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New York, 10:56 PM
Mon Nov 30
60 posts in the last 24 hours
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08/18/09
08/18/09
But does a co-op really cover the uninsured? Is it going to reduce costs? I didn't like the prior plan because it didn't cover the uninsured. I think we will need health insurance reform where there is a safety net for those who cannot afford it; finding a way to not dink someone because of pre-existing conditions; and finding a way to encourage more competition to drive prices down.
08/18/09
In other words, you think we will need the prior plan (assuming, by "prior plan", you mean the current plans put forth by the various House committees).
08/18/09
08/19/09
We need health care reform that will really work. In order to do that, it must mandate coverage for all and provide financial assistance to those who cannot afford it; mandate that insurance companies cannot dink you for pre-existing conditions; increase the number of primary care providers or we won't ever be able to see a doctor; and tort reform.
To me, a bill with all these qualities would make a lot of sense.
08/18/09
[blip.tv]
08/18/09
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08/18/09
I've hearted every credit union, I've ever joined.
Power co-ops on the other hand, well that's been a mixed bag based on member participation.
08/18/09
Credit unions have always been niche organizations because of their high standards for borrowers and limited lending capacity. Their razor-thin margins and low overall revenues mean they typically have serious disadvantages in terms of ability to invest in technical infrastructure, making them less competitive for online banking customers and especially people who do large-scale, document-intensive transactions like home purchases.
Translate those weaknesses to health care. Stringent entrance requirements go out the window, because we're making these as inclusive as possible for the uninsured. Worse, since the high-quality customers who act as net contributors are likely to be happy with their employer-provided policies, they'll have no reason to become part of the co-op. You can't create a co-op strictly out of those that have expensive care requirements! The other potential risks in terms of form modernization and technical infrastructure are also troublesome.
08/18/09
You can't translate the weaknesses to health care because its insurance, you go to a hospital just like anyone else for care. Technical things like patient records? Its covered by HIPPA. Patient care is governed too. This is insurance, not hospitals, the level of care is the same weather you have government healthcare or Blue Cross. If insurance companies have a competitor and its a lower price then the market would follow. Are you familiar with insurance companies deciding about what's "billable?" If you break your leg insurance is going to pay for it. You might not get a teddy bear in your room because its not "billable" but who the fuck cares? Right now we have tons of people going to hospitals who don't have insurance. The hospitals CANNOT turn them away. Who gets fucked in the end? The hospital. Yeah, lowering the bar for health insurance so that most have the option of getting it V.S. hospitals going bankrupt. Some people have to be ineligible for coverage, that's just going to be a fact. Those people will private pay. In terms of hospitals going under vs health care reform, I choose health care reform any day.
08/18/09
I agree with you about reform, generally. I want fucking single payer! So here's where your argument falls apart, in my view:
"Some people have to be ineligible for coverage, that's just going to be a fact. Those people will private pay."
Co-ops are seen as a replacement for a public option for people who can't pay. So, uh, the ability or willingness of people excluded from these co-ops to pay seems questionable at best.
08/18/09
Take your low-income family from middle America. They get sick once a year and then default on the payments and the hospital is screwed. If they paid in to insurance with collective bargaining and all the benefits, at least they would be paying some thing. You can't operate the insurance company at below profit can you? They are going to have to pay enough for the co-op insurance to be viable. Any way you have it, its better than them not paying at all.
08/18/09
I hope.
08/18/09
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08/18/09
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08/18/09
08/18/09
Aren't the protesters mostly religious right Christians? Protestants? Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't Martin Luther advocate for the poor and disenfranchised? Jesus didn't charge $ to cure the blind and those infected with leprosy.
How exactly did the Republican party convince poor 'mericans to vote for programs that are the exact opposite of what would help them?
08/18/09
Their motivations are simple. They simply don't want the Kenyan Muslim to go down in history as the man who Got Shit Accomplished.
They've been burned by this before. My local bar in the heart of ATL still has FDR's portrait on the wall.
08/18/09
I would love to take all of my social security and medicare taxes and put them directly in my bank account. Yes, please. I have a proven fiscal record and the US doesn't. In 60 years, I'm infinitely more likely to have retirement and health care if I manage those funds. End of debate! Of course, that isn't the actual argument - it's about whether or not we can accomplish something greater than individuals would by aggregating funds and handing them to our leaders. Opinions tend to, um, differ.
08/18/09
Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., said: "If we're able to stop Obama on this, it will be his Waterloo. It will break him."
08/18/09
08/18/09
08/18/09
Hmmmmm ..... and an alternate universe where I get the government I want. And world peace. And ice cream for dinner.
08/18/09
No, it wouldn't, because the FDIC doesn't insure brokerage accounts. The SPCI does, and they have no assets. Besides, I could buy hard assets that have no real relationship to fiat currency beyond their pricing denomination on the market.
(Don't be cheeky.)
08/18/09
08/18/09
they certainly didn't back in 02 when Iraq was being "debated". even though there were millions of us crazies across the world trying to stop it
seriously, why do you all have such a hard on for this public option stuff? I got x ed off of jezebel just for suggesting that maybe our governemnt isn't the best entity to run our hospitals.
08/18/09
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08/18/09
Whoa there. Best check yer facts!
VA hospitals routinely get better ratings for patient care than other hospitals do (depsite a few sensationalist stories about Walter Reed).
08/18/09
I have a "hard on" for this public option because it would inject some much needed competition into a largely monopolized market, which would increase access to health care for the uninsured and decrease health-care related bankruptcies among the insured.
08/18/09
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08/18/09
But then again, some expediency would be nice. Not by using fear, but by using the majority we voted for, like naughahydeinplainsight says.
08/18/09
08/18/09
08/18/09
sigh. what crap options.
08/18/09
08/18/09
08/18/09
06/23/09
oh, wait