Reply #1: "Compromise" is the word that will doom healthcare reform

[Phoebe Loosinhouse]

It will be "compromised" right out of any real reform into a sop to the masses and a promise of doing better from the insurance industry.

Leadership from the top is nowhere near as strong as it could be - Obama "has championed a public plan, saying it would help “keep the private sector honest,” though he has indicated he will be flexible on the details." So far, it appears he's just staying out of it and letting the Committees draft the legislation. He CANNOT be flexible on the detail of a public plan.

Baucus, Grassley and Wyden are trying to compromise out any public plan at all with their plan to give the insurance industry YEARS to provide affordable healthcare with a public plan triggered if only certain goals are not met. This is what Baucus meant when he earlier referred to a public option as a "bargaining chip" with the insurance industry. Isn't it just great that he regards a public option as just another bargaining chip in the poker game with the insurance industry?

Then there's Kennedy, whose plan would widely open up Medicare to new enrollees (up to 500% of federal poverty levels) PLUS create a ne public option. Biggest question there is why create a new option when he's already expanding Medicare - why not just expand Medicare more?

Most insidious of all is Schumers plan to provide a pretend public option that is not really a public option at all - it will have no government funding and will be regulated just like one more private plan.It will be financially unsound from the getgo and will fail quickly. I have the least respect for this plan because of it wolf in sheep's clothing aspects.


The biggest issue is that the people drafting healthcare reform right now, their real purpose is not to reform at all. (I grant an exclusion to Sen. Kennedy in that general slam. I think he's to effect some real change, even if I don't totally understand it) The real purpose is to retain as much of the status quo as possible while still APPEARING to be reforming the system. The only major, real overhaul is HR676 which, as we all know, was taken off the table at the beginning. If you read the White House Healthcare forums on healthcarereform.gov you'll see it's all about the "stakeholders" and keeping our flawed system afloat with some minor tweaking that the American sheep will accept as reform.