Posted on 09/16/2009 7:22:56 AM PDT by La Lydia
WASHINGTON -- Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus formally unveiled a 10-year $856 billion bill that would extend health insurance to tens of millions of Americans not now covered, moving an important step forward on President Barack Obama's top domestic priority. The sweeping measure is designed to steer a more moderate course on health policy than other major bills moving through Capitol Hill, and doesn't propose to create a new government insurance plan to compete with private insurers, as proposed in rival House legislation and favored by many liberals. Instead, the Montana Democrat is proposing to expand coverage by creating a network of nonprofit health insurance cooperatives.
More than a year in the making, the bill would overhaul the nation's health-care system and has sparked a sharp battle between Republican leaders and the White House over the size and role of government in the nation's economy. The measure would create a new national insurance exchange, where individuals and small businesses can purchase insurance. Individuals would be required to purchase insurance, but those at the lower end of the income ladder would receive federal tax subsidies to defray the cost.
Moreover, insurers would be barred from using a range of practices -- such as denying health coverage to individuals with pre-existing conditions -- that critics say have created economic turmoil and emotional hardship for millions of families....
(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...
DU was cussing up a storm over Baucus over his ties to the medical and pharmaceutical industries.
LMAO!
Public Option = Coops = Fed takeover = Socialized medicine
I saw a post over there from an insurance insider. I wanted to post it but it is from ThinkProgressive which is not allowed.
It is worth a read if you want to go over to DU.
Still no tort reform.
Jimmy Carter suspects racism is what is driving this.
It offers a “Sense of the Senate” resolution on tort reform, which has all the legal weight of a posting on Twitter! They think we are so stupid.
Cracks in the armor.
There is much less “O” love over there. They say they have been sold down the river, new boss same as the old boss. Posters disgusted with the lies, disgusted with the corruption of this administration.
I’ve wondered why no one has pointed that out.
Take a huge government program riddled with waste and abuse and quadruple the size of the program yet somehow believe that you can pay for it by eliminating the waste fraud and abuse? Why won’t it get far LARGER, just as a natural consequence of the program’s getting larger?
FNC reported that NO POLITICIAN WOULD STAND with Bacus at the press conference.
He was all alone.
Even the conservative and moderate democrats realize all these bills are disasters and don’t pass the smell test in amu way shape or form. When the liberals own democrats feel this way, you know there’s trouble right here in River City and that starts with T and that rhymes with P and that stands for putrid.
How about we simply “tear down the wall” blocking cross state insurance purchases.
FREE THE FREE MARKET!!
I work for a medical equipment manufacturer. This bill would levy a new $4 billion per year excise tax on all medical devices. Needless to say, employees from my company will be contacting their Congressional representatives.
Also includes this nugget:
"The Secretary would ensure that in each state exchange, at least one plan provides coverage of abortions beyond those for which Federal funds appropriated for the Department of Health and Human Services are permitted.
In other words, the fed gov't is going to require every state - regardless of its laws - to provide insurance that covers abortion-on-demand.
FAIL.
The Secretary would also ensure that in each state exchange, at least one plan does not provide coverage of abortions beyond those for which Federal funds appropriated for the Department of Health and Human Services are permitted."
The gov't will require an option that limits coverage to the above-mentioned conditions (which are non-starters anyway).
So, anyway you cut it, this bill, by requiring states to offer abortion-on-demand insurance, is indirectly mandating abortion coverage with your taxes. States can still prohibit abortion if they so choose, but since all 50 states allow it, it's guaranteed that your taxes will finance an innocent child's death.
“Moreover, insurers would be barred from using a range of practices — such as denying health coverage to individuals with pre-existing conditions”
This is the clause that will change health care as we know it in America. Say there are 20 million people that instantly gain health care coverage that previously couldn’t afford it or have pre-existing conditions.
Suddenly millions of people with everything from heart disease to arthritis to hang nails start seeking care. The burden on the current system will be huge. Doctors will be overwhelmed, but required by law to give care. Quality of care for those paying for insurance and will be diluted by those who now have free access, not to mention the costs involved. Waiting times become ridiculous. A disaster.
It's an excuse for the Federal government to step in and take over or manipulate their operations on a whim.
I learned in negotiating over the years that if both sides hate an agreement it is probably pretty good, or then again it could be a complete pos!
Yep. That is what it does. And it does that deceptively, rather than straightforwardly, which makes me really, really leery of the rest of it.
Yep, that’s in the bill. This is not going to help the economy. Companies will have to come up with that 4 billion dollars somewhere. We could see a doubling of unemployment and/or skyrocketing costs for health care. Such nonsense.
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