If they kill the public option, they need to open Medicare to the people who would have qualified

[Phoebe Loosinhouse]

for the PO. That would be people who are uninsured due to prior condition exclusions or people who have not had coverage made available to them for at least six months.

What they CANNOT do is ignore these people and throw them back to the same wolves who rejected them previously or quoted rates so onerous as to be completely out of reach.

[BzaDem]

1. Are you serious?

What fantasy land do you live in? We all want the public option. If we don't get the public option, it will be because we only have around 57 votes in the Senate for it.

Now you really think that we will have the votes in the Senate to pass a Medicare public option? If we can't even get enough votes to pass a watered-down public option?

:rofl:

[Phoebe Loosinhouse]

3. Medicare is run by the CMS, a federal agency that is part of the Dept of HHS

and is overseen by the House Ways and Means Committee, headed by Henry Waxman.

I think it could be possible to open Medicare to larger groups if a PO is killed inthe healthcare reform bill. I don't know if an executive order could be possible, no idea. But there has to be an alternate Plan B for the uninsured and those who would have been covered.

Ironically, it may have been easier all along to just promote a simple expansion of a system already in place and understood by millions of Americans. You know what half the Teabaggers are angry about? CUTS to Medicare or what they perceive as cuts.

This whole heathcare boondoggle with all the bells and whistles and conferences and secret meetings could probably been replaced with one 10 page bill that expanded Medicare to those who were uninsured in our uniquely American system and could have simultaneously put in drug negotiation.

We would have all understood it,the American people would have gotten behind it and it could have been passed quickly. But because the goal was to placate the drug and insurance industries, that did not happen.

[Bluenorthwest]

7. You sure hit that one note well

but fyi, I reject any 'argument' that needs wee emoticons to add a level of snark. It is an animated admission that the words themselves are weak and inadequate, so I don't bother reading them. Issue of life and death and family and finance deserve respectful discussion, factual discussion. Mature adult discussion, not name calling and emoticons. Anything less is just noise.

[BzaDem]

8. I agree there should be a factual discussion.

Unfortunately, many other people don't. People talk about what needs to happen RIGHT NOW without taking into account facts (such as, not only is what they want not going to happen right now, but it is actually never going to happen). If there was a simple disagreement about vote counting in the Senate, then we should argue that. But people who pretend that we can just magically enact legislation by fiat (without actually getting the votes or even pretending to) are wrong and deserved to be mocked and ridiculed.

[Jackpine Radical]

2. Medicare ought to BE the public option.

And everyone should be eligible.

Some Medicare rates would have to be raised, no doubt, in order to reimburse providers appropriately. Great. Do that. It will still be far more economical in so many ways...

A healthier, more productive workforce
Mental health treatment for people caught up in the criminal justice system
Elimination of expensive billing systems for providers
Preventative care for everyone

We could do it if we wanted to, and it would put Democrats in power for the next 5 generations, or at least for as long as the Republicans keep threatening to tear the system down.

[Phoebe Loosinhouse]

4. This whole thing has been a giant time wasting excercise when we had Medicare in

place from the getgo, ready willing and able to meet the needs of the uninsured.

This is one of those things that people will look at in 3 years and say - "What were they thinking?"

We KNOW what they were thinking - "Preserve our campaign contributions".

[Coyote_Bandit]

5. And what do you do with the underinsured?

I haven't seen a fucking doctor in nearly 15 years. But technically I have insurance. It carries a $10,000 annual deductible with a co-pay above that. And it carries a premium I can barely afford. I wouldnt qualify for that sham of a public option.

Yeah, I'm a throwaway. I already know that I am deemed to have little if any value in this fucked up society. I see confirmation of that in the White House, in the Congress and even among some so-called "progressives" here at DU.

[Jackpine Radical]

6. Nobody should be in your situation.

That's why I believe so strongly in a universal single-payer system. Period. Punkt. Full stop.

[Coyote_Bandit]

9. Thank you

I'm fortunate compared to how others have been treated by our healthcare system. Because I do at least have some catastrophic coverage I can probably get in the hospital door should it become necessary. I know a fellow who is now totally 100% permanently disabled because he could not secure a routine operation when he needed it. I also know more than one person who has died because they could not secure care for life-threatening conditions. I do realize that my own life is likely to ultimately be diminished and shortened by my own inability to secure meaningful access to healthcare.

Meaningful healthcare reform is my line in the sand. There are some incumbents who have opposed and obstructed meaningful reform efforts. There are some that want to pretend that ***INSURANCE*** reform is instead healthcare reform. There are a whole bunch of 'em that completely refused to even consider testimony regarding the viability of a single payer system. Fuck 'em. If they are re-elected it will be without the benefit of my vote. Consequences be damned. There is simply not fucking difference between a Dem that fails to serve my needs and interests and a puke that does the same.

[LWolf]

10. Everyone needs to qualify for a good public option. nt

[Naturyl]

11. Most people who need health care probably won't get squat.

Hope I'm wrong, but that's the way it's looking for the cheap seats. Public option, co-ops, blahty-dah. I've heard nothing to suggest that everyone who needs health care is going to get it under ANY proposal.

What we need, have always needed, and will continue to need is single-payer. There is no substitute. Whatever we end up getting will be weak sauce in comparison.