Reply #25: What's my point? [View All]

To think carefully about what we are doing.

I kind of think that the Dems are being gamed by the private insurance companies, to be honest. Right now. There's a long way until this is over, if I read the poll numbers correctly, which seem to show support for single payer and non-support for forced private insurance coverage.

I don't think you are dense. If I seem vague, it's because I am somewhat supportive of the current proposals and somewhat negative on current proposals.

Obama DIDN'T say it would be illegal to deny health care. He said it would be illegal for the private insurance companies to deny you INSURANCE COVERAGE. Right now, Medicare denies some treatments for some conditions it does cover, and it doesn't cover some types of conditions - and all private insurance companies deny some treatments. Obama has said very explicitly that Medicare should deny more treatment than it now allows.

This is the exact quote from his speech:
Under this plan, it will be against the law for insurance companies to deny you coverage because of a pre-existing condition. As soon as I sign this bill, it will be against the law for insurance companies to drop your coverage when you get sick or water it down when you need it most. They will no longer be able to place some arbitrary cap on the amount of coverage you can receive in a given year or a lifetime. We will place a limit on how much you can be charged for out-of-pocket expenses, because in the United States of America, no one should go broke because they get sick. And insurance companies will be required to cover, with no extra charge, routine checkups and preventive care, like mammograms and colonoscopies – because there's no reason we shouldn't be catching diseases like breast cancer and colon cancer before they get worse.