Opponents of health reform want to scare people by telling them that a public insurance plan would

[YewNork]

mean that they'd end up on a government run plan because their employers would switch to it.
They'd have no choice but to switch.

How is that any different than when an employer switches from United Healthcare to Humana,
or from Blue Cross to Travelers? What choice do they have then?

Plus, if ending up on a government run plan is so bad, then why don't we hear about all
the seniors freaking out about ending up on Medicare? That's a government run plan.

[patrice]

1. Right on!!

Self-fulfilling prophecies are profoundly powerful, especially in an environment that seriously needs Public Campaign Finance and Voting Reforms.

[madaboutharry]

2. I think the public now sees the sham of these arguments.

The bottom line is that republicans do not believe that the government owes the citizens of this country one damn thing. They were against Medicare. They were against Social Security. There are republicans who do not believe there should be a public school system.

And I think Americans are sick of them and everything they have to say.

[SoCalNative]

3. We don't hear about seniors freaking out

because they don't have much of a choice..except they usually DO have some sort of supplemental insurance that works in combination with medicare.

The problem with Medicare and state-run plans is that more and more DOCTORS are refusing to accept these types of insurance, or refusing to take new patients with them.

[county worker]

4. Medicare does not cover all the costs of a catastrophic illness and many doctors are not taking new

Medicare patients.

You have to still have other insurance to cover the costs Medicare doesn't pay.


The only way a public plan can work is if it competes with private insurance and it pays doctors what private insurance pays.
It needs to cover everyone who wants it and pay for all treatment a doctor prescribes.

[Lasher]

5. I would love for my employer-provided retiree medical insurance to be switched.

They nickel and dime me to death on copays and dedictibles. Premiums get way higher every year. And who knows when they'll just cut me off. Employers are doing it all around. I need to get a mole removed to make sure it's not cancer. I have to wait until November to get in to a dermatologist. So I guess I'll find out the old fashioned way. If it's not malignant I won't be dead in November. Lucky for me I have the evil socialized VA to fall back on.