It's Time To Stop Pretending A Healthcare Bill WITHOUT A PUBLIC OPTION is Reform....

[Blackhatjack]

We need to call it the way it really is .... anything short of including a public option in a healthcare bill will not be reform, but rather a 'dream come true' for insurance companies as you can be sure the mandate that everyone purchase private healthcare insurance will bring them BILLIONS OF DOLLARS in premiums from those likely to make the fewest claims.

Republicans are busy promoting a HC Bill without a PO as a 'moderate' position.

Just stop it ... call it what it is .... another giveaway to the insurance companies.

[katty]

1. thank you!

[Skittles]

2. get with the program, Blackhatjack!

don't you know the latest meme of the apologizers? We start with something, ANTYHING - then we can TWEAK IT! You know how well that has worked in the past!!! :rofl:

[Blackhatjack]

3. YEP ...and once we get ANYTHING, Repubs will say we already Reformed Healthcare ...forget it

.... that will never work here. We either go for the whole enchilada or we end up with crumbs on our plates!

[Skittles]

10. YOU KNOW IT BLACKHATJACK

:thumbsup:

[BlueDemKev]

4. Non-Profit Co-Ops Would Be Effective

I am in favor of having a government-funded public option. We should push for it as hard as possible.

However, if we are unable to get 218 House members and 51 Senators to support it, I see nothing wrong with setting up government-contracted non-profit co-ops to compete with the private insurance companies. The co-ops will compete against private insurance companies and help keep their premiums down. That would still be a whole lot better than the situation we have right now.

Please...don't let this oppotunity of a lifetime fail because we were overly stubborn.

[Truth2Tell]

9. If that would really work, why hasn't it before now?

They tried co-ops in California, and others have tried repeadedly. If co-ops were the solution we wouldn't need this healthcare reform effort at all. But we do.

[Blackhatjack]

11. Let me take a moment to analyze why this would not work as presented...

The so-called 'co-ops' that Repubs and Blue Dogs are proposing would have little effect on private insurers and their power over the present insurance markets.

In many states, two(2) healthcare insurance companies write over 70% of all insurance policies in the state. Without a public option, that will not change.

People who have been following this state he 'co-ops' being proposed would be organized on small scales, and their ability to negotiate volume discounts would be severely limited. Plus it would take time to create them, set up the infrastructure, and enabling legislation would run smack dab into existing healthcare legislation which has been deformed over the years in favor of protecting the same healthcare insurance companies which presently hold defacto monopolies. And here is the kicker .... there will be lawsuits by the private healthcare insurance companies to enjoin the very practices that the co-ops were created to address, which will be intentionally drawn out over years of protracted litigation and cost millions of dollars to defend.

Make no mistake about it, 'co-ops' have already been tried in some markets and they failed miserably.

[Autumn]

5. #5 and off to the greatest

thank you. That is exactly what it will be if there is no public option.

[stray cat]

6. Of course you can have reform without a public option - I bet the GOP can do it in 2012

if we hand them the election. Of course - like the last 8 years it will be a disaster to any who work for a living

[spanone]

7. without public option it's an insurance company bailout

[byebyegop]

8. Polls say it all!

Not sure when the others were taken but the SurveyUSA one was just last week.

[Deep13]

12. A public option is a half-measure already.

I think it was a big, big mistake to start there for negotiating purposes. Nowhere to go but down.

[Blackhatjack]

13. ... And the idea of Repubs acting in a 'bipartisanship' manner was doomed from the start...

Repubs played the game to claim 'bipartisanship' while actively working to reject everything.

The same is true of healthcare insurance companies claiming to be in favor of reform, but working furiously behind the scenes to fund efforts to kill any reform other than a mandate that everyone be required to purchase private healthcare insurance.

[LWolf]

14. I never have pretended that.

Personally, I've never pretended that anything short of single-payer is authentic, positive reform.

[Blackhatjack]

15. What we have here is an opportunity to ensure Democratic Dominance For Years to Come...

... simply by choosing to do the right thing.

Forget Repubs, rewrite the healthcare reform bill to provide for a strong progressive bill and push it through with just Democrats.

Repubs know if Democrats are successful and people begin to see the benefits of passing such a bill, they will vote Democratic in the future.