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Linda Douglas from White House Office for Health Reform just defined "public option"

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Phoebe Loosinhouse Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Aug-18-09 11:12 AM
Original message
Linda Douglas from White House Office for Health Reform just defined "public option"
as just one more choice in the insurance exchange that would be a "low cost" alternative to private policies that would NOT be funded by taxpayers. (This was on the Dr. Nancy show I caught for about 2 minutes - long enough to hear this exchange.)

Without government funding, anything called "a public option" is NOT a public option.

It's just about semantics now.
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babylonsister Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Aug-18-09 11:13 AM
Response to Original message
1. Huh?
She let people know they can keep what they have as long as they're willing to pay for it.

And I'm listening, too.
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Phoebe Loosinhouse Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Aug-18-09 11:15 AM
Response to Reply #1
3. So? How does that alter what she defined as a public option? nt
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babylonsister Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Aug-18-09 11:16 AM
Response to Reply #3
6. We'd be buying from the government, not an insurance company.
That's the big difference.
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Teaser Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Aug-18-09 11:16 AM
Response to Reply #3
7. you don't even know what you're talking about, do you?
come back when you do.
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SemiCharmedQuark Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Aug-18-09 11:14 AM
Response to Original message
2. I thought the public option was the buy in for a non profit insurance option run by the gov?
In that sense, it wouldn't be "funded" by taxpayers because people pay for it. It would be funded, sort of, in that low income people are subsidized.
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sharesunited Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Aug-18-09 11:35 AM
Response to Reply #2
14. It would also be funded by taxpayers to the extent claims paid out exceed premiums collected.
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Teaser Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Aug-18-09 11:15 AM
Response to Original message
4. this one wins the DAILY STUPID
that's exactly what the public option is supposed to be. An option you can buy on the soon-to-be-established exchange.
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pyoom Donating Member (91 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Aug-18-09 11:15 AM
Response to Original message
5. Incorrect. And you're fouling up the message with your misinformation.
Edited on Tue Aug-18-09 11:20 AM by pyoom
The public option, as Obama explained in the town halls (if you were listening), will be funded by those who opt into it with premiums. Premiums that will obviously be lower than those paid to private insurance companies.

I'm not clear on whether those who do not have an income could opt into the public option- I presume they will able to, and that there would be no interruption of coverage for a job loss, either.
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Teaser Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Aug-18-09 11:17 AM
Response to Reply #5
8. there are subsidies that are made available for those who fall below
a certain income threshold.
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Oregone Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Aug-18-09 11:17 AM
Response to Original message
9. Self-sustaining, premium funded, publically run/owned--not a contradiction
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kctim Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Aug-18-09 11:25 AM
Response to Original message
10. ?
So we would be free to choose which plan we wanted and only pay for that plan?
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Phoebe Loosinhouse Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Aug-18-09 11:27 AM
Response to Original message
11. The discussion about what constitutes a "real" public option is not a new one
and one we have discussed here many times. Unfortunately, I have to go into the real world for the better part of the afternoon. I will be happy to elaborate later about what a true public option would entail when I get back.

Also - I just reported what she said - "Not funded by taxpayers". Her words, not mine.

How DOES a public option get funded? Why is the expectation that it will self fund through premiums unrealistic?

Sorry, gotta go.
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Cleita Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Aug-18-09 11:28 AM
Response to Original message
12. If this is true, it seems like there is no point to this.
It's just business as usual for the same parasitic industry. Maybe Congress should just pass a list of reforms for insurance and move on. Make them insure anyone who can buy their product. No pre-xisting conditions, no denials and no jacking up the premium if you use the insurance. Charging a flat rate premium would be a start and lowering the deductibles to $100 like they used to be would put the insurance companies back in their place. There still will be a third of the country uninsured, but at least the taxpayer should be spared paying corporate welfare.
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Cant trust em Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Aug-18-09 12:01 PM
Response to Reply #12
18. All of those things will be fine and we should be happy with them, but...
don't tell me that it's reform. It clearly falls well short of what we want, so it should be billed as such.
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leftstreet Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Aug-18-09 11:31 AM
Response to Original message
13. PUBLIC profit protection OPTION n/t
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cdsilv Donating Member (883 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Aug-18-09 11:40 AM
Response to Reply #13
15. For the insurance vampires, its all about the boomers and their impending move to Medicare....
...a BIG move of mostly employer-paid insurance customers moving to medicare when they retire - how will they
be replaced? By customers who are FORCED to buy insurance due to health care reform!
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leftstreet Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Aug-18-09 11:55 AM
Response to Reply #15
17. Good point n/t
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Cant trust em Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Aug-18-09 11:48 AM
Response to Original message
16. Interesting. nt
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