CorpMedia, The Seattle Times, doing its part to scuttle the public option.

An article in todays Seattle Times titled: "Does Group Health hold answers in health-care debate?"

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2009716402_grouphealth23m.html

In the article: "The Obama administration last week endorsed health cooperatives like Group Health as a potential alternative to a government-run insurance plan whose aim is to create competition among insurers and slow soaring health-care costs."

I have seen a lot of CorpMedia articles inferring this "endorsement" but I can't find anything from the Pres Obama administration to confirm this. I believe it is a misleading statement at best, an outright lie at worse.

Further: "The idea of a public plan has drawn fierce opposition, and Obama now appears willing to try to achieve the same goal through private, consumer-governed health cooperatives."

This statement fails to mention that the "fierce opposition" is from the insurance industry and their paid disrupters. It also fails to mention that the public is in favor of the public option. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/08/20/new-poll-77-percent-suppo_n_264375.html

And: "Obama now appears willing to achieve the same goal through private, consumer governed health cooperatives." No quote or link was provided and I cant find any evidence of such. Last week the Pres Obama administration continued to say that the public option was on the table.

From the article: "Armstrong, (Group Health's CEO), for his part, thinks a public plan would offer nothing beyond the ability to negotiate lower payments to doctors and hospitals. The co-op option, Armstrong said, is "the best idea I've heard so far.""

I am guessing that Mr. Armstrong is biased.

CorpMedia doing it's best to kill the public option.

By the way would someone smarter than myself tell me if Group Health Coop is still a true coop or has it morphed into a HMO?

refer to them as "Group Death". I think that sums it up.

I think Group Health has its place, but my point was about CorpMedia misrepresenting what Pres Obama is saying.

and I'm mostly satisfied with it.
I like that it's non-profit and that I can go to my acupuncturist without a referral.
I also like the preventive approach there and I've had good experience with specialists.

All that said, I still think single payer is the best approach and, if we can't have that, a strong public option is the minimal necessity.


Really, really wish the P.I. had survived instead of the Seattle Times.

but I miss having the P.I delivered.

But still remarkably conservative for such a liberal city.

People are strange, when you're a stranger

http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Home

Nothin to do with the Doors either.

peace