Since Baucus is the Emperor of Reform, let's just stop arguing and adopt his original plan

http://wonkroom.thinkprogress.org/2008/11/12/baucus-plan/

Baucus’ proposal expands Medicare, Medicaid, and State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) and opens “Medicare to people ages 55 to 64.” As the New York Times reports, “Medicaid would be available to everyone below the poverty level and could provide at least seven million more people with access to the program.” SCHIP “would be expanded to cover all uninsured youngsters in families with incomes at or below 250 percent of the poverty level ($44,000 for a family of three),” raising the income limit “in about half the states.”

Here are the guts of the proposal:

- A choice of public or private: Creates a “health insurance exchange,” where people could choose from among private insurance policies and a new public Medicare-like plan.

- End to discrimination: Prohibits insurers from denying coverage of preexisting conditions or age.

- More affordable coverage: Offers new tax breaks for individuals and small businesses to offset the costs of insurance.

- Easier to enroll: Ends the current ban against immigrants participating in Medicaid or SCHIP in their first five years in the United States.

- Focus on prevention: Uninsured would receive a “RightChoices” card that guarantees access to recommended preventive care.

- Payment reform: Refocuses payment incentives from quantity (fee-for-service) toward quality and value.

Baucus finances the plan by “eliminating, fraud, waste, and abuse in public programs,” ending overpayments in the Medicare Advantage program, increased transparency, and “careful reforms of medical malpractice laws that could lower administrative costs and health spending.” More controversially, Baucus also proposes revisiting “the current tax treatment of employer-sponsored health insurance…. a benefit valued at $245 billion annually.”



At this point that sounds better than anything Emperor Baucus has
come up with this year with the "help" of Republicans.
I'm no Baucus fan, but I think he would find it flattering and
irresistible if we just begged for his version of the public option.
Presumably later the rest of our citizens would get phased in to the
program as it becomes more successful.

what think you, DU?

It sounds exactly like the phase-in that Weiner described.
The CBO is on track to score Weiner's single payer amendment that is promised a vote by Pelosi (I called his office yesterday). I know it goes against the spin of the week, but all the evidence I see points to a score from the CBO on the above plan that promises to save 1/2 trillion / year within 5 years. If they publish numbers like that on 'Medicare for All" about Sept. 7th it will be headline news right on through the Sept 13th rally for healthcare in DC. Then Bauccus's finance committee report is due out on the 15th and shortly after that. I'm betting the plan in the OP is the final version.

I think we've been watching a very well orchestrated game of chess by the Dems while the press, pundits, Republicans and 70% of DU have been engaged in a game of checkers.

Think about the "inexpicable" events we've seen:

Bauccus was solidly for the public option 6 months ago.

ALL discussion of single payer was *banned* from the Senate Finance Committee.

Single payer was categorically dismissed from discussion (and insane criticism) from *day 1* by the President.

No plan has been allowed to emerge that scored well with the CBO, including the one out of Kennedy's committee.

The Right has cemented the objection that paying for a plan is the number 1 qualifier.

What will they do when the only qualified plan is what they fear most?

My prediction is they only thing they'll be able to do is squeal and lose hugely.

I'm betting Obama gets his at least some Republican Senators to give him his bipartisan bill also. He isn't keeping the lines of communications open beyond the point of all reason becuse he is naive, he is doing it because he knows what is coming...

this brinksmanship is spiking my blood pressure

he'd renege on deals to the corps at this point!

I'm trying to get him to change his clients from them to us. I promise you, the rewards would be far greater than what he's getting from them.

Practically speaking too, lowering the age requirement for medicare would take care of most of the baby boomers.