Sooner or later Democrats have to take a stand against Reaganism-- 'if the gov't does it, it’s bad.'

[seafan]

Yep.


Krugman:

.....

What worries me is not so much that the backlash (from cutting the public option) would stop reform from passing, as that it would store up trouble for the not-too-distant future. Imagine that reform passes, but that premiums shoot up (or even keep rising at the rates of the past decade.) Then you could all too easily have many people blaming Obama et al for forcing them into this increasingly unaffordable system. A trigger might fix this — but the funny thing about such triggers is that they almost never get pulled.

Let me add a sort of larger point: aside from the essentially circular political arguments — centrist Democrats insisting that the public option must be dropped to get the votes of centrist Democrats — the argument against the public option boils down to the fact that it’s bad because it is, horrors, a government program. And sooner or later Democrats have to take a stand against Reaganism — against the presumption that if the government does it, it’s bad.

In response to Krugman, commenter SueDe writes very astutely:

What worries you, Dr. Krugman, infuriates me. That people would be mandated to buy insurance from the for-profit insurance companies would require subsidies from the federal government in order for many citizens to afford the policies. And the amount of subsidy would only grow as insurance companies continued to raise the cost of premiums.

Without a public option the entire health insurance reform effort would amount to shoveling more federal taxpayer money into the private insurance companies. I’m not worried about that - I’m mad as hell about that.

Already, the “compromise” deal struck to get the insurance companies to go along with reform amounts to their relenting on acceptance of people with pre-existing conditions, accepting an agreement to retain those who get sick as long as they pay their premiums and eliminating caps on lifetime maximum payouts - all of which can be circumvented with a little fancy footwork from the lawyers. They “compromised” to this extent in order to get access to the 46 million uninsured and those they had already dropped who would, under this reform plan, now be qualified to receive federal subsidies to purchase their policies.

This whole health insurance reform, or health care reform, was approached completely backwards. First the moral argument should have been made that every person in this country deserved access to health care, that universal coverage was a moral imperative, and reform had to be done without the government promising to give for-profit private insurance companies and hospitals the public’s money.

Then a system could have been devised that would have met the moral requirement of universal coverage by either opening up Medicare to everyone or forcing for-profit insurance companies and hospitals to become non-profit entities in order to be paid by the government.

But that wasn’t done, whether because reform was marketed incorrectly or, basically, because this is not a moral country but a collection of individualists with the mantra, “I’ve got mine, so screw you.”

The great shock and surprise that the ferocity of the town hall screamers caused in Washington will be eclipsed by the fury of liberals and progressives if we are kneecapped by our leadership.


In a few more interminable hours, we will know where we stand.

[xchrom]

1. i just don't care any more -- the whole thing has even let the air out of my mad. nt

[Winterblues]

2. I am with you

I don't care anymore and that is exactly what they want from us. But because of my new found apathy I will not support those that sell us out to Insurance Giants either..Not with money, voice, or vote.

[seafan]

3. Thom Hartmann: 'Just let any citizen in the US buy into Medicare.'

Medicare Part E: Everybody

By Thom Hartmann
September 9, 2009

The President this morning admitted on national television that he lost control of the message with health care. It's time to reboot - and use a very, very, very simple message so all Americans can understand it.

Let's use Medicare, which nearly every American understands. Just create "Medicare Part E" where the "E" represents "everybody." Just let any citizen in the US buy into Medicare.

It would be so easy. No need to reinvent the wheel with this so-called "public option" that's a whole new program from the ground up. Medicare already exists. It works. Some people will like it, others won't - just like the Post Office versus FedEx analogy the President is so comfortable with.

Just pass a simple bill - it could probably be just a few lines, like when Medicare was expanded to include disabled people - that says that any American citizen can buy into the program at a rate to be set by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) which reflects the actual cost for us to buy into it.

Thus, Medicare Part E would be revenue neutral!

To make it available to people of low income, Congress could raise the rates slightly for all currently non-eligible people (like me - under 65) to cover the cost of below-200%-of-poverty people. Revenue neutral again.

This blows up all the rumors about death panels and grandma and everything else: everybody knows what Medicare is. Those who scorn it can go with United Healthcare and it's $100 million/year CEO. Those who like Medicare can buy into Part E. Simplicity itself.

Of course, we'd like a few fixes, like letting negotiate drug prices, and fill some of the other holes Republicans and AARP and the big insurance lobbyists have drilled into Medicare so people have to buy "supplemental" insurance, but that can wait for the second round. Let's get this done first.

Simple stuff. Medicare for anybody who wants it. Private health insurance for those who don't. Easy message. Even Max Baucus and Chuck Grassley can understand it. Sarah Palin can buy into it, or ignore it. No death panels, no granny plugs, nothing. Just a few sentences.

.....

Replace the "you must be disabled or 65" with "here's what it'll cost if you want to buy in, and here's the sliding scale of subsidies we'll give you if you're poor, paid for by everybody else who's buying in." This creates Part E.

.....

Thom just referred to this quote:

Many of life's failures are men who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up. ----Thomas Edison

Are you listening, Mr. President?