‘Top Line’ — Public Option: Not Dead Yet

One of the reasons that the “public plan” is controversial, and becoming more so, is that under both Senator Kennedy’s “Affordable Health Choices Act” and H.R. 3200, the public plan would cover all elective abortions. Both the Senate and House committees rejected amendments that would have kept elective abortion out of the public plan.
This was the case under even the original House bill, but it was underscored on July 30 by adoption of the Capps Amendment in the House Energy and Commerce Committee on July 30. The Capps Amendment is the work of veteran staff to Chairman Henry Waxman (D-Ca.), whose credentials as a supporter of unlimited abortion are unblemished. Waxman delegated the offering of the amendment to Rep. Lois Capps (D-Ca.), who in 11 years in Congress has opposed every limit on abortion and every limit on government funding of abortion (she has voted against the pro-life side 74 times). The amendment was adopted over the negative votes of the pro-life members of the committee.
The Capps Amendment explicitly authorizes the public plan to cover all elective abortion (yes, it says “abortions”), starting on day one (and it MANDATES that the public plan cover elective abortions if and when the Hyde Amendment, which governs Medicaid, is dropped from the annual HHS appropriations bill).
There is no doubt whatever that the Obama Administration would immediately use the Capps authorization to cover elective abortions in the public plan. On July 17, 2007, Barack Obama appeared before the annual conference of the Planned Parenthood Action Fund. Speaking of his plans for “health care reform,” Obama said, “In my mind, reproductive care is essential care. It is basic care, and so it is at the center and at the heart of the plan that I propose.” He also stated that, “What we’re doing is to say that we’re gonna set up a public plan that all persons and all women can access if they don’t have health insurance. It’ll be a plan that will provide all essential services, including reproductive services.” Contrary to some careless reports, Obama said nothing in his July 21 interview with CBS’s Katie Couric to contradict these commitments.
This means that any citizen who wants to take advantage of the public plan will be compelled to purchase coverage for abortion on demand. The federal agency will collect the premium money, receive bills from abortionists, and send the abortionists payment checks drawn on a federal Treasury account. It is a sham to pretend that this does not constitute funding of abortion. If this passes, the federal government will be running a nationwide abortion-on-demand insurance plan.
Pro-life groups also object to another aspect of the Capps Amendment — it explicitly authorizes federal subsidy funds to flow to private insurance plans that cover any or all abortions. This would be a radical departure from longstanding federal policy. Right now, federal funds do NOT flow to insurance plans that cover abortions (except to save the life of the mother, or in cases of rape or incest) — not inMedicaid, federal employees’ health plans, Indian Health, the military, or anywhere else.
Those who are serious about understanding how H.R. 3200 and the Capps Amendment would change federal policy on abortion — putting the federal government into the abortion business in a big way — should check out a detailed memorandum issued by National Right to Life on August 13 (which also covers the abortion-related components of Senator Kennedy’s “Affordable Health Choices Act”).

I don’t know how the government thinks they can do such a great job with National Health Care. Look how poor of health care our veteran’s receive and it is run buy the government. I think there should be some changes in our health care and there is a waste of money with test being done that are duplicated by several doctors and there should be some type of limit on pricing medications. We should go after the drug companies and make sure they are not over pricing the meds. My father is out of pocket over $600.00 a month and he is 80 years old. He has to pick between eating or taking his meds. Our seniors have to make this chose everyday and should not have to after working hard all their lives. Its funny how our inmates in our jails and prisons get free health care and draw their SSI checks and the only disability some of them have is a crack habit. I just hope the American people voice their opinions to their reresinitives and stop this health care package.

the only way Obama is going to get his dream of total control and access to everyone’s private information (in his centralized Orwellian database)is to make some kind of deal with big business. That could be a deal-maker. Have some SERIOUS tort reform and sell-out the trial lawyers and he could get the votes. He could persuade BlueDogs and Republicans to vote for some kind of public option (and he would get his database) if legislation had some real tort reform both on medical malpractice and other business lawsuit abuses.
Obama’s problem is that shyster attorneys are Obama’s, and the Democrat party, core fundraisers. So Obama might have to settle on some system that allows the price gouging insurance companies and the awful lawsuit abuses to continue. In other words, no savings and no “real change”.

Agreed. Please don’t give in, Obama. Keep pushing for that “public option” that the “public” doesn’t want so they will get fed up with Dem leadership. Otherwise, they try to slip the public option in as “cooperatives.” Much better to keep this out in the open!

Now Obama-Care is considering Government financed co-operative non-profit health care insurance programs. This in itself is might be a good move, but it does raise a number of questions that need answers.
Like is the Government going to fund these co-operative non-profits out of our taxes?
If they are funded through taxes, like those companies who asked for and took the tarp money they will be subject to how the money is spend and what health services will be paid for and who will be calling the shots?. Government unelected bureaucrats and political czars or patience’s and their doctors?
When or if these non-profits were to go bankrupt, would we the tax payers have to bail them out, like was done with Banks and Auto sector?
So is it really a move away from a socialized universal health care or just another way for the Government to come in with dismantling the current health care insurance programs through the back door with these Government and tax payer funded non-profit health care insurance programs?.