Stabenow continues push for health care bill with public option

[SpartanDem]

Source: Detroit Free Press

WASHINGTON – As meetings get under way in the Finance Committee to mark up a key health care reform bill, U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow of Michigan again pushed for the inclusion of a public, government-run option to help keep insurance premiums down

Stabenow, a Democrat, praised Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus’ efforts to come up with legislation that would not add to the budget deficit but at the same time said it doesn’t do enough to ensure that insurance is kept affordable for families which have it and made affordable for those that don’t.

One way of doing that would be to offer better government subsidies to cover premiums for low- and middle-income families; another, she said, would be to put the public option back in the bill. Such an option is part of House legislation but has been excised from the Finance bill in an effort to find enough votes for passage in the Senate

Read more: http://freep.com/article/20090922/NEWS15/90922033/1318/Stabenow-continues-push-for-health-care-bill-with-public-option

[laughingliberal]

1. Good for Her! nt

[Doctor_J]

2. Since we have 15% unemployment (at least), Medicare For All

would be nothing less than a life preserver to the people of Michigan.

[ProudDad]

3. What the hell is "public option"?

Really...

What does it mean?

The one in HR3200 is a cruel joke.

It's just another insurance company administered by the government under the same rules and constraints as any other insurance corporation -- unable to negotiate cost savings with the capitalist evil masters who set costs for sick care in USAmerica...

It would only going to "be available" to 5% of the people at least 4 years from now...

It would only take a 2 page bill to fix "health insurance" in this country -- Medicare improved and made available to ALL persons who want to join...

Then we could tackle the stuff that's being ignored in this so-called "debate" the sorry state of the USAmerican SICK CARE system...

[pinto]

4. I favor a phase in of Medicare for all, too. Yet, appreciate her push here to avoid having the

Baucus bill as a template in negotiations.

[tclambert]

5. Public option = socialism = evil = Obama was born in Kenya

That's the RW answer to your question. All that subtle, nuanced stuff you talked about just makes their heads hurt.

[No Elephants]

7. ....

(a) Good.

(b) With single payer, they can finally afford treatment for their headaches.

[ProudDad]

11. "All that subtle, nuanced stuff you talked about"

"just makes their heads hurt."

Ya' got that right! :rofl:

[tclambert]

6. What can poor people afford?

Not just the jobless, but people with minimum wage and low-paying jobs? They can't afford premiums of $1,000 a month. Hell, they can't afford $100 a month. They can afford FREE health care.

But if some people have free health care, other people will resent it, and object to paying taxes from their hard-earned stock options, multi-million dollar bonuses, and family trust funds to keep lazy people alive. Many of this crowd consider selfishness and greed virtues. Generosity and compassion are just annoying terms preachers made up to make them feel guilty on Sunday.

[No Elephants]

8. No only the poor. Not many can afford $1,000 a month, after payroll deductions.

And many who go bankrupt because of health care were INSURED.

Disagree with you about generosity and compassion. That's why God made Democrats. ;)

Besides, we are already paying for the uninsured. The costs are hidden in our hospital bills and health care premiums. Or, if our employer pays for our health care, they are hidden in the raises and bonuses our bosses cannot afford to pay us.

[Iowa]

9. Yep...

Although it isn't just the fat-cats:

"...object to paying taxes from their hard-earned stock options, multi-million dollar bonuses, and family trust funds to keep lazy people alive..."

Unfortunately, there's also a big chunk of folks on the low end who would object to this. The fat-cats you mention know how to manipulate them, but it's the blue-collar Reaganites who have provided the critical mass they need. There are a lot of people out there who willingly march to the polls and vote for their own demise year after year. My local paper publishes an endless stream of letters-to-the-editor written by such people... barely literate dim-bulbs who are 100% certain they have all the answers, and would defend the far-right ideology to the death. And hardly a one has two nickels to rub together. You're about as likely to find a rabid Republican working as a grunt at Wal-Mart as you are among the ranks of the well off. As one who worked for many years with people who were down and out, I was required to offer voter registration. I registered FAR more Republicans than Democrats. Sad, but true. If people truly voted their interests, we'd be living in a much more socialistic country.

[Festivito]

10. I've never been able to trust her. Can't quite finger why.

Even at fundraisers she seemed to hang with the upper echelon and only them.

Lots of money rides on this reform. The only thing with more money is the military, I'd think.

And an entire industry of uselessness hangs in the balance.

[Vidar]

12. Glad she's on the right side of this. Stabenow is our more lackluster Senator.