A Reminder for the Gang of Ten

Daily Kos Staff

Tuesday December 08, 2009 · 2:50 PM PST

2009/12/08 · 14:50

and Harry Reid and the White House. Do you want this to be the legacy of your efforts?

[A]n insurance industry insider who has been deeply involved in the health care fight emails to declare victory.

"We WIN," the insider writes. "Administered by private insurance companies. No government funding. No government insurance competitor."

Or this?

GOP aides are increasingly confident that the Senate bill will represent the public option’s "Waterloo," as one aide puts it, chiefly because it’s questionable whether pressure from liberals in the House will do much to prevent what emerges from the Senate from getting into the final bill largely intact.

That has some GOP aides already chortling that the public option is headed for defeat. "If you’re looking for a Waterloo, the public option’s is fast approaching," one emails. "Whatever comes out of the Senate will undoubtedly be in the final bill and it sounds like Lieberman and Snowe have their hands on the wheel."

The bill without a public option is little more than a big ol' wet kiss to the insurance industry, a gift of some $600 billion and millions of new subscribers. Sure, they'll have a few more hoops to jump through to figure out how to dump people and deny their claims, but they'll still be able to do it. There are bits and pieces in the legislation that will help control costs, but without a program that expressly challenges the status quo of employer-based private insurance, it can't be called "reform."

If the insurance companies come out of this declaring victory, it's not reform. You can help remind the 10 Senators negotiating on the public option of that fact.

A Reminder for the Gang of Ten

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