Grayson adds another 14 co-sponsors to Medicare buy-in bill=64!

[babylonsister]

http://www.openleft.com/diary/17809/grayson-adds-another-14-cosponsors-to-medicare-buyin-bill

Grayson adds another 14 co-sponsors to Medicare buy-in bill
by: Chris Bowers
Fri Mar 12, 2010 at 17:25


There are now 64 sponosor's to Alan Grayson's Medicare buy-in bill. That's 14 more since yesterday. Here is the complete list:

64 CURRENT COSPONSORS: Representatives Bob Filner, Jan Schakowsky, Barney Frank, Dennis Kucinich, Donna Edwards, Jared Polis, Chellie Pingree, Sheila Jackson Lee, Carol Shea-Porter, Diane Watson, John Lewis, Anthony Weiner, Jerrold Nadler, Nydia Velazquez, Keith Ellison, Loretta Sanchez, Hank Johnson, Maxine Waters, Luis Gutierrez, Lynn Woolsey, Marcy Kaptur, Charles Rangel, Patrick Kennedy, Raul Grijalva, Donna Christian-Christensen, John Olver, Corrine Brown, Eddie Bernice Johnson, Marcia L. Fudge, Danny K. Davis, Pedro Pierluisi, Grace Napolitano, Alcee Hastings, John Hall, Shelley Berkley, John Conyers, Jim McGovern, Phil Hare, Betty Sutton, Jim McDermott, Gregorio Sablan, Maurice Hinchey, Carolyn Maloney, Barbara Lee, Elijah Cummings, Gregory Meeks, Edolphus Towns, Al Green, David Wu, Rush Holt, Carolyn Kilpatrick, Tammy Baldwin, Mike Doyle, Diana DeGette, Steve Cohen, Bennie Thompson, Andre Carson, Yvette Clarke, Steve Israel, James Moran, Emanuel Clever, Judy Chu, Donald Payne, and John Garamendi.

In all likelihood, the public option is going to have to come in this sort of stand alone bill. No matter the odds, Democracy for America, the PCCC, and CREDO Action are still fighting for it in the current health reform process. they continue to fight the good fight, and deserve a lot of praise.

Since this is a stand alone bill, it is worth asking: are there 216 votes for a Medicare buy-in? Are there 51? Even if there are, will those votes still be around next year?

When the buy-in is limited to 55-64, or even 50-64, I believe that there are, and that there will be enough votes. When everyone is allow to buy-in, I don't know. However, it's best to start seeing how many votes there are for the big enchilada, and then decide where to go from there.

Here is a cool pic of the ongoing process:



Have a good weekend. I am going to try and chill out before the six days of insanity start on Monday.

[BrklynLiberal]

1. 64!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[d_b]

2. HUUUUUUUUUUUUUGH

[Swamp Rat]

3. k&r

:patriot:

[gateley]

4. So -- it's conceivable that, regardless of whether HCR is passed, this may be

voted on separately?

I ask because it seems as though the House refuses to include a PO in the bill it's sending to the Senate. So if the Senate passes the bill sans PO (even though Bernie is standing by to try to do something), we could STILL get Medicare for All if this were to pass the House and Senate on its own? I get so weary trying to understand all the twists and turns.

[supernova]

5. I'm wondering if

their thinking is coalescing around dropping the PO in the insurance reform bill in favor if this stand alone bill?

That would be great and even better than the original PO.

[gateley]

8. I'm not sure what the actual PO is/was that they're currently kicking around,

but I do know this is something that could actually help me.

[slipslidingaway]

11. However well intentioned this bill might be, I'm fearful that at this

point it distracts attention from the PO being dropped and leaving the bailout bill in place.

[slipslidingaway]

6. Please this is not Medicare for All ...

:(

[gateley]

7. What shall I call it? And please enlighten me, as that's what I thought it was. nt

[slipslidingaway]

10. Medicare you can buy into Act ...

this allowed people to buy into Medicare for some fee.

Medicare for All would cover everyone and the "fee" for this would be collected from taxes.

An improved Medicare for All bill is what single payer advocates have been fighting for, it is much more than just allowed people to buy into the program.

Full text...

http://pnhp.org/blog/2010/03/12/graysons-public-option-act-or-medicare-you-can-buy-into-act/

"...Although Medicare beneficiaries have a high rate of chronic disease plus the costs of end-of-life care, the risk pool is diluted with a very large number of healthy seniors, thus the premiums are not as high as one might think. On the other hand, it is likely that the risk pools for the older but still under 65 age groups in the Grayson proposal would be subject to adverse selection. Since the premiums must pay all costs, they may be higher, perhaps much higher, than the diluted post 65 risk pool. Grayson has not included any risk adjustment mechanism to compensate for this.

At any rate, the Grayson proposal seems to be the true public option, run by the government, that progressives have been fighting for. So what could be wrong with it?

The greatest concern of all is that it still does not fix our outrageously expensive, administratively wasteful, highly inequitable, fragmented method of financing health care. It merely provides another expensive option in our very sick system of paying for health care. Providing yet one more option that people can’t afford really hasn’t moved the process.

Although Medicare is a very popular program, it is highly flawed. It has an oppressive central bureaucracy. It fails to use more efficient financing systems such as global budgeting for hospitals and negotiation to obtain greater value in health care purchasing. There are serious questions about whether Medicare funds are being distributed equitably and in a manner to promote greater efficiency. Its benefit package is relatively poor, covering only about half of health care costs for our seniors. Most Medicare beneficiaries feel that they essentially are forced either to purchase Medigap plans, which provide the worst value of all private health plans, or to enroll in Medicare Advantage plans, which waste too many tax and premium dollars..."

[Kaleva]

9. Another reason Congress sucks-terrible penmenship.

[flamingdem]

12. This is the best plan if you are in your 50s. The Public Option takes too long to kick in! nt

[flamingdem]

13. - I mean the 55 and up plan, which seems like the best idea nt