The details of the Baucus/Senate Finance health reform plan is out, and while it is as craptastic as many of us suspected it would be, it seems like it may be SO craptastic that it'll be DOA. Maybe, just maybe, this stinker is such a stinker Baucus is essentially signaling he's punting the plan and throwing it to the rest of the Democrats to hash things out?
It'll be up to us to decide, but the NYT link is below ...
Among the 'high'-lights:
-- No public option.
-- No co-ops.
-- No triggers.
-- A personal mandate for people to buy insurance.
-- A provision to 'help' poor people making less than 300% above the poverty line to buy insurance.
-- Taxing 'Cadillac' health insurance plans to pay for the thing.
Soooo, there are some good things about this plan. This looks to all but kill the idea of co-ops, taxes Big Insurance as one of the components of the plan, and frankly contains what I'd read as several poison pills meant to make this toxic to progressives in the Senate (and certainly the House), most particularly the idea that people have to carry health insurance the same way most must carry car insurance (only without the quality of car insurance) (yes, that was a joke).
From some other reports on the Baucus plan (Washington Monthly and TPM for two), the Republicans are already saying it's too much for them to support, big surprise. And, apparently it's so different from the HELP plan that it'll need to go to Senate reconciliation before something can even go to the floor.
Could it be that, after all his scuffling, Baucus may have done health care reform a favor by coming out with such a patently bad plan that won't (or had better not) get anywhere near the amount of Democratic support it should? In other words, this debate may be getting down to how strong a public option is in the bill and whether there's a trigger in it or not.
The sand shifts and the debate reshapes on its way to Wednesday night ...