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LET ME CHOOSE - MEDICARE FOR ALL. Don't make me make Insurance Companies richer

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WillYourVoteBCounted Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Mar-16-10 04:49 PM
Original message
LET ME CHOOSE - MEDICARE FOR ALL. Don't make me make Insurance Companies richer
Medicare for ALL or public option. Some countries call their systems medicare for all.

I don't want my tax dollars going to Insurance Co CEOS.
I don't want my tax dollars to make Insurance for Profit even more profitable.
I don't want to fear being denied coverage, being dropped from coverage or not having enough coverage.

There should be no tax payer dollars doing to insurance companies.
Tax dollars to public option,
Regulation to insurance cos.

Thanks!
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gateley Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Mar-16-10 04:51 PM
Response to Original message
1. Grayson's resolution is the answer, IMO. We've got to help that get passed. nt
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WillYourVoteBCounted Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Mar-16-10 04:52 PM
Response to Reply #1
2. did you see
that the health care bill will only maybe let some people choose a public option
IF it is even offered?

That means that it is basically an insurance bill and will make insurance cos richer.
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gateley Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Mar-16-10 05:05 PM
Response to Reply #2
7. I've only been kind of following what it will and will not provide, as I pretty
much understand that it's gift to the insurance companies and realistically, there's nothing I can do. (Believe me, I still call and e-mail my reps daily, every single fucking day, but unless I'm sitting in the chamber giving my Aye or Nay...).

I do know that many will not be helped one whit by this bill (and I'm one of them).

I also know that many of the provisions which WILL help a lot of people won't even be effective for several years.

There are so many things wrong with it that it's difficult to keep track, so I stopped trying to cut down on my angst and keep my blood pressure down. Seriously.

The ONLY solution I see at this point is Grayson's resolution. From my out-of-the-loop perspective, I think it would be difficult for any representative to vote against this. It's not paid for by tax dollars, the system is already in place, it would provide jobs, even the tea baggers LOVE their medicare. I'd think even pharmaceutical companies would be behind this -- more insured, more drugs to sell!

So although I do want whatever bill they have now to be passed for those who will be helped (and because I have no faith anything else would even be proposed for several years to come), what I think we absolutely have to have is Grayson's resolution passed. That's where I'm turning my focus now.



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JuniperLea Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Mar-16-10 04:54 PM
Response to Original message
3. Please stop spewing RW talking points and read the parts about insurance company restrictions...
Honestly, this is getting really old.
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girl gone mad Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Mar-16-10 05:01 PM
Response to Reply #3
4. Wall Street is heavily regulated, too.
It's effectively meaningless due to regulatory capture.
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JuniperLea Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Mar-16-10 05:07 PM
Response to Reply #4
8. I think you are confused...
The problems with our financial system came about with repeal of regulations... there were many that were in effect since the Great Depression that were keeping things from falling apart... there were no problems like we see now when those regulations were in effect.
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girl gone mad Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Mar-17-10 05:16 AM
Response to Reply #8
26. No, I'm not confused.
Wall Street was and is heavily regulated, yet the regulators consistently fail at their jobs. See Lehman, for example, where the Fed actively worked to help the executives fraudulently hide their mounting losses, rather than forcing the bank to wind them down.

Or how about the Madoff Ponzi scheme, which the SEC was repeatedly warned about, in detail, years before it ultimately collapsed?

Insurance regulators will doubtless prove even easier to capture.
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JuniperLea Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Mar-17-10 03:04 PM
Response to Reply #26
31. No, you are confused...
I have an NASD security license... you should pick up an NASD Series 6 study guide... I suggest that anyone with an interest in the stock market do so. It's enlightening.

"Will doubtless" shows you are speaking in hypotheticals... "yet the regulators consistently fail at their jobs" shows your confusion on how the system works.
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girl gone mad Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Mar-17-10 06:10 PM
Response to Reply #31
32. Regulators consistently fail at their jobs.
Edited on Wed Mar-17-10 06:19 PM by girl gone mad
Your NASD license is not apropos to the topic (and you do know that it hasn't been called NASD in ages, right?). You have said nothing to dispute the fact that the SEC has failed to properly regulate time and time again. You said nothing to dispute the fact that the Federal Reserve helped Lehman cook their books rather than properly regulating.

Tell me why will all of these regulatory bodies and all of these regulations in place:

\

Did we still have a complete meltdown in 2008?

Because the regulators failed and/or were captured. Just like insurance regulation will fail.
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JuniperLea Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Mar-17-10 07:03 PM
Response to Reply #32
34. FINRA... NASD...
Edited on Wed Mar-17-10 07:06 PM by JuniperLea
Excuse me... tissues are Kleenex and thermal bottles are a Thermos... all the same.

The regulators didn't fail... the regulations went away. The regulators didn't make the regulations go away, two elements of the US government did over the course of two presidential administrations.

We had a meltdown because the regulations went away... they were not ignored, they no longer existed.
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girl gone mad Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Mar-17-10 10:18 PM
Response to Reply #34
35. No, all the regulations did not suddenly "go away"
Sarbanes-Oxley was still in place. Ponzi schemes like the one Madoff ran were still 100% illegal. The rampant fraud that was taking place in the mortgage market was 100% illegal. The Fed was always legally bound to protect American taxpayers from the accounting fraud Lehman was doing, not to enable Lehman to commit that fraud.

No offense, but you seem extremely ignorant on this topic.

The repeal of Glass-Steagall was only one mitigating factor in the crisis. It certainly was not the sole factor. There were mountains of regulations in place that were of little or no use in the end because the regulators were clueless, inept, underpaid or captured.
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liberalhistorian Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Mar-16-10 05:04 PM
Response to Reply #3
6. What's really getting old is your belief that such
"restrictions" will really mean anything to the insurance companies and that they'll actually be enforced. They will find loopholes around them, as they always do, and will not suffer any consequences for it. Those millions of us who make just enough to not qualify for the subsidies but not enough to afford the premiums will be the ones to suffer.
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JuniperLea Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Mar-16-10 05:07 PM
Response to Reply #6
9. So your spewage is based on hypothetical ideas...
That explains a lot. Psssst... your crystal ball is broken...
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liberalhistorian Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Mar-16-10 08:49 PM
Response to Reply #9
22. No, it's based on the cold, hard reality that
insurance companies have always found loopholes around any restrictions on them and have usually gotten away with it. If you honestly think that the government is gonna hold their feet to the fire, then I've got a cabin in the middle of the FL Everglades that you might like.
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JuniperLea Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Mar-17-10 02:31 PM
Response to Reply #22
29. As if to illustrate my point...
You are still spewing hypotheticals... only now, you are spewing hypotheticals in an effort to "prove" other hypotheticals. Please note the "irony" quotes.
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Bluebear Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Mar-16-10 05:08 PM
Response to Reply #3
11. insurance company "restrictions" - lol
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WillYourVoteBCounted Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Mar-16-10 05:16 PM
Response to Reply #3
12. giving tax $ to insurance cos is like feeding a man-eating shark at private beach
just making the monster stronger.
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JuniperLea Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Mar-16-10 05:50 PM
Response to Reply #12
18. Go read about the new insurance company regulations...
They will be forced to pay out... forced to keep people insured after finding out they have serious medical issues... forced to take people on who have pre-existing conditions... there are a lot of new regulations in there that you seem to consistently ignore.

If the insurance companies want to stay in business, they will have to play by the new rules... you are hanging onto the old rules for dear life... for some strange reason.
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Cleobulus Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Mar-16-10 08:55 PM
Response to Reply #18
23. Before they are "forced" to pay a claim, you have to match some of your end as well...
from 2 grand to upwards of 5 grand or more a year if needed to get access to medical care.
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JuniperLea Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Mar-17-10 02:31 PM
Response to Reply #23
30. Where did you hear that tripe?
And what hypothetical are you going to spew in an effort to "prove" this "point?"
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liberalhistorian Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Mar-16-10 05:03 PM
Response to Original message
5. Amen, couldn't have said it better.
And I've been paying into Medicare for twenty five years now and I'm only in my forties. Why in the holy hell should I have to wait until I'm in my sixties to get it?
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gateley Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Mar-16-10 05:08 PM
Response to Reply #5
10. I'm willing to pay for it, even. I'm 57 and it's the only thing available to help me.
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WillYourVoteBCounted Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Mar-16-10 05:18 PM
Response to Reply #5
13. in other countries like NZ and AU tax $ only go to public option
and if you want to have private insurance you use your own money to pay for it.

We shouldn't even have premiums but pay for this with taxes the way other countries
do.

Insurance COs are not accountable, govt is.
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daleanime Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Mar-16-10 05:22 PM
Response to Original message
14. Seems sensible to me....
but then I'm not rich, so my vote doesn't count.:banghead:
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TreasonousBastard Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Mar-16-10 05:25 PM
Response to Original message
15. Who's gonna pay for your Part B? I really love you Medicare for all types...
You're all so cute. Adorable, really. Do you really think that just because Medicare taxes look so low on your pay stubs that's all there is to it?

Part B-- that's the one that pays for outpatient services, doctor bills, and a lot of tests. And most people who can afford it buy insurance coverage because the average person will NEVER be able to afford that cost. And it has copays. And deductibles. And you might not find a doctor, clinic, or hospital that will accept either A or B because the reimbursement rates are below cost. But, hey, somebody told you it's just the best thing, so just keep passing it along.

Oh, and those "low" Medicare taxes are because you're not paying for your own Medicare, just like you're not paying for you own Social Security-- you're paying for your mother's medicare, and you damn well better hope someone's paying or yours when you get it or you'll get a bill that wiil knock you socks into the next county.

And when you get old-- unless things REALLY change, you better have alot of money. Enough to make sure the nursing hme is happy with it. And don't tell your kids what the nursing home will charge-- you never know what seeing all that money the will promised going up in the smoke of home charges can do to a loving son or daughter. Or in-law.

Ya, see, when the money runs out, you go on Medicaid, and no decent nursing home want to see any of its charges on Medicaid. There are some who will jump on it, but you really don't want to know what goes on in a lot of them.

End-of-life care-- you'll be hearing a lot about this in the not too distant future. Thirty million of us baby-boomers are entering geezerhood, and it won't be pretty when we start demanding all sorts of stuff we think we're "owed."



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liberalhistorian Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Mar-16-10 08:47 PM
Response to Reply #15
21. First of all, I'm more than aware of what Medicare really
costs, so you can skip the didactic lectures. And, second, Medicare doesn't pay for long-term care beyond thirty days, never has. That's Medicaid. And people have to spend down to nothing to qualify for it. That's what is paying for my stepdad's permanent nursing home care now, after his dementia cost them most of what they owned. But mom figures they paid into it for over forty years, and he was a productive, contributing member of society, so no guilt there at all. As there shouldn't be.

Medicare is still far easier than dealing with private insurance companies, especially the older you get. You really think most private insurance companies want anything to do with those older than fifty?
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stray cat Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Mar-16-10 05:49 PM
Response to Original message
16. Agreed - but are you willing to fully finance it ie 10,000 per year per person or family?
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cali Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Mar-16-10 05:50 PM
Response to Original message
17. blah, blah, blah. look, that stands exactly zero chance of happening. it's fantasy. period
and foot stomping on du, won't change anything.
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Name removed Donating Member (0 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Mar-16-10 06:51 PM
Response to Original message
19. Deleted message
Message removed by moderator. 
[link:www.democraticunderground.com/forums/rules.html|Click
here] to review the message board rules.
 
ProSense Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Mar-16-10 06:53 PM
Response to Original message
20. You can choose a non-profit plan:
More Health Insurance Choices

  • Multi-state option. Health insurance carriers will offer plans under the supervision of the Office of Personnel Management, the same entity that oversees health plans for Members of Congress. At least one plan must be non-profit, and the plans will be available nationwide. This will promote competition and choice.

  • Free choice vouchers. Workers who qualify for an affordability exemption to the individual responsibility policy but do not qualify for tax credits can take their employer contribution and join an exchange plan.

PDF





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Cleobulus Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Mar-16-10 08:56 PM
Response to Reply #20
24. Why not offer something that has NO deducts and extremely small copays?
to be honest, it doesn't matter if the insurance company is for profit or not if you still can't afford to use it.
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Lugnut Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Mar-17-10 12:16 AM
Response to Original message
25. K&R n/t!
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mmonk Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Mar-17-10 05:31 AM
Response to Original message
27. It's not about you or me.
It's about their choice and passing their bill.
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LWolf Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Mar-17-10 07:11 AM
Response to Original message
28. +1
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rcrush Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Mar-17-10 06:23 PM
Response to Original message
33. Dont worry we have federal regulators to protect us!
They are super great at their jobs!
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