Rep. Alan Grayson: HR 4789 and The Public Option: The Way Forward

[babylonsister]

Rep. Alan Grayson

HR 4789 and The Public Option: The Way Forward


Health care reform -- here's where we are. The House of Representatives is about to vote on a Senate bill without a public option. It looks like the reconciliation amendment will not have a public option. The House bill had a public option, but once the House passes the Senate bill, that's history.

Which is why I introduced H.R. 4789, the Public Option Act. This simple four-page bill lets any American buy into Medicare at cost. You want it, you pay for it, you're in. It adds nothing to the deficit; you pay what it costs.

Let's face it. Health insurance companies charge as much money as possible, and they provide as little care as possible. The difference is called profit. You can't blame them for it; that's what a corporation does. Birds got to fly, fish got to swim, health insurers got to rip you off. And if you get really expensive, they've got to pull the plug on you. So for those of us who would like to stay alive, we need a public option.

In many areas of the country, one or two insurers have over 80% of the market. They can charge anything they want. And when you get sick, they can flip the bird at you. So we need a public option.

And they face no real competition because it costs billions of dollars just to set up a national health care network. In fact, the only one that's nationwide is . . . Medicare. And we limit that to one-eight of the population. It's like saying that only seniors can drive on federal highways. We really need a public option.

And to the right-wing loons who call it socialism, we say, "if you want to be a slave to the insurance companies, that's fine. If you want 30% of your premiums to go to 'administrative costs' and billion-dollar bonuses for insurance CEOs who figure out new and creative ways to deny you the care you need to stay healthy and alive, that's fine. But don't you try to dictate to me that I can't have a public option!"

more...

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rep-alan-grayson/hr-4789-the-public-option_b_496977.html

[KaryninMiami]

1. Go Grayson- he impresses me more and more every day.

Grayson,Weiner,Kucinich- Congressional shining stars!

[tekisui]

2. knr!

[Denver Dave]

3. HR 4789 - the "real" public option

Introduced just Tuesday, March 9th by Florida Congressman Alan Grayson , HR 4789 allows any citizen or permanent resident of the United States to buy into Medicare at cost. This is the "robust" public option that we never had and there is no public option remaining in any other health care bill. One of the original 10 co-sponsors was Congressman Jared Polis from Colorado - there are now 50 co-sponsors.

To show your support for the bill - www.WeWantMedicare.com - now about 300 per hour and escalating.

for more information about HR 4789 - Medicare You Can Buy Into Act, see the HCTalk section:
http://www.hctalk.com/viewtopic.php?t=1007

This is a bill you can actually read - only 4 pages, reads like 1 page (see previous link).

Please let others know about HR 4789 (easy to remember the number)

[PatSeg]

4. Done - thanks!

[PatSeg]

5. K&R