Democratic COWARDICE in addressing HC COSTS will cripple Middle Class & US industry - -& enable GOP

Despite overwhelming public support for a public plan like Medicare available to younger Americans, a plan that addresses the root cause - - - wasteful, out-of-control COSTS resulting from the opaque & discriminatory pricing by the predatory cartels of the medical industrial complex - - - the Democratic Party is on the verge of passing HC “reform” which perversely mandates that all Americans purchase the product they are increasingly unable to afford.

Rather than using control of both houses of Congress & the White House to do the difficult job of taking on the cartels, our leaders have chosen to hand the industry a mandate to purchase overpriced insurance for wasteful, inefficient care.

The fact that some of the most vulnerable will be subsidized cannot excuse us from the crippling damage inflicted upon the shrinking middle class & domestic industry.




The shallowness of the argument for taxing so-called “Cadillac” plans is transparent: If, as the White House insists, the tax forces Americans into lower priced plans to avoid the tax, then the tax will NOT be an effective revenue source to finance the bill. Many of these “Cadillac” plans are, in fact, both overpriced & inadequate, at times the only option for high risk Americans in their 50’s and 60’s.

High cost plans are the symptom of the crisis caused by out of control medical costs.

Moreover, while those plans that have low or no deductibles may encourage over-utilization, they do so because the providers get paid. Thinking that eliminating a source of easy revenue for providers is going to bring DOWN prices is fantasy. The truth is clear: to the extent that such action influences prices, it will encourage providers to look for alternative means to “enhance” revenue.

(This does not even mention another reality: that some plans classified as “Cadillac” are, in fact, high deductible, inadequate plans which charge high premiums to older, sicker Americans.)




One does not need to look far into the future to see the real results of the plan we are on the verge of passing:

When only a few years of price increases result in virtually ALL insurance bearing the “Cadillac” tax, we will have created a situation when the only beneficiaries to “reform” are the cartels and those who receive subsidies.

After never letting Single Payer have a seat at the table, after compromising to a “public option”, now gone, after the false hope of a Medicare Buy-In, and now with the taxing of the middle class under the false “Cadillac” label, what exactly is left? ? ? . . . . . little more than a massive transfer of wealth from the shrinking middle class to corporate interests, (with the benefit, and cover, of crumbs to the poor, who deserve better).

The middle class and much of American industry and small business, sick of 8 years of Republican lies and mismanagement, supported Democrats in 2006, and Obama in 2008.

But, betrayed by an administration that lacked the courage to do the difficult task of taking on the vested interests, the millions of middle class voters will feel they have little alternative than turn to the entreaties of Republican pseudo-populist demagogues.



:kick:



In fact, is there anything that the Democratic Party could have done to confirm decades of Republican stereotyping of Democrats, and to drive middle class voters into the waiting arms of the GOP, than to pass, in the name of “reform”, a bill that does NOT address the wasteful, predatory medical pricing that is strangling both the middle class and domestic industry, but instead MANDATE its purchase, financed by a massive middle class tax (collected by & for a cartel) thinly mislabeled as a “Cadillac” tax?





:kick:

Truth.

"Why would the Democrats be committing electoral suicide?"

http://www.ianwelsh.net/why-democrats-are-doing-electorally-stupid-things/

This says it more articulately than I ever could, and I have been saying it for years now.

It's waaaaaayyyy too late people. We let things get too far out of hand LONG before the Naked Hand of Power showed itself on 12/12/2000.

enable them to be smart health care consumers. Yeah, that's the ticket!


:sarcasm:

on that support the Dems introduced a uniquely American solution, the public option based on the ideas of Jacob Hacker.

Unfortunately many people dropped their support for a national HC system funded by taxes and supported the vague idea of a public option, this helped to silence the SP movement which was not even included in most polls.

There was a national marketing campaign to sell the public option, tell people it would be like Medicare and the public option naturally rose in the polls. These polls were repeated constantly in the media, but many people did not even know the details of how this public option would work and who would be included.

But it would be like Medicare so people gave their support. Clinton asked SP supporters in Congress to back away from their idea and support his HC plan - they agreed. We watched as Obama excluded SP from the discussions and focused attention on the public option, then in late December he made the comment that he never really campaigned on the public option.

Weak public option is gone and we are left with a mandate to purchase private insurance, mission accomplished, but not for the people.

:puke:


http://pnhp.org/news/2007/december/where-are-we-on-reform

Interview dates: December 14 - 20, 2007

Where are we on reform?
Associated Press-Yahoo Poll

15. Do you consider yourself a supporter of a single-payer health care system, that is a national health plan financed by taxpayers in which all Americans would get their insurance from a single government plan, or not?

54% - Yes
44% - No
2% - Refused / Not Answered

My elderly father fell a couple of months ago. Because he said his neck hurt, 911 was called and transported him to the hospital.

He spent a total of 2 hours in the ER. He was seen immediately, and given a cat scan. No fractures or breaks or anything untoward was found and he was released.

I just looked at the bill. Total costs for these 2 hours in ER with the cat -scan ------ $4500 bucks. (This is ER costs only - nothing to do with ambulance, etc.)

four thousand five hundred dollars.

Of course they have Medicare and a supplemental. They still got billed 1500, which I questioned, since they have never had an out of pocket billing like that, even for surgeries and hospital stays.

To recap - 4,500 dollars for 2 hours in ER to make sure he didn't break something.

That is about what 3 Canadian families pay per year for family coverage with no dedeuctables!

I am about to burst a vein from being furious over our G@#@Da@#ed STUPID F!@#ing system and I am so tired of morans telling me it is the "best in the world" blah blah blah.

Any system that can charge 4500 bucks for 2 hours and a catscan is F!@#ked up beyond belief.

Faryn Balyncd, you speak for many and especially for me. DH (self-employed for 24 years, we're each over 50) and I have $10,000 deductible (each!), 70/30 PPO Blue Cross/Blue Shield plans. Each of us have exclusions of our primary health problems. And every complaint is supposedly related to the exclusions so none of our prescriptions are covered. For this inadequate coverage we pay over $800 a month. This is a major strain for us because of those exclusions we pay out of pocket for Dr visits, Rxs and tests!

We are scared to drop health insurance even though it doesn't pay for anything in case we were to get cancer, heart attacks or accidents. Yet we are being financially bled and don't have money left for savings.

Can somebody tell me if our health insurance is what they're calling a Cadillac plan?

Anyhow, I worked hard and contributed money I couldn't really afford because i believed obama's early campaign pledges about real health care reform which included possible expansion of Medicare or us being able to buy into the Federal Employees health plans. he even talked about single payer as late as July 2008. I feel screwed over now. I even know Republicans who voted for Obama because they wanted health care reform!!!

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I like this part of your OP:

he shallowness of the argument for taxing so-called “Cadillac” plans is transparent: If, as the White House insists, the tax forces Americans into lower priced plans to avoid the tax, then the tax will NOT be an effective revenue source to finance the bill. Many of these “Cadillac” plans are, in fact, both overpriced & inadequate, at times the only option for high risk Americans in their 50’s and 60’s.

High cost plans are the symptom of the crisis caused by out of control medical costs.

Moreover, while those plans that have low or no deductibles may encourage over-utilization, they do so because the providers get paid. Thinking that eliminating a source of easy revenue for providers is going to bring DOWN prices is fantasy. The truth is clear: to the extent that such action influences prices, it will encourage providers to look for alternative means to “enhance” revenue.

(This does not even mention another reality: that some plans classified as “Cadillac” are, in fact, high deductible, inadequate plans which charge high premiums to older, sicker Americans.)




One does not need to look far into the future to see the real results of the plan we are on the verge of passing:

When only a few years of price increases result in virtually ALL insurance bearing the “Cadillac” tax, we will have created a situation when the only beneficiaries to “reform” are the cartels and those who receive subsidies.

After never letting Single Payer have a seat at the table, after compromising to a “public option”, now gone, after the false hope of a Medicare Buy-In, and now with the taxing of the middle class under the false “Cadillac” label, what exactly is left? ? ? . . . . . little more than a massive transfer of wealth from the shrinking middle class to corporate interests, (with the benefit, and cover, of crumbs to the poor, who deserve better).

The middle class and much of American industry and small business, sick of 8 years of Republican lies and mismanagement, supported Democrats in 2006, and Obama in 2008.

But, betrayed by an administration that lacked the courage to do the difficult task of taking on the vested interests, the millions of middle class voters will feel they have little alternative than turn to the entreaties of Republican pseudo-populist demagogues.

and the Democrats will deserve the thumping they'll get if it passes as is.

they are going to pay an extra couple of thousand dollors each year, because of what Obama and the Dems have done, people will vote with their pocket book against anybody who supported this.

This is adding insult to injury and the people who supports it needs to have their head examined.