Senator Ted Kennedy has his new health care bill floating around DC. It is the first/best hope right now of totally changing the health care industry.
A little peak at it:
-You can choose your own doctor.
-You can shop for a policy you want.
-There will a public plan run by the government.
-Employers must contribute or face fines/heavy taxes
-Small businesses are exempt
-If an insurance agency offers insurance in a state, they have to accept anyone who applies and can't charge higher rates for previous conditions
-The bill sets limits on how much premiums can vary. No super low price for one person and then super high for another person with similar conditions.
-Dependent coverage for children extends to age 26 versus 24 now.
-Medicare will be expanded to help very poor
-Moderately poor would get help from the government to purchase insurance
This is a good start. As a country, I feel we NEED the government option. It will keep private insurance companies honest b/c if I don't like their coverage, I can always take my plan to the government. And I don't buy into the bullcrap talking points about red tape and the government controlling my health. The government already runs health care for congress called Federal Employees Health Benefits Program. You better believe the program is top notch.
The importance of a public plan is the biggest part of the new bill. It cannot be cut out and I've read conflicting stories about trying to cut it out or taking the teeth out of it. Of course big insurance is trying to kill that section of the bill. They will lose customers/money or they will have to adjust their prices for fear of losing customers. Either way, it takes money out of their pockets. Also, it gives a chip to the government to bargain with. The government can then haggle/bargain for lower prices on prescription drugs and other things, lowering prices.
Here is an amazing quote that everyone needs to read about health care if found over at Dailykos and written by Robert Reich:
"All this will be decided within days or weeks. And once those who want to kill the public option without their fingerprints on the murder weapon begin to agree on a proposal -- Snowe's "trigger" or any other -- the public option will be very hard to revive. The White House must now insist on a genuine public option. And you, dear reader, must insist as well.
This is it, folks. The concrete is being mixed and about to be poured. And after it's poured and hardens, universal health care will be with us for years to come in whatever form it now takes. Let your representative and senators know you want a public option without conditions or triggers -- one that gives the public insurer bargaining leverage over drug companies, and pushes insurers to do what they've promised to do. Don't wait until the concrete hardens and we've lost this battle."
Update: It looks like Obama is going to spend some political capital to get a good health care bill. From the Times
"Mindful of the failures of former President Bill Clinton, whose intricate proposal for universal care collapsed on Capitol Hill 15 years ago, Mr. Obama until now had charted a different course, setting forth broad principles and concentrating on bringing disparate factions — doctors, insurers, hospitals, pharmaceutical companies, labor unions — to the negotiating table."
