High Noon for the Public Option in the Senate Tomorrow

Without a public option, we will definitely need some kind of cap on insurance company profits and insurance executive compensation. It would also be good to limit insurance company kickbacks to politicians who are doing everything they can to ensure that whatever reform bill passes will increase insurance company profits.

One word on government mandated healthcare of any color —
UNCONSTITUTIONAL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I wish she would show us the numbers of how the public option saves money. The CBO needs to see them as well. the only way the public option will save money is for the government to either reduce the amount of services available to enrollees (e.g. no expense because you do not get treatment) or they reduce what they pay the providers (that will not happen with the unioned health care workforces). they could also raise the co-pays and deductibles though Maxine Waters will be irate.
Even if you take all the non profit and public health insurance providers, strip out the profie or excess fund balance, reduce the SG&A expenses by half or more, you are only savings 10% or so of the premiums based on current underwriting. However, once you add in, no limits, no lifetime/annual max, pre-existing conditions, preventive care, etc, the cost for all these will make ALL insurance premiums go up.
Furthermore, the Federal government has not demonstated an ability to manage, Medicare, Medicaid and VA benefits. If this is the model that is going to save costs, may god h ave mercy on us! We all know how these programs are net underfunded by TRILLIONS of dollars.

It’s good for the compnies to make good profits, and for their executives to be highly paid. Those things only happen whn a company is offering products that people really like at prices they are willing to pay. Cap profits or salaries and talented people will work somewhere else.
The CEO of FedEx is fabulously wealthy because of FedEx’s services and prices, and the efficiency of his employees. The Postmaster General is a salary-capped hack with slow, surly employeees.

I am usually not a fan of Olypmia Snowe, but for once she is on the right track. She is insisting that every bill be completely written and posted and scored by the CBO for at least 72 hours before the Senate Finance committee vote on it. How reasonable is that? Yet the Dems won’t go along…stealth and lying are what they need to pass this monstrosity. Ask yourself, if these people really believed the American people were behind them would they shoot down Senator Snowe’s proposal. Of Course not…which shows they know these bills can’t survive the light of day.

Euthanize the public option.

I love it when people complain about profits of the insurance industry, and complaining about high premiums as a result of those profits.
Do you really think that is the way an insurance company makes money.
Here is how it works. Insurance company polls the medical industry for reasonable charges(called usual and customary btw) on a variety of services, then looks at their pool of customers and estimates, based on age and medical conditions, what those people would reasonablly cost the company in reimbursements. It then calculates the premiums on people based on average salary, age and medical conditions with a bit of extra tacked on for administation. When the premiums are received they put a portion of that to cover expected reimbursements and then invests the rest in short, medium and long term investments.
That is why insurance companies are making money hand over fist now. The stock market took a nose dive, the insurance companies then took as much spare capital as they could and bought up as much as they could while we were looking at 6-7k averages and now are reaping profits.
Enjoy the profits guys.