Pssst, Barack.... Dump The Public Option

[WeDidIt]

Do it before a joint session of Congress.

Announce you no longer support any public option as presented in any of the various bills. Instead, you support Medicare Buy-in where people can pay premiums to buy into Medicare before age 65.

Add subsidies for the poor.

Stress how this will also serve to keep Medicare solvent in perpetuity.

Checkmate.

Medicare Buy-in.

[nadinbrzezinski]

1. Ain't gonna happen

but I could get behind that...

Oh and get the damn whips to do their fucking job...

Oh that means the leadership doing their job.

[WeDidIt]

2. The beauty of this is, Republicans have come out as Medicare champions

It reframes the entire debate.

Obama is on the record as saying "public option bad". Then says "Medicare Buy-in good."

Medicare is the third rail of politics. Anybody who votes against this becomes radioactive.

[nadinbrzezinski]

4. I know and Medicare for all is Single Payer

[WeDidIt]

5. That's the end game

and there is no stopping single payer if the framing is recreated instantaneously.

Everybody loves Medicare. It is consitently rated very high by MEdicare recipients.

[stlsaxman]

73. you seriously think that? i pray that's what he's doing but i have my doubts.

Obama is looking way too DLC to me at this point. losing faith in President Barack Obama.

[ejpoeta]

11. AND the republicans have been rallying about medicare... and how we have to protect it...

knowing all too well that they don't mean it of course... but if instead of creating some new 'public option' we just expanded medicare to let everyone in, then it would extend medicare and it's already there so cheaper to open up. i don't understand why this isn't the plan.... if they want the health exchanges, then fine.... but make medicare the public option.... everyone understands it... it already works.... there is no boogey man there... wtf is the problem!!

[timeforpeace]

32. WOW. This morning is was public option or die!!! Now, eh, who needs a public option? LOL!

[Mystayya]

53. Reread his post.

[Canuckistanian]

80. RAHM is supposed to be the goddamned whip

Wasn't that what he was hired for? And we all know where he stands on THIS issue.

Harry Reid is no Bill Frist. And Nancy Pelosi is no Tom Delay.

Dems have a lot to learn about enforcing votes.

[JDPriestly]

85. What do you think will happen to health insurance costs if there is no

public option. Did you know that the health care costs of the VA and even Medicare have increased at much lower rate than the costs of the care for members of Congress? And do you know why? Because Congress' health insurance is provided by private companies for the most part. VA and Medicare insurance is at least administered by the government.

Without the competition of a public option, health insurance companies will just pig out. That is what big business does in America if not regulated.

Insurance companies are not subject to antitrust laws. That encourages them to get big, big, big. They are rewarded for dominating markets. They lack competition. There is no way to get competition that I can see without a robust public option.

[DURHAM D]

3. This is something I posted in another thread:

I think Obama needs to swing for the fences.

He needs to reset the conversation. Obama should come out tomorrow for single payer. No compromise. No discussion. No equivocation. SINGLE PAYER.

Right now his Presidency is bleeding out. He needs to do something big. Really big. Take it to the people. They will follow him if they understand it and believe he is trying to do something for us. Right now everyone is confused because it is all so convoluted. He needs one big talking point and not a thousand little half-ass explanations. The only thing simple enough to get across is SINGLE PAYER. Its easy because its like, you know, medicare for everyone.

When he gets the people they will get the congress.

This will require that he speak truth about insurance companies. As he attacks the system he will need to ask us for help. He should acknowledge that powerful forces will be working to see that he has only one term. He should show passion and some anger. He has everything to gain and nothing to lose if he wants his service to matter.

[Tangerine LaBamba]

6. Bingo -

he broke all the rules when he decided to run, and I'd like him to resurrect that same brilliant fearlessness and go for broke with this health care revolution. Make it absolute, make it simple, make it so the people can understand, and then get the hell out there in the country, like he did in the campaign, and tell its story over and over, until everyone knows it and supports it and that giant cadre that worked so hard to get him elected does the same kind of hard work to get single payer coverage passed.

Yes we can................

[global1]

7. Single Payer As A Term Is Radioactive And Would Engender A Big Push-Back......

from the Repugs and many independents.

Now Medicare For All is another story. It would be hard for the Repugs to come out against that after most have said that they are for Medicare.

I think the President should give it a shot.

[DURHAM D]

9. I don't think the push back can get any bigger than it already is.

And they are absolutely winning the message war.

Please God - Obama needs to shake it up now.

[defendandprotect]

63. MEDICARE FOR ALL, EVERYONE IN, NO ONE OUT ...

[CrispyQ]

13. Best post of the day.

He absolutely needs to "reset the conversation." We not only lost momentum with the August break, the repubs have taken over the message, with the help of our corporate MSM.

[alarimer]

21. He won't though; he doesn't have the guts.

What will happen is caving on almost every aspect.

He will not push for the public option. The man is a spineless weasels like all the rest of the Democrats.

[CrispyQ]

46. Well, we are going to find out if he's 'playing chess' or if he simply lacks a spine.

I've withheld judgment, but we're about to find out for certain.

[cui bono]

23. And now is the perfect time for him to do that, after Rethugs have shown

they are not willing to negotiate in good faith.

He can say, okay, I tried to meet you in the middle but you're not budging so we're going back to single payer. If the Ruthuglicans complain they will be complaining about themselves.

[DURHAM D]

26. Exactly.

The setup is perfect. He can come from out of nowhere to save the day. The time is now.


Hell, Aaron Sorkin could not tee it up any better and he writes fiction.

[slipslidingaway]

38. Agreed ! n/t

[Toasterlad]

50. You Are Assuming Obama Works for the People, Instead Of Corporate America

I believe you're incorrect.

[Mojambo]

8. The Thom Hartmann plan.

Recommended!

[lordsummerisle]

10. Great idea

but as others have already said, it'll never happen.
Corporate influence is just too pervasive...

[seafan]

12. Bob Dole, McCain, McConnell are braying "START OVER". All righty then. Medicare For All.

Bob Dole:

August 31, 2009

"After 35 years in Congress, I know there are times when a fresh start is advisable," Dole wrote this morning in The Washington Post.
"If I were a White House adviser, I would suggest that the day Congress reconvenes, President Obama's version of reform should be introduced by Democratic leaders in the House and Senate.

"Health-care reform is the vital issue of our time, and Obama should be out front with his specific plan on this make-or-break issue."

John McCain and Mitch McConnell:

September 2, 2009

U.S. Sen. John McCain and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell told a Charlotte audience Tuesday that Congress and the president should "start over" on health-care reform.

"It's time we started back at the beginning," McCain of Arizona told about 250 medical professionals at Carolinas Medical Center.

The Answer Is Medicare For All



As they say in baseball, Mr. President.... BRING IT.

[CreekDog]

19. braying

:rofl:

[seafan]

24. LOLOL Yours resembles Phil Gramm. Check this one out.

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_6vUGMxV0oCc/SZHxD4PwkGI/AAAAAAAAAUc/XY1NQEp6a8k/s400/ugly+donkey.jpg

Dead ringer for McCain.

[eleny]

14. Medicare for all - I'm in

[PA Democrat]

15. Great idea. Dems need to take a page out of the Bush notebook.

Give things a warm and fuzzy name like the "Clear Skies Initiative " and the "Healthy Forests" plan and then put whatever you want into the actual bill.

[harun]

51. Call it something like the "Medicare Security Act". Then the Republicans

would be advocating against Medicare security.

[Overseas]

54. Yes Please !! /nt

[muntrv]

16. Make Medicare Buy-In the public option "trigger."

[Laelth]

17. Brilliant. Here's hoping it happens. n/t

:toast:

:dem:

-Laelth

[CreekDog]

18. i wish

:D

[BlueIdaho]

20. Schip available for all kids under 18

Medicare available for all adults over 45. When everyone sees how well it works - phase two is medicare buy-in by any and all that want it.

Game, set, match.

[GrantDem]

22. I hope, but not optimistic.

[sharesunited]

25. Love it! But how do you overcome these objections?

Too expensive. Medicare is already going broke.

Will require reducing benefits to seniors.

Medicare reimbursement rates are too small. The only thing keeping providers from going broke is their ability to overcharge the for-profit health insurance plans. If you flood the system with more Medicare patients, the providers go out of business and access to care suffers for everybody.

[seafan]

27. Waiting for the CBO's Single-Payer cost/benefit analysis from August: Wonder if Obama has it now...

David Lindorff's Single-Payer cost analysis is here.



His result is as follows:

$484 billion for present-day Medicare (for 45 million old/disabled over age 65)

PLUS

$160 billion to cover everyone else (255 million under age 65)
_______________________________

===$644 billion to cover everyone

Rep. Anthony Weiner has also said that the CBO cost analysis of the "other plans" currently being fought over show that those plans start out at ~$300 billion in the hole, because that money flows to the insurance companies.

Single Payer already beats that, hands down.



I am looking forward to the CBO report on Single-Payer.

[DURHAM D]

30. Lindorff is wrong about medicare not having deductibles and copays. nt

[seafan]

35. Here is what Lindorff says about co-pays and deductibles disappearing

Because of a modest new tax increase for everyone to be covered by Medicare, co-pays and deductibles would no longer be needed. (Everyone pays into Medicare, and everyone is covered.)


Lindorff:

Okay, so now we’re down to a total net cost for a national single-payer program of just $644 billion. Now remember, we’re talking about expanding a single-payer program that we already have in place, that doctors and hospitals are already familiar with, and that the people who use it already like. And expanding it to cover everybody, instead of just the old and disabled would only cost an added $160 billion, or just 33% more than it costs now to cover only the old and disabled. In these days of trillion-dollar Wall Street bailouts, $160 billion is almost chump change(.) Heck, it’s less than the cost of a year of war in Afghanistan.

Sure it would still mean a modest tax increase for everyone (to figure out how much, just look at your check stub, find the Medicare tax deduction, and multiply it by 1.33. Then double that to account for the employer share of the added funds). But wait, all you anti-tax nuts! Before you start freaking out at a tax hike and waving those little teabags Fox TV got for you, there are more savings we haven’t considered.

If everyone is covered by Medicare, that means no more out-of-pocket payments by you for doctor bills. No more co-pays. No more deductibles that you have to pay yourself before your health insurance kicks in. No more employee contributions to health insurance premiums, which these days more and more employers are forcing us to pay. That’s a lot of money. For many families, it adds up to thousands of dollars a year. But there’s more. Your employer, if the company is one of the one-in-three that still provides and pays at least something towards health benefits for its workers, would be off the hook. That would free up a lot of money that could go to higher wages and salaries for workers (especially if you have or get yourself a union to make sure that the managers pass the savings on to you and don’t just pocket it or pass it along to shareholders). We’re talking about big savings here. (Incidentally, we're also talking about ending the feudal relationship that has you afraid to talk union, or even to talk back, or speak up, to your employer, for fear of losing not just your job, but your and your family's health insurance. We're talking about liberating you from a major shackle.

So while yes, your taxes would go up a bit to expand Medicare to all, it wouldn’t be by much, and on the plus side, you would be saving an enormous amount of money, making the added tax bite easy to swallow (and remember, your state and local taxes could be reduced).

This sounds very acceptable to me.

[DURHAM D]

37. Thanks - I just skimmed it.

I obviously missed an important part.

[seafan]

40. You're welcome. What I'd like to see is all the doughnut holes plugged and Part D revamped

to allow for drug price negotiation (after Bush deliberately crushed that).


No more gaps in Medicare coverage would get rid of the need for private supplemental insurance.

[DURHAM D]

29. Response to questions: No. No. No. Change. Fix.

Currently everyone over 65 pays at least $96.40 a month premium. That is not a lot of money. If receiving SS benefits it is taken from your check each month before the remainder is passed to the individuals. If you are not receiving SS benefits yet you must pay quarterly in advance. I said at least $96.40 a month because the monthly premium is higher if you earned more than $85,000 the prior year. Example - over $85,000 your premium is $134.60. The system has several additional levels at which seniors pay more and more for their medicare coverage based on income. BTW, I believe that the premium is based on earned wages only. Forget that - base it on gross income.

Going forward the employer can simply deduct from wages the federal preset amounts and deposit in the local federal bank. Actually, after September 30,2009, employers will no longer be able to deposit these funds - they are required to send them directly to the federal government online. Guess they need to get the funds quicker.

Now multiply that $96.40 by the millions of people that will be added to the program and remember these are younger citizens generally less in need of medical attention. Assume that the contribution to medicare will be a slightly greater percentage for those who have been paying in for a shorter period of time. I, for example, have been paying into medicare since 1966. My nephew has been paying in since 1996. He has some catching up to do - but it does not need to be a large differential because he is younger. Or maybe there does not need to be any differential at all. I don't have the ability to crunch the numbers.

Here is the part most people don't realize. Medicare has already been privatized in that seniors are buying massive amounts of private insurance coverage to meet the deductibles and copays. Most know that prescriptions are not covered under medicare so you must buy some sort of private policy to help with that. The copay for hospitalization, doctor visits, tests, etc. is 20% under medicare so you buy private insurance to cover that. The deductible each year for doctor visits, tests, etc. is $135. The deductible for a hospital visits is $1,068. So most seniors buy private insurance already.

When everyone else is added to medicare the insurance companies need to be ready with new products for younger citizens. If I owned an insurance company I would be doing this plus developing all sorts of new dental and eye plans and extra income for days of missed work, etc. There is no end to the things they could create and people would buy once they are the ones making decisions about what they want to cover above and beyond what medicare covers.

Now, about the reimbursement rates - just fix it. I would like to serve on the panel that makes those determinations.

[satya]

34. Expanding it to all of us may be the only way to save it.

Younger, healthier folks will be paying into the system but not using as many services as the over-65 crowd does now.

You're right, we'll need to tweak it to make it profitable enough for the providers, but a Medicare for All system would reduce provider overhead, too, since they wouldn't have to deal with 1000s of different insurance plans. Probably get paid faster too; I know my ins. company delays and requests additional documentation (the same stuff over and over, too) before finally paying the provider.

[slipslidingaway]

39. My feelings as well, from a prior post...

http://journals.democraticunderground.com/slipslidingaway/81

knr - Also I believe the protesters do have a point....

Posted by slipslidingaway in General Discussion
Fri Aug 21st 2009, 06:27 PM

not about death panels or whatever they are saying.

We know that many baby boomers will be eligible for Social Security And they will also be eligible for Medicare.

We are told that we can partially fund health care reform with hundreds of billions of dollars in savings from Medicare.

What happens when millions of new people start to enroll in Medicare over the next decade and stay on the program for another 20 years?

Estimates are that the current number of people on Medicare will grow from 46 million to 79 million over the next two decades and that the influx of new people begins in 2011.

Even without knowing all the details of the numbers, that is a hell of a lot of people moving to Medicare and I believe that any savings will be needed for the Medicare program.

In addition to covering everyone, a Medicare for All program would also help to minimize the projected strain on the Medicare system.

What is in it for the young folks?

Not having to worry about being covered yourself.

Not having to worry about parents and other relatives struggling to find the money for supplemental Medicare plans.

Not facing the possibility of increased taxes to support a struggling Medicare system in the future.

Not sorting through different insurance plans.

[eomer]

28. Smart people would just cancel all coverage while they are well.

People who are well would just opt out completely and pay nothing into the system. They would wait until they get sick and then buy into Medicare.

This would mean that the cost of being sick would be born by just the sick people, eliminating the insurance goal of spreading the risk among everyone and defeating the very purpose of having any plan in the first place.

[nadinbrzezinski]

33. Not if your choice is private insurance OR Medicare for All

which is part of the bill.

(ok the exception are those who already have insurance through other gub'mint systems)

[eomer]

45. Well, yes, that's what I'm getting at.

And I don't know what bill you're talking about. Is there a bill that follows the approach in the OP? All the bills I've seen are a completely different approach, not even close to that.

The OP proposal makes it sound like you can keep it real simple and pass a law that just lowers the Medicare eligibility age. There is appeal in the simplicity of that approach. But the deal is that you can't make it that simple. That approach won't work. You have to add in some more complexity in the rules or else it will be a disaster. The disaster will be that Medicare will fail because you can't make it work if it is funded only by sick people. You've got to have well people paying in all the time and, for the most part, only provide benefits to those who were paying in while they didn't know whether they would need the benefits.

Another way of saying this is that you can't eliminate the pre-existing condition exclusion unless you also put in a mandate for universal coverage and universal participation in paying premiums (except for the poor). Otherwise the whole thing will quickly fall apart as sick people try to pay for their own care without any help from well people. They won't be able to afford the premiums for a plan that ends up that way.

A third way of saying it is that you have to craft an insurance mechanism. In order to have insurance you've got to make sure that people pay premiums during the time when they are exposed to the risk but have not yet experienced a loss. The current system uses the pre-existing condition exclusion as the way to make sure that people pay premiums when they have not yet experienced a loss. If you eliminate that exclusion then the only other way to make people pay is to just make them pay (unless you've got some other idea of how to do it).

So you can't just let people stay out when they want to and buy in when they want to, as the OP implies. It's not that simple. It seems to me you're in agreement with me. The OP, on the other hand, does not seem to recognize this point.

Edit to add after reading the rest of the thread: make it "Medicare for all", with a universal mandate, and you've got a plan that will work. But then it is not likely a plan that we can get enacted. I took the OP to be saying to make it optional ("buy in") as a way to make it politically possible.

[jwirr]

31. If he only would. This could be a winner.

[mmonk]

36. I already suggested he extend Medicare downward to 45 or 50

in an email I sent him. It would make everything easier to work with in regards to both the debate and plan.

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

47. 2010 expand 50-65

2011 expand 40-50
2012 expand 30-40
2013 expand All-in


Or something like that.

[yodermon]

41. wouldn't that basically be a, um, Public Option?

are you saying he should just rename/rebrand it?

[Joe Fields]

42. I love it! That's what I want.

[lib_wit_it]

43. I was secretly hoping this would happen. Good for you to have had the guts to post it.

Now, how do we convince team Obama?

[t0dd]

44. K & R nt

[redqueen]

48. Sounds good to me. (nt)

[kentuck]

49. That would be checkmate!

And would surprise the hell out of me.

[winyanstaz]

52. Very good!

I believe you have hit the solution.
Now if Obama has the gonads....we could all win.

[Autonomy]

55. this sounds good

but what if you cannot afford the premiums?

[Bonn1997]

81. I'm wondering that too

[GOPBasher]

56. Thank you! I've been saying this for a while. I don't think it'll happen, but

it's definitely the best play, both politically and from a policy point-of-view.

[kestrel91316]

57. Medicare kept my great-grandmother, and 4 grandparents, and one parent

medically cared-for in old age. I have tremendous faith in it, and believe it to be an excellent system. I would give my eyeteeth to be able to buy into it.

[laughingliberal]

58. The genius of this is

The President's address to the joint session of Congress will get to the people largely unfiltered. If he stood up and said he favors letting people 45 to 64 either keep their current plans or buy into Medicare it will score a huge victory. Someone should write him with this suggestion.

[Hannah Bell]

59. good idea.

[mzmolly]

60. Good idea, but it would be

a public option.

[RoccoR5955]

61. I know Obama is smart enough to come up with such a ploy, however

I'm not sure about his advisers. Surely, he needs at least something that can unify the Democratic Party, and perhaps bring in a few Repubs for good measure. Realistically, he doesn't need the Cons, they are just standing in the way of progress.

[defendandprotect]

62. Good thinking . . . open Medicare up to 55 year olds for a start . . .

let them pay a small extra charge for a few years --

Great idea!!

And, I think it should be open to all children --

and anyone with incomes which don't provide enough to pay for health insurance!

[WeDidIt]

64. Open it up to everybody

Charge a bit more than you would normally to keep Medicare solvent in perpetuity.

Subsidize the poor, but only for MEdicare.

Kill Medicaid.

By 2025, everybody will be on Medicare because for profit insurers suck.

[defendandprotect]

67. Agree -- open it to everyone . . . but if doing this right now would help . . .

let's do that, as well!!

What we need to have Obama do is stop pretending that's he's re-inventing the

wheel -- MEDICARE IS THERE AND READY TO GO ---!!

And, every other nation has done this, successfully -- what's our problem?

Money for IMMORAL wars bankrupting the Treasury???

Money for bailing our capitalism and its latest corruptions????

[harun]

69. Bringing in more people to Medicare just gets cheaper as you go

younger. Cheaper in relation to covering the ages now. Dropping this to 50 would be huge but I don't see any rep's pulling for this.

[defendandprotect]

65. k i c k

[derby378]

66. In other words, anyone younger than 65 will be penalized for joining Medicare

And this is a good thing how?

[defendandprotect]

68. It's an idea . . . to foster opening up the plan . . .

I would support that idea in short term use . . .

In other words, if the monthly rate would be $80 . . . let each 55 year old pay

$84 per month . . . a 5% premium . . . for the first year?

As part of start up costs --

That's all --

It might sound good to the right wingers?

Meanwhile, I'm for opening up MEDICARE FOR ALL, EVERYONE IN, NO ONE OUT . . .

with no penalties on anyone.

EXCEPT ... full and complete investigations of the health care corporations and

pharmaceutical companies ripping off Medicare/Medicaid. Further, I'd make sure

that they would suffer high penalties if they wanted to do future business with

Medicare/Medicaid.

[theFrankFactor]

70. I LIKE IT!

[LiberalLovinLug]

71. Great Idea!

This should have been the plan from the start. If the Dems would have framed it like this from the beginning, that the government will simply expand Medicare so anyone can buy in, on a non-profit basis, with those who cannot even afford the basic fees covered free, it would have been much less of a boogeyman scenario for the reich wing to manipulate. It would have snuffed out for sure the one argument that they will kill your grandmother with some nefarious NEW plan.

[Politicub]

72. That would be beautiful to behold

[harmonicon]

74. great idea, but the president doesn't write the bills or get them passed

If he did that, he'd probably wind up with a so called "public option", and then get slammed for signing. He's damned if he does, and damned if he doesn't.

[Sterling]

78. Damned by who is the important part.

He is never going to get the support of people who vote Republican Thinking like that is why he is in a huge crisis at this point. He better step up for the people who supported his election or his Presidency is pointless I het everything the Bush and Cheney people are about. However I am starting to respect their conviction. You ask Cheney if he has any regrets, answers straight out “NO””. Tell him the American people don’t support the war, he says “who cares”. We went through 8 years of that crap, now we are acting like a bunch of cowards trying to win the love of people who hate everything we believe in. I don’t see the point to working to get a candidate in office if they won’t deliver on what they were elected to do. For god’s sake, we have both houses and the executive and we are mired in this crap? Give me a break. What a waste of time.

[harmonicon]

79. the bushies had congress behind them - that's the difference

Even many Democrats acted just like a rubber stamp for Bush. Obama has not only the Republicans, but many Democrats, actively working against him.

[NoSheep]

75. Brilliant! Best post I've read in a month!!!

Can I start smiling again now???

[BrklynLiberal]

76. Sounds good to me!!!!!!

Send it to your Rep and Sen. Maybe they will repeat it.

[Divine Discontent]

77. good 1! and if that damn "trigger" BS passes, it should have medicare-buy in as an option

[scarletwoman]

82. Exactly. k&r (nt)

[mvd]

83. Boy, that would be music to my ears

Come on, Obama. It's time to dump the Repukes. Even former President Clinton says to, and I know that in your heart you are not more conservative than he is:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090903/ap_on_go_pr_wh/us_obama_health_care_overhaul

[zogtheobvious]

84. Never-Neverland Times

Washington DC NNPI - Seismologists around the Maryland/Virginia area are reporting a magnitude 6.4 earthquake centered in the Capitol building in Washington DC. It was detected as far away as the Pennsylvania State University in State College, PA. At first, geologists were summoned from around the globe to determine the cause of this unprecedented seismic event. A recall, however, was quickly sent out, informing the geologists that there was no need to report. The cause of the quake had been determined to be caused by jaws of our Republican congressmen and women hitting the floor, in reaction to a speech by President Barack Obama calling for Congressional Democrats to scrap all further attempts at Healthcare reform and instead allow a buy-in option within the nation's Medicare plan.

As Democrats stood by snickering, daring GOP members to speak out against this, a collective and simultaneous THUD! resounded throughout the streets of Washington DC.

"I thought an airplane had crashed," resident Bob Smith said when questioned by reporters.

(Continued on Page 7)

- It would definitely be a masterstroke....

[tucsonlib]

86. Whoever Coined The Term "Public Option"

should be taken out and shot. Too wonky. Too easy for the wingers to distort. Too "scary" for the easily-frightened among us. Change it to "Medicare Buy-in", or "Expanded Medicare" and the opposition would have nowhere to go. The Repugs, remember, have already vowed to protect Medicare.

I would add, however, that Obama should propose lowering the Medicare eligibility age from 65 to 55. In doing so he would be rescuing thousands of Americans from being forced into bankruptcy or suffering premature death.