Public Plan Mirage

[sansatman]

"In the health-care debate, the "public plan" is all things to all people. For supporters, it would discipline greedy private insurers and make health-care coverage affordable. For detractors, it's a way station on the path to a single-payer insurance system of government-run health care. In reality, the public plan, also known as the public option, is mostly an exercise in political avoidance: It pretends to control costs and improve access to quality care when it doesn't."


http://www.newsweek.com/id/219598?from=rss

[napi21]

1. It depends on how they set it up.

The attached link gives some examples of how our HC system is wasting $800 Billion a year! IF at least some of the problems they describe are fixed, it very well COULD save a lot of $$.

http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSTRE59P0L320091026

One example -- a paper-based system that discourages sharing of medical records accounts for 6 percent of annual overspending.

"It is waste when caregivers duplicate tests because results recorded in a patient's record with one provider are not available to another or when medical staff provides inappropriate treatment because relevant history of previous treatment cannot be accessed," the report reads.

[damntexdem]

2. Rachel Maddow did a good job of explaining the public options last night.

She noted that the current Senate bill has a PO only available to the uninsured and with a state opt-out; and she noted the problems with that. But she also noted that this is only the current bill, and that there is a lot of fighting yet to come over it.

[napi21]

3. Yep. Widen said he's fighting to have it avail. to everyone,

and I've heard several others say the same. There are going to be lots of ammendments offered...we'll see what finally happens.