But he chose again to duck the biggest dispute of all: whether the new insurance exchange must contain a government-run “public option.” Mr. Obama once again outlined the arguments for a public plan and once again said it was not essential. Perhaps the president’s advisers made the right political calculation in determining that Wednesday night was not the time to embrace a particular alternative, such as nonprofit cooperatives or a trigger under which a plan would be created only if private insurers do not reduce premium costs to a certain level. But this laissez-faire strategy guarantees that the rather peripheral debate over the public option will continue to dominate the health-care discussion.
Mr. Obama sketched out a measure that would cost $900 billion over the next decade — about three-fourths the size that the administration initially envisioned but still containing the basic elements of universal coverage. The money would come from an amalgam of savings in federal health spending programs and a new tax on insurance companies that offer plans costing more than a set amount. This is an ungainly and inefficient, but politically safe, way to approach the goal of limiting the amount of health benefits that can be offered tax-free.
Any one who thinks that a “tax on insurance companies is not a cost that will be passed on to consumers – I have a bridge in Brooklyn to sell you!
$900billion? Sheesh! My poor daughter, and others of her generation – they will have to pay off this horrendous debt.
Any one who thinks that a “tax on insurance companies is not a cost that will be passed on to consumers – I have a bridge in Brooklyn to sell you!
$900billion? Sheesh! My poor daughter, and others of her generation – they will have to pay off this horrendous debt.
If Obama wants to see “competition”, then allow the free-market system to work by changing the laws so consumers can buy insurance across state lines.
Why should we “trust” the same group of people who run AmTrak, V. A. Hospitals, Medicare, or the Post Office to run our health system? They can’t even fix the “Cash for Clunkers” program!
AmTrack is not run by the Government. The V.A. Hospitals are run by the Veterans Administration, and for all their problems serve Veterans better than many rural private hospitals serve the general public. Medicare is without a doubt the most successful health care program in the history of the country; prior to Medicare a majority of the population over the age of 65 had no insurance at all and limited access to health care, because private insurance companies would not provide coverage. Since the advent of Medicare the life expectancy of Americans has skyrocketed, and senior citizens are healthier than any time in history.
Regarding the Post Office, why don’t you try running a business were you are forced to take the least profitable customers, and forced to compete for the most profitable customers.
While you may not agree with the Cash for Clunkers program it worked just fine. Of course it ran out of money, it was supposed to. It was always a limited cash injection into the automobile industry. I am not aware of anything in that program that needed to be fixed.
It was supposed to run out of money before the car dealers got paid?
Atlanta ran several news stories of car dealers announcing they would not be continuing the program after the government told them they would have to wait for their money, told several times, actually.