I can't understand all the rabid anti-government sentiment from right-wingers in response to the notion of offering people a publicly-run health insurance option.
That's what Medicare is.
And Medicare recipients rate this government program much more highly than users of private insurance rate their plans. A survey found that 56% gave Medicare a 9 or 10 on a 1-10 scale, while only 40% of private insurance members gave their plans that high a rating.
Government programs work well, by and large.
I went to two public colleges, San Jose State University and Portland State University. Got a good education. These institutions co-exist just fine with private universities. So if a public option works well in education, why not in health insurance?
Six days a week the United States Postal Service delivers mail to our door, almost always reliably. I can mail a letter all the way across the country for 44 cents, a good deal. When I go to The Mail Depot, a USPS contractor, I can choose between several private parcel delivery services and the postal service. Once again, a public option meshes nicely with private mailing options.
Our police and fire protection come from the government. I don't hear anyone clamoring for privatizing these public services. If somebody wants extra security, they can contract with a private company.
I don't lie awake at night worrying about being invaded by a foreign country. Our military forces are the best in the world. And who runs the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marines? The government.
So what's the big freaking deal with offering a public health insurance option?
I'd love to have a choice between Regence Blue Cross and a program administered by the government.Hopefully the health insurance reform bill that's proceeding at a glacial pace through Congress will include a public option.
Here's some good news: the Dems are talking about allowing states to opt out of a public option, which would make it more palatable to government-phobic parts of the country that are eager to pay more for health insurance than necessary.
Nate Silver, who has one of the sharpest political minds around, thinks this is a good way to go.
Me too. Let's git r done!
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I agree with you and did even before we watched Sicko last night, Michael Moore’s excellent documentary on what many families face with our current system, how we got here, and what medical care is like in Canada, England and France. It should make every American ashamed if we don’t demand it be fixed now and with a public option at the least. The truth is the ideal system would be single payer and it could be done but it won’t be done to protect the stock market and insurance corporate profits. It’s not about health care for the people that they are fighting this.
Nicholas Kristof in today’s NY Times suggested we take away insurance from a certain percentage of congress to let them see how those who are uninsured feel in today’s uncertain economic times. It’s a disgrace
This healthcare legislation is obviously fraught with loopholes and ramifications that aren’t clearly understood. People are understandably confused and worried about how it’s going to affect them and the country in general.
Until the average Joe gets it and understands what it means to him in black and white this thing isn’t going to happen.
The only people in a hurry for this are idealist academics and redistributionists who can’t get it through their heads that you can’t create a society without the have’s and the have not’s. It isn’t natural.
Trees don’t grow to the same size in the forest and when you try to uniformly farm them they become prone to disease and it throws off the ecology for miles around.
Personally, I don’t trust anything this corrupt, dishonest and sold-out legislature produces. They throw in their pet earmarks that may not be in everyone’s best interest. Remember, even the politician you think you like may owe someone a favor that hits you in the wallet.
I think we should be very cautious about what is enacted into law. Better that it take a few years of hashing it out than pass something that we regret for decades or generations. Why rush desperately into this thing just because Obama is on borrowed time?
Sure, the USPS gets the mail delivered in a timely manner. I prefer to use it in my business. But the USPS has financial problems and still can’t make ends meet even with numerous price hikes.
The military. Despite their laudable capabilities there is probably more profligate waste there than in any government sector.
Fire and police. These are funded at the state and local level. They aren’t national bureaucracies. They are managed according to local conditions and finances.
Why not start with deregulating the insurance industry and let them compete across state lines? With competition comes lower rates and better service.
Tucson, right on, brother!
Obamacare?
You decide.
http://www.dickmorris.com/blog/2009/10/14/high-price-of-obamacare/