http://www.commondreams.org/view/2009/06/08-8"As many as 119 million Americans would shift from private coverage to the government plan," Grassley wrote in a column for Politico.com. That migration, Grassley said, would "put America on the path toward a completely government-run health care system. ... Eventually, the government plan would overtake the entire market."
Grassley's logic is that so many Americans would prefer a government-run plan that the private health insurance industry would collapse or become a shadow of its current self. That, in turn, would lead even more Americans entering the government plan, making private insurance even less viable.
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For instance, since 2005, Grassley's various political action committees have collected nearly $1.3 million in donations from the industries related to the health insurance debate, according to OpenSecrets.org. Grassley's top four donor groups were Health ($411,956); Insurance ($307,348); Pharmaceuticals ($233,850); and Hospitals ($197,137). Eighth on Grassley's donor list were HMOs at $130,684.
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To avoid such an outcome, proponents of the public option - including those 119 million Americans who are ready to sign up - will have to overcome opposition from Republicans and some Democrats who are determined to protect the interests of the private health insurance industry.
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Some other interesting statistics:
1 in 3 Americans (who aren't eligible for coverage paid for by the federal government) do not have health insurance (50 million) or are underinsured (25 million).
More than 1 in 4 - 83 million - Americans get insurance paid by the federal government (46 million get medicare, 8 million SCHIP, 11 million through the military; the rest are federal employees and other smaller federal programs; this doesn't include various state programs (including last resort/high risk programs) or state employees). US population is about 300 - 320 million; subtract these 83 million - that leaves about 230 million. Of those, 1 in 3 either have no insurance or are underinsured (50 million Americans have no insurance. About 25 million are severely underinsured). (These numbers don't take into account people who have insurance plans which have excluded specific pre-existing conditions).