The Senate bill is just a bad corporate giveaway with a very few good things in it

[Better Believe It]

Health Care Reform to Date: So Very Far From Perfect
by Jon Walker
January 11, 2010

The Senate bill is just a bad corporate giveaway with a very few good things in it. It has some good new regulations but leaves enforcement up to the states. This is recipe for regulations which are not enforced and are therefore meaningless.

The new regulations only impact the small group market; they don't apply to the majority of private insurance in this country. The weird "free rider" provision instead of a real employer mandate creates some bad hiring incentives along with incentives to drop coverage.

The quality of the insurance people will be forced to buy is incredibly low and the subsidies are insufficient. People will have no other choice but to buy coverage from very inefficient and wasteful private insurance companies.

The bill lacks real cost control and the new poorly-designed excise tax will result in millions of Americans getting lower quality health insurance. The bill is not even a good foundation for future reform because it works on a state-by-state basis while directing huge amounts of money and power to the industries which opposed real reform.

The Senate bill does not provide anything close to universal coverage; it also contains a major roll back of women's reproductive health rights.

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2010/01/12-2

[Don Caballero]

1. It may not be an ideal bill but it must be passed.

The bad parts can be changed in the future. But right now it is the right thing to do.

[DJ13]

3. The "bad parts" never get changed

Seriously, does anyone look at past history anymore?

[Better Believe It]

4. "The bad parts can be changed in the future." When? After the Democrats lose Congressional seats?

Now that's a real pipedream.

Unless you think the Democratic Party will sometime in the relatively near future will control the Senate with 80 votes and the House with 400 votes in order to pass "liberal" health care legislation.

But there will be changes in this legislation if it passes.

It will be made even worse once the Republicans win 51 seats in the Senate!

[TheWraith]

2. Yet more bullshit.

"It has some good new regulations but leaves enforcement up to the states."

No it doesn't.

"The new regulations only impact the small group market"

No they don't.

"The Senate bill does not provide anything close to universal coverage; it also contains a major roll back of women's reproductive health rights."

No it doesn't.

This person has obviously not actually READ the bill, and is just restating the same BS that has been circulating online.

[villager]

5. Ah, but to the knucklejerk unreccers, it's a *very happy wonderful* bill indeed...

n/t

[berni_mccoy]

6. Even the EPI who FDL has been using as a hammer doesn't believe that. (Video Link)

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=385x422188#422190