Dean: Senate Bill Is 'Real Reform'

[Undercurrent]

...legislation, he argued, is neither a seamless process nor a perfect product. And there was much to hail about the compromise that had developed...

...And while the public option for insurance coverage seemed, essentially, dropped from the legislative language, Dean had a positive take on the Senate's alternative approach.

"I'm not a fan of the private market, as you know. However, the private market does work in two countries, Switzerland and the Netherlands, and the way it works is by substantial regulation... If, in fact, this is basically going to be run as if it were the federally employee benefit plan, than this can work. The knows how to run this plan and I've almost never heard anything bad of the federal employee benefit program."

"There doesn't have to be a public option in the bill because I'm some sort of ideological socialist," he said of his support for a government-run insurance provider. "There had to be a public option because the private sector doesn't work. And if they can make it work , then let's see."

"The criteria that I use to evaluate the various proposals is; 'Is it reform?'" Dean concluded. "And this is reform."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/12/09/dean-senate-bill-real-ref_n_385543.html

[TwilightGardener]

1. Interesting, thanks for posting. Food for thought.

[cali]

2. not so fast

<snip>

Some detail from Dean:

* In one provision that liberals will dislike, Dean said he’d been told that the Medicare buy-in for people 55-64 would not have subsidies, potentially making the buy in unaffordable for many intended recipients. Dean said that if this isn’t fixed in conference negotiations, it could be a deal-breaker.

“That’s a huge problem that may tip this into being not real reform,” Dean said.

* Dean confirmed what I reported here yesterday: The Medicare buy-in will be available as early as 2010, a provision he hailed for substantive and political reasons. “They’re making government-run single payer available to people under 65,” he said. “That’s a step in the right direction.”

Dean added, however, that it was unclear as of yet whether the early buy-in applied to all those without insurance or just those at high-risk (I was told yesterday that the latter was true). He said that if it’s high-risk only, that could also be a provision that falls short of real reform, and noted that the early buy-in would have to be made available to everybody.

<snip>

http://theplumline.whorunsgov.com/health-care/howard-dean-senate-health-care-deal-contains-real-reform/

[Phx_Dem]

3. Dr. Dean just made Big Ed's head explode. Thank you!

[flyarm]

4. shut up Dean..you are and have been on the take by big insurance..we don't need your feedback

since you sold out and sold us out long before now!

so Dean..just STFU!

[tabatha]

5. Thank you, Dean,

One of the few politicians I trust.

[NJmaverick]

6. Thanks for posting this. Dean is certainly qualified to speak on this issue

and clearly he offers more than a knee jerk reaction.

[Undercurrent]

7. Yes, he sure is qualified.

I value his opinion.

Now the under the bus tossing will surely begin.

[EFerrari]

8. I don't understand why he's trusting substantial regulation

to keep the insurance mafia in line. :shrug:

[NJmaverick]

9. Perhaps it's because he is a doctor and he has been a governor

so he understand both the health care industry and the abilities and limitations of regulations.

[mdmc]

10. Dean!

[EFerrari]

11. I'll ask one more time: Why does Doctor Dean trust regulation

to handle this when regulation in this country is a joke?

What am I missing?

[eridani]

12. There is no cost control in this bill, period n/t