Crossposted from Hillbilly Report.
In America the one option that would have solved the Healthcare crisis was taken off the table almost immediately, single-payer. Now, to add to that failure a new policy paper has emerged that shows that the weaknesses of the public option both in the House and Senate were a huge mistake, and calls for the dreaded "trigger" for a public option.
This paper from the Urban Institute in Washington like many Progressives holds little hope in the watered down public option presented by Corporate Democrats to placate their health lobby contributors. It calls to skip the weak public option our leaders stabbed us in the back for in lieu of a stronger one "triggered" down the road:
Democrats searching for a compromise on health care reform may find a little Thanksgiving light in a new policy paper out Wednesday: Skip a "weak" public option now in favor of a much stronger one that would kick in automatically if the health industry doesn’t meet its promises to slow the growth in medical costs.
The paper, from the Washington-based Urban Institute, offers a fresh look at the whole public option debate, casting the issue as "one of fiscal conservatism" — more about containing health costs than extending benefits to the uninsured.
http://www.politico.com/...
Lost in the mix however is the costs of the uninsured who must show up at emergency rooms bankrupting themselves and driving up costs for everyone. It now appears as if the process never was designed to help the working poor and those with pre-existing conditions get coverage, it was all about saving money for others and gives insurance companies several more years to prey upon the American people:
Its authors accept the likelihood of a trigger as proposed by Republican moderates but suggest it be tied to proven government data on national health expenditures rather than some new index to measure the affordability of coverage. And, in effect, the health industry would be given a three- to four-year test period to show its ability to slow the growth in costs.
Despite the timidness of lawmakers bought and paid for it seems to show that a strong public option is needed now, and a delay in fact is quite stupid:
"A strong version is necessary because there is little else in health reform that can be counted on to contribute significantly to cost containment in the short term," the authors write. A trigger means delay, but "even the threat of such a plan being triggered offers the potential to affect market dynamics between insurers and providers."
By comparison, if only a watered-down public option survives and costs continue to rise unchecked, both insurers and providers face the prospect of even greater government regulation of private-sector prices, the authors warn. "Indeed, a strong public option competing on a level playing field with private plans paradoxically might be the best 'last chance' for competition to work."
Even with the threat of a voter revolt if they are forced to buy coverage they still cannot afford many of the Corporate Democrats simply do not care. They have their health coverage and the fates of us who do not are definately taking a back seat:
Since millions of Americans are being ordered to buy coverage or pay a penalty, many progressives fear a voter revolt if there is no lower-cost public alternative to offer families. At the same time, moderates insist the larger goal of reform is to reduce overall health care costs and they fear the financial liability that will ensue from government providing insurance.
"The major issue to me is driving costs down," Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.) recently told POLITICO, for example. "I didn’t enter this issue to cover the uninsured. ... I entered this issue to drive costs down for the federal government, for businesses, for families.
Gee, thanks a lot Ms. Landrieu. As an American who cannot afford health insurance because I was stricken with Type 1 Diabetes, it is so nice to know that you are watching out for me and care so much about me being able to be covered. Since you showed so much concern for me I hope you recieve a Democratic primary candidate I can donate to and if not I will donate to the Republican that runs against you. You have shown you care nothing for folks like me, as has seemingly most of the whole Congress if it means investing in our own people. I would much rather be stabbed in the back than the front. I have an idea, as taxpayers lets repeal the coverage we pay for folks like Ms. Landrieu and the Republicans she gives aid and comfort too. With all the millionaires in Congress I am sure they can afford their own coverage. I can't.
And indeed in their conclusion the Urban Institute comments on the idiocy of the positions taken by Landrieu, Lieberman, Lincoln, and Nelson:
"Taking a strong public option off the table may be necessary to enact reform," the authors concede in their conclusion. "But it will, at a minimum, increase government costs. In addition, it will eliminate the potential payer with the largest market power from exerting cost containment pressure on providers."
Taking a strong, robust public option off the table to placate greedy, paid for Corporate members of the Democratic Party in the House and Senate has been and will be not only cowardly and hypocritical but it is lunacy to match. I will promise one thing, if a real strong public option is not included in the final bill signed by President Obama and passed by this disgraceful Congress I will not support any Democratic candidate that allowed this to happen.
If we cannot primary some of these Corporate Democrats and throw them out of our party much like we did Lieberman I will not donate to the DCCC or the DSCC or any other Democratic organization. I will support real Democrats such as Feingold and Kucinich who care about more than insuring the profits of those who fleece the working American.
If I am mandated to buy coverage I still cannot afford because a real public option has to be "triggered" after I have suffered for a few years longer, I will keep my wallet closed and 2010 and 2012 will be the first years since I was eligible that I will stay home and not cast a vote for the same old garbage we have gotten in the last couple of decades.
If members of my own party have sold me out to the health insurance and healthcare lobbies then those entities can fund them, and vote for them. I will not be insulted again.