Baucus delivers: NO Public Option + Mandated Coverage + Fees That Will Increase Costs

[WeDidIt]

Thanks a lot, you fucking bastard:

New York Times Article

Yep, you read that right. Not only do we have to buy insurance from private companies or else we are criminals, we have no choice of a government run option and Baucus pays for it all with a fee charged to insurance comapnies that'll get passed on to us, THUS GUARANTEEING HEALTH CARE COSTS INCREASE AT A FASTER RATE THAN THEY WOULD IF WE DID NOTHING!

[Jakes Progress]

1. He doesn't care.

When his term is up, he will go to work for insurance lobby. I'm thinking several mil a year.

He screwed the Democrats. He screwed his constituents. He screwed the American people. All in a day's work for his thirty pieces.

[Captain Hilts]

3. The White House and DNC should have strong-armed Baucus from the get-go. nt

[Jakes Progress]

7. No. They put him on their shoulders instead. nt

[Captain Hilts]

8. Eleanor and Bobby would have kicked his ass into next week. nt

[donheld]

He should be replaced

[robinlynne]

6. How does that happen? harry Ried's job? Then we need to storm Reid's office with

phone calls and petitions!

[Captain Hilts]

2. WHY is it so important to appeal to Ollie Snowe? She plays for the losing team. nt

[Triana]

4. Insurance company whore.....

...I cannot STAND this man.

[ProSense]

5. Baucus is irrelevant

Sept. 7 (Bloomberg) -- Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus is proposing a health-care overhaul that will cost less than $900 billion over 10 years and establish non-profit insurance cooperatives to extend coverage to the uninsured, part of a final effort to attract Republican support.

link

Republicans have been attacking the coops. The rules allow for his committee to introduce a bill, beyond that he has no say over the process.

[havocmom]

9. he best keep his traitorous ass outta my county

[laughingliberal]

10. Woo Hoo

They're going to limit our premium costs to 13% of our salaries and only allow the insurance companies to gouge us for another $11,900 per year! Way to fight for the people!

:sarcasm:

[WeDidIt]

11. Baucus is serving the struggling health insurance industry

one bankrupt family at a time.

[Better Today]

12. Okay, I seem to be missing something . . . Isn't this just one of 4 or 6 bills

being bantied about? Even if Baucus presents it, it still has to be approved by the entire committee, not just the 6, right? Then it has to be "reconciled" with any or all of the other proposals. So why are folks using terms like "we have to," instead of "we would have to if"? I don't understand this fatalistic attitude at this point, . . . anger at Baucus, sure, but we've known for weeks, nigh months that he had caved was finally being seen for the jerk he is.

[salin]

13. Unless this also includes regulating the heck out of the private

companies and new private coops - to prevent price gouging, to prevent the exclusion of coverage preexisting conditions and to prevent cherry picking of those able to be insured, what would this accomplish? Bah.

[moondust]

14. He doesn't seem to get it.

There has to be a strong and stable option that is not tied to profits just to keep the private profiteers from running amok with an essential public service. I doubt that co-ops would be strong and stable enough to play that role over time with corporate lawyers continually looking for ways to defeat them. Certainly any kind of mandatory private insurance plan would constitute a gigantic handout to the insurance industry which is exactly what they want.

:puke:

[CanonRay]

15. He can't help it...

that's what the health care lobbyists wrote for him. :shrug:

[lunatica]

16. I disagree

It won't get worse because of this. Nothing is stopping them from getting worse because of Max Baucus. He's doing nothing more than letting it all continue unabated.

[laughingliberal]

17. My reading of the article

There will be subsidies for those under the 300% of the poverty level to make sure their premiums are not more than 13% of their income. They can pay an additional $11,900 of their own money in out of pocket costs. And my favorite part-does not look as if there are any restrictions on what the insurance company can charge in premiums. If you're poor you will get a subsidy to offset the premium-nothing I see limits the amount they can charge and the rest of the population will have to pay whatever outrageous amounts the companies want to charge us.

[JDPriestly]

18. Baucus is an idiot. What made him run as a Democrat?

He sounds like a neanderthal.

[JDPriestly]

19. Now we know what the insurance companies want.

That must not pass. We need single payer. Forget insurance companies. They are completely useless.

[n2doc]

20. This is a guaranteed recipe for a republican landslide in 2010

Newt, Rush et al couldn't have written it better. People get stuck with massive, ever increasing, mandatory premiums for ever worse insurance.

Let it die, see what the other senators come up with. This must not pass.