AP: Senators Weigh 3 (shitty) Government Health Plans

Start lowering your expectations for health care reform. Or fight harder. Because what's on the table right now sucks.



http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/05/08/senators-weigh-3-governme_n_200830.html

The first option sounds good, but if you read the whole article you'll see that it's a watered down plan.

They can't in any way water the government plan down. I agree with a public option amongst private...but no way in hell will I agree with a watered down version.

The details of the Medicare-like plan aren't "watered down" -- they haven't been decided yet.

The only good public plan would have to be offered to everyone. And if that happened:



This would effectively put the private insurance companies out of business. The fact that single payer advocates aren't even invited to the meetings suggests that they're not interested in killing the private insurers...even though the public is okay with that.

I don't mean to be a downer, but I think the plan is going to suck.

edit to add link.

http://www.pnhp.org/news/2009/may/why_we_risked_arrest.php

By Margaret Flowers, M.D.
May 8, 2009

On May 5, eight health care advocates, including myself and two other physicians, stood up to Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.) and the Senate Finance Committee during a “public roundtable discussion” with a simple question: Will you allow an advocate for a single-payer national health plan to have a seat at the table?

The answer was a loud, “Get more police!” And we were arrested and hauled off to jail.

The fact that a national health insurance program is supported by the majority of the public, doctors and nurses apparently means nothing to Sen. Baucus. The fact that thousands of people in America are dying every year because they can’t get health care means nothing. The fact that over 1 million Americans go into bankruptcy every year due to medical debt — even though most of them had insurance when they got sick — means nothing.

And so, as the May 5 meeting approached, we prepared for another one of the highly scripted, well-protected events that are supposed to make up the “health care debate” using standard tools of advocacy. We organized call-in days and faxes to the members of the committee requesting the presence of one single-payer advocate at the table of 15. Despite thousands of calls and faxes, the only reply — received on the day before the event — was, “Sorry, but no more invitations will be issued.”

We knew that this couldn’t be correct. We had heard Sen. Baucus say on that very same day that “all options were on the table.” And so, the next day, we donned our suits and traveled to Washington. We had many knowledgeable single-payer advocates in our group. And as the meeting started, one of us, Mr. Russell Mokhiber, stood up to say that we were here and we were ready to take a seat. And he was promptly removed from the room.

In that moment, it all became so clear. We could write letters, phone staffers, and fax until the machines fell apart, but we would never get our seat at the table.

The senators understand that most people want a national health system and that an improved Medicare for All would include everybody and provide better health care at a lower cost. These facts mean nothing to most of them because they respond to only one standard tool of advocacy: money, and lots of it.

The people seated at the table represented the corporate interests: private health insurers and big business and those who support their agenda. The people whose voices were heard all represented organizations which pay huge sums of money to political campaigns. These interests profit greatly from the current health care industry and do not want changes that will hurt their large, personal pocketbooks.

And so, we have entered a new phase in the movement for health care as a human right: acts of civil disobedience. It is time to directly challenge corporate interests. History has shown that in order to gain human rights, we must be willing to speak out and risk arrest. We must engage in actions that expose corporate fraud and corruption. We must make our presence known.

from both parties - are in the pockets of big insurance and big pharma. They know it, we know it, but it isn't even slightly embarrassing to them.