This bill coming out of the Senate is a bad bill and it is NOT progress.

[totodeinhere]

Some posters at DU are saying that while the bill is not perfect it is progress and we should accept it for the time being. They say it's something to build on later. IMO, that's not true at all. This bill will take us backward in the quest for health care reform, not forward. I am OK with the concept of baby steps. I realize that we can't expect to get everything we want immediately. That's not how the legislative process works. But at least we should get a bill that makes some progress. This is not that bill. It takes us in the wrong direction and it's tantamount to a windfall for the big health insurance companies that have contributed millions of dollars to Democratic and Republican senators alike.

Sure the bill says that the insurance companies cannot deny coverage for preexisting conditions. But their lobbyists made sure that they would be able to price people with preexisting conditions out of the market so in effect that ban will for all practical purposes still be in effect.

Yes, it supposed to provide subsidies to low income people which are intended to help them to afford to buy that mandated insurance. But even with the subsidies many poor and middle income people still won't be able to afford it, and even if they can scrape together enough money they will have little money left in their household budget for anything else. Plus it will involve so much daunting paperwork to apply for the subsidies that many poor people might not have the wherewithal to apply for it. And even if they can get through that process, they will have to wait until after they file their income tax returns to get the subsidies in their pockets. That wait could be many months. Many poor and middle income people will not be able to afford to pay for the insurance in the mean time.

So what we will have is a so-called health reform bill which will allow the big health insurance companies and conservative politicians to say that health care reform has passed. They will use this as an excuse not to pass any meaningful reform in the future. They are playing a very cynical game, and unfortunately some well meaning people have fallen for it.

This is just maddening. They have the votes to take a good bill to reconciliation and pass it but they won't do it. Why? Is it because they've been paid off? I think so.

[rob94102]

1. Taxpayer subsidies will fund insurance co.'s profits

Does anyone know where I can read the current Senate bill online?

[babylonsister]

2. Not just posters at DU, but every person in the Senate you might

be familiar with or respect thinks this bill is worth passing. I will listen to them.

[totodeinhere]

10. I respect people like Howard Dean more than those senators.

Should I list how much money the health insurance lobby has contributed to these same Democratic Senators? If those senators deserve so much respect, why in the hell don't they take it to reconciliation and turn it into a good bill that benefits the American people and not the insurance companies?

[babylonsister]

11. See, that's where you are wrong and blind.

You are getting false info from somewhere, or probably here. No, it's not perfect, but it beats the status quo, and that's what these folks voted for, some who I respect greatly. Read this if you want:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=7276834&mesg_id=7276901

[totodeinhere]

12. I will judge for myself whether my information is false or not.

I wonder who really is the blind one. Some people can't see past the "D" after a senator's name. If it's a bad bill, I don't care if Democratic senators support it or not. What's most important is what are true progressives like Howard Dean who don't have to depend upon campaign contributions from the insurance industry saying about this bill.

[Renew Deal]

3. Yes, arch conservatives like Sanders and Franken will get to brag that it passed.

The funny thing is that people here are willing to accept all the stuff you listed if there some sort of "public option." It doesn't matter how limited that option is (and what Obama spoke about at the speech to congress was limited), it's the point of it. They want a "public option" because they've always wanted it and it would be some ideological victory.

I get the impression from you and others that this is what it's all about. My view is that this whole healthcare thing could be simple. A one page bill that says healthcare for all. Here's where the money's coming from... We're done. Unfortunately, that's not how things work in this country.

[cali]

4. the ten billion for Community Health Centers

will provide quality health care for millions, so although I've been opposed to this legislation, I recognize that this is good news.

[TorchTheWitch]

7. meanwhile everyone will still have to pay obscene premiums to

the for-profit insurance racket.

[totodeinhere]

9. I saw Senator Sanders talking about the health care centers on CSPAN yesterday.

He said that without enough doctors and other medical staff the health care centers won't have sufficient capacity. This bill doesn't address that issue at all. There aren't enough primary care physicians to go around, especially in rural areas.

[Laelth]

5. Agreed. This is worse than doing nothing.

Kill the bill.

Forcing people to buy insurance is no more the answer to a failed health care system than forcing people to buy houses is the solution to homelessness.

:dem:

-Laelth

[notesdev]

6. Whatchoo talkin' bout, Willis?

What part of them being able to shoot people who resist arrest for not buying into a "health care" scheme doesn't make sense to you?

[midnight]

8. Yes, this bill does not achieve the needs of the users. He does however have

a wonderful management tool that recoups all financial risk and shifts that cost right onto the sickest/weakest in this country. Not a very sustainable direction.

[RoccoR5955]

13. More corporate welfare... No more, no less. n/t