Billions of dollars in subsidies to insurance companies and HMOs

[Q]

Medicare overhaul may come today


The Senate today is expected to approve a $400 billion plan to overhaul Medicare.
The plan would add a prescription drug benefit, provide billions of dollars in subsidies to insurance companies and HMOs,
and take the first step in allowing private plans to compete with Medicare.

http://www.cnn.com/

[phaseolus]

1. Something that I've never noticed discussed in all of the news coverage --

Administrative overhead costs have always, always been much higher with private plans vs. Medicare... If I remember correctly it's something like 25-30% vs. 10-15%.

Has this subject even come up regarding this bill?

[Q]

2. Problem: Insurance companies and HMOs donate big...

...to Bush's* campaigns.

- Let's face the truth here. These are simply KICKBACKS. Some of this 'extra cash' will be returned to Bush* and other candidates for their next campaign.

[maddezmom]

3. Harkin and a few other dems....

yesterday called them "bribes". And like Boxer said...just follow the money.

[terrisel]

4. I think we need a tax revolt

I think we need to plan a tax revolt but also be careful of it being used against us.

The fact is a lot of people haven't been looking at there payroll tax deductions and where they are going.

I think a tax revolt could be one of the issues uniting left and right. While we have always been willing to pay for medicare, the fact is that this money is now destined to become welfare payments to corporate executives-massive salaries, expense accounts, stock options, and no oversight.

I think that the current obligations of medicare need to be paid out of the general revenue (probably enough savings in the military budget). Let's face it, Congress didn't have much of a problem appropriating 87 1/2 billion + for Bush's Iraq Adventure.

We should call for the end of the payroll tax for medicare unless it is going into a Gore lockbox. We should never be "understanding" of the argument that there is no money-the money is all coming from us anyway. We can't keep turning it over to crooks.

We need a leader on each issue-we should have one on Medicare and Social Security-someone in Congress who has been outspoken and passionate.

By not going on the offensive on these issues we are constantly losing. We were all caught off guard by the AARP infiltration and we should not have been. Other advocacy groups have probably also been infiltrated. Remeber the issue about Tom DeLay telling lobbying groups that had to hire Republican lobbyists if they wanted hi to listen? I guess AARP hired Novelli.
The fact that Democratic congresspeople were stunned by the AARP infiltration means they have been taken in; they have been naive-because Novelli's history was known.
The fact that the AARP membership was stunned, means they were naive-Novelli got the bylaws changed so that members don't even have the power to get rid of him. The AARP endorsement was no sudden decision.


I think Newt Gingrich is an astute student of Nazi Germany history and is still very active.

What is going on is a planned takeover of our country. They have been running a propaganda campaign for years and have infiltrated most of the media. The infiltration of the lobbying groups has been going on for years and is a republican fifth column type insurgency. They were ready with the Patriot Act to limit the power of citizens.
They are funding their revolution with with "campaign donations" that are bribes and kickbacks.

Our money is fueling the corporations that are paying the bribes and fueling the federal government that is working against us.

This is all headed somewhere. I believe that if we don't go on the offensive now we are going to go down the road of Chile in the 1970s or Germany in the 1930s.

The information is all out there. We need to tie it together and start speaking the truth with one voice. There is tremendous negative emotion building among the citizenry and whichever side is able to harness that emotion will win.

Newt Gingrich and his allies know the emotion is building and they think they can harness it-just as Hitler did.

I believe that if they win, a lot of us will be imprisoned or killed.

We are back to the Re-Winning the American Revolution and if we "don't all hang together, we will hang separately."

[cthrumatrix]

5. it came up in the floor debate...medicare has proven to be much

more cost effective vs private insurance...the numbers used were 2% vs 15% in cost...it was even close...this is from Durbin last night. They have the data.

[Mairead]

6. And that's being very charitable

The study by Woolhandler and Himmelstein found 31% as the for-profit rakeoff.

Dennis Kucinich is your best or only chance, folks. It's him or the plughole.

How long can you tread water?