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The Gang Of Ten And The OPM Compromise...
I am very hopeful about this...
Sen. Kerry proposed this idea way back when he was running for President in 04'. I really want to see all Citizens have access to the best health insurance available. I agree that is should have been the framework from the start. How can anybody vote no on offering the American people the insurance they themselves enjoy?
What are everyone else's thoughts about this compromise?
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If it lowers costs and ensures that the insurance industry will no longer be able to behave in a heinous manner toward their customers, then I will support it fully.
Though, I must admit that I am fully sick of having to compromise when it comes to HealthCare.
I gave up on Single Payer.
I gave up on a Robust Public Option available to all.
I don't want to give up on any type of Public Option all together, but I feel that our Senate is so corrupted that I'll have no choice.
I do like what I been hearing about opening up Medicare buy-in to to those age 55 to 64. That could work out very well for my mother, but there will need to be some type of plan that will help people like me who are 35+ years from Medicare.
As long as the liberals get the Medicare (going to age 55) compromise and perhaps something on Medicaid, I could support this. I think it's really the public option using not-for-profit insurance in the sense that it will provide competition (although if we are only talking 2% of people, how much competition can that be?) Hearing some experts talk about this, they kind of laughed that if the compromise goes through, this is really closer to the "government controlled" health care (that Nelson and others complain so much about) than Reid's original plan because it expands our (popular) government run program known as Medicare. Maybe if we keep expanding it everyu few years (next time 45 and older) we'll eventually have single payer : )
With all the talk of saving Medicare from the GOP, how can they bash it now by saying they don't wish to expand it? My only question is cost. I wonder what the CBO score will look like on this. Will this cost more, decrease the deficit less, etc.?
Honestly, I give these 10 senators (especially the liberals like Schumer who really want a public option but even more want historical health care passed) much credit for working so hard to get this done. Sounds like they are really close-I'm crossing my fingers.
Howard Dean likes the Medicare Buy-In Proposal. (Think Progress)
He proposed this during his failed run for the Presidency in 2004.
If Dean likes it, we may have a winner here.
And here's a new blog from Dr. Carol which indicates that the Senate may try to skip a step to make this process move faster and get to the president's desk asap. Sounds pretty smart!
Where we are right now is that the Senate is voting on their own health care reform bill. If it passes, it obviously isn’t the same bill that the House approved. So the Senate and the House need to sit down and create a whole new bill from those two individual bills that they believe both the House and the Senate will approve. This will take some time.
There’s an alternative, however:
If Senator Reid talks to the House beforehand, and can get their concerns into the Manager’s amendment, AND it can be approved by the Senate, then the House could just immediately vote and approve the Senate bill without any more wrangling.
I’m not a political expert, and I don’t know how often this occurs, but it seems like a good idea to me. One less chance to filibuster as well.
Medicare (ages 55-64)could begin by 2010? That may entice some more progressives...
There is "growing enthusiasm" for a proposal that would make Medicare coverage available to more consumers as early as next year, a Democratic source with knowledge of health care negotiations tells the Huffington Post.
Throughout the day, Senate Democrats have been feeling out a supplemental compromise to the public option that would allow consumers between the ages of 55 and 64 to buy into Medicare. The sticking point, at least for progressives, has been how quickly such coverage will be made available.
Now, it appears, negotiators are making headway to ensure that the expansion would take place at a far quicker pace than any proposed public option. According to the well-placed source, Democrats are rallying behind a proposal that would allow a portion of the 55-64 year old age group to buy in to the Medicare system as early as 2010. By contrast, a public plan for insurance coverage would not come into being until 2014.
ROWR!!! Olympia No Like Buy-In! Olympia Want Useless Trigger! Olympia Obey Insurance Master! ROWR!!!
Olympia SMASH! (Talking Points Memo)
Some of the comments are freaking hilarious.
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It's sad that we've reached a point where 'government service' is a dirty word... If we're the greatest country on earth, maybe we can have the greatest government.
Lewis Black
I will be happy so long as my SC Medicare rates don't go up. But yeah, I think that everybody should have access to medical care. It's something that needs to happen for society to continue to evolve, so I'm all for this.