Obama Demands: The Bill I Sign Must Include Public Option

[ProSense]

Obama Demands: The Bill I Sign Must Include Public Option

(A)ny plan I sign must include an insurance exchange: a one-stop shopping marketplace where you can compare the benefits, cost and track records of a variety of plans - including a public option to increase competition and keep insurance companies honest - and choose what's best for your family.

[bluestateguy]

1. This was the ultimatum people wanted

Now they got it.

I do hope it pays off. I really do.

[Dennis Donovan]

2. Happy to be Rec #5!

Great news!

[Faryn Balyncd]

3. K&R - - We need to keep this front & center - - & make sure the public option is not gutted, or ...

....or restricted by a means test. The public option is required to be self-sustaining, so there is no reason to keep people out of the public option other than to relieve the insurance corporations of the need to actually compete and create value. If the Republicans succeed in keeping out some higher earners from the (self-sustaining)public plan, they will be well on their way to created an economically segregated two-tier system that many providers will shun (not participate).

and there is no reason to mandate that all individuals buy coverage (as this bill does) without demanding that providers (who benefit financially from the individual mandate) must also accept payment from the public option. We need to require that providers accept the public option if they are to be licensed.

[bluethruandthru]

15. This post highlights what is the most important part

of a public option.
We can tout a Public Option all we want...but if only the poor and otherwise uninsured are able to use it and if doctors and hospitals can choose not to accept it...then it worth less than nothing.
It will fail horribly and the GOP can then say "We told you it wouldn't work".

[Laelth]

47. Able to use it?

Let's be clear. As the bill is currently written, the uninsured will not be "able" to use the public option. They will be forced to use it--or forced to buy insurance from a private company, and they will face criminal sanctions if they don't.

We should continue to remember that most of the 40+ million uninsured people in this country who lack insurance do so because they can not afford it, and they will be deeply resentful of a new law that forces them to buy insurance that they will probably still not be able to use because they can't afford the co-pays. This initiative will be funded by a massive new tax on the uninsured (between 1.5% and 11.5% of their gross income), and, I believe, it is a major mistake for the party to even consider forcing people to buy insurance.

We will drive voters away from the Party in droves.

:dem:

-Laelth

[dflprincess]

26. I still don't understand why he admits the private insurers are crooked and can't be trusted

yet he gave them a seat at the table and continues to see to it that their profits are protected, yet single payer advocates were pretty much shut out of the discussion.

We might have had a shot at single payer - or a least a public option that was truly reform - if single payer had been given a fair hearing. A public option that includes out of pocket expenses (for those over the income limit) of $5,000 or $10,000 doesn't amount to a whole lot of reform. People will still put off seeing a doctor, which will only cost everyone more in the long run and, if you have the misfortune of getting sick toward the end of the benefit year, you could get nailed for your max deductible then and a couple months later be faced with having to pay it again.

[BonnieJW]

37. The only reason I can think of

is that he wants the private insurers to fade s-l-o-w-l-y because of all he millions of people currently employed by these companies. We don't need millions more jobs lost. I'm sure these people could find jobs with the government administering the new public health plan or at hospitals/doctors offices doing the paperwork. But there would be far less of then required.

[FatDave]

44. That may be what he wants, but it doesn't matter.

Even if the most toothless reform bill is passed, the moment it's passed the insurance companies are going to lay off thousands just to make the reform look bad. Republicans will scream "See? We told you so!" and the bewildered masses will eat it up.

[John Q. Citizen]

51. I think he want to make sure Americans can choose to be ripped of by the criminal insurance racket.

Plus, they give a lot of Dems a lot of money. Since they steal so much money they have a lot to spread around.

I think Obama should propose a public/private Social Security overhaul.

bush suggested the same thing a couple of years ago and the banks gave the Repos a bunch of money.


Sure public/private is a Repo idea, but if it's good enough for health care it should be good enough for social security also, and the Dems can tap into all that campaign dough.

[Ocracoker16]

4. Glad to hear that

I was worried about health care reform, because the discussion of it was being dominated by GOP'ers. I am glad Obama spoke up and affirmed my belief that there would be a public option.

[Occam Bandage]

5. K&R for a line in the sand. nt

[Towlie]

6. What a difference an election makes!

Remember how Bush's idea of "a bill I can sign" had to include eternal war and unlimited spending?

[HopeOverFear]

7. whooo!

[masuki bance]

8. Im assuming that means he will veto any bill if it does not include a public option. nt

[Arkana]

9. And there's the ultimatum.

Well, folks, we got what (most of us) wanted--that line in the sand that says "Sure, I'll compromise--but only to this point."

[Fire1]

10. Hear! Hear!! And Damned straight! n/t

[Veruca Salt]

11. k&r!!!

:woohoo:

[alsame]

12. That's leadership! nt

[boppers]

13. ...and Obama (and us) wins again.

:evilgrin:

[ChimpersMcSmirkers]

14. k&r

[Jkid]

16. Please correct me if I'm wrong

...but that public option plan will not fully working until 2013. I rather have a public option enacted and got started immediately after the bill is passed.

[Beartracks]

19. !!!!!???? Where can I find a good bill summary? n/t

[vaberella]

25. Link Below:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x8528296

I've argued on that thread that it's a logical move and it's the best move one can make to make sure policy is properly in place. It deals with money bureaucracy and the creation of facilities and the build up of new employees to make sure that things run smoothly when the system is flooded with possibly 50 million people.

post#12 gives a brief overview of one of the tentative bills, details are still being worked out and we won't get the final stuff until August or the end of it.

[high density]

21. It is 2013 for juggling money around -- to keep it under the arbitrary $1 trillion limit

in the CBO forecasts.

[vaberella]

23. Then you don't have a clue as to how to inact effective policy.

Especially one that is laden with bureaucracy and includes not only one major change with an inclusion of about 51 million Americans but the uncounted Americans who are part of Medicare/medicaid/Schip and what not that will be included in the system---most likely.

[donheld]

17. k & R

[Kingofalldems]

18. Great news! Now anyone here trying to sabotage the public option-->

should be tombstoned.

[vaberella]

20. You'll find a few...I'm sure. n/t

[Sebastian Doyle]

24. How do you tombstone the DLC traitors and Blue Balled Cowards?

Because that's who would be trying to sabotage a true Public Option.

[vaberella]

22. I'm a little late to the great news...#65 for rec'ing . Thanks Prosense for the great news. n/t

[Better Believe It]

27. I wish the bills proposed included a strong public option! That's the problem!

[Tarheel_Dem]

28. Recommended. But you do know that the purists are already snarking that...

"the plan doesn't take effect until 2013"; "I want single payer"; "I want Obama to mow my lawn"; "blah, blah, blah". That being said, I hope the president & more importantly, the American people, win this one.

[dflprincess]

30. The American people have already lost this one

but the insurance companies have won big.

[Tarheel_Dem]

32. Any legislation passed the house yet? Did the president sign a healthcare...

bill & DU didn't tell me? Thought not. I really wish you could find a way to flip that broken record, you're really boring at this point. If a public option is in trouble, then surely you realize that single payer was DOA from the start, but then again YOU might not. Do you think most Americans even know what single payer is?
:eyes:

[Arkana]

42. He mows lawns?

Well fuck--I want him to mow my lawn too.

[Tarheel_Dem]

48. Yes. And rumor has it, that he can clear brush with the best of 'em.

:P

[Tarheel_Dem]

46. Self-Delete. Responded to wrong post.

[bkkyosemite]

29. We need Single Payer. If Obama's plan does not work CA is going to Single Payer and I'm moving back

there since Oregon doesn't seem to want it. To much insurance/pharma money going to Oregon's Senator.

[MarjorieG]

31. Any chance we can get Medicare increased as a public option, but with cost-cutting in place?

[bkkyosemite]

62. Also Medicare needs to be paying at 100% for medical and prescriptions. D doesn't even cover my

prescriptions. Not good enough. I say enough!

[FlyingSquirrel]

33. Why doesn't he just add a signing statement?

http://journals.democraticunderground.com/davidswanson/864

[LaPera]

34. It has to have a Public Option - Or what the fuck good is it? Right back to the insurance companies

to continue to do as they please...makings billions in profit off people before they get sick and dumping them when they do get sick or rasing premiums for even more profits...

But if you are sick or poor the insurance companies won't touch you with a ten foot pole, no profit in it for the insurance corporations

Disgusting but true and is what the republicans & insurance companies are fighting for & lying about, they do not want no public option they want to leave things as they are, status quo fucks...

They are all rich with fine health care what the fuck do they care about their fellow American tax paying citizens, who are too poor to afford the insurance companies sky high health insurance?

Their guru, Reagan told these greedy fucks to just worry about yourself, get all you can for your self...fuck the others who are unfortunate, too bad and here we are thirty years later...And the pigman Limbaugh preaching the same selfish bullshit philosophy every day.

WE NEED A PUBLIC OPTION HEALTH CARE FOR ALL!

ITS WAY OVERDUE!

[pauldg0]

35. It might cause them to compete with the single payer system.....

...also, I believe there will be government watchdogs. If they don't hone up, they, the health insurance companies will die....I think it is good system after all. Single payer by itself could otherwise allow the doctors and the AMA types to control everything. I see the mix is good as a check-off to each others' programs.

There has to be some reliable insurance institutions in place to get a quick start on this program. By using the basic dynamics of the insurance companies business structure, this can get launched.. a single payer system would not work starting cold turkey.

Organized health institutions must be in place and corrections/adjustments can come after....as time goes by a system similar to single payer could be morphed if managed correctly.

[PurityOfEssence]

36. Thank you, Mr. President

This is getting interesting...

[Imperialism Inc.]

38. That's the kind of thing we needed!

[ejpoeta]

39. that's great. i want a public option. i guess i just worry what 'public option'

means... because it could mean so many things. i hope it will be a true public option.

[Better Believe It]

40. Why does President Obama support bills that fail to provide a strong public option?

I have yet to seen an explanation or even weak justification for this.

Follow what politicians actually do, not just what they say.

[Amos Moses]

60. in agreement

I hear a lot about coverage and subsidies for the poor. Who will decide which citizens are poor enough? A bunch of unethical politicians in Washington who act on behalf of their corporate sponsors?

What does coverage mean? A large number of Americans have coverage right now. I used to have coverage, myself. Didn't do me a damn bit of good because I could barely afford the privilege of being covered.

I am afraid all these decisions are being made by people who are not just of touch with the working class, they resent us like we're a bunch of riff raff that need to be silenced so they can get down to the real business - further enrichment of themselves and their cronies.

If it's prohibitively expensive for the working class, what is the point in spending all this money to do it?

[European Socialist]

41. Hope he has his feet in cement on this. K&R

[defendandprotect]

43. Good news . . . but why not simply remove age restrictions from Medicare -- ????

[wryter2000]

45. That's what I like to hear

It's still going to be a struggle if Kennedy and Byrd can't be in the Senate. Then, there's Lieberturd.

I'm hoping my President is on the phone with the "blue dogs" telling them, "You want me to campaign for you? You'd better vote to end the any filibuster the Republicans try to put up."

[Deep13]

49. POTUS, House agree. What's YOUR problem, Senators.

Oh, sorry Blue Dogs and R.s. I didn't see those stickers on your foreheads.

[and-justice-for-all]

50. GOOD! nt

[ZombieHorde]

52. There are so many recs it doesn't really matter, but K&R anyway. nt

[TheCoxwain]

53. you should enable multiple recs for this thread

[fascisthunter]

54. K&R

[kevsters]

55. Breaking News: New GOP Talking Point To Kill Health Care

Breaking News: The latest GOP talking point to kill health care:

The government is going to make private coverage illegal.

See for yourself.

http://progressnotcongress.org/?p=2233

[Politicub]

56. The public option will be President Obama's greatest legacy

He will have many accomplishments, but this will be the one that will be talked about for generations as the first step in healthcare equality.

Even with the foibles of the dems, I'm still proud to be part of a party that can be progressive (with some nudges here and there).



:fistbump:

[grahamhgreen]

57. Should also start immediatly, not in 2013. “People don’t have time to wait,” Obama said.

“People don’t have time to wait,” Obama said. “They need relief now. So my attitude is let’s build up the system we got, let’s make it more efficient, we may be over time—as we make the system more efficient and everybody’s covered—decide that there are other ways for us to provide care more effectively.”

http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2008/08/19/obama-touts-single-payer-system/

[grahamhgreen]

58. Of course, the public option must be real, not what's currently in there.

[ecstatic]

59. Yay. I can't wait to make my demands/ultimatum to BCBS

Hehehe... Lower my f*ckin premium or else.... !!!!

[4lbs]

61. "Error: You can only recommend threads which were started in the last 24 hours."

Well... I tried. ;)

[Cha]

63. And, all that other senseless

chatter is just that.

[Orsino]

64. > $0.10

:thumbsup: