I volunteered to staff a table to promote Pres Obama's health care reform this past weekend. One of our tasks was to collect health care stories. Problems that people had with the current health care system. Everyone had some except for a small subset of people. I asked one disabled man in a power wheelchair for any problems he may had experienced with health care, he said "oh I don't have any problems, I have Medicare, it's fine".
A man in his 30s responded " oh no I'm with the VA" .
Those were the only two, everyone with private insurance or no insurance had problems.
I think it reveals a lot when you look at the controversies in health care reform.
I would think that guaranteed issue without regard to pre existing condition would make Insurance companies livid. They have to take on everyone regardless of medical history. If I were an insurance CEO, I would be freaked by that. Think of the potentially costs lurking there. A person could require outrageously expensive chemotherapy, or require expensive drugs for their entire life to stabilize their manic-depression. Surely if I were a cost conscious insurance executive this is what I would worry about. But guaranteed issue is not the big issue on DK or elsewhere, you barely hear about it.
Either the insurance companies either know that mandatory coverage will easily cover all those cost and make plenty more profits, or they have a bunch of tricks to deny or reduce services in their bag.
What is the big controversial issue. PUBLIC PLAN OPTION.
This is what scare them , that another entity will come in and offer a better plan for cheaper. An entity that won't play the game of denying services, and jacking up prices.
Competition is what scares the insurance companies the most. Not having to take care of sick people, but losing people who finally have a choice.
This is a very telling point about the nature of health care and health care costs.
I also want to mention Hope. I read a lot on Daily Kos about the influence of lobbyists and Congress members like Conrad and Hagan being obstacles to reform, but I think hope works better than fear to energizing me to get out and make more calls, reach more Congresspeople.
For the last 8 years, I had a president that I KNEW did not agree with views at all and a majority party in Congress as well. Calling him would be like calling a brick wall. Now I have a President with whom I can rely on to do his best to make the right thing happen. One that uses logic towards decisions.
And a Democratic majority, who if pushed, will make the right things happen. We just need to keep pushing