Vampire Wealthcare unmasks itself. As usual, Wendell was exactly right -- the "charm offensive" followed by brutal attacks.
The Wealthcare Corporations know that with a national public option, we would leave their high-deductible, no-or-low-care junk insurance for a sturdy, honest public plan with 4% overhead instead of 20%-30% overhead aka bloated pig-profits for their Wall Street Overlords.
"How many times can a nation turn its head, Pretending it just doesn't see?"
Prez O could say, as did LBJ of Medicare, "I will FIGHT for Public Option as long as I have breath in my body."
National Public Option, no triggers, no opt-in or out. Fix this appalling, greed-ridden system for people not profits.
Let the Hate-triots rant and rail. LET them filibuster. I really do hope that they don't get leprosy and have *all* their appendages fall off.
Reply to Whitt Flora: Part of the reason we are in this mess is that insurance-company insiders resort to anonymous personal attacks when faced with indefensible positions. If everyone sticks to topic, something good might occur. No, Mr. Potter cannot put the ketchup back in the bottle, but let's give him the chance to help us grow some really fine tomatoes to feed future generations.
With due respect, because the "entire country" believes in something, that does not make it so. As you pointed out, one of the "absurd" cases you cited never made it to court, which proves that the system works adequately as it is. As I pointed out in my piece, singling out and promoting individual, supposedly "egregious" cases is a favorite PR technique to promote so-called "tort reform," and it also takes attention away from the larger picture that indicates proposed tort reform methods will have little or no real impact on the cost of medical care. Anecdotal information is publicly persuasive, but a poor indicator of the economic impact -- or lack thereof -- of the overall cost of medical malpractice lawsuits in the country at any given time. A 2004 [http://www.cbo.gov/doc.cfm?index=4968&type=0 report] on this issue by the Congressional Budget Office concluded that savings on premiums just do not translate into lower medical costs overall.
Anne Landman
I think a better title for any of the bills before Congress would be "No Insurance Company Left Behind."
The bills fail to address costs in a serious way. They steal from Medicare and Medicaid. And they shovel money to the private health insurers with mandates and subsidies. It's a scandal.
Prof. Tom Russell
University of Denver
trussell@law.du.edu
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