The big threat to health care reform: email from MoveOn.org

[and-justice-for-all]

President Obama's public health insurance option—the key to lowering costs and helping cover everyone—is in danger. The threat? The so-called co-op plan.

If you have no idea what that means, don't worry. This stuff is confusing and changing quickly. So here are three great articles laying out the case FOR the public health insurance option, and AGAINST the co-op plan.

"Health Care Showdown," by Paul Krugman, Nobel prize-winning economist and New York Times columnist:
"For the record, neither regional health cooperatives nor state-level public plans, both of which have been proposed as alternatives , would have the financial stability and bargaining power needed to bring down health care costs."
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=51535&id=16456-8587521-sMtPrNx&t=4

"Un-Cooperative: The Trouble with Conrad's Compromise," by Jacob Hacker, author of Health Care for America and U.C. Berkeley political scientist:

"...not going to have the ability to be a cost-control backstop, much less a benchmark for private plans, because they are not going to have the reach or authority to implement innovative delivery and payment reforms."
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=51537&id=16456-8587521-sMtPrNx&t=5

"Why We Need a Public Health-Care Plan," by Robert B. Reich, former secretary of labor and professor at the University of California:

"...cooperatives would lack the scale and authority to negotiate lower rates with drug companies and other providers, collect wide data on outcomes, or effect major change in the system."
Experts agree: the co-op doesn't cut it. But some senators are in danger of bargaining away our best chance at health care reform in a decade.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124580516633344953.html

Thanks for all you do.

–Patrick S., Kat, Peter, Ilya and the rest of the team

[mdavies013]

1. I will just keep calling and writing and railing...and they I will stand by my line in the sand...

No money, No time, No vote for any representative that do not support a true public option.

[LaPera]

2. I hope MoveOn finally gets more vocal & involved nationally-A much neeeded public option instead of

MoveOn just feeding us headlines and stories by Krugman and other writers sent to my email....and not much else.

I've been writing moveon.com to reinforce the fact that there is nothing more important in the coming month's for the American people. How positive an effect a public option will have on small business and our economy....NOTHING is more important!

Universal Health Care with a public option for ALL - NOW!!