US health care legislation to leave millions uninsured, ration care

[IndianaGreen]

US health care legislation to leave millions uninsured, ration care

By Kate Randall

17 July 2009

US Congress continued to debate reform of the health care system this week. In a 13-10 vote on Wednesday, the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee approved a $615 billion Democratic-sponsored bill, with no Republicans supporting the measure.

The Senate health committee was the first of five committees in Congress considering health care to pass a version of the legislation. Votes were planned Thursday in two House committees—Education and Labor, and Ways and Means—on $1.5 trillion draft legislation presented by House Democrats earlier this week.

While differing in details, both the Senate health committee’s bill and the House Democrats’ draft legislation conform to the Obama administration’s proposals for an overhaul of the US health care system that will ensure the profits of giant health care insurers and providers, while rationing care for the vast majority of the population. They would also leave millions of US residents without health care coverage, and would deny it to all undocumented immigrants.

A new USA Today/Gallup poll finds that 56 percent of Americans surveyed support health reform this year, while only one in four say it’s not important to them. While the Congressional debate is framed by the imperative of containing costs, an overwhelming nine in ten of those surveyed oppose limits on getting the tests they and their doctors think are necessary.

The poll also showed that six of ten agree that employers should be fined if they do not provide health insurance; 58 percent support increasing taxes on the wealthy to fund health care. While the Obama administration has proposed funding half of any health care reform by cutting billions of dollars from the Medicare and Medicaid programs, the survey found that about six in ten oppose cutting Medicare costs.

http://www.wsws.org/articles/2009/jul2009/heal-j17.shtml

[Gray Ponytail]

1. Women and minorities hardest hit...

And then there are the children. The CHILDREN!

Where's my checkbook?!

[tsuki]

2. I cannot believe this.

"Under the Senate health committee proposal, companies with more than 25 workers would be required to pay at least 60 percent of workers’ insurance or pay a $750 annual fine ($375 for part-time workers)—a pittance considering that monthly premiums for the vast majority of insurance plans providing adequate coverage are in the three-digit range."

If your worker's coverage is $600 a month, and you have to pay $360 a month, wouldn't you opt for $750 a year fine? We need somebody in Congress who has not sucked off The Village entitlement tit all their lives.

[aquart]

3. I don't think employers should be involved at all.

Even if we up everybody's income tax, a single-payer plan would still end up cheaper for us. Especially since we wouldn't need all the products we now buy to reduce stress, largely caused by fear of long or expensive illness.

[corpseratemedia]

4. they framed it so if its passed, insurance cos. still profit, if it fails, looks like they tried

and im getting robo calls against it from my fundy wacko senator