Do you think our President...

[SHRED]

...truly believes that private health insurance has a role in our society?




---

[vaberella]

1. No. But to keep a good portion of this nation happy he would have to allow

those with private insurance to feel secure with it. He did support single payer and knows what it entails. But so that he doesn't have what happened to HRC happen to him---he went in this route which inoculates him from too much backlash from the private insurance companies who have a lot of money at their disposal and definitely has the senate under their belt.

However...it doesn't matter what he feels because the Senate is set to do him in.

[John Q. Citizen]

10. i don't follow your thesis. Did you read the Hillary health care bill?

The basis of the bill was a mandate for employer based health insurance though competitive and highly regulated health maintenance organizations.

She cut the grass roots out of the picture as well.

He's going the same route as Hillary - Refusing to allow the American people a seat at the table.


This is deja vu for me.

[vaberella]

14. I'm talking about HRC during the 90s. ie Universal health care. n/t

[John Q. Citizen]

17. You didn't read the bill, did you? I tried. It was thousands of pages long.

Hillary lifted the term "universal health care " from Jessie Jackson who used it to to mean single payer in his 1988 run for the presidency.

She cut out the grass roots too, just like Obama.

Invited in the biggest insurance companies and the Hospital association. Hillary held her meetings in secret. Obama at least didn't do that. And Hillary cut congress out, which of course Obama hasn't done either.

But they both shut out the single payer advocates.

And a majority of the American public is in favor of single payer now.

[Thrill]

2. No. There is a reason he wants a Public Option so bad

Because he knows it will eventually push them out.

The problem is Strong Campaign Finance Reform should have been done before Healthcare. That way their money couldn't convince Congress

[Andy823]

6. I agree.

There is no way on earth he could push a single payer system through congress, not now. Like you said campaign finance reform would really have helped his health care plan, but now he knows what he has to do, and that is like you said, to get a public option in, then over time it will be up and working, and will eventually force out the greedy insurance companies. In the meantime it will force insurance companies to work with him, lower costs, and give better service for fear everyone will jump ship an leave them high and dry. If he can get a public option, finance reform, and some real democrats in congress who will work for the people instead of big corporations, then single payer health care will follow. At least that's what I think.

[John Q. Citizen]

13. Why fight for what nobody wants when we could be fighting for what we want?

The insurance industry has been losing market share for a long time.

Half the money spent on health care in this country is government money. Medicare, Medicade, VA, SCHIP, insure over half of the people who have insurance right now.

Obama should be pushing for single payer because it makes a lot more sense to most people than a public private hybrid with no cost containment.

[vaberella]

15. Uh...single payer makes sense to you. Political it holds no water.

That's the problem. So he's going for the next best thing... You put out a public option crowding-out will occur---there's no possibility of it not occurring.

[John Q. Citizen]

16. A majority of Americans favor single payer, even if both parties are dependant on bribes

from the health care industrial complex.

They won't kill their funding mechanism.

[bluestateguy]

3. No, probably not.

But there are a lot of things that he probably believes privately that he knows are politically not doable.

I think you all know what other issue I am talking about here.

[bigjohn16]

4. Yes but I can only go by his actions since he became President. nt

[QC]

5. Probably. He seems to be a pretty big fan of capitalism. n/t

[BlooInBloo]

7. I think he thinks he has a better shot at getting us 80% of what we want...

than he does at getting us 100%.

[dflprincess]

8. You don't get 80% of what you want

if that's what you start out asking for.

[BlooInBloo]

9. (shrug) We'll see.

[TankLV]

11. I believe obama believes that PUBLIC HEALTH CARE has no place in society...

all his actions to date PROVE it...

[ThomCat]

12. Of course. He is a big supporter of big business.

People with money will always be customers for insurance companies because they will always want access to more and better healthcare than whatever us poor slobs can get from the government. Obama has no reason to object to that, so he'll see a role for private health insurance.

:shrug: