The Dirty Little Secret: Health Ins. Co. Monopolies (w Poll)

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Sunday August 16, 2009 · 10:15 AM PDT

2009/08/16 · 10:15

Health insurance companies and conservatives have come out big against the public option. Town Hall questioners repeat over and over the health insurance companies' talking point that the poor whittle private health insurance companies couldn't possibly compete against the big bad government private option!

They are saying there's already competition in the health ins market, but that a public option would eliminate this competition.

They don't want us to know their dirty little secret. The truth is, they aren't afraid so much of competition from a public option insurance provider as much as competition in the FIRST place.

Why? They want to protect their health insurance monopolies and near monopolies in nearly 100% of this country's marketplaces.

A recent report by Health Care for America NOW!reveals this ugly picture of that stranglehold a small number of large insurance companies have on this country. Premiums Soaring in Consolidated Health Ins Market

Think I'm biased? Exaggerating? Guess what, Paul Krugman agrees with me (and HCAN)!
More below the fold.

Poll

54 votes Show Results

What kind of health ins/choice do you have for your health insurance?

A menu of 6+ different ins health companies offered me by my employer.

A choice of 2-5 different ins. health companies offered me by my employer.

One insurance company with 2-4 premium/benefits levels offered me by my employer

One insurance plan - no options offered me by my employer

Uninsured - Insurance available to employees - but I cannot afford premiums

Uninsured - pre-existing conditions

Medicaid

Small Business owner = I provides ins to me and/or my employees

Small Business owner - get my ins. from my spouse

Medicare

Federal Employee Plan or Veteren's (please describe options)

Unemployed (can't afford Cobra/not elibible for Cobra/cobra ran out)

HSA - Health Ins Savings Acount

Individual Insurance (please describe)

NON-US Government Insurance

54 votes Vote Now!

What kind of health ins/choice do you have for your health insurance?

A menu of 6+ different ins health companies offered me by my employer.

0 votes

A choice of 2-5 different ins. health companies offered me by my employer.

9 votes

One insurance company with 2-4 premium/benefits levels offered me by my employer

11 votes

One insurance plan - no options offered me by my employer

8 votes

Uninsured - Insurance available to employees - but I cannot afford premiums

3 votes

Uninsured - pre-existing conditions

2 votes

Medicaid

0 votes

Small Business owner = I provides ins to me and/or my employees

2 votes

Small Business owner - get my ins. from my spouse

0 votes

Medicare

5 votes

Federal Employee Plan or Veteren's (please describe options)

1 vote

Unemployed (can't afford Cobra/not elibible for Cobra/cobra ran out)

7 votes

HSA - Health Ins Savings Acount

2 votes

Individual Insurance (please describe)

4 votes

NON-US Government Insurance

0 votes

FL Early Voting Lawsuit? Call to Action! Poll (Updated)

dmmteacher

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Thursday October 23, 2008 · 9:56 PM PDT

2008/10/23 · 21:56

Kossacks have been posting about their early voting experience in Florida, with many seeing the long lines of enthusiastic, upbeat Obama supporters as a sign of an awakened electorate determined to make change and the vindication of the belief that Florida will go Blue.

I see it as the ultimate in institutionalized voter suppression.

It seems I am NOT the only one.

Action is needed NOW, not just complaining. And a Florida representative of Broward County is apparently leading the attack.

More below the fold.

Poll

82 votes Show Results

Long Lines of Early Voters in Florida indicate:

82 votes Vote Now!

Long Lines of Early Voters in Florida indicate:

high level of enthusiasm and support for Obama/Biden

36 votes

high level of enthusiasm and support for McCain/Palin

0 votes

successful institutionalized voter suppression tactic under the guise of fiscal responsibility

37 votes

poor work ethic of Florida voters

1 vote

high unemployment/underemployment

1 vote

The Disneyazation of our Election System

3 votes

an opening for entrepreneurs (coffee, soda, water anyone? $5 a cup)

4 votes

Average Cost of Health Care? Poll

dmmteacher

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Thursday October 16, 2008 · 4:23 AM PDT

2008/10/16 · 04:23

McCain spoke disdainfully of "gold-plated" health care plans - (like the one he gets as a member of U.S. Congress) - that pay for hair transplants (why does he keep saying that? Does he knows senators who got one? or is he saying heart transplants - Cheney?)

He wants to GIVE a $5000 credit for people (families) to buy health care on the market ($2500 for a single person)

He claims that the average cost of health care plan in the U.S. is $5800 (I can't figure out if he is talking about a family or an individual, however).

Are his figures right? and what does it mean for Americans>

More below the fold

Poll

121 votes Show Results

What is your estimate of your company health care plan (your share and company share combined)?

121 votes Vote Now!

What is your estimate of your company health care plan (your share and company share combined)?

Individual Plan $2500 or less

0 votes

Individual Plan $2500-5000

5 votes

Individual Plan $5000-7500

15 votes

Individual Plan $7500-10000

13 votes

Family Plan $2500-5000

2 votes

Family Plan $5000-7500

5 votes

Family Plan $7500-10000

9 votes

Family Plan $10000-12500

17 votes

Family Plan $12500-15000

27 votes

Family Plan $15000-17500

4 votes

Family Plan $17500-20000

8 votes

Don't know

6 votes

Can't afford it

10 votes

I'm A Fighter: McCain v6.0?

dmmteacher

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Tuesday October 14, 2008 · 8:18 AM PDT

2008/10/14 · 08:18

McCain pulled a fast one yesterday. Instead of introducing a new economic plan, he sought to regenerate himself - once again.

War Hero...Reformer...Maverick...Aisle-Crosser...Experienced...and now
for his latest re-generation...

A Fighter

Now, I happen to be a Doctor Who fan for years. And I love all his re-generations ( some more than others-(see poll below). And the idea of being able to re-create oneself is very appealing.

But I have say this. Out loud and up front. Emphatically. Right Now. John McCain, you are no Doctor Who. (a true Maverick, defender of the human race, and ultimate underdog).

You are more: Dr., Who... Am I?

More below the fold

Poll

43 votes Show Results

Which Doctor Who re-generation is your favorite?

43 votes Vote Now!

Which Doctor Who re-generation is your favorite?

David Tennant - current one

12 votes

Christopher Eccleston (2005)

3 votes

Sylvester McCoy (1987â€"1989)

1 vote

Colin Baker (1984â€"1986)

0 votes

Peter Davison (1981â€"1984)

2 votes

Tom Baker (1974â€"1981)

11 votes

Jon Pertwee (1970â€"1974)

4 votes

WHO are you talking about?

8 votes

None, he is an illegal alien who should be deported to another planet

2 votes

Give it Up, McCain! Ayers Ad Addlepated (with Poll)

dmmteacher

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Friday October 10, 2008 · 5:54 PM PDT

2008/10/10 · 17:54

Just the facts, Jack.

Factcheck.org's write-up is rather comprehensive and definitely damaging.

But for whom?

UPDATED 10/13/08

More below the fold

Poll

73 votes Show Results

Will McCain admit he was wrong and displayed poor judgment?

73 votes Vote Now!

Will McCain admit he was wrong and displayed poor judgment?

Yes, at the next debate, with tears in his eyes.

0 votes

Yes, at the next debate, and the next day he will begin slamming him again on Rev Wright

6 votes

Yes, but only on Saturday Night Live.

2 votes

No, he will end up like Bryant in Inherit the Wind.

19 votes

No, he will hold his breath till he turns blue and Palin has to dunk him in cold bath water.

46 votes

What a Difference a Day Makes!

dmmteacher

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Tuesday October 07, 2008 · 3:18 AM PDT

2008/10/07 · 03:18

Paul Krugman's analysis of McCain's Health Plan was scary enough. That was October 5, 2008.

What a difference a day makes.

On October 6, 2008 the other shoe dropped.

More below the fold.

dmmteacher

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Saturday September 27, 2008 · 4:42 PM PDT

2008/09/27 · 16:42

Friday Night in September. Dates. Movies. Weekend Getaways. High school sports down south. Power outages still lingering from the hurricanes.

Had me wondering - wondering all day -

How MANY people actually watched "The Debate that Almost Was Not?

Well, now we know.

If You Hold It, They Will Come. So says Nielsen. Or, If You hold it, they will at least watch and listen. Interest was higher than with the Conventions.

Analysis of Top 15 markets in Battleground states below the fold.

Poll

82 votes Show Results

What Red State will MOST likely go blue this Election?

82 votes Vote Now!

What Red State will MOST likely go blue this Election?

North Carolina

9 votes

Virginia

51 votes

Tennessee

0 votes

Missouri

1 vote

Indiana

3 votes

Florida

4 votes

Arizona

2 votes

Ohio

12 votes

Tennessee

0 votes

What Did Cheney Know and When Did He Know It? (Poll)

dmmteacher

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Tuesday October 25, 2005 · 5:03 AM PDT

2005/10/25 · 05:03

I think we have all been trying to piece together the pieces of the puzzle. Now with the latest NYT article that seems to say that all roads lead to Aspen, oops, Cheney, the puzzle may be completing its border, at least.

Interestingly, enough, all roads also lead to the New York Times. No, Not to Judy Miller. But to Nicholas Kristof.

A Tale of Two Leaks

dmmteacher

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Wednesday October 19, 2005 · 2:46 PM PDT

2005/10/19 · 14:46

The New York City Subway Terror Alert leaks and Plamegate

Can anyone say Double Standard?

I thought you might be interested in the following comparison in the timing and handling of governmental leaks that have national security implications.

More below the fold:

#################################### Read More

Cheney was Right! A New Paradigm for Progressivism

dmmteacher

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Monday October 10, 2005 · 9:42 AM PDT

2005/10/10 · 09:42

In response to the diary Unchristian Coalition is Kaput, I posted a comment that included the statement, "I don't think the Christian Right is in its last throes, even if I calculate it like Cheney does the Iraqi insurgency."

As I sat reading some more comments, I remembered a passage I'd come across recently while re-reading a favorite book of mine that gave me hope - and made me think all is not as bleak as it looks.

This realization has changed my thinking - and made me more optimistic about the future than I have been in a long time.

This diary is to offer all Kossacks a foundation to build their own hope upon. It means some MAJOR changes in thinking that may be hard for you to do. But, it will be worth it:

Cheney was more right about how long final throes can last than we were
Time is not like a river flowing but like a tropical ocean grinding during a hurricane season

No, I am not crazy. But I will be mixing metaphors and piling on the analogies. Stay with me, and be enlightened and encouraged as you read more below the fold

# # # # # # # # # Read More

Catastrophic Failure of the Leadership Kind, Part I

dmmteacher

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Sunday September 11, 2005 · 11:17 AM PDT

2005/09/11 · 11:17

The New York Times, Washington Post and Los Angeles Times have each published articles on Sunday, September 11, that look critically at state, local and federal responses (and lack of response) before during and after Hurricane Katrina hit.

And, just like the state of the people and city of New Orleans on this fourth anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, it is not a pretty picture.

What follows below the fold is a meta-analysis of these articles, which are Mainstream Print Media's first real attempts to comprehensively document what elected officials and government knew, when they knew it, and what they did, or didn't do about this catastrophic hurricane and its aftermath.

(I may do this as a multi-part diary. because my original draft diary is very long, yet cohesive. I quote and comment a lot - this is really one whole diarly broken up into pieces to manage it correctly.

(I pray the powers that be don't delete.)

NO CITIZEN LEFT BEHIND

dmmteacher

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Friday September 09, 2005 · 4:36 PM PDT

2005/09/09 · 16:36

As an educator, I am aware of the importance the Bush Administration has placed on the professional qualifications of the teachers and administrators educating our children.

It is incomprehensible, therefore, to learn that this emphasis on professionalism was so lacking in President Bush when it came to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

So, how does Bush and his administration stand up to the stringent educational reforms he has shoved down states' throats if they want federal financing?

More below the fold. Read More

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