Public option must be included
Reader Input
Anywhere from 50 to 60 percent of Americans being polled say they want a public option as part of health care reform currently being considered in Congress. Contrasting this, almost all Republicans are on the record as wanting to kill not only any public option, but in fact, any health care reform bill. Without a public option there is no competition in the health insurance industry. Without competition the public loses and Congress has wasted everyone’s time. The GOP has a huge problem and there is a good reason why Republicans are so determined to defeat President Barack Obama’s health care plan. They know that tens of millions of people will benefit from the new health care coverage and will therefore become supporters of the Democratic Party for decades to come. This has happened with Social Security, Medicare and civil-rights legislation. Democrats proposed these programs and have received the political benefits many times over. Passage of health care coverage for all Americans will be the GOP’s Waterloo. Ron Lowe, Nevada City
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Ron, are you sick and must use medicinal marijuana. Civil Rights passed because of the Republicans, remember all the Southern Democrats were against it. Boy if you're going to cite history either tell it correctly or do it while you're not stoned. Oh well, I guess some young kid reading this may take it for the truth. Nice try.
As far as SS and Medicare the Repubs predicted huge deficits and the Dems said that it would not cost more than 12 Billion. Who was correct? Both SS and Medicare are on their way to bankruptcy. Now tell me what will happen to those that instead of saving their money expected SS to provide for them if the program goes broke? Please answer, I'm curious.
One thing we can count on you for is to revise history to bring the Democrats to the forefront. and also a good rant on occasion. In either case your letters are irrelevant. Enjoy it for now.
1) Congress will to submit themselves to the public option
2) Employers will dump their health plans and force employees who have worked for years onto the public option
3) The quality of health care will go down for everyone
4) Illegal aliens will stream across our southern borders to obtain free health care as they do education today
5) The government will own you
Ron: If competition will reduce Health Insurance costs. There is one simple fix for this problem. Allow Health Insurance providers to compete across state lines like auto insurance companies do. There, a simple fix without massive legislation and taxation. No why is that thought or idea not in the 2000 page bill that passed in congress last night? Simple the Democrats would rather Control the Ins. companies rather than have them compete with each other. This health insurance boondoggle is about nothing more than control, control by our gov. of we the people.
chase, the health insurance industry acted in bad faith. They do not compete they collude and conspire to fix prices. They do not give a damn about anything except profits. Both of the insurers that denied me are in the North East. One in New York, the other in Pennsylvania. Health insurance reform is needed and most republicans along with the libs know this. They have been exempt from anti trust laws.
"The two key provisions of the Health Insurance Industry Antitrust Enforcement Act will repeal the federal antitrust exemption for health insurance and medical malpractice insurance companies for flagrant antitrust violations, including price-fixing, bid rigging, and market allocations, and subject health insurers and medical malpractice insurers to the same good-competition laws that apply to virtually every other company doing business in the United States. What an idea!"
http://www.examiner.net/news/x1914248650/Health-insurance-companies-exempt-from-anti-trust-laws
Do you still think they play fair?
If the public option is so great, why won't congress be subjected to it? Why is a public option allegedly the only solution? Could it be a "my way or the highway" mentality?
ChuxxR, Your statement makes it appear that you have tried to buy insurance across a state line. You know as well as I that both those companies you listed are "doing business as(DBA)" in California under a fictious name registered with the state of California.
9/17/2009--Introduced.Health Insurance Industry Antitrust Enforcement Act of 2009 - Declares that nothing in the McCarran-Ferguson Act shall be construed to permit health insurance issuers or issuers of medical malpractice insurance to engage in any form of price fixing, bid rigging, or market allocations in connection with providing health insurance coverage or coverage for medical malpractice claims or actions. Makes this Act nonapplicable to any information gathering and rate setting activities of any state commission of insurance or any other state regulatory entity with authority to set insurance rates.
The McCarran-Ferguson Act provides that state law shall govern the regulation of insurance and that no act of Congress shall invalidate any state law unless the federal law specifically relates to insurance. The act thus mandates that a federal law that does not specifically regulate the business of insurance will not PREEMPT a state law enacted for that purpose. A state law has the purpose of regulating the insurance industry if it has the "end, intention or aim of adjusting, managing, or controlling the business of insurance" (U.S. Dept. of Treasury v. Fabe, 508 U.S. 491, 113 S. Ct. 2202, 124 L. Ed. 2d 449 [1993]).
The McCarran-Ferguson Act also provides that the SHERMAN ANTI-TRUST ACT OF 1890, 15 U.S.C.A. § 1 et seq., the CLAYTON ACT OF 1914, 15 U.S.C.A. § 12 et seq., and the Federal Trade Commission Act of 1914, 15 U.S.C.A. §§ 41–51, apply to the business of insurance to the extent that such business is not regulated by state law.
Read more: http://law.jrank.org/pages/8497/McCarran-Ferguson-Act-1945.html#ixzz0WKi7OV3C
Read more: http://law.jrank.org/pages/8497/McCarran-Ferguson-Act-1945.html#ixzz0WKgu2sTd
So much for "states rights". The fed will do it all.
I had a great conversation with a married couple from Canada the other day. The husband was against socialized medicine, and his wife was all for it. His wife went on about how her Mother, who lives in Canada, has been receiving treatment for cancer. She went on about how well they were treating her. Then, her husband chimed in. He reminded her about how angry she was during the diagnostic phase of her Mother’s treatment. It took them four months to even get the imaging done to determine she had a problem. It took another two months for them to commence the proper treatment. Additionally, he added that if they had been willing to do more in the way of preventative, she may not be in the position she is in right now; they refused to give her a colonoscopy. The wife did capitulate and say that the preventative care is definitely lacking with socialized medicine in Canada. She also said we Americans don’t even know what paying taxes are, illuminating that we don’t pay very much in taxes. It was interesting to watch and listen to these two go on. She also talked about the “brain drain” problem that had occurred in Canada since physicians got paid a lot less. Let’s break the barriers and allow competition across state lines. Let’s do something about the fear factor in tort reform. Let’s work logically and try to fix the system we have rather than send our country into a financial abyss and head toward socialism.
Asking Americans to get on board with this financial monster is like being in a huge boat at sea with holes in the bottom and many Americans treading water in the ocean. It is only logical to plug the holes before pulling everyone into the boat. If you pull everyone into the boat before fixing the leaks, the boat goes right to the bottom. Let’s fix the holes in our economy fist.
Notice Ron didn’t cite any sources. The majority of polls still show Americans DON’T want this kind of reform, (see Pollters.com.) Most Republicans are on record as wanting some kind of reform, just not socialized medicine. Without a public option there’s no competition? That’s what the Republicans have been encouraging, increase the competition. It sounds like Ronny is becoming a Republican. It isn’t often that Ron Lowe is accurate or truthful, no surprise here.
fourgen,The law simply wasn't applied. Large insurance companies (the kind most of us had/have) are not being restrained. Obviously, the states couldn't or wouldn't enforce the Anti Trust Laws or any other law regulating the industry. The two companies I referred to are AIG and Prudential and that is what they are called in the entire nation. I'm sure that they checked in with the state before they started the plunder and pillaging of JQP.
I appreciate that you provided legitimate sources.