Dean: Health Bill ‘Not Worth Passing’
EmailFormer DNC Chairman, presidential contender and doctor, Howard Dean continued his assault on the Senate health reform bill this morning, telling me on “Good Morning America” the bill in present form is “not worth passing.”
Dean is leading a liberal revolt over health care reform, telling Vermont Public Radio Tuesday Democrats should just kill the health care bill and start over.
“A very small number of people will get insurance, if at all, until 2014,” Dean told me this morning, “This is the insurance companies’ dream, this bill.”
Dean argued health care reform is the victim of bad decisions in Washington.
“Bad decisions were made along the way,” Dean said on GMA, “Now we’re in the last week of this. And this is the Washington scramble. And I think it’s ill-advised.”
Here’s our exchange:
GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS: We turn now, to Howard Dean in Washington. Good morning, Governor.
HOWARD DEAN: Good morning, how are you George.
You call this the collapse of health care reform. You call this united opposition. The president’s poll numbers at new lows. And a lot of leading Democrats believe if this bill goes down, it will cripple the Obama presidency. Are you prepared to do that?
Of course not. That’s one of the problems. We’ve gotten to the stage, George, you know this better than most, in Washington, where passing any bill is a victory. And that’s the problem. Decisions are made about the long-term future of this country for short-term political reasons. And that’s never a good sign.
There are some good things in this bill. The problem is, we’re now committed to a solution using the private insurance companies. And you will be forced to buy insurance. If you don’t, you’ll pay a fine. And 27 percent of the money you put in will not go to your health care. It will go to CEOs, who make $20 million a year. This is a bigger bailout for the insurance industry than AIG. And not one person — excuse me. A very small number of people will get any insurance at all until 2014, if the bill works.
GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS: Excuse me. The president says this is going to cover about 30 million Americans and a lot of your fellow progressives and liberals are onboard. Listen to Senator Tom Harkin.
[VIDEO]
HARKIN: I plead with all of my progressive friends, now is the time to get over this hurdle. If this bill were so bad, why are 40 Republicans on the hill going after it day after day after day and trying to kill it?
[END VIDEO]
GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS: You say this is a big bailout for the insurance companies. You see Senator Harkin is for it. Others are for it. Sherrod Brown, Jay Rockefeller are for it. Are you saying they’re all selling out?
HOWARD DEAN: Of course, I’m not saying they’re selling out. These are wonderful people. And there’s good things in the bill. But the problem is, there has to be a line beyond which you think the bill’s bad for the country. I think at this point, the bill does more harm than good. I don’t believe there’s going to be the money around in five years for — because the insurance companies are charging so much. The pre-existing conditions piece, which — has disappeared essentially. This fine print in this bill allows that insurance companies charge you three-times as much if you’re older than they do if
you’re younger. This is an insurance company’s dream this bill. And I think it’s gone too far. It’s a shame. But bad decisions were made along the way. Now, we’re in the last week of this. And this is the Washington scramble. And I think it’s ill-advised.
GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS: Except, as you say, if you look at the fine print of the bill, older Americans are going to pay more. But the Americans Association for Retired People supports the bill. The president has pointed out it does cover 30 million Americans. It has a patient’s bill of rights for those that have insurance. And it begins to control cost. Look what it’s doing to control health care costs. The tax on the Cadillac health insurance plans.
New incentives for doctors and hospitals to focus on quality, and new Medicare panels to try to get the costs under control. You have said time and time again, that’s the key to controlling costs. The president says this bill does it.
HOWARD DEAN: George, you just named a whole bunch of bureaucracies and promises. I see little cost control in this bill at all. I really don’t. I want health care reform. But the choices have been taken away for the American people. The special interests, basically, made a lot of demands on the people passing this bill. And everybody has to decide for themselves. I think Jay Rockefeller and Tom Harkin and Dick Durbin are fantastic human beings. I think they’re wonderful people. But in Washington, you get into this crunch where bad — good money gets thrown after bad and bad money gets thrown after bad policy. And at this point, this bill is not worth passing in its present form. One of the things you could do is take some of the things in this bill, community health center money, wellness and prevention money, the exchanges, which are a good way — which was done in Massachusetts, to help people buy health insurance.
But the fundamental part of this bill that’s been decided is, we will only do health insurance through the private sector for the future. And you will not have a choice as an American, to get into other kinds of systems which work better. And I think that’s a mistake. And it always happens in the last week where people go too far, water down things too much. Give too much to the special interests. That’s where we are with this bill today.
GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS: Final question. Any chance you can succeed here? Can you convince your fellow Vermonter, Bernie Sanders, to vote now?
HOWARD DEAN: I think this thing will pass the senate and go to the house.
The problem is, there’s not a lot of room to fix it in the House because the four senators who balked on this, who represent the insurance industry, are not going to support the conference committee my job is not to convince what I think is right all along. I’ve, you know, put up with a lot of stuff I didn’t like – what was good about the bill outweighed what was bad the bill. I don’t believe that anymore.
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How come GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS sounds like a bill defender now and not when it had all the good stuff in it? The Media is just as much to blame as those 4 bought off senators. One only needs to look at all the commercial money TV companies receive to understand something aint right all around. kill the bill and go reconciliation, all these dems are doing now is trying to sell us crap for a political victory.
Posted by: todd | December 16, 2009, 12:30 pm 12:30 pm
I agree with Todd. The American people deserve the best possible bill. And I disagree with Stephanopoulos’s (and others’) assertion that if this bills is not passed it is the end of the Obama presidency. The failure of this bill could be his saving grace. I think Obama needs to say that the bill has strayed so far off course that he won’t sign it.
Posted by: Paul Wall | December 16, 2009, 12:41 pm 12:41 pm
Any Health Care Reform Bill without Tort Reform included is not worth passing.
It’s a No-Brainer which means the congress should be able to comprehend that.
: o )
Posted by: Noz | December 16, 2009, 12:43 pm 12:43 pm
Howard Dean is making sense. We are all going to be forced to patronize these insurance companies, or be fined. I think that the American people can best decide how to spend their money, and forcing some people to choose between food and buying health insurance, or paying their rent and buying health insurance is obscene. This is indeed a bonanza for the insurance companies, and many of the politicians crafting this law are on the payroll of these special interests.
Posted by: David E. Connolly, Jr. | December 16, 2009, 12:55 pm 12:55 pm
The insurance and pharmaceutical industries received huge pay-offs to not oppose the bill for one reason only; to offset the threat they saw from a public option. Now the public option is gone but the tax breaks and special considerations remain. That is unacceptable.
Union members are also going to have their health plans taxed under the so called Cadillac-plan tax. Again, we in the unions have supported this bill because of the public option, even though we knew our plans would get hit. Without the public option it is just a selective tax targeting unions.
Progressive voters (the young) are also getting the shaft in this bill. They are forced to buy insurance, which will raise the profits for insurance companies because they are relatively healthier that older people.
Then progressives are looking at an election where senior citizens are being forced to endure cuts of 600 billion in medicare. Progressives need these voters or we will loose many of the seats we currently have. To upset seniors when there is so little in this bill that embraces progressive politics is suicide.
I agree with Mr. Dean – KILL THIS BILL
Posted by: Jason | December 16, 2009, 1:03 pm 1:03 pm
It’s beginning to look like the only way one can obtain affordable, top quality health insurance is to get elected to the U.S. Congress.
The problem is that none of the lawmakers can relate. They don’t experience the squeeze. If they were all purchasing health insurance on the open market, the bill would look a lot different.
Posted by: M G | December 16, 2009, 1:39 pm 1:39 pm
I agree with Howard Dean – KILL THIS BILL
I honestly wish I could take my vote back! Obama is too interested in pleasing the republicans!! He can’t play hard ball.
I think Hillary may have been the better choice, I’m not sure but anyone who had some backbone!!! What the heck is wrong with this President!!!
Public Option is the ONLY way to control costs, which is why so many people don’t have healthcare, it’s too expensive he’s giving the insurance companies what they’ve prayed for.
KILL THIS BILL and wake up OBAMA!!!!!
Posted by: Leslie | December 16, 2009, 1:42 pm 1:42 pm
Finally, A representative of “The People”, not the white house has risen of the Democratic Party.
Any bill that fosters dependence on the government should never, and I mean NEVER be up for consideration.
THANK YOU Mr. Dean! KILL THIS BILL!
Posted by: Rocky | December 16, 2009, 1:53 pm 1:53 pm
Looks like the majority want this bill killed yet Obama, Reid and Pelosi are saying the hell with what the people want. Those with the slightest intelligence saw this train wreck coming but you liberals rather appease your guilty white conscience than vote for someone who is actually looking out for the people. Now all’s I see is comment after comment of people wishing they didn’t vote for Obama. I enjoy watching you suffer, like you’re momma always said, you get what you deserve.
Posted by: DiesasedLiberal | December 16, 2009, 2:10 pm 2:10 pm
I have to agree with Todd. For months all you heard from the media was about death panels and pulling the plug on grandma. Now that the bill has been gutted they want to rave about how many people it will help?
Posted by: Cassy | December 16, 2009, 2:26 pm 2:26 pm
Tie Health Care Reform to Defense Spending and there would be no problems whatever getting it done.
The U.S. has no problem approving money for hurting people and breaking things, it just can’t bring itself to help its citizens as most highly industrialized nations do. Talk about a Corporate State. Anyone know which type of political system is characterized by a Corporate State?
It is increasingly clear that the U.S. is becoming a Second World Nation. Some parts of this country qualify as a Third World Nation. For such a religious nation, the U.S. has very little compassion.
Posted by: Doppelganger | December 16, 2009, 2:30 pm 2:30 pm
Small and mid size business will suffer when they are forced to pick up additional “affordable” health care for all employees. or pay the new tax ooops I mean penalty for not providing the 65% coverage. Watch as unemployment climbs as midsize business like mine are penalized for growth. We will have to absorb the tax-oops benefit for others. We will reduce staff to meet the new expenses. Add more to the government unemployment line. I even had a staff person laugh and say who cares, she’s got a great uncle who gives her food, low cost housing, child care, and even funding for education…now he’ll pick up her health care. Her Uncle Sam. What happened to our nation, when did it become a nation of let the government take care of it and I deserve it all without having to work for it?
Posted by: Sc | December 16, 2009, 2:38 pm 2:38 pm
Dean is exactly correct. It isn’t worth passing and should be killed.
Passing it for Obama’s “image”, is a totally stupid thing to do.
Posted by: Rick McDaniel | December 16, 2009, 2:39 pm 2:39 pm
HOWARD DEAN: George, you just named a whole bunch of bureaucracies and promises. I see little cost control in this bill at all. I really don’t. I want health care reform. But the choices have been taken away for the American people. The special interests, basically, made a lot of demands on the people passing this bill……. Nuff said! Americans want health care reform, just not in this form. He is speaking for many of us.
Posted by: lfrichar | December 16, 2009, 2:41 pm 2:41 pm
The health care bill vs the modified health care bill is a modified decision…
But what’s terrible is some people STILL BELIEVE IN THE STATUS QUO WHOSE WALLETS KEEPS GETTING HEAVIER.
it’s shocking that people to this day have to choose between $ for those medicines vs food and a health care bill is questioned.
WAKE UP PEOPLE AND SMELL THE COFFEE. The people who keep pulling the wool over your eyes will not be there when someone you know may have to make that decision!
Posted by: Monet | December 16, 2009, 2:46 pm 2:46 pm
Also, everyone should look at last night’s “Press Party” as further evidence that the media is in bed with the politicians, google for some pic’s online and you’ll probably see smiles and smooches. Then on top of that, a month or two ago I found out that once a year the key anchors of the Main Stream Media have a “private” get together with the president for diner or lunch…hmmm.. Why Private? Don’t the Media and politicians work for us? Before that little get together the failed drug war in Mexico was recieving a good deal of attention, a war that has cost the lives of 15,000 Mexicans and billions in tax payer dough, but then… nada after that… perhaps because no political victory can be had in either direction on that front and it’s better to cover the same old garbage. New Media anchors and new politicians is what we really need because something is stinking to high heaven.
Posted by: todd | December 16, 2009, 2:53 pm 2:53 pm
Thank you, Howard Dean! I have wanted health care reform for a long time, but always feared that our politicians would manage to water it down to the point where it would cost a fortune and be a completely ineffectual failure, proving conservatives right. When President Obama was elected, I became cautiously hopeful that Congress would look to him for guidance and see what the American people want … my optimism has been completely snuffed out. My worst fears about this bill came to pass and my opinion of Congress is lower than ever. And where is President Obama? He’s been far too hands off. As another commenter stated, it’s time for him to step in and say that the bill as it stands right now is a complete mockery of health care reform and that he will not sign it. He must send the Senate back to the drawing board. It’s time for Democrats to grow a backbone, pull their heads out of the insurance industry’s backside and stop caving to special interests.
Posted by: LG | December 16, 2009, 3:09 pm 3:09 pm
Sorry Dean you are wrong on this one. To defeat it or not pass it is the most dangerous thing we can do. We will never be able again to put that much effort into it and it will never come to pass. The fact that 30,0000 will finally get insurance is worth it. The fact that insurance companies are accountable and will not be able to throw people off in a whim and give bonus’ for it…make it worth it. Sorry, this time you are WRONG WRONG WRONG.
Posted by: talmag | December 16, 2009, 3:11 pm 3:11 pm
Dean is correct in my opinion. The congressional thinking-of-themselves-first law makers are tailoring this health care bill to suit themselves and their rich backers. They more than disgust me. President Obama said at first that he would not sign this bill without a public option, but he isn’t advocating that any more. The Republicans, Leiberman and the insurance companies scared the public into thinking that the government would control health care if this passed. It wouldn’t. It gave us an option and now it’s gone.
Posted by: janice e. nelson | December 16, 2009, 3:12 pm 3:12 pm
Hollering Howard gets a clue! All of a sudden this man not only gets a working brain cell he uses it. HE IS RIGHT!!!!!!!!!!!
Posted by: Greg | December 16, 2009, 3:16 pm 3:16 pm
Howard is right,to pass a bill just so some bedwetters can say they passed a bill is stupid.Obama is drooling so bad he is getting his tie wet,trying to get this bill passed so soon. It does not take affect for (4) years so what is the rush? Do it right,not Quick.
Posted by: stormerF2 | December 16, 2009, 3:31 pm 3:31 pm
If Obama puts his relection over the will of the people, WHY bother to reelct him… KILL THE BILL, or dump Obama for betraying… the will of the voters!
Posted by: jafo | December 16, 2009, 3:59 pm 3:59 pm
This should be called the insurance company welfare bill as all it does is give the insurance companies even more money than they already have. Without a public option, it is just same ol, same ol, give the insurance companies all they want. Oh let’s add in tort reform too and then they will really be happy. Since torts constitute less than 1% of health care costs, it will just give them another 1% for all the big bosses to spend on their mansions and high living. The poor people harmed by medical mistakes and insurance company rip-offs will just suffer some more.
Posted by: Bette | December 16, 2009, 4:36 pm 4:36 pm
Can anyone answer the following question?: if the problem with for-profit insurers is that their profit could otherwise be spent on health care (a point I agree with), why don’t the not-for-profit insurers have a competitive advantage? Even if they are somewhat more inefficient that a for-profit, they can’t possibly be 25% more inefficient!
Posted by: steve | December 16, 2009, 4:42 pm 4:42 pm
Howard Dean is right for a change! Obama is wanting to pass anything for the sake of his egotistical arrogant self just to say I GOT IT PASSED. He could care less what is in it-just RUSH, RUSH get it done. He’s already making a pack with Pharma if they will spend between 150-200 million to help PUSH health care through he may forget his campaign promise to the people about buying prescription drugs from other countries. Go back to the drawing board!!! Where is c span and the round table where EVERYONE can talk about it? Gone by the wayside too.
Posted by: Marsha Hunter | December 16, 2009, 5:12 pm 5:12 pm
I basically agree with Todd except for one point. Yes the media certainly fuelled the feeding frenzy of lies about health control that began with the ‘town-hall meetings’ last August. But George is interviewing someone against the bill, so he HAS to take the opposite, devil’s advocate position in order to have questions. Otherwise nothing would happen but both guys agree with how screwed up it all is. Which is certainly true: But agreement never makes good television.
Posted by: dawgSib | December 16, 2009, 5:15 pm 5:15 pm
…And I agree with Noz: Dems complained that the Right had no ideas other than ‘say no’. That is certainly true. But I think that including Tort Reform might have been a smart idea for the law itself, as well as politically. It COULD have helped control costs. I don’t know why it wasn’t incorporated in the Dems rush to see who can ‘bent over’ most for the GOP. ‘Bending Over’ & ‘selling out’ are what Democrats do better than anything. Look how they bent over, not once, but TWICE for Leiberman, re the Medicare ‘surge’-oops-I-mean-expansion. I say all this as a disgusted lifelong Democrat.
Posted by: dawgSib | December 16, 2009, 5:24 pm 5:24 pm
… and I CERTAINLY agree with Doppelganger on just about averything you’re saying. I ALMOST have nothing to add except one little thing (or two – tee hee):
I don’t know the word for ‘government by Corporations’. But ‘government by the rich’ is an Oligarchy. And we certainly do have an Oligarchy in America. Democracy is pretty much dead here. Some people talk about getting the money out of politics. That can’t happen because of one thing.
The politicians who sit on the ‘Supreme’ Court and their decision that ‘money is speech’. This especially true of Scalia who crows about being a Fundamentalist (literalist) on the Constitution. If he had his way we would purge that pesky ‘Bill of Rights’, which was added to the Constitution later. Under the original Constitution the only people who could vote were, I believe, landed gentry over 21. Read ‘rich old property-owning white guys’ there. Technically the ‘landed gentry over 21′ applies to me accept for one thing. I’m not rich enough to buy politicians or lobbyists. So that puts me in the class of ‘over 18 men, women & minorities’ for whom ’1 person = 1 vote’ supposedly applies. But their vote is only worth the tiniest fraction of the ‘one vote’ the monied interests have in lobbys like the Health Insurance Lobby.
Posted by: dawgSib | December 16, 2009, 5:52 pm 5:52 pm
And when the republicans heard Howard Dean say this? A Dean-like “campaign scream” was heard from GOP chambers. This whole thing strikes me as a tactic to give the GOP deniability in voting FOR the bill. “Well–Howard Dean hated it, so it must be okay!” Barney Franks was reportedly calling Gov. Dean for help identifying a particular plant in his back yard. Go figure!
Posted by: NewJerseyVet | December 16, 2009, 6:24 pm 6:24 pm
I will support former chairman DNC Dr Howard dean he is Great Democrats who always support legislation health care with public option I respected his position
Posted by: James Thogkow | December 16, 2009, 7:53 pm 7:53 pm
Dean is correct. We should have a government option in addition to the private option. We should also greatly increase medical colleges to train more doctors. Charges for procedures must be fixed by government at a reasonable rate. Per Visit charges also should be limited. No one should be penalized for not having health insurance if they cannot afford it or if they think it is not worth it. High cost of deductible and premiums makes health insurance not very useful for healthy people. So the present bill is no good viewed in any way and a major disaster.
Posted by: Raghuram | December 16, 2009, 8:47 pm 8:47 pm
I think everyone is really missing the point. We do universal health care or our financial systems will collaspe—again! What’s not to understand. Every financial analyst looking at the failure of the auto industry concludedit was the legacy costs associated with health care. Secondly, everyone of the Detroit 3 competitors get universal health care from their conuntries—our auto companies compete on an uneven playing field. Bob Dole and Bill Frist both former GOP U.S. Senators support the President’s Health Care Plan. These facts must come to the fore and be hammered by the DEMS, liberal and conservative and Sen. Joe “Switch ‘Em” Lieberman. In the end, the U.S. Economy and the People of America win. Let’s get this done ASAP.
VLM,Sr.
Posted by: Victor L. Marsh, Sr. | December 16, 2009, 8:56 pm 8:56 pm
@steve who said “if the problem with for-profit insurers is that their profit could otherwise be spent on health care (a point I agree with), why don’t the not-for-profit insurers have a competitive advantage? Even if they are somewhat more inefficient that a for-profit, they can’t possibly be 25% more inefficient!”
—-
Your question goes straight to the heart of the problem: there ARE NO not-for-profit insurers. Not-for-profit insurers are the missing element in all this fiasco re the cost of health care.
The Public Option would have served that function- providing an alternative to for-profit insurers. A not-for-profit Option (call it ‘choice’ or ‘alternative’) usually protects consumers (us) by forcing down the prices the for-profit guys can charge. It tends to keep their prices low AND their quality up.
What we have now is 1000 (let’s say) for-profit outfits who don’t have a dime’s worth of difference between them. They ALL get together & decide to charge whatever traffic will bear. And there is no competing entity forcing them to keep quality up. So you get what we have: Unmanageably high premiums, coupled with poor or no delivery. More excuses not to pay off, like ‘pre-existing conditions’.
Its like the choice between banks (corporate or privately owned, for-profit) and credit-unions (member-owned, not-for-profit). As you point out, the amounts that would go to profits (& improved service) are shared by member/owners instead of share-holders. So this is how we could have gotten Wall-Street privateers off our backs. Main Street could finally be free of Wall Street, at least in this area.
So the Right has to put out scare tactics: ‘We can’t have Movie Theaters- it’ll kill live theater’ and ‘We can’t have TV & Radio- it’ll kill Movie Theaters’ and ‘We can’t have VCRs or DVD- it’ll kill TV & Radio’. They always say these scary things & they never happen. There will always be those who will stay with their current for-profit insurer. A Public Option never threatened competition, it created it.
And if Obama & Dems were as radical & Anti-business as Rush & his crowd say they would have pushed a single-payer option: NO insurance companies; No options; TRUE gov’t take-over; Medicare for everyone.
Posted by: dawgSib | December 16, 2009, 8:56 pm 8:56 pm
I didn’t need Howard dean to tell me this bill was a piece of crap! The Democrats are so busy kissing Joe Lieberman’s they have totally abandoned the people who put them in office. This lifetime Democrat is done… gone
Posted by: Leigh | December 16, 2009, 11:11 pm 11:11 pm
Dean’s right. The democratic party is headed for a big fall in 2010.
Posted by: jan | December 17, 2009, 5:23 am 5:23 am
This bill is an Insurance companies best dream gain 30 million new customers that must pay or face fines or jail time. Obama cant be that dumb everthing that might have helped people has been striped away.
Posted by: earl | December 17, 2009, 6:46 am 6:46 am
DEAN in ’12. He can beat the GOP RHINO…
Posted by: jafo | December 17, 2009, 12:41 pm 12:41 pm
Dr Dean says:
“And you will be forced to buy insurance. If you don’t, you’ll pay a fine.”
Yes, threats of massive fines and prison for not having insurance have been in the bill from the beginning.
What took Dean so long to read the bill?
Posted by: Joe White | December 17, 2009, 11:32 pm 11:32 pm
Am I the only one that is getting very sick and tired of the fear card being played all the time. And mad about all of this high pressure thuggery type politics.I know the sky won’t be falling in my lifetime. But with the bail outs ( Autos and Banks and Lord only knows what else we don’t know about) and Tarp and Stimulus and Health Care bills, just to mention a few, they want us to think if things aren’t done right now and their way the world is coming to an end. And all of the dumb people that are eating it up like it is gospel right out of the mouth of God.
Can no one think common sence anymore.
all of the money they have thrown away would have fixed SS and Medicare and a lot of other programs. But it’s been flushed down the toilet.
Posted by: dmac | December 18, 2009, 12:51 am 12:51 am
Remember, you’re buying health INSURANCE, not pre-paid medical treatment. How can a company be profitable if you have major health problems, and they are required to cover millions in health care in exchange for your $1000 monthly payment.
We all end up covering these people, and prices go up for everyone. Many state have removed Pre-Existing Condition, and everyone has had major increases.
If you constantly put in automotive claims because you’re a bad driver, would you expect to have guaranteed coverage? Should poor people be given car insurance at the expense of the legitimate payers?
Why should Health insurance comapnies be forced to cover you if you won’t eat right and exercise?
they worst thing we could do is let the government run it. They can run medicaide/medicare without running a deficit. How is that fair competition with corporations that HAVE TO be profitable to stay in business?
Govenmnet should stick to what it does best. Making standards and regulations.
Let’s start with the small things that everyone can agree on, like tort reform and standardization of records, instead of a 2000+ page bill that no senator has read or understands. It’s really just a social experiment with a blank check attached.
Posted by: eric | December 18, 2009, 4:08 pm 4:08 pm
I agree with Howard Dean. What scares me about this bill is that we will be forced to purchase private health insurance and if we can’t pay, the IRS will fine us. No thank you!
I am a liberal and I do not like this bill.
Kill the Bill!
Posted by: Kelly | December 19, 2009, 1:28 am 1:28 am
Health care exchange should be similiar to mutual funds approach in stock market with each labor group or business group under a small cap fund or large cap fund to provide to their memberships. Each company should have a fund under medicare or medicaid within a state large cap fund under federal reserve system.World trade groups should have a fund for each group under United nations fund, too.
Posted by: Donald Blaskovich | December 19, 2009, 2:01 pm 2:01 pm
Even when the Senate bill passes, the House bill cannot be reconciled with it.
The two bills are matter and anti-matter, public option and no public option.
They will destroy each other when they meet.
Posted by: Joe White | December 19, 2009, 9:41 pm 9:41 pm
This is just like all other good ideas. By the time the special interests and others get through wading around in it for a while, it isn’t worth the paper it is printed on. And from the size of it, and how many pages it is, and the many thousands of copy’s, it is way overpriced for just the paper alone…
Posted by: Idntv | December 19, 2009, 10:27 pm 10:27 pm
I agree with David Gergen’s observation on CNN about people become cynical about politicians, in particular, the role of health insurance and drug companies on the h.c. reform. It is the intention of the Whitehouse, in particular its chief of staff Emanual, to give the pharma. and insurance industries a good deal in order win their support on the hc reform. Also, they let the Senate to pass a bill not to allow buying drug from Canada, This is a reverse of an issue Obama famously supported during his campaign last year. It is also a well known fact that Obama has previously stated that people with income less than 250 k will not be required pay one dime more tax in his administration and the health care reform discussion will be transparent and shown on CSPAN. None of which is true today.
Posted by: austin | December 21, 2009, 12:20 am 12:20 am
I am so frustrated at this so called healthcare bill. I don’t consider it a healthcare bill; it’s robbery by our politicians! One state gets special treatment, congress votes that they don’t have to participate, and in the same breath, Medicare gets reduced. You don’t think that will happen to our healthcare – restrictions to access and care.
Listen up congress – either you enroll in my healthcare plan or I want your healthcare plan!!
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