A quick update on this post. More details have emerged from the Associated Press bringing a bit of clarity to the question of what's going on in the Senate Finance Committee.Let's run that again, folks. Non-profit co-ops instead of a public option, and no employee mandate. I can't say I'm surprised (nobody expected Baucus to endorse the public option) but the lack of employee mandate makes this a non-starter, frankly. It's basically the Wyden-Bennett plan, and with no employee mandate, it's actually a worse version of the Wyden-Bennett plan that won't do a thing to lower health care costs. Without a mandate, companies will just continue to cut their health care coverage as they can no longer afford it due to the economy. Without a public option, health insurance companies have no incentive to lower costs making it that much more likely that companies will continue to drop health care coverage altogether.AP is now reporting-- that the Senate Finance Committee will likely call for the creation of a system of non-profit co-operatives in lieu of a public option--something which has been in the works for weeks--but will not require employers to provide insurance for their workers.
It's a disaster, is how I'm reading it.
Good work on TPM's part. This is going to be an interesting Congressional break. It will be fascinating to watch all this play.
ReplyDeleteCoops are the weak sister of the public option. I am generally against making the perfect an enemy of the good but in this case I'm believe the perfect is even being considered. This could be a bad bill that does little for those who need some help while giving Congress cover to say they "did somehthing."
I do believe a decent will come out this year and I will measure that by the following:
1. No recission or pre-existing conditions clauses.
2. Public option.
3. Medical care start moving in the direction of results based compensation for MD's.
If those three things are included then I will consider it a good faith effort and not just smoke and mirrors to keep the hoi polloi breaking out the pitchforks.
Obama is going to have to draw some big, thick lines here, otherwise this is going to get "bipartisaned" down into a subsidy bill for the insurance companies.
ReplyDelete