Secret Health Care Meetings Continue

[wyldwolf]

The New York Times reports that since last fall, "many of the leading figures in the nation's long-running health care debate have been meeting secretly in a Senate hearing room" and "appear to be inching toward a consensus that could reshape the debate."

The talks are sponsored by Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-MA) and now have most participants "embracing the idea that comprehensive health care legislation should include a requirement that every American carry insurance."

The White House "has been kept informed and is encouraging the Senate effort as a way to get the ball rolling on health legislation."

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/20/us/politics/20health.html?_r=1&ref=politics

[area51]

1. Requiring everyone to carry rightwing, unregulated health insurance

isn't the answer. Ritchie Richs don't stop to think how Americans unlike them aren't flush with cash. What happens when you lose your job which is your source of income? Then you drop your health insurance, and you become a health insurance scoflaw; is our government willing to jail people when they drop health insurance? How about we allow healthcare professionals to do what they're good at -- treating people -- instead of demanding that they become insurance cops and refuse to treat you until they see proof of insurance?

How much good does it do to be forced to buy insurance that will fight you every step of the way when you need healthcare, which is what we have now, since insurance companies are for the most part unregulated. Insurance companies do what they damned well please, as they know people don't have the money to sue them. The first-world countries which have private insurers make sure they are non-profit and heavily regulate them so they don't kill customers, which you know this country won't ever regulate the ins. companies, as that would be considered "communism".

Single-payer healthcare is the answer.

[Freddie Stubbs]

4. Do you beleive that Ted Kennedy is pushing "rightwing, unregulated health insurance?"

:shrug:

[Delphinus]

8. Single payer - the ONLY way.

Damn ... just damn.

Edit to add this quote from Dr. Don McCanne:
People can go broke and die for all they care, as long as we keep our public institutions out of their private businesses.

[southern_dem]

2. Secret meetings?

Sorry, but isn't this the same thing that got the Clinton health care proposal in trouble. If we want to get this passed, we need to play the PR game to perfection. We know how much good health care reform will be; but the average Joe is open to GOP manipulation of the facts.

[Hippo_Tron]

5. The Obama Administration isn't holding the secret meetings

He said that health care reform would be transparent on his end, but he can't control what a group of Senators want to do.

[karynnj]

6. Except this is totally different

This is a Senate committee that has jurisdiction meeting with stakeholders. The fact though is that there are 22 Senators on that committee and their staffers who are there plus people from many organizations. Some members of the Finance Committee (that also has some role) are on HELP, so it is very likely that the Finance committee is getting feedback.

In addition - they list the organizations and people there. In 1993, HRC and Magaziner at first refused to even say who they spoke to. Here, you already have an article that not only includes that, but information on what their positions are. This is as open a process as you could get. Now, it would be nice if Kennedy's committee made those round tables on the record with video online - Kerry is doing with his on the SFRC. But, it might be Kennedy's judgment that that could impede the openness that this seems to suggest on the parts of the participants.

In addition, in 1993, at least at this stage they were not involving Congress.

[berni_mccoy]

3. If we are reading about them, they aren't very secret, are they?

[karynnj]

7. You mean that being able to access the NYT doesn't make us special insiders?

:sarcasm:

[xenussister]

9. Lotta suicides gonna happen

Hundreds if not tens of thousands of people will commit suicide if they're told out of the blue that they HAVE to have insurance. I would, if I were sick, had no job or money and couldn't get health care. I'd just say fuck it, why bother? I'm a relatively healthy person, physically and mentally, yet that's the first thing that popped into my mind. If not direct suicide, then suicide by neglect, people thinking they can't go to a doctor because then it will be discovered they don't have insurance. That happens already. How much worse will it get if insurance is a requirement?

That can't be right, or there's much more to it. You can't force people to have insurance. If they go to the doctor or emergency room and don't have mandatory insurance, there would be even more incentive to not treat people. If the doctors and hospitals are required to treat people without insurance, then people who don't have insurance will just say, hey, it was ok, see, I didn't really *have* to have insurance. Then what's the point?

That can't be right. I can't believe it.