I’ll give you a hint: This past July, UnitedHealthcare reported its profits had soared 155 percent because of "strong growth in its public-sector businesses, Medicare and Medicaid."
Senator Rockefeller gives Senator Baucus evidence that health insurance cooperatives are “untested and unsubstantiated — and should not be considered as a national model for health insurance.”
Yesterday, President Obama reassured the American people that health reform would not push them out of the health plan they like. Rather it would provide them with "more security and stability." The fact is without reform nearly one in five privately insured persons changed their health plan and most of them (72.2%) did so for reasons beyond their control. Reform can lower costs, which means less need for employers to change their health plan offerings. If you are afraid of having to change your health insurance plan, you should be pushing for health care reform. It is your best chance to keep the health plan you have if you like it.
There is no reform without a public health insurance plan. Handing the private insurance companies 50 million more lives to cover and giving them a monopoly over health insurance coverage for working people is not reform. Progressives believe the way to truly solve our health care crisis is to institute Medicare for all and get rid of the for-profit insurance companies altogether. Conservatives fear a bigger government role in health care. Giving people the choice between private insurance companies and a public health insurance plan allows both sides to get some of their preferred solution in reform, adding much needed competition to our health insurance system.
As the wheeling and dealing of getting a health reform bill passed takes center stage in news coverage, one aspect of the debate is not getting the attention it deserves: the affordability of health care. To keep the cost of the bill and of health insurance down, Congress seems to be moving toward more cost sharing by patients even though mountains of research shows that higher out-of-pocket costs lead people to forego medically necessary care. That leads us further from the goal of guaranteeing everyone has access to quality, affordable health care when they need it.
The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has released its score of the House health care reform bill and opponents of health care reform are trying to use it to scuttle the bill’s success. The truth, however, is that without the Medicare physician payment fix, the House health reform bill is budget neutral and even produces a $6 billion surplus. We should applaud the House for tackling this long-term problem in Medicare’s fee structure, not punish it by falsely claiming its health care reform initiatives will add to the federal deficit.
The American Medical Association has endorsed the House health reform bill, despite the fact that it prominently contains the very element it previously opposed: a public health insurance plan option.
The House of Representatives has introduced a bill that crystallizes President Barack Obama’s vision for health care reform. “America's Affordable Health Choice Act” is designed to control costs, improve quality and deliver affordable health care. Now we must strengthen our resolve and commitment to the struggle by not allowing vital provisions in the bill— a national public health insurance plan, a national Health Insurance Exchange and assistance for people with low incomes—to be watered down as the legislative process continues.
Health insurance companies discriminate against women because they believe women cost too much, in large part because women get pregnant. By allowing insurance companies to continue this practice we are basically saying it is OK for maternity to be considered a “woman’s” problem and, thus, the woman should bear the brunt of the cost of it.
Some members of Congress are pushing the idea of nonprofit health co-ops as an alternative to a public health insurance option. An understanding of the strong and persistent presence of private nonprofit health insurance companies in American history, however, is enough to see that private nonprofit co-ops cannot drive the changes we need in our health care system.