So, in health care reform, we gain something we never should have had to worry about losing (reproductive rights) and we gain nothing of what we were supposed to be gaining (no single payer, no public option); instead we’re thrown a scrap, the shadow’s shadow of real reform.

Merry Christmas.

Broken record alert —

no public option but an individual mandate to purchase crappy insurance, all the while the private insurers CAN OPT OUT WITHOUT A PENALTY — Section 1555 page 367

kill this bill now — progressives need to unite and say to progressive senators — vote NO on this!

Aetna’s chairman is on cnbc saying it’s very positive that “they’re beginning to move away from a public plan.”

Wants to build on strength of employer based system, 180 million people.

Head a a hospital system is the guest host on cnbc, who sez Medicare vastly underpays.

Both Aetna & hospital guy say the least compensated are most likely to get tripped on the Cadillac tax.

OConnell is lecturing us… ugh

And as Kos pointed out last night, the 55+ into Medicare just gets rid of the least profitable from the private system.

Dean on CBS supporting the Senate plan; but should have more included in the coverage.

It’s simply unamerican not to have private sector business control any segment of the economy. Anything else is socialism according to the conventional wisdom and there is enormous resistance to any proposal which steps on the private sector.

The people, however, seem to not be concerned about labels and ideology and seem to want HEALTH care. Many resent the power of the insurance industry in medical decisions and rightly so. They understand that insurance companies are in the money making business – not the providers of health services.

For profit health insurance is a fatally flawed model for spreading risk and costs.

All the libruls selling out, it seems.

Didn’t Aetna just dump half a million insureds to reduce their liability to claims and increase their profits? Or was that some other large health insurer?

If you listen to what Sanders says, he makes a lot of sense. The bill is not going to fix the problem. Only single payer will work. But the expansion of Medicare is “not insignificant” and he would not rule-out supporting the bill.

The Medicare expansion will take a lot of sick people out of the risk pool which should lower premiums for everyone else, provided the insurance companies are properly regulated.

Even if there is no real public option, I think it shows that the public option fight was worthwhile because we got something helpful in return.

Pharma (along with medical device makers) are the group that have not sacrificed anything, so hopefully the drug reimportantion amendment will pass today. Regardless there will need to be a separate bill dealing with the drug industry down the road.

Downside is pretty bad too, though. Pits older persons against younger persons. That’s a catastrophe because when Hoover goes after Social Security, we will have alienated the younger people. That’s pretty bad or at least that ‘s how I see it.

Yup the senate bill is horrible.
Another “bail out ” for an industry that doesn’t need one , a mandate without an alternative to private insurance really sucks.
So we’ll be forced to buy crappy insurance or be subject to tax penalties.

Aetna guy said Medicare reimbursement rates were 80% and anchor added that the other 20% got passed onto private payers. So adding people to Medicare would seem to do nothing to lower rates in the private system.

which should lower premiums for everyone else, provided the insurance companies are properly regulated.

Emphasis mine and that’s the kicker. I doubt anything would lower premiums if the murder-by-spreadsheet industry has anything to say about it.

Mornin’, BT, pups

I watched Pt 2 on YouTube. Ya know the links to 2 vids that show up after watching a clip? Lady Jane on Rachel is the top link. heh

CBO scoring with the Medicare for 55 + will likely come in over the WH’s limit ,which would end up killing that idea

Hatred over this bill may very well unite the loons in the tea party movement and progressives — in a way not seen since 9/11…

way to go President Obama — you have achieved ‘post partisanship’ by having the country united against your #1 policy initiative.

the bill, as currently written, in both houses cannot stand

So when are we gonna find out who the Gang of 10 are?

Banksters and gangsters. Can’t tell the players without a scorecard.

Here’s the gimmick of the exchange within the exchange. Dollars to donuts only folks eligible for subsidies go into the OPM exchanges. The fact that they are nonprofit means that the cost to the government goes down. Since CBO and the fiscal scolds don’t care about the rising premium costs, only the cost to the government deficit, this meets their objective. The private insurers who offer non-profit plans offset the loss of profits here with premium increases for everybody else.

So, heh. We nominally have universal coverage. Mission accomplished.

The 2010 election healthcare issue will be the high premiums paid by everyone else. If Democrats don’t get ahead of this issue and hit Republican obstructionism hard, Republicans are going to run with a “let’s repeal it” campaign.

This is not even the end of the beginning of the fight that we DFHs have to wage on healthcare. No rest for the weary.

Democrat Party, c. 1800 – 2009.
R.I.H.

Speaking of Rachel, I just finshed watching her interview of Richard Cohen, author of Coming Out Straight. That viewing has left me feeling very disturbed. Anyone else see that?

Wendell Potter? We need Wendell Potter on this.

Another day of corporate hacks skipping to the bank while kicking us in the —-.

So when are we gonna find out who the Gang of 10 are?

According the the Washington News Examiner:

The Gang of Ten

The Moderates:

* Blanche Lincoln (D-AR)
* Mary Landrieu (D-LA)
* Ben Nelson (D-NE)
* Tom Carper (D-DE)
* Mark Pryor (D-AR)

The Liberal:

* Chuck Schumer (D-NY)
* Jay Rockefeller (D-WV)
* Sherrod Brown (D-OH)
* Tom Harkin (D-IA)
* Russ Feingold (D-WI)

Health care legislation as reported, villagers etc is in meltdown along with the Dem Party. This time they may be right. If it doesn’t look or walk like single-payer/public option it’s curtains for the Dems..Dem voters will not show at election, it’s already been proven.

Had to look the book up. Another dude who thinks homosexuality is a result of external forces. Give. Me. A. Break.

Cohen believes homosexuality is not inborn but the result of emotional traumas and developmental miscues in childhood that can be countered effectively by the therapeutics he lays out in the book’s big second part and endorses with patient success stories.

From the editor’s review.

Thanks

Is that the dude she went ballistic on?

So when are we gonna find out who the Gang of 10 are?

According to the Washington News Examiner

The Gang of Ten

The Moderates:

* Blanche Lincoln (D-AR)
* Mary Landrieu (D-LA)
* Ben Nelson (D-NE)
* Tom Carper (D-DE)
* Mark Pryor (D-AR)

The Liberal:

* Chuck Schumer (D-NY)
* Jay Rockefeller (D-WV)
* Sherrod Brown (D-OH)
* Tom Harkin (D-IA)
* Russ Feingold (D-WI)

I am disappointed.

Sorry about the double posting. The display I see of my comment following editing is screwed up. Was trying to fix it. But the problem was only with I was seeing. What others were seeing was fine (as demonstrated by a reload).

He is not licensed. He says his credentials are his own life experiences. His book is being used by those in Uganda who are promoting the Kill The Gays bill. His book quotes Race as one of those external factors. You should see Rachel’s facial reactions to some of his responses. I thought she thoroughly trashed him. But, ….he’s out there and many will listen to him.
It’s criminal.

Yes, Demi, there was an extended discussion on Late Night. I nearly almost miss LN and have to read the following morning, when I can’t hop in with a comment (probably just as well…) *grin*

‘Mornin, pups. W-I-N-D-Y here in NW Indiana today, some snow in the offing.

Thanks, Molly. I’ll go check that out.

Hell, as lowly as I was I had to have a license to act as a mental health counselor.

14 inches of snow and winds gusting to 50 MPH here in beautiful NE Iowa

Kids at home, game time, and fun.

The Senate plan sucks. I am calling Harkin this morning.

Damn, almost forgot. Jane Goodall is going to be on Talking Animals at 11:30am ET on WMNF. Just click on the listen live link in the upper right of the home page.

Off to swim in the great capitalist cesspool.

US KIA Irak: 4,367

US KIA Afghanistan: 932

US MBS 2009: 42,408

Be good to yourselves, and all other living things.

Namaste

Must be great weather to caulk your house.

Obama could cut off diplomatic relations and talk to the EU about a trade embargo.

Okay, I’m back from reading Late Night. I found it interesting to see that even similar thinking progressive liberals can view a video differently. “She was angry.” “No, she was not angry.” Someone calling out another commenter for her (seeming) lack of empathy. Human Beans. Ain’t we interesting?

“Medicare for some and for a price” is not the answer.

Could he? Would he? He can’t even back or push for a health care plan here. I don’t know what the answer is for folks like them. Should I pray on it? /s

New post upstairs…

Human Beans. Ain’t we interesting?

My reaction exactly. I sorta wish I had time and energy to rerun the clip (I have TiVo) and just watch Rachel’s expressions. I was mesmerized by Cohen’s smirky mouth. I guess he can’t help the face he was born with, but his expression reminded me of Krauthammer’s smirk.

Being a gay person does not preclude marrying and having children, so the fact that Cohen is married with kids proves nothing about his “success.” I have a gay friend (age 70, out for many years) who has two sons and a good relationship with his ex. My main reaction was sympathy and amazement how difficult it must have been to come out to his wife and children, who were pretty young at the time.

Sanders wasn’t very helpful on Maddow.
He made it sound like he was happy with the modified Medicare expansion to 55 as an exchange for a PO. I think he hasn’t had much time to analyze it and was just expressing the fact he sees the Medicare expansion as obviously helpful.

The public option is obviously as dead as a doornail. My advice to the progressives is to take what they can get now.

I don’t know what kind of health care reform will come out of this session, but I strongly suspect it won’t be much. There is, however a silver lining behind this very dark cloud. I am reminded of the Civil Rights Act of 1957. Don’t be embarrassed if you’ve never heard of it, there really isn’t a hell of a lot to remember about it; a mere pittance, really – a scrap of leftovers tossed out to “American Negros” (in the parlance of the age) in order to appease them. But it made the passing of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 – the one we remember – all-the-more easier seven years later.

We’ll live to fight another day.

http://www.tomdegan.blogspot.com

Tom Degan

While this was a nice Rachel item the “Public Option” was a “Partial-Birth Abortion” from the get-go as I pointed out in AUGUST!

Far more important was Rachel’s coverage of Uganda and the crucial role played by the “Ex-Gay Movement” in the U.S. in helping to institute WHOLESALE GENOCIDE AGAINST GAYS AND LESBIANS — ABOUT WHICH BARRY AND COMPANY HAVE YET TO SAY WORD ONE!!!!!

Speaking of Rachel, I just finshed watching her interview of Richard Cohen, author of Coming Out Straight. That viewing has left me feeling very disturbed. Anyone else see that?

Yes. I watched it. This guy reminds me of those who say you have to destroy a village to save it. But he is really just another of those professional parasites out there “selling self-improvement.” When you renounce science that’s what you get. I personally am much more outraged that US senators pressing their ideology are responsible for killing thousands, if not millions in Africa under the perverse mantle of AIDs amelioration.. — Or maybe just outraged at the fact such people get elected to the Senate.

Why should I trust CBO scoring? Especially when Reid’s suddenly trying to rush this through like he’s got a fire to put out. We ought to put this off until next year. Get an independent analysis of this POS bill. We’d also be less likely to swallow a POS if we get to look at it a while.

History repeating itself, tragedy, farce, etc.

Richard Cohen, thoroughly grilled on Rachel’s show last night, has had a previous TV claim to fame, explaining his “therapy” work to Jason Jones on The Daily Show. If you haven’t seen it, it’s pretty classic:

http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/mon-march-19-2007/diagnosis–mystery-pt–2

A clarification seems to be warranted as regards private insurance companies and the need for competition. We all know there is no competition in the way insurers comapnies currently operate, but the question is whether the service they provide is best done through a single or multiple entities.

Health insurers are not providers of health care. In the provision of health care there is plenty of competition, plenty of MDs, hospitals, etc.. Insurers do one task only which is paying the bills for care using other people’s money. This task does not require competition, it is best done by a single entity with no profit motive.

An analogy is how your bank disburses your money. Your money is deposited there and when you go for a withdrwal or request a transfer of funds, there is no advantage to you for various tellers to compete in carrying out that task. That is a simple task that can even be done automatically.

Insurers are like bank tellers, the task they carry out is a simple disburing of your funds (premiums) to health care providers. It is a simple task that is best done by a single insurer especially if it is done without charging a profit.

Medicare is also a teller (or payer) that disburses your funds (premiums) without exacting a cost for profit. It is therefore the most efficient way to pay your health care bills.

So when we speak of competition in the health insurance industry not only does it not currently exist, but it is not needed.