They have no fucking right to hold the under 55 population hostage to the leeches.

[debbierlus]

I have been writing about this for months.

My thoughts are simple.

Expanding Medicare enrollment in exchange for holding the rest of the American people hostage to private insurers is not a compromise. It is a hostage negotiation.

I am sure that private insurance companies are tickled pink to get Medicare expanded to those 55 years and up.

They are passing off the highest cost consumers onto the government system, but we receive no savings as we do not allow the younger population to enroll.

So, the insurance companies can EXTORT the choicest population and get billions upon billions in subsidies for Americans to be FORCED to buy their shitty product (and remember, they can still deny care, just not under preexisting conditions).

[EFerrari]

1. That seems to be the deal in a nutshell.

[PFunk]

2. To put it bluntlly. It was young folks that put Obama in power...

...And it will be young folks that takes him down, That is unless the dems wise up, and wise up now.

[NNN0LHI]

7. To put it accurately. Young folks don't stay young forever

My 55th birthday came and whizzed by several years ago.

Seemed like one day I was 30 and the next year I was 50. Thats how fast they start clicking by. You will find this out too.

Hate to be the bearer of bad news.

Don

[cliffordu]

15. You are exactly right.

I was 29 three weeks ago.

last week I turned 58...

[NNN0LHI]

19. I don't know exactly how it does that but it does

:hi:

[madokie]

32. Inside looking out I see 30

outside looking in I see 61
I've had so damn many anniversary of my 39th birthday that I've lost count.

[CrispyQ]

25. Life is like a roll of toilet paper - the closer you get to the end, the faster it goes.

My roll is spinning faster & faster every day!

[alfredo]

3. Ried just said the public option is not dropped.

[Raineyb]

28. You'll forgive me if I find him less than credible? I have seen no

evidence of a spine and I don't expect to see one now.

[Freddie Stubbs]

31. Perhaps he considers Medicare for 55-66 to be a 'public option'

[asdjrocky]

4. The Senate is broken.

Fully owned and operated by their corporate sponsors.

[alfredo]

10. It always has been. It's our House of Lords. There's some

men and women of great intellect and compassion there, but too many are "upper middle-class twits." Their money has carried them far beyond where their brains could have carried them.

[SIMPLYB1980]

5. Best to wait for details before getting all outraged.

Imo

[proud2BlibKansan]

17. +1

[pipoman]

23. Outrage may be the only thing which will effect the details

by the time the details are out, outrage will be crying over spilled milk. This sounds like, 'sit down, shut up, eat your burnt toast, and fucking like it'.

[Lex]

6. Maybe it's a step in the direction of single payer for all eventually.

Glass half-full and all that.

[Bleacher Creature]

8. Don't worry. People 55-64 are getting equally screwed.

Unless they meet certain conditions applicable to about 7 people nationwide, they won't be eligible for this supposed Medicare "buy-in." It's a total con.

[Overseas]

9. K&R. If the privateers couldn't raise premiums based on age,

in exchange for Medicare taking more of the older patients off their hands, maybe that would be okay.

But private insurers jack up their rates a lot every decade til 50. Since they were about to lose the folks soon, they they jacked premiums up again at 55 and then at 60, to squeeze out every last dime before Medicare.

Furthermore, it shouldn't be that ONLY those 55+ who CAN NOT get insurance through work would be eligible to buy in. It should include ALL who are 55+. If a 57 year old wants to save their nonprofit or small business employer some money, and make her/himself less expensive to keep on staff, why should they be denied?

If a company has to pay triple cost premiums for a 55+ person, won't they be inclined to find some other reason to hire the younger worker?

Privatized health insurance practices age discrimination all the time. Doesn't matter how healthy you may be at 50, they'll jack up the premiums.

[omega minimo]

11. They know 55 and over have been charged double for SS by Reagan and ripped off by Clinton's health

care promises ...................... if it's a foot in the door and unless more heroes like Feingold stand up on their hind legs, isn't is something?

[Nikki Stone1]

12. Exactly.

.

[Kitty Herder]

13. Amen.

[Lilith Velkor]

14. If you take away 'under 55' from that sentence, that's exactly how I feel.

[Thickasabrick]

16. Just got an update off of TPM - the "public option" is state non

profits that the private insurance companies will have to step up and create - if they do not - only then will a "trigger" kick in and a national non-profit insurance company will be created.

It's not a public option - I don't care what Reid says.

[salguine]

18. I'd like to see someone file a class-action lawsuit—on behalf of those

uninsured Americans—to declare the mandate unconstitutional on the grounds that people cannot be forced to purchase a defective product. Any lawyers out there? Thoughts?

[AllentownJake]

20. Why am I not surprised

The fix was in for the beginning.

[Skittles]

21. aw make no mistake, debbierlus - they'll fuck everyone

[pipoman]

22. I believe that if there isn't going to be

a medicare option for sub 55 that there should be a federal insurance commissioner with a strong enforcement arm. As it stands now states are charged with regulating insurance in their state creating a patchwork of regulation some better than others for consumers. With the historical bastardization of the commerce clause, seems reasonable and easy enough to regulate insurance federally with a strong consumer bent.

[pipoman]

24. A problem I see with this 'buy in' option

is that medicare has had an early buy in for certain circumstances, if a person opts in early, their 'premiums' are set for the rest of their life at the higher rate. Anyone know if this is part of the proposal?

[inna]

26. What a sham of a health care reform this is.

This is a deform, not a reform, just a few crumbs thrown to the peasants. Total betrayal by the administration and by the majority of the congress crooks. Disgusting. x(

[Skidmore]

27. They are holding everyone hostage.

[SoCalDem]

29. BUT.. once the expensive-to-treat "geezers" are foisted into the govt. rolls,

the "healthcare industry" will have no logical reason to keep jacking up the rates, now will they?Theoretically, once the sickest/oldest get off their books, they should be left with the creme de la creme, so they should be able to REDUCE rates for the younger, healthier "customers"..

[Lance_Boyle]

30. you know full well we'll never see REDUCED rates

I imagine the excuse for keeping rates as they are for younger people will be "but we have to cover their pre-existing conditions now, and, you know, like, their HEALTH CARE and such." I'd love to see an accounting of where it all goes if that "90% of premiums must be spent on health care" clause survives.