Why does health care reform have to include a public option?
tincoatr asked:
I find that many of the objectives of the health care bill are good ideas. I don’t think that the government has a very good record of managing major programs. Why can’t Congress fix the things that are wrong without creating their own “insurance company”?
Related Blogs
- Related Blogs on Congress
- Congress For Hair Research 2010 « Hair Extension Resource
- SILIGURI: Four Congress leaders file nominations for SMC polls …
- Related Blogs on Health Care Reform
- Time to Focus on the Tough Health Care Reform Questions « The Alan …
- Related Blogs on Own Insurance
- Find Out Important Info About Auto Insurance Types | Free Car …
- Term Life Rates: Quote your own terms – Finance Article Directory
- Holiday home insurance
- Advice: Finding My Own Health Insurance | dollarish | Finance site …
- Heists Targeting Truckers On Rise « The Council of Insurance …
Related Blogs
- Related Blogs on Congress
- Congress For Hair Research 2010 « Hair Extension Resource
- SILIGURI: Four Congress leaders file nominations for SMC polls …
- Purgatory Dallas
- Related Blogs on Health Care Reform
- Time to Focus on the Tough Health Care Reform Questions « The Alan …
- Related Blogs on Own Insurance
- Find Out Important Info About Auto Insurance Types | Free Car …
- Term Life Rates: Quote your own terms – Finance Article Directory
- Holiday home insurance
- Advice: Finding My Own Health Insurance | dollarish | Finance site …
- Heists Targeting Truckers On Rise « The Council of Insurance …
- Dallas Nightlife Entertainment
Possibly Related Posts:
- How can people possibly want the health care systems the rest of the developed world has?
- Why are the Congressional Democrats having problems passing a comprehensive health care plan?
- How is the international trafficking of women a health care issue?
- Can a national health care system work without sin taxes?
- Wouldn’t it be politically smarter for the Republicans to actually work with Democrats on health care reform?
Without public competition the private companies would feel no need to comply.
A company with hundreds of lawyers will always be able to find loopholes. We Won Get Over It
Because then it would defeat the purpose, creating more bureaucracy adding cost and not ensuring everybody is insured. r1b1c*
They want to create their own insurance company so they can eventually crowd out the private insurance providers and have true single-payer health insurance. kscottmccormick
Because the public is directly effected by this crap health care bill. Elle
What congress is trying to combat is the 15 to 20 percent price increase that insurance companies put on health care. Non profit insurance can do this at 3 percent. It is a great way to lower health care costs. i_was_myself
It’s a loaded term to sway the masses. The federal government already has a “public option.” Two, in fact.
People just don’t like the state Medicaid option, because they have to get rid of a lot of their stuff to get it.
And so they wish to do this to EVERYONE, except the rich, who will ALWAYS have a private option. ruth
It’s either create the public option or force private companies to abide by the reforms we need. The public option allows private companies more freedom to determine their own standards of business, so the public option was deemed more fair.
Besides, if you don’t trust government coverage, you can always stick to private coverage. Chewy Ivan
there’s less money coming their way if they went that route the taxes they raise will be stolen and mis managed just like social security they always look out for themselves first Tim M
Why don’t we do it, and you could just have your option that isn’t government run Undocumented Worker
First, we already have a public option, it’s called medicare, second, private insurers have a lousy record of dealing with the unemployed, disabled and those with preexisting conditions. The private insurers need some real Competition or they aren’t going to get better. milton b
Because the Public “Option” is nothing but a Trojan Horse for Single Payer.
It is the most important part of the bill to the liberal leadership. Bill G
It’s not that they can’t fix what’s wrong with the current deployment of the existing public health care system. They choose not to.
The Dems, Lib, Obama, Polosi & Read what public control of your heath care to be able to control you and for you to become further dependent upon the Federal Government YATYAS
* A truly inclusive and accessible health care system in which no one is left out.
* A choice of a private insurance plan, including keeping the insurance you have if you like it, or a public health insurance plan that guarantees affordable coverage without a private insurer middleman.
* A standard for health benefits that covers what people need to keep healthy and to be treated when they are ill. Health care benefits should cover all necessary care including preventative services and treatment needed by those with serious and chronic diseases and conditions.
* Health care coverage with out-of-pocket costs including premiums, co-pays, and deductibles that are based on a family’s ability to pay for health care and without limits on payments for covered services.
* Equity in health care access, treatment, research and resources to people and communities of color, resulting in the elimination of racial disparities in health outcomes and real improvement in health and life expectancy for all.
* Health coverage through the largest possible pools in order to achieve affordable, quality coverage for the entire population and to share risk fairly.
* A watchdog role on all plans, to assure that risk is fairly spread among all health care payers and that insurers do not turn people away, raise rates, or drop coverage based on a person’s health history or wrongly delay or deny care.
* A choice of doctors, health providers, and private and public health insurance plans, without gaps in coverage or access and a delivery system that meets the needs of at-risk populations.
* Affordable and predictable health costs to businesses and employers. To the extent that employers contribute to the cost of health coverage, those payments should be related to employee wages rather than on a per-employee basis.
* Effective cost controls that promote quality, lower administrative costs, and long term financial sustainability, including: standard claims forms, secure electronic medical records, using the public’s purchasing power to instill greater reliance on evidence-based protocols and lower drug and device prices, better management and treatment of chronic diseases, and a public role in deciding where money is invested in health care. Storm
Not everybody can get a private option. I know many people born with diabetes so they have a preexisting condition. I was injured in the Army and now I have a preexisting condition. I know many people who have low paying jobs while in college so they can get better jobs but until then, they still need heath care.
I think these bills need a lot of work. I don’t think that they are going to do what Congress is claiming they will. However, I do think that we need a public option so that those who cannot get insured privately can still get covered. When you lose your job because GM can’t make appropriate cuts and your benefits go with it, how do you care for your daughter with leukemia? Bob Loblaw
Mostly in answer to the other answers, to help out the asker here.
You see, the problem in having a public and a private sector so prominent is that the people who already have healthcare will have to pay for the healthcare of more than just themselves. They will probably choose to keep their own private healthcare, but because they can afford it (Oh no, somebody actually is doing well for themselves? Let’s take their money and redistribute it!) they will be taxed in order to pay for the population which can’t afford private healthcare.
Why should it be somebody else’s responsibility to pay for them? I bet if they worked hard they could get enough money to pay for themselves. Healthcare is not a right gauranteed by the Bill of Rights or Constitution. Furthermore, people should be ashamed to be on Govt. aid, and should work hard to get off of it. I’m not saying people don’t deserve a helping hand, I just think that the helping hand should do just that- help them out for a little while until they can get back ono their feet. Unfortunately that is not what it is used for, it is used as a form of substinence. Taylor S
The public option is the ONLY way to guarantee affordable health insurance to ALL. There are some people that simply CANNOT afford to buy private insurance at the rates the companies charge. The private insurance companies are only concerned with making a profit, not with providing quality affordable insurance. Joel M
because there will be those who would rather have a boat or three wheeler or ATV than spend $6 grand a year on health care. Bet we all know someone who might just feel this way. So when they fall off the ATV and break something, who is going to pay the hospital bill? You and I. but if there is a public option, that person will have insurance because everyone will have insurance, because everyone will be charged for and will pay for, Health Insurance.
See the difference?
What you don’t see and one of the great drawbacks of the bill, where are the Politicians going to get the money to pay for everyone?
To compare to real estate, (because I understand the money part of building a house better than the Health Care Bill under construction) anyway, to compare: if you have a house and it needs fixing, but you owe money on it, do you tear it totally down and build a brand new house? or do you buy some paint and caulk and fix the house up until you get more money in the ‘kitty’? If you tear down the house, everyone will be displaced for a long while, waiting for the new one to be ready and you won’t know when that will be, delays and over-runs happen.
And the price tag will triple the amount you owe on the house, taking a big chunk of what you call equity away when you destroyed the house you had. That House was set up, the people who lived in it knew where to find things and all the curtains were already hung.
Everyone will have to be trained to live in the new house. An entire segment of the Economy will be destroyed, will no longer function; while new ’smart people’ will tell us what it really means and what we are entitled to and how much we have to pay for it. Not anything at all like the freedom of choice we have today. Builder
Hmmmph….so you trust people who ONLY care about making money and pleasing their shareholders with your family’s life…I don’t.
I trust the Government on this issue, whose interests is in the well being of the citizens it serves. Since the Government is not out to make a profit chances are much better that a legitimate claim will be paid.
First thing your private, greed driven insurance companies look at is ways to DENY your claim so they can earn more profit…like I said, they care more about money than they do about you or your children’s suffering.
Your actually better off to put the money you pay the insurance companies in the bank…you are gambling with the health of your family on the line with the greed merchants. Smarternyou
they could, but they won’t because they want the control it will give them. if we could buy insurance across state lines, it would engender competition. martinmagini
I too wonder why Congress can not just make a couple of reforms without rewriting the entire book and having not read the bill. Something does not feel right about this at all. Saturday Night Fever