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Reid: Health Care Coming in the Summer
The substance of health care reform is on everyone's mind in the Capitol these days, as Republican senators examine just how much cooperation is possible with the president's party. But what's been less clear is the timeframe for consideration of a major health bill ...
... until Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) just cleared it up. "I'd like to get health care started before the August recess," he told reporters today. Started, but not necessarily finished -- when leaders give themselves a deadline, they tend to choose their words carefully. Sounds like GOP hopes for "regular order" might become reality.
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Josh
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Eric
President Obama falsely conflated the need for cost control and his proposal for health care reform. Unfortunately rhetoric aside, the mainstream inside-the-Beltway allowable proposals, including Obama/Baucus and Wyden, etc do NOT control costs. They actually explode costs. Nor do they get to 100% universality in coverage, and they are very bad in terms of comprhensiveness or quality of coverage.
It may seem strange to some who don't follow this closely, but the "single payer" and "medicare for all" proposals such as from Rep. Peter Stark and John Conyers are actually the economically sensible, fiscally conservative proposals, that really do control costs.
Don't take my word for it. That is according to Commonwealth Fund and the Lewin Group, which do not support single payer/Medicare for All (they push their so-called Building Blocks proposal which is essentially the same as Obama/Baucus).
See:
http://www.commonwealthfund.org/publications/publications_show.htm?doc_id=777197
See also:
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2009/2/25/85211/4019/280/701460
Peace & Health
February 25, 2009 1:35 PM | Reply | Permalink
I totally agree w/ your post here. This is the best approach for universal health care and one that could get the business segment behind it if they are properly educated on the issue.
February 25, 2009 1:47 PM | Reply | Permalink
If and only if the numbers are sufficient to get past the emotional/ideological bias against the "socialism" of single-payer. The right has been so thorough with convincing people to actively oppose their own interests that they've internalized it.
Hmmm... Maybe "proper education" includes some electric shocks? Operant conditioning, you know.
February 25, 2009 2:07 PM | Reply | Permalink
Actually, the business sector is so weighed down by health care costs that I believe they'll be a lot more receptive than you might imagine. Someone once described Ford as a health care provider selling cars to defray costs.
February 25, 2009 4:45 PM | Reply | Permalink
Related to Obama's comments last night on Medicare and SS...
WTF? A step towards private SS accounts?
Is this the bombshell that flew under the radar?
February 25, 2009 2:01 PM | Reply | Permalink
He was not referring to privitizing SS. What he's pushing here is a way for everyone to start saving. He mentioned it on the campaign trail where the Gubment would coordinate with employers to start savings accounts for workers. This is completely separate from SS.
February 25, 2009 2:21 PM | Reply | Permalink
I would greatly like to see a hybrid medicare health program where I'm not dependent on my employer. COBRA is an absolute joke and switching between insurance carriers sometimes leads to having to choose a new primary care doctor. The program could work in a similar manner where premiums are taking out of my paycheck. I believe this would help the existing medicare system because you would have a pool of healthy people insuring for emergencies...the pool of money could be used pay doctors, procedures, research and not squander in the stock market to make the shareholders happy.
February 25, 2009 2:47 PM | Reply | Permalink