Sorry, but this is likely to be a short diary. I'm really asking for some answers here.
Is it me, or does this bill up for a vote in the House suck. A lot has been made about the fact that Democrats threw away their best negotiating position when they refused even to talk about single payer. They were forced into a situation where "The Public Option" became the left side of the argument. Meaning that the center would be a really really weak public option with individual MANDATES which appears to be what this bill has. Almost nothing has been said in the press and blogs about the individual MANDATES. It's as if they were never up for debate just like single payer was never on the table.
The public option in this bill is NOT robust. It is not "anyone under 65 can buy into medicare". It is a public option that only a very few of us will qualify to buy. The payments will be negotiated on a regional basis which means the price for the option will be higher and will not pressure the precious, for-profit insurance leaches.
This does nothing to deal with the rising costs of administration and back office problems for doctors due to the plethora of insurance company forms they have to fill out. In fact, it exacerbates that problem by adding yet another set of forms and hoops. If you already have insurance through an employer and it sucks, or if you think it's good because you've never had to actually use it, you will be stuck with that insurance. You and your company will not be able buy into the public option. It's weak.
Democrats have actually bent over backwards to ensure that the insurance companies won't have to suffer any competition. Oh, and then there are MANDATES. As I understand it, If you make more then 300% of the poverty level, you have to buy private insurance that is likely to cost you at least $7,500 a year minimum and you will have almost no coverage for that price tag. Also, prices will continue to go up thanks to the lack of competition. If you don't buy the private insurance, you will be fined $1,500 according to the Senate bill. To be honest, I don't even know what the House bill has in it for fines because it hasn't been covered in the press which is stunning. Currently, lame asses Republicans are claiming that the fines include jail. That sounds insane to me, but I don't know because there isn't any information anywhere. At any rate, fines of any kind are incredibly lame when you consider the vast majority of people without health insurance don't have it because they are broke and can't afford it, even with making over 300% of the poverty level.
This is not health care reform. This is barely insurance reform. The same loophole used now to rescind coverage from people still exists in this bill. This is a multi-billion dollar giveaway to the insurance companies and it's a complete letdown.
Am I wrong here? Can someone explain to me why I should be happy being forced to buy private insurance under pain of fine probably administered by the IRS with all the attendant penalties and interest. WTF!