Here It Is! The Republican Heath Care Plan!
Well, at first it was an outline. Then John Boehner got really mad after it was released and people made fun of him again with the outlines. So now they’ve finished their homework (pdf), now take a good look at Boehnercare:
- No national exchange
- No mandates for employers or for individuals
- Insurance companies still get to exclude people with pre-existing conditions
- No tax credits to help middle class and lower income people to buy insurance
- High-risk pools for states to cover people excluded from insurance coverage are included and some funds are provided. Except lots of states have these and they are expensive.
- Small businesses band together to get lower rates (don’t get me started)
- Limit medical malpractice (but nothing about limiting the damage that medical mistakes can cause to people!)
- Let people buy insurance across state lines — specifically knocking down state laws for consumer protection.
So basically if you don’t have insurance, are afraid you may lose your insurance due to high premium costs, existing conditions or your employer yanks your insurance — Boehnercare does not care about you, or your need for health care insurance. This doesn’t do anything to rein in premium or actual costs. This doesn’t even have the GOP endorsed elimination of the employer tax deduction for employee insurance. But here is an interesting thing to consider about this bill — for all of the whining and wailing these Republicans did about needing a bipartsan bill, one that was done out in the open where everyone was included, a bill that took the best of everyone’s ideas and they did none of that. And as this blog post from Tim Fernholz asks, since the traditional media has latched on to bipartisanship as a measure of the health insurance bill’s success, I wonder when the same traditional media will start holding this repub plan up to their own criteria.
Don’t ask silly questions – of course the media won’t notice the double standard. Pointing that out will lead to cries of “liberal media” which is apparently the worst insult you can give a journalist.
Yes, this plan is pretty awful but is it better than the status quo? I’d love to see a breakdown on this. It preserves the status quo in lots of ways but allowing people to buy crap insurance from states with crappy consumer protection – would that be worse? These people will think they have some coverage when they really don’t.
High risk pools – yeah, who could have guessed that putting sick people in one pool does little to lower costs.
More of the same from the party of No Ideas. The CBO analysis came to the conclusion that the GOP bill would not increase the percentage of insured by even one percent and would lower rates for those in the upper income brackets who already have private insurance.
The state line idea is a huge gift to health insurance companies, the people… not so much. If you think dealing with insurance companies now is a headache, just imagine if you’re dealing with them based in a state with little in the way of consumer protection.
Geez, no wonder they need soundbites like “HCR will kill grandma.” They rely on people focusing on the imagery of their words, rather than the nightmare their policies would create.
They rely on people focusing on the imagery of their words, rather than the nightmare their policies would create.
9/11 and Iraq.
Guess who started the legislative action to get dreaded HMO’s going? The Chappaquiddick national swimming champ, Ted Kennedy.
http://labornotes.org/node/225
Should have stuck with Wyden Bennett, not Obama care which is going to wreck the Dem party.
Boehner is not the President, where is Obama’s plan?
He must be golfing or shooting hoops.
Mike Protack
Big Day for Obama, Dems and America: AARP, AMA endorse Dems house bill for health care reform.
And you should stick with flying for your soon-to-fail airline.
Thanks for your concern, Birdman of Conservatraz. We’ll wreck our party, you wreck yours.
His is already wrecked or they wouldn’t claim him.
Add the American Cancer Society, along with AARP and AMA, to groups that endorsed the Dems health care reform legislation today.
There’s more:
“CBO begins with the baseline estimate that 17 percent of legal, non-elderly residents won’t have health-care insurance in 2010. In 2019, after 10 years of the Republican plan, CBO estimates that …17 percent of legal, non-elderly residents won’t have health-care insurance. The Republican alternative will have helped 3 million people secure coverage, which is barely keeping up with population growth. Compare that to the Democratic bill, which covers 36 million more people and cuts the uninsured population to 4 percent.
But maybe, you say, the Republican bill does a really good job cutting costs. According to CBO, the GOP’s alternative will shave $68 billion off the deficit in the next 10 years. The Democrats, CBO says, will slice $104 billion off the deficit.
The Democratic bill, in other words, covers 12 times as many people and saves $36 billion more than the Republican plan.“
If you think dealing with insurance companies now is a headache, just imagine if you’re dealing with them based in a state with little in the way of consumer protection.
Hmmm….
1. Allow insurance companies to sell in any state
2. Delaware passes a law removing all insurance regulations
3. Insurance companies move into abandoned MBNA offices
4. Profit!!
“Guess who started the legislative action to get dreaded HMO’s going? The Chappaquiddick national swimming champ, Ted Kennedy.”
Was this non-sequitor posted just to bring up Kennedy again? As if bringing him into the conversation is a slur?
Are you aware that he died some months ago?
Keep up, bro! HMO’s are so-o-o-o-o 1970!
Is it ethical to publish all of Mike’s blog posts in an attack at against him if he decides to lose another election?
It isn’t like he would be outed, he signs his comments. ya know, just so the voters can see he thinks the president is “shooting hoops”, and he gets his jollies dishonoring someone who is 436536124 times the man, and politician, and civil servant, and use of carbon that mike will ever be. (ted kennedy)