Pelosi: "IT WILL HAPPEN"-Rumors of Death of Healthcare Reform Greatly Exaggerated

[kpete]

Rumors of Death of Healthcare Reform Greatly Exaggerated
by mcjoan

Mon Jul 27, 2009 at 05:16:04 PM PDT

The traditional media is all geared up to declare healthcare dead, or at the very least on life-support, and President Obama's first term doomed to failure because of this. It's an easy template for them--if they talk about the politics then they don't have to bother learning the policy and reporting on the stuff that really matters--how the various policy options would work, what it would mean to average families, or even what happens if reform isn't done.

What they're forgetting is that two out of the three most important people in making this happen--Barack Obama and Nancy Pelosi--are committed to getting it done. Here's Pelosi, yesterday.

PELOSI: When take this bill to the floor, it will win. But we will move forward. This will happen. Americans, again, with preexisting medical conditions or concern about losing their jobs or changing their jobs or the health care that is available for their children and their families with a big dose of prevention and the rest can take heart and comfort in knowing that this bill will pass.

KING: When we spoke a few weeks back, you were adamant that the final bill would include a public option.

PELOSI: Definitely.

KING: You gave an interview this week where you were asked if you could support a bill that didn’t have one in the end, and you said, I don’t think so. Is that some softening?

PELOSI: No, no, no, no, the president has said he believes the public option is a way to keep the private insurance companies honest. But he said, if you can find another way to do this, show it to me.

KING: So is that non-negotiable? If the Senate passed a bill that did not have a public option or that had a public option that, say, had a three- or five-year trigger, let’s see what happens, see if we can make reforms, and if we don’t, then a public option would kick in, is that non-negotiable with the speaker?

PELOSI: I think the private insurance industry has had a long enough time to have a trigger. We know what happens left to their own devices. This is about having an alternative, to give much more leverage to the individual. And the president has said, if you like the insurance that you have, you like your doctor, you can keep them. Well, most people, many people feel good about all of that, but they don’t know what’s going to happen to the cost.

And the cost, that’s an accessibility issue. And we know that a family of four — average family of four, their health insurance costs will increase by $1,800 a year, that would be $18,000 by 2020. It’s just not affordable. And therefore not accessible.

more (plus video):
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2009/7/27/758458/-Rumors-of-Death-of-Healthcare-Reform-Greatly-Exaggerated

[RandySF]

1. Then let's have a vote

If she's wrong, it could be the end of her speakership.

[Mojambo]

2. I have no doubt IT will happen

I'm quite doubtful that IT will work.

[JDPriestly]

4. What IT are you talking about? Which plan, H.R. 676 or H.R. 3200?

Here is what health care reform is about.

Without reform, the cost of health care for the average family of four is projected to rise $1,800 every year for years to come—and insurance companies will make more health care decisions.
America’s middle class deserves better. Here’s what America’s Affordable Health Choices Act means for you:
LOWER COSTS
 No more co-pays or deductibles for preventive care
 No more rate increases for pre-existing conditions, gender, or occupation
 An annual cap on your out-of-pocket expenses
 Group rates of a national pool if you buy your own plan
 Guaranteed, affordable oral, hearing, and vision care for your kids
GREATER CHOICE
 Keep your doctor, and your current plan, if you like them
 More choice, with a high quality public health insurance option competing with private insurers
HIGHER QUALITY
 You and your doctors make health care decisions — not insurance companies
 More family doctors and nurses will enter the workforce, helping guarantee access
 Mental health care must be covered
STABILITY & PEACE OF MIND
 No more coverage denials for pre-existing conditions
 No more lifetime limits on how much insurance companies will pay
 No reason to ever make a job or life decision again based on health care coverage

No health care reform will be worse than anything that can happen under either H.R. 3200 or H.R. 676.

http://waysandmeans.house.gov/media/pdf/111/12reasons.pdf

Text: H.R. 3200
http://waysandmeans.house.gov/media/pdf/111/AAHCA09001xml.pdf

H.R. 676
http://www.hr676.org/

Read for yourself. What don't you like?

[Old Codger]

3. We need

Her definition of "reform"