Liberals Demand "Public Option" At Capitol Hill Rally
(CBS / Stephanie Condon)
"Harry's dead and Louise has got diabetes," Gerald McEntee, international president of the AFSCME, told the thousands at the rally, sponsored by the organization Health Care For America Now. He was referencing the infamous television commercial, funded by the Health Insurance Association of America, that had a hand in killing President Clinton's attempt at health care reform in the 1990's.
"Rush Limbaugh, Rick Scott, the insurance companies," McEntee continued. "They don't want to fix health care, they want to scare people."
As conservatives have attempted to paint President Obama's call for a government-sponsored health insurance plan, or "public option," as a government takeover, liberals have responded with attacks that the health insurance industry is the real culprit when it comes to interferences in health care.
"Whose choice is it who will be your doctor?" asked Rep. Xavier Becerra (D-Calif.), a senior member of one of the committees responsible for Medicare. "Yours or your insurance company's?"
(CBS / Stephanie Condon)
As a key member of the Senate Finance Committee, Schumer has been responsible for drafting a plan for how to implement a public option for the health care reform package the committee will introduce.
"We cannot do this alone," Schumer said. "You being here, we'll make sure you hold everybody in that building's feet to the fire," he added, motioning to the Capitol building in view behind the podium.
Schumer and the other speakers stood before a sea of colors and acronyms, with different colored shirts representing different unions. The Service Employees International Union (SEIU) wore purple, the Communications Workers of America (CWA) wore red, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) wore green, and so on.
"They want to divide us, worker against worker," said McEntee, speaking about opponents of health care reform. "But we are united."
Union influence can be found in more than just the debate over a public plan. President Obama's positions on other controversial proposals for reform, like taxing health care benefits (which Mr. Obama opposes) and a "pay or play" mandate (which the president supports), are in line with the unions.
Taxing health care benefits "will hurt working families," McEntee said.
"We say to the deadbeat employers," said Larry Cohen, president of the CWA, "we will fight for the employer mandate."
The focus of the rally, however, was certainly the public option.
"We're counting on you to go across the street and cajole… and do what you need to do to get a strong public option," said Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), who sits on one of the Senate committees drafting health care legislation. "Let me assure you, the health insurance industry will not hijack this process.”
Brown challenged the health insurance industry's opposition to the public plan with the same logic Mr. Obama has used repeatedly.
"The insurance industry always tells us they can do it best, that government can't run anything," he said. "Then explain to me why the insurance industry is so afraid that the public option is going to put them out of business."
Former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean suggested that if a public option is not included in the final health care reform package, it will not just be Republicans who suffer the consequences. Democrats won the 2008 elections handily because Americans are looking for change, he said.
"If we don't get it, there's going to be more change," he said. "We want a public health insurance option now."
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See all 49 CommentsHe also failed to inform The Union Sheep & People that without the Unions Excessive Fees the Union Crooks would not have been able to afford the Luxurious Life Styles that the Union Elite now enjoy at the expense of our Jobs Going Overseas. By aligning themselves with BO did it save your job at GM? No but it made their's secure. But they had to promise to side with BO on this ridiculous health scam care.
The FIRST thing this Administration & Unions needs to realize it is time to GET this Country out of Debt. We have to NOW pay excessive banking fees for the BANK Bailouts of Trillions of dollars. Tax & Spend does not work because YOU WILL BE THE ONE & ONLY TAXED to pay for the National & Your Personal Debt. It's happening already! So Sad!
For one, the relationship of supply and demand break down since the demand for health services is not regular or predictable. Two, the supply of services does not simply respond to the desires of the buyer. What that means is physicians are the ultimate informed consumers of health care. Although a patient can voice their opinion or insist on a specific treatment, the physician is the person who will be ordering the types and number of tests, procedures and prescriptions.
Three, there are limitation on who can enter the provider side of the market due to high start up costs and education, licensing and so forth. And finally, there is significant insensitivity of prices in the health care system. No hospitals or doctors are actively advertising lower prices or clearance procedures! Simultaneously, a majority of patients don't actively seek out those price reductions. There aren't many individuals who are willing to risk monetary savings for assumed quality of service.
Thus, we shouldn't expect to see many changes by trying to alter the current system a little here or there, or going as far as implementing cumpolsory health insurance. Let me include this caveat: by no means am I saying that single-payer health insurance is the answer to all of our problems. There are many other reasons why health care costs are continuing to rise and are hard to control (ie. how health care is administered). However, as Dr Michael Ybarra states, "administrative costs make up 7% [of health care costs]. [Accounting] for $168 billion dollars annually". The significance of this number is shown when compared to Medicare's 2% administrative costs.
- www.mentalpestilence.com
Let's take doctor choice. Right now, different doctors accept different groups of insurance companies, thus not all doctors in your area are available to you. With the public option, ALL doctors will be on the list so ALL doctors will be available. At present accountants are choosing which treatments you're allowed. Under a public option doctors will again have that honor. Under the present system only 15% of what you pay in insurance goes directly to the insurance company's profit. The public option will lower costs, because they won't need to run at a profit.
Two things I don't understand about the current system. WHY are costs rising so much? (Around 5 times inflation). And WHY is good health for all not a priority in this country when "promote the general welfare" is one of the established bases of the Constitution, as set out in the Preamble.
-- by IThoughtItWasFunnyAsIs June 26, 2009 7:52 AM PDT
You are COMPLETELY OUT IGNORANT (and not the least bit funny).
In the current system, all health care decisions are controlled by the insurance companies' "PROTOCOLS made up by bureaucrats in [wherever] that LIMIT your treatment plan."!!!
The ONLY way to fix this horrible situation is to give them some competition, and that is exactly what the "public option" will do. If some of the insurance companies are forced out of business because they can't compete, well that's a GOOD thing!
Healthcare is a real need and it can't wait! Many people of many persuasions from across the country were involved in planning this rally and the many townhall events and other events that happened on June 24th and June 25th. These events are going to continue to happen to express our need for Americans get what is their right, an affordable healthcare system that works, with a public option.
As your article itself states, "some high profile politicians joined thousands of union workers, doctors and other health care reform supporters in a united front against the industry and demanded a government-sponsored health insurance option."
I am also upset that the TV coverage of Michael Jackson's and Fara Fawcett's death took the media away from covering any other national news on the air! Although I am sorry to hear of their deaths and respect these artists for the great contributions they have made, it is really sad to think that CBS and all the other news stations think that this is the only thing that Americans want to know about.
Nothing like paid shills pushing more tragic CONServitard policies through endless FEARmongering like the corrupt crook rickie scott.
So how much does Rahm pay you to troll the boards?
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