6/23/09 - Obama - "[T]he public plan I think is a important tool to discipline insurance companies"

[TomCADem]

http://www.kaiserhealthnews.org/Daily-Reports/2009/June/23/Obama-Transcript.aspx

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Now, the public plan I think is a important tool to discipline insurance companies. What we've said is, under our proposal, let's have a system the same way that federal employees do, same way that members of Congress do, where -- we call it an "exchange," or you can call it a "marketplace" -- where essentially you've got a whole bunch of different plans. If you like your plan and you like your doctor, you won't have to do a thing. You keep your plan. You keep your doctor. If your employer is providing you good health insurance, terrific, we're not going to mess with it.

But if you're a small business person, if the insurance that's being offered is something you can't afford, if you want to shop for a better price, then you can go to this exchange, this marketplace, and you can look: Okay, this is how much this plan costs, this is how much that plan costs, this is what the coverage is like, this is what fits for my family. As one of those options, for us to be able to say, here's a public option that's not profit-driven, that can keep down administrative costs and that provides you good, quality care for a reasonable price -- as one of the options for you to choose, I think that makes sense.

Q: Won't that drive private insurers out of business?

THE PRESIDENT: Why would it drive private insurers out of business? If private insurers say that the marketplace provides the best quality health care, if they tell us that they're offering a good deal, then why is it that the government -- which they say can't run anything -- suddenly is going to drive them out of business? That's not logical.

Now, I think that there's going to be some healthy debates in Congress about the shape that this takes. I think there can be some legitimate concerns on the part of private insurers that if any public plan is simply being subsidized by taxpayers endlessly, that over time they can't compete with the government just printing money.

So there are going to be some I think legitimate debates to be had about how this private plan takes shape. But just conceptually, the notion that all these insurance companies who say they're giving consumers the best possible deal, that they can't compete against a public plan as one option, with consumers making the decision what's the best deal. That defies logic, which is why I think you've seen in the polling data overwhelming support for a public plan. All right?

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[TomCADem]

1. OMG! Axelrod Just Said The PO Is A "Valuable tool" - Obama Is Shifting His Position! Oh Nooesss!!!!

Look at the OP story. Its June 23, 2009! Yet, some DUers are seizing on the AP story discussed in other links, which cites Axelrod's statement that the PO is a "valuable tool" indicates that the Obama administration is shifting its position. From what? This is identical language for goodness sake, and it is maddening how so-called liberals are so easily mis-lead by the corporate media.

[Cha]

2. And, he stills feels the same..although according

to the corporatemediawhores and those who suck it up..it's RATINGS TIME & WHINE TIME.

[dccrossman]

3. Yet another sanity check

Thanks, TomCADem.

I hope that the speech on the 9th is more of the same, though hopefully more forceful. Wave that Veto pen around.

:kick:

[ipaint]

4. I hope it is as valuable a tool as it is for the swiss and dutch.

The only other countries that allow for profit insurance in the mix.

They use it to keep profit and overhead across the board at approx. 5%.

The swiss, which is the most expensive, have copays in a range from a few hundred to $2400.00 max and an additional charge not to exceed approx $700.00. Individual premium runs about $240.00 per month before employers kick in. A third of the swiss get subsidies. Full freedom of choice regarding doctors and hospitals. The swiss re-distribute high profits to companies who insure sicker patients to level the playing field.

Netherlands has no co-pays (illegal), can't charge more for age or pre existing condition, and the average premium is approx. $140.00 per month for an individual which includes drugs. Subsidies are available.

Children are automatically on gov. insurance in both countries, at no additional cost in the Netherlands.

That kind of valuable?

[TomCADem]

5. Austrailia Also Has Public & Private Mix

There can be long waits on certain elective surgery, so private insurance is an overlay on the public insurance. I don't know how effective the system is though.