construction crane and a forklift on call for emergency patients who are too big to get out a door or down steps.

The “public plan” soldiers have to use: More than one in six soldiers and their families have to go off base for their medical care.

Shalala: Health revamp may mean doctor shortage.

Aug 06, 2009 | 4 comments | by

Government Health Plan Would Devastate Hospitals

If just half of the patients who currently have private coverage enrolled in a public plan that paid low Medicare rates, many hospitals would go out of business. An analysis by America's Health Insurance Plans found that if all the patients treated in California hospitals were enrolled in a public plan paying rates 10 percent higher than Medicare, virtually none of the hospitals could cover their costs.

Aug 05, 2009 | 5 comments | by

Amendments that Were Not Part of the Deal

No HSAs, no malpractice reform, no wellness incentives and no members of Congress in your health plan. Conservatives for Patients Rights reports that the Energy and Commerce Committee has rejected these amendments:

  • Congressman Joe Barton (R-TX): $20 billion for high risk pools or other reinsurance mechanisms — lost 22-35.
  • Congressman Steve Buyer (R-IN): would have allowed discounts to customers that participated in wellness and health promotion or disease prevention programs — lost 24.
  • Congressmen Rogers (R-MI) and Matheson (D-UT): would have allowedHSAs/HDHPs as an option under the exchange — lost 26-33.
  • Congressman Terry (R-NE): would have allowed people who buy their own insurance to buy into the FEHBP therefore giving them the same choice as members of Congress — lost 28-31.
  • Congressman Burgess (R-TX): medical malpractice reform– lost 23-32.
  • Congressman Stearns (R-FL): wouldhave permitted individuals to keep their current health insurance coverage — lost 26-32.

Congresswoman Sue Myrick (R-NC):  automatically enroll the President, Vice President and all Members of Congress in the public option – tabled along party lines 36-22.

Aug 04, 2009 | 18 comments | by

2009/8/3

The Speaker tells how she really feels about insurance companies:

Of course they’ve been immoral all along in how they have treated the people that they insure. They are the villains.

—  Rep. Nancy Pelosi

Explaining why a public health plan would be like the postal service:

When you send a birthday present to a relative to – say I want to send something to one of my children in Nevada, the products that I choose can be sent by FedEx, UPS, DHL, or the United States Postal Service.

—  Sen. Harry Reid

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Aug 03, 2009 | 7 comments | by

It’s Even Worse Than You Think

This is James C. Capretta and Yuval Levin, writing in The Weekly Standard:

The Democrats want to spend $1.5 trillion over a decade, impose an $800 billion tax increase in the midst of the worst recession in a generation, increase federal borrowing by $239 billion (on top of the $11 trillion the Obama budget already requires us to borrow through 2019), impose costly mandates on employers that will discourage hiring as unemployment nears 10 percent, force individuals to buy one-size-fits-all government defined insurance, and insert the government in countless new ways between doctors and patients. All of that would occur whether or not the plan includes a "public option," which at this point it does include and which will exacerbate all of these problems.

Jul 31, 2009 | 3 comments | by

Another Way to Ration Care

The Obama Administration doesn’t need a public plan to control costs. It can pressure private plans to ration as well. Here’s how.

They will require “accountable care organizations (ACOs),” where “teams” work together to provide care. They will require “bundled” payments that cover “packages of care,” including pre- and post-care, home health, etc. The ACO will receive one payment and then allocate the money to the team members, who will likely be on salary. All of this is held together by Health IT that is plugged in to the Comparative Effectiveness mechanism. That will help the ACO alert team members when they try to do something that is not “evidence based.”

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Jul 30, 2009 | 7 comments | by

2009/7/28

Explaining why he voted against including members of Congress in the public plan:

The public option will be so bad,
I don't want my family to be in it.

— Sen. Judd Greg

Explaining how to cut health care costs:

Maybe you're better off not having the 
surgery, but taking the painkiller.

— President Barack Obama

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Jul 28, 2009 | 4 comments | by

2009/7/23

Senate committee votes to require Congress to join the “public” plan. Don’t count on it.

Health Savings Accounts for every member of Congress. Pushed by Matt Miller in the New York Times, followed by the plea to let every American have what Congress has.

Sebelius: Uninsured account for 20% of emergency room visits. Massachusetts: After they are insured, they still use the emergency room.

Jul 23, 2009 | 3 comments | by

Update on Capitol Hill

Nation’s Centers for Excellence condemn what Congress is doing. Group includes Mayo Clinic and Intermountain Healthcare.

Goodbye to ERISA. After a five year grace period all employer health insurance will have to be approved by federal bureaucrats.

“Money gets you in the door.” For $20K, you can have dinner with Sen. Max Baucus.

You will be limited to a managed care plan, even if you and your employer are paying all the premiums.

Jul 22, 2009 | 8 comments | by
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