The Mark-Up, 07-01-2009
TPMDC's update on the biggest legislative initiatives on the Hill:
- Health Care: In contravention of their previous position, and of the position of the Chamber of Commerce, Wal-Mart has come out in support of an employer mandate. That'll help woo Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-AR) aboard the efforts to advance legislation in the Senate Finance Committee. But that means little for the more contentious issue of the public option, and Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) just pulled a Dianne Feinstein, saying there aren't enough votes in the Senate for a public option, and that he'll work with conservative Democrats and moderate Republicans to pass a bill without one.
Advertisement
Josh
Matt
Eric
Brian
There are enough votes if it is done by reconciliation. Obama said that the wants a bill by the end of the year which means anything after October 15th can be done by reconciliation.
July 1, 2009 8:04 PM | Reply | Permalink
In a nutshell: if we go with a single payer plan, we add enormous numbers to unemployment, because private insurance providers are bloated with redundant staff and inefficiencies. If we do not go with a public option, we get no incentives to whittle down those redundancies and ineffiencencies fairly quickly. I am deliberately not addressing excess profits now enjoyed by private insurers.
Conclusion: we need a public option. It's OK to start with payments from the public option to providers which are at least as high as the average paid by private insurers. The outcome is that we get both the public and the medical care providers in a position to accept a public option, but private insurers are put on notice that they have a window of time to become players in a truly competitive market. Of course, they are required to accept all applicants in a universal pool. That, after all, is the underlying principle of insurance.
July 1, 2009 8:29 PM | Reply | Permalink