Support The Public Option Act: buy into Medicare

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[Lani]

Goddess Bless Alan Grayson! 

HR 4789 and The Public Option: The Way Forward http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rep-alan-grayson/hr-4789-the-public-option_b_496977.html

Health care reform -- here's where we are. The House of Representatives is about to vote on a Senate bill without a public option. ... Which is why I introduced H.R. 4789, the Public Option Act. This simple four-page bill lets any American buy into Medicare at cost. You want it, you pay for it, you're in. It adds nothing to the deficit; you pay what it costs.

.... And to the right-wing loons who call it socialism, we say, "if you want to be a slave to the insurance companies, that's fine. If you want 30% of your premiums to go to 'administrative costs' and billion-dollar bonuses for insurance CEOs who figure out new and creative ways to deny you the care you need to stay healthy and alive, that's fine. But don't you try to dictate to me that I can't have a public option!"

Join Rep. Grayson's call for Medicare for All here: Demand a Vote on the Public Option  http://salsa.mydccc.org/o/30019/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=17

[Sister Artemis]

This is an interesting and simple proposal.  Yeah, 4 pages when you have humongous margins and double-spaced numbered lines and so on - it's only about a page and half as a simple typed document.  In any case, I imagine it'll flop (because, ya know, Congress, sheesh...) but should help push the debate over this issue forward. 

I especially like Grayson's cut-to-the-chase point:  "if you want to be a slave to the insurance companies, that's fine. If you want 30% of your premiums to go to 'administrative costs' and billion-dollar bonuses for insurance CEOs who figure out new and creative ways to deny you the care you need to stay healthy and alive, that's fine. But don't you try to dictate to me that I can't have a public option!"

[futurexpat?]

Or as Rep. Dennis Kucinich and Thom Hartmann say, "Medical Part E," for everybody.

[Electrolass]

While I appreciate the intent of this bill, it cannot stand on its own merit.  The social security act comprises but one aspect of the infrastructure around which health care has become endlessly entangled.  Please try and understand that health insurers wield far too much control over the system to simply level the playing field by opening up medicare to all Americans.  

Without delving into the history of Medicare, I will simply point out that in the Bush years alone, Medicare and Medicaid were heavily remastered and not for its betterment.  I implore anyone who will listen to me to take a long hard look at which industry in health care calsl the shots.  That would be health insurers.  Even Medicare has become entangled in its web.  This is why Obama wants to dismantle supplemental Medicare insurance.  

Here is a website, http://www.myhealthtechblog.com/2009/07/2009-health-insurer-report-card.html.  You can also download and read the actual report card, http://www.ama-assn.org/ama/pub/physician-resources/solutions-managing-your-practice/coding-billing-insurance/heal-claims-process/national-health-insurer-report-card.shtml.  See how Medicare compares to the the six other insurers.  They do quite well.  However, Medicare is only now getting back on its feet.  Obama had to first return the 386 billion in funding that Bush cut in 2007 in his last year in office.  It was this cut that spurred Rep. Dingell to begin writing his health care bill, HR 3200.  His bill, now HR 3269 takes aim at the heart of the reform issue:  reforming health insurance practice and policy.  

If you want to know more, go to Diva Blue Oasis, and read some of my older posts (Jeanette).  You can also read more of my research and opinions at daytodaydemocracyalaska.com.  I wish I had enough time to reiterate what I have already written in the past, but I just can't.  I have read the quarterly financial statements from the BIG health insurers and this comes down to money.  As long as the laws currently on the books allow health insurers to continue to practice as they do, neither a public option or the opening of medicare to Americans will be able to compete against the profits generated by an industry that uses your and my premiums to bolster its bottom line.  The leftover premiums we pay each year should be rolled over into the next fiscal year to buffer us from increases in health care expenses, not buffer the stock holders from losses accrued by other sister companies operating under the larger parent company.  

I want a public option, but the road will not, cannot be simple.  Hang in there.  Dig deep.  

[Lani]

MEDICARE YOU CAN BUY INTO ACT GAINS MOMENTUM http://grayson.house.gov/News/DocumentSingle.aspx?DocumentID=175850

UPDATE (3/19/10):  There are now 80 cosponsors of the Public Option Act.  Here is the current list:  Reps. Baldwin, Berkley, C. Brown, Capuano, Carson, Castor, Chu, Clarke, Wm. Lacy Clay, Cleaver, Cohen, Cummings, D. Davis, DeGette, Delahunt, Doyle, Edwards, Ellison, Engel, Farr, Filner, Frank, Fudge, Garamendi, Green, Grijalva, Gutierrez, Hall, Hare, Hastings, Hinchey, Hinojosa, Hirono, Holt, Honda, Israel, Jackson-Lee, Jackson Jr., E.B. Johnson, H. Johnson, Kaptur, Kennedy, Kilpatrick, Kucinich, Lee, Lewis, Maloney, McDermott, McGovern, Meeks, James P. Moran, Nadler, Napolitano, Norton, Olver, Payne, Pierluisi, Pingree, Polis, Rangel, Richardson, Rush, Sablan, Sanchez, Robert “Bobby” Scott, Schakowsky, Shea-Porter, Speier, Sutton, B. Thompson, Tonko, Towns, Velazquez, Waters, Watson, Weiner, Welch, Woolsey, Wu.

This list of cosponsors includes five powerful Committee Chairmen: John Conyers, Nydia Velazquez, Barney Frank, Ed Towns, and Bob Filner. It includes the Chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, the Chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, and both Co-Chairs of the Progressive Caucus.

Congressman Grayson introduced the Public Option Act on March 9th.  The bill would allow any American citizen or permanent resident to buy into Medicare at cost.  Any participant in the option would be eligible for Medicare Part A and B coverage, as well as Medicare Part D prescription drug access.  This legislation does not affect the current Medicare program, established for older Americans age 65 and up.

[Sister Artemis]

CAN I HAZ PUBLIK OPCHUN?