Some good news: Republicans don't even like Co-ops, so Democratics can push for public option

As some of us might of guessed the Republicans/Insurers do not want any competition for the big insurance companies:

Look at this rather interesting article on Co-ops:
Alternate Plan as Health Option Muddies Debate
By ROBERT PEAR and GARDINER HARRIS
Published: August 17, 2009
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/18/health/policy/18plan.html

Article discusses if Co-ops could work.

Then here are the last 4 paragraphs:

Mr. Conrad, appearing this week on “Fox News Sunday,” said the idea of a co-op was gaining traction. “It’s not government-run and government-controlled,” he said. “It’s membership-run and membership-controlled, but it does provide a nonprofit competitor for the for-profit insurance companies.”

Insurers have strenuously opposed Mr. Obama’s call for a new government-run insurance plan. Karen M. Ignagni, president of America’s Health Insurance Plans, a trade group, was no more receptive to the idea of co-ops on Monday.

“How will the cooperative be structured?” Ms. Ignagni asked. “What are the regulatory requirements? It may sound benign, but it may use administered prices. I’m not sure it solves any problems.”

Senator Orrin G. Hatch, Republican of Utah, said he saw the differences as more semantic than substantive. “You can call it a co-op, which is another way of saying a government plan,” Mr. Hatch said.

------------------

Therefore, except for the support of a few more conservative Democrats, there is no political advantage in the Senate to propose co-ops. They might as well go for a strong public plan, and try to organize enough Senators to break potential filibusters-- even if those who volunteer to invoke cloture do not support the actual legislation.

I say we give up trying to appease them and come up with a plan that works for average people. It should be illegal for health insurance companies to make a profit or to pay their executives lavish salaries and bonuses. They are making that money by causing suffering and death. The bad karma they're bringing on themselves is just staggering to contemplate.

Obviously single payer or a path toward single payer (strong public option) might work to limit the profits insurance companies and outrageous salaries of their leaders.

Another way might be to cap premiums to some reasonable amount related to the average cost of the procedures averaged across everybody. See http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x63138

Conrad was on NPR yesterday, blathering on about there being no votes for the public option. When asked whether or not these co-ops would really influence the perhaps 2-3 Republicans who might cross over, he obfuscated to the point where the only logical conclusion is that he and the other Blue Dogs are the ones who are going to vote against the public option.

So they won't be able to justify their positions, if they really aim to vote against a public option themselves. Their colleagues will pressure them to do the right thing.

...so I say fuck them. Let's do it without their support and shove it down their throats like that shoved Alito, Roberts, the Iraq war, and stem-cell research block down ours.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/19/health/policy/19repubs.html?_r=2&hp

WASHINGTON — Given hardening Republican opposition to Congressional health care proposals, Democrats now say they see little chance of the minority’s cooperation in approving any overhaul, and are increasingly focused on drawing support for a final plan from within their own ranks.