A "Public Option" that is only for some

[ashling]

(i.e., those without insurance) is neither public nor an option.

:shrug:

[DrDan]

1. Totally agree - I was very disappointed when I heard that

[Zynx]

2. When Social Security was passed it didn't cover nearly as many as it does today.

Just get the structure out there. We can tweak it later pretty easily.

[DrDan]

5. the structure is out there - and available for those 65 and older

let start tweaking . . . not simply throwing crumbs to the base

[placton]

rofl

yeah sure - this will be "tweaked" later - do you also open your accounts to Nigerian princes?

[Zynx]

12. No, but I actually know history, bozo.

[DireStrike]

7. Or we could just expand medicare

Instead of spending so much political capital to make things easier for insurance companies.

[Faryn Balyncd]

3. K&R.......There should be NO MANDATE unless EVERY AMERICAN IS FREE TO CHOOSE the public plan....

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=6506609&mesg_id=6506609

[berni_mccoy]

4. Thankfully HR3200 doesn't say that.

[Donnachaidh]

11. ....

:eyes: Suuure it doesn't. It doesn't have to - there is a four year period before the PO even materializes. Four YEARS of government mandated profits for the insurance companies.

[seabeyond]

6. right on. nt

[Mr Generic Other]

8. obama's speech disappointed me and every person i know, young or old.

everyone, without exception, that i know believes that the single payer, universal model is the only model we can afford.
what mr obama proposes is like cutting half of a cancer out of someone and hoping the rest of the body will fight it off.
any dr with a scalpel and the ability to cut out all the cancer, but chooses to leave half it in, is criminal.
what mr obama proposes will exacerbate the economic woes of americans and insure that his children and mine are bound by debt peonage.
he looks a lot like a carpetbagger to me.
mr obama could leave america a better place rather than give us more of the same.

[Inuca]

9. If you did not think of the PO

as a kind of substitute for single payer, which it was never meant to be, you would not be so suprised. And, if my understaning is correct, those without insurance include the self-employed, small businesses, etc. The idea is to offer a decent (in terms of coverage and price) to those who don't have access to insurance through their employer. If you do already have insurance (which will get better because of the new regulations, such as no caps, etc.) you already have coverage and a much better price than those who currently have to buy something on the open market. That' all, at least at this stage.

What did you think the public option is supposed to be?

[ashling]

10. Well, first of all

I wasn't surprised. And I'm not concerned about what somebody else thinks that it was meant to be. I only make 2 points:

1. A plan (for better or worse) that is not available to all is not for the public. It is for only some of the public, therefore it is exclusive.

2. O.K., I guess it would be an option ... for some. You got me there.

Just because you have access to some sort of plan through your employer (particularly if it is a small business which doesn't really get any better rates than a private individual) doesn't mean you really have an option to buy it.

I have worked for businesses that offered a plan that I couls neither afford and that I would not buy anyway because it was so crappy.

What about those people.

Where is the competition to the private insurers. How does this help keep costs in line?

[Inuca]

13. A couple of comments

again based on my imperfect knowledge of what is being proposed + the fact that we are still dealing only with proposals, at times inconsistent ones.

I think that small businesses (with I am sure a definition of what "small" actually means) WILL have access to the PO, either as an organization or their employees or both, I am not sure.

And I agree that some employer plans are too expensive for many of their employees. This was the case at my previous job, a small liberal arts college. I was paying roughly $400/month for me and my husband and it was kind of difficult, and my salary was in the top 20% or so. I know there were many that did not get the insurance, they just could not afford it. BUT there will be subsidies, though Obama did not specifically mention them yesterday. So there will be some kind of help to make it easier to afford what you need.

As for he competition, I have a problem with that as well. I am not sure how it will work, especially in states currently dominated by a very small number of insurers. The answer in principle is in these exchanges, but if you only have 2 or 3 private insurers + hopefully the PO in the exchange... I do not have an answer for that :-(.

And as a side note, a few comments about single payer. I spoke a few days ago with a close friend who lives in France. Yes, they do have single payer for which taxes (a lot, though I do not know how much percentage wise) are paid. But because of the financial difficulties, the percentage that you have to pay out of your own pocket when you go and see a doctor or for prescription drugs keeps increasing in recent years. And most people, including my friend who is struggling financially, are buying additional insurance. She told me that hers is about 80-90 euros/month, she seemed to think that it is a lot, I wanted to laugh, but that's ON TOP of the tax she pays specifically for "social security" as it is called over there. I still think it is a better system, but it's far from perfect as well...