Premiums are key issue for health care negotiators-(Obama) House Democrats seek affordable premiums

[kpete]

Source: Associated Press


Premiums are key issue for health care negotiators
Faced with giving up government health plan, House Democrats seek affordable premiums

By Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar, Associated Press Writer , On Tuesday January 5, 2010, 9:40 pm EST

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Congressional Democrats and President Barack Obama began work in earnest Tuesday on difficult issues still standing in the way of their national health care overhaul after months of tortuous debate. Topping the list: How to help Americans pay for insurance premiums.

At a White House meeting that stretched into Tuesday evening, the president and Democratic congressional leaders agreed on fast-track negotiations that would bypass the need for a formal conference to resolve differences between the House and Senate health care bills.

Obama "also stated his intention to work with leaders to strengthen affordability ... beyond what is in the Senate bill," said a House leadership aide, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the meeting was private.

The president met with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md. Joining the discussion by telephone were Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., and Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., who were out of town.

Read more: http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Premiums-are-key-issue-for-apf-3487869393.html?x=0&sec=topStories&pos=3&asset=&ccode=

[Oregone]

1. The problem with seeking "affordability" through subsidies to lower premiums...

is that it doesn't lower national per capita costs, and the US will still have unaffordable healthcare that impacts US competiveness. Rather than lower per capita costs, it just shuffles them around in a shell game, taxing other groups on the back end (like middle class union workers) to make healthcare look affordable on the front end. The result will be tax increases and the onset of 30 million new, but relatively expensive, plans that the policy holders cant afford to use anyway (due to deductibles & co-pays).

[amandabeech]

4. It seems that your point, that we spend so much more on healthcare than other countries, has been

forgotten altogether.

It seems like real reform would address the huge absolute price that we pay for services.

Why should an MRI be so much cheaper in Canada than here, for example?

The more I read and think, the more this bill seems like just a lot of hooey so that Obama can check off a campaign promise, not so that we can solve a national problem.

[Phoebe Loosinhouse]

9. exactly right. It will still be exhorbitant compared to other countries

who TOOK OUT the profit component and tightly cocntrol costs through regulation.

We got exactly the "reform" you would expect if the goal was to protect the profit of the insurers, which is was. How else could one explain such a backasswards approach and result which will essentially cure none of the basic issue - health care itself is too expensive in the US and the private insurance layer just exacerbates that.

Instead of paying unaffordable premiums and out-of-pockets, we would be better off flying to other countries and paying out of pocket and many are doing exactly that.

[tosh]

2. Hell, at this point a triggered public option would please me. nt.

[LibDemAlways]

3. There is no way any politician can come up with an accurate formula for

determining what any one person or family can afford. Mandating that people buy insurance from a bunch of crooks is bad enough, but deciding who qualifies for a subsidy and who doesn't based on income makes no sense at all in a country as large and diverse as this one. Everyone's circumstances are different and everyone's financial obligations are different. This has all the markings of becoming a total fiasco.

[Oregone]

6. Very true

Especially if you consider alimony & child support payments, wage garnishment, and that stuff (not sure if exceptions are written in).

Ive met some guys who couldn't buy a pot to piss in because they fucked up their lives so much. They still make a decent living. There would be no equation for them

[LibDemAlways]

7. I know a couple trying to put kids through college while their

house is literally falling apart and they are driving junkers badly in need of maintenance. On paper they look ok, but the reality is very different.

No wonder politicians are retiring this year. When the shit hits the fan on this one, it isn't going to be pretty.

[proudohioan]

5. The term affordability is so subjective......

What criteria is used to determine "affordability"? By whose standard are we determining what is affordable to an average American family? For that matter, what exactly IS an average American family these days? Put together 3 families that each have an income of say $50,000 and each of those families will have 3 different household/living situations that may be liable to change at any moment. What is affordable to one family may be completely out of reality for another.

Topping the list: How to help Americans pay for insurance premiums? Hmmmm, let me think real hard..... how 'bout creating some jobs for Americans, I mean real, living wage jobs that don't involve flipping burgers at Mickey D's for $7.25 per hour??

Just a thought.

[azygous]

8. I need a subsidy NOW!

I'm a government retiree from the state of California. I just got my first retirement check of 2010. They are now taking out exactly thirty percent of my gross pay for Anthem Blue Cross monthly premiums. This doesn't include dental, vision care, and income tax. After those are deducted, I have $700 for the month to live on.

It's easy for me to see what's wrong with our economy. Health insurance corporations are taking such a huge bite, it doesn't leave any money left to spread around over the rest of the economy. If nothing else, you'd think other businesses would be rising up against the banking and insurance sectors, demanding them stop hogging so much of our pathetic incomes.