Grassley(R-IA): "119 million Americans would shift from private coverage to the government plan.”

[Faryn Balyncd]

119 Million Americans Must Be Wrong

By Robert Parry
June 5, 2009

As the health insurance industry and its defenders in Congress lay out their case against permitting a public option in a reform bill, perhaps their most curious argument is that some 119 million Americans are ready to dump their private plans and jump to something more like Medicare – and that’s why the choice can’t be permitted.

In other words, the industry and its backers are acknowledging that more than one-third of the American people are so dissatisfied with their private health insurance that they trust the U.S. government to give them a fairer shake on health care. The industry says its allies in Congress must prevent that.

The peculiar argument that 119 million Americans must be denied the public option that they prefer has been made most notably by Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa, ranking Republican on the Senate Finance Committee, which is one of two panels that has jurisdiction over the health insurance bill.

“As many as 119 million Americans would shift from private coverage to the government plan,” Grassley wrote in a column for Politico.com. That migration, Grassley said, would “put America on the path toward a completely government-run health care system. … Eventually, the government plan would overtake the entire market.”

Grassley’s logic is that so many Americans would prefer a government-run plan that the private health insurance industry would collapse or become a shadow of its current self. That, in turn, would lead even more Americans entering the government plan, making private insurance even less viable......



http://www.consortiumnews.com/2009/060509.html

[DFW]

1. Well, Senator Chuck, whaddya think that says about the insurance plans that 119 million of us have?

Or is that asking one of those "that's not what I meant to bring up" questions?

[Faryn Balyncd]

2. And so now the "moderates" want a 10 year or so "trigger"

[DFW]

8. Great. Take two aspirin and call me in ten years.

[Renew Deal]

3. If the private companies can make a profit on health care, why can't the government?

They should be able to turn a small profit. This sounds like a good deal for the government and the people. :shrug:

[HelenWheels]

5. Health care should be nonprofit. nt

[Renew Deal]

30. I agree completely

My point is that if insurance companies can make health care pay off, the government can do it without losing money.

[IrishBuckeye]

33. Oh really? How do you fund R&D for new drugs? /nm

nm

[Greyhound]

34. The same way we did before corporatism took over, through the Universities.

Which BTW, is still where most of it takes place.

Misleading argument.

[W_HAMILTON]

4. I'm one of the 119 million.

Hell, I would have happily left my current job by now if I had the option of a public healthcare option.

But I do agree with Grassley, to the extent that a public option WOULD eventually spell the death of private insurance. Gee, I wonder why?

[Hepburn]

6. 119 million Americans would let private insurance companies die.

Well, that should tell ya something. :hi:

[gratuitous]

7. Well, if it would only benefit a measly 119 million citizens

That's reason enough right there not to do anything about it.

[OHdem10]

9. Please show this statistic to those GOPers who keep running aound

screaming--Americans do not want a Government run system.

[geckosfeet]

10. Dammit. What about the millions, men, women and children who are NOT COVERED AT ALL!

[Faryn Balyncd]

15. 119,000,000 plus 42,600,000 uninsured = 161,600,000

[Sebastian Doyle]

26. Well I don't have a calculator handy but, just a ballpark estimate here......

Isn't that about half the fucking country?

And, let's add to that number those who are already on either Medicare, or the VA system....

Gee Senator Grassley, I'd say a MAJORITY of Americans favor a government plan, wouldn't you?

(Not to mention the hopelessly misinformed Americans who WOULD be for single payer if they didn't believe the bullshit they were getting from FAUX, CNN shills like Sanjay Gupta, and hate radio. )

[Faryn Balyncd]

11. Sounds like this calls for a website: "119MillionAmericans.com" ... Why I am one of them:

a website with room for 119,000,000 stories.

[tnlefty]

12. K & R!

I'm one who would jump in a heartbeat.

[steven johnson]

13. Grassley was and will always be a neanderthal ass. NT

[gizmo1979]

14. Even if you have good insurance

as I do.I still can't afford the two hundred bucks per MD visit,or the fifty dollar copay on my advair.So even though I have COPD I don't go to the MD and I don't use Advair.This is good insurance?

[Cairycat]

17. Even if you have good insurance

You could lose it in a heartbeat if you lose your job.

Lots of people would jump ship over to a government plan simply because their insurance is tied to their employment, in an economy where jobs are increasing insecure.

[gizmo1979]

31. My point being my

insurance is suppose to be good but it's still too expensive to use.I'd hate to see what bad insurance looks like.

[Somawas]

16. I'd probably make it 119Million and one, depending on cost.

[area51]

18. Grassley says that ...

... like it'd be a bad thing. But then he's a corporate ho, and against what could help the American public. God forbid he should do something about the 100,000 Americans who die per year due to lack of healthcare. And God forbid he should talk to Physicians for a Nat'l. Health Plan to find out what compassion is.

[NC_Nurse]

19. It's called freedom of choice. What's wrong with that? Maybe the insurance co's

could change their business model and stay around if they want to stay open. The banks are having to, why not them?

Maybe the era of relentless unbridled greed could come to an end....wouldn't that be something?

[Proud Liberal Dem]

20. Seems like the fact that so many people would drop their private coverage

would seem to indicate, oh, I don't know, that maybe there's some kind of HUGE problem with private coverage. Somebody ought to buy Chuck and the insurance companies a CLUE!!!! :eyes:

[WeDidIt]

21. I have what most people would consider a fabulous insurance plan

and I'd be damend tempted to switch because it would probably be better than what I have.

[Joanne98]

22. But but we have the best healthcare system in the world....

119 million people want to change for no reason!

:sarcasm:

[handmade34]

23. insurance execs

would have to find a new job - oh well...

[Blackhatjack]

24. You sure wouldn't see Millions of $$$ spent on Bonuses and Lobbying Congress...

... if 119 million people switched to the public healthcare option, and 41 million uninsured signed on to the government healthcare plan.

To the screams and howls of the private healthcare insurance industry, I have just one response ... "that is capitalism and we need to let the markets work."

Ironic isn't it??

[magellan]

25. To say it's 1/3 of Americans is VERY deceiving

The total US population is 306 million. That includes about 79 million under the age of 20 who in most cases wouldn't be polled (no coverage or covered by a parent) so subtract them from the total. That leaves about 227 million adults as potential consumers of private health insurance.

119 million represents more than HALF the US adult population...and an even more enormous percentage of those who actually carry private insurance.

Someone check my math, but if the 119 million figure is correct then it would appear the health care industry has a well-deserved REVOLUTION on its hands.

[Greyhound]

36. Factor in ~ 50M uninsured and the 20M - 50M under insured, and what he's saying is that the industry

would cease to exist except for some of the 8M or so with a net worth in excess of $1M.

[mmonk]

27. Exactly Senator. No more lobbyists stuffing your pockets full of money.

[d_b]

28. And?

[Vinca]

29. Grassley represents big insurance not the average citizen.

Not exactly an earth-shattering surprise.

[Thrill]

32. And thats what Americans want.

Grassley is an idiot, They wouldn't switch if they didn't

[BlooInBloo]

35. (shrug) Compete, then, private companies. Fucking cowards.

[hfojvt]

37. that sounds like a pretty good argument FOR it

If that's what so many Americans want. 119 million is almost twice as many people as voted for Obama.

[Kansas Wyatt]

38. Yet Grassley FAILS to ask why that is the case.

He refuses to comprehend that there must be something terribly wrong with insurance companies to make people avoid them.

Why don't these alleged leaders of this country and the people's representatives ask those questions?

Because they don't want to actually learn what is so horribly wrong with insurance companies making decisions about people's health care?

If the leaders of this country cannot examine and comprehend why so many people would leave the insurance industry, then they are NOT qualified to lead, let alone write laws, for this nation.