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Robert Reich Explains The Public Option

September 8th, 2009 News 14 Comments


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14 Responses to “Robert Reich Explains The Public Option”

  1. jr says:
    September 8, 2009 at 6:39 pm

    “I hate commies like Robert Reich”-Max Baucus to Baucuscare author Liz Fowler from Wellpoint

  2. SaveFarris says:
    September 8, 2009 at 7:09 pm

    “And the public plan would not be subsidized by the government or have the government set the rules for anyone”

    A flat-out lie. Only those plans that follow strict rules as to what and who can be covered will be allowed to be offered in “the pool”. And if your current plan doesn’t conform to these new standards, sorry. You’ll have to get a new policy.

    “The public option works because it would have the ability to negotiate lower prices for health-care providers”

    And it’ll do that … how? If everyone is so happy with their current plan and opts out of the public option (as Reichhhhh claims), then there won’t be enough people signing up for the public option to demand these lower prices.

  3. Michael Over Here says:
    September 8, 2009 at 8:04 pm

    You do realize, Save Farris, that there are a huge number of people without any plans to be happy with that will probably go on the public option. That number is so large that it would have strong negotiating powers. Hell, even small countries like New Zealand have enough bargaining power to get better deals on pharma.

    But I love how you twist the fact that the public option doesn’t have discriminating rules as a bad thing. “You were born with a debilitating disease by no fault of your own! Pre-existing! No no no!”

  4. SaveFarris says:
    September 8, 2009 at 10:17 pm

    there are a huge number of people without any plans to be happy with that will probably go on the public option.

    The entire population of people without insurance is 47 million. If you take out illegals, the between jobs folks, and young people who could afford insurance but don’t want it, the number is down to 12 million. That’s 1/8th of the number of people that are currently enrolled in Blue Cross/Blue Shield. How is the public option going to demand lower prices if a company 8X the size can’t already do the same?

    We can debate whether or not insurance should cover pre-existing conditions, but that’s not Reichhhhh’s argument. Reichhhhhh is saying that the government “won’t set rules for everyone”, and it’s a bald-faced lie.

  5. Michael Over Here says:
    September 8, 2009 at 11:25 pm

    And the rule you’ve brought up is the non-discrimination of pre-existing conditions rule which is one of the main reasons for health care reform in the first place. You’re grasping at semantic straws to be upset with something.

  6. Michael Over Here says:
    September 8, 2009 at 11:32 pm

    Also you’re 12 million number is ridiculous. You’ve tortured the numbers to show what you want. Why are people “between jobs” not counted as needing insurance? Many young people are precisely the ones who have jobs that don’t provide health care. Purchasing health care without an employer is not cost effective.

    I think the real question we should ask is why every country in the world with negotiating power has cheaper pharma than blue cross gets incredible discounts on pharma, that doesn’t mean you see the savings.

  7. SaveFarris says:
    September 9, 2009 at 7:21 am

    why every country in the world with negotiating power has cheaper pharma.

    Price controls. You *could* install those here too, but then say goodbye to any innovation from here on in.

  8. Southern Quaker says:
    September 9, 2009 at 8:29 am

    And if your current plan doesn’t conform to these new standards, sorry. You’ll have to get a new policy.

    Bullshit. A bald-faced lie. Plans that don’t conform to the new standards will not be allowed to cover any new customers. If you already have one of these plans no one is going to take it away from you.

  9. Jan Wendel says:
    September 9, 2009 at 9:45 am

    Reich is right! The U.S. is the *only* industrial nation that has its health care controlled by profit-making corporations. And they have a lot of money to spread lies about how we should be so happy with what we have. People in other industrial nations do not want to trade their systems for ours. We are only 17th in overall health care in the world! We must take off our blinders and stop giving power to corporations, so they can control us. We should spend our money on health care, not on the salaries of CEOs.

  10. locus says:
    September 9, 2009 at 12:16 pm

    Save Farris said,
    “Price controls. You *could* install those here too, but then say goodbye to any innovation from here on in.”

    What Save forgot to note is that the drug pipeline for innovative products is dry and has been drying up for several years now. All the low-hanging fruit has been picked from the tree. He also conveniently forgets the fact that the NIH has proven to be one of the largest incubators for medical products innovation of late.

  11. mom says:
    September 9, 2009 at 5:01 pm

    Personally my family would love to look at a Public Option. I am educated, have a degree, husband, children. We both are working parents and only my job offers health care. I am covered for free (which I appreciate) at Blue Cross where i have to wait 9 weeks to see any type of specialist. (Kaiser averages 72 hours to two weeks for a specialist). Anyway, I do not have my children under my work plan because it is more expensive than them each having their own individual plan. My husband has had to end his health care so that we can afford daycare. We make too much for any assistance and another option could be a life saver. Just for the record…demographically we live next to the Jones’ (with no debt and a great deal on rent) but financially we live paycheck to paycheck. Why are you saying that I am not allowed decent health care? My family was born in the US, immigrated in the 1860’s, I have worked my entire life (starting with a paper route at age 10). Why am I not allowed decent health care?

  12. Regular Joe Bettenhausen says:
    September 10, 2009 at 4:26 am

    The federal government has consistently done a lousy job as a provider of goods and services. Our fiscal policy and debt are out of control. Government should be downsizing just like the millions of humbled families suffering from this economy. This ”health care reform is expansionist ignorance. It worked out terribly for Louis XVI. We need to promote enterprise and capital investment, not launch pet programs for the ruling elite to feign service with a shell game. President Obama, you must abandon this sideshow no matter how much your party hates you for it. Furthermore, Mr. President, read The Total Money Makeover, D. Ramsey; it’s just as practical for my country as it is for my family.

  13. larry hours says:
    September 10, 2009 at 7:18 pm

    Those who recite the mantra: “Keep government out of…” are the same automatons who uncritically say things like “Keep the government out of my Medicare.” Medicare is an exceptional system that no one I know wants out of and it is GOVERNMNT RUN!
    It is not facts we are dealing with in this debate–it is emotion and faith. The for-profit corporatins are just like churches–they tell people what to believe, and many will believe it despite all the evidence to the contrary. Current health care is a failure, and by 2030 it will eat up 40% of our economy. It will bankrupt our country.
    If you want faith, try this. Why would a brilliant man like Obama, who has put his dream and ambition on the line, want his legacy tied to a second-rate solution. Who is more trust-worthy–our Presidnet, or companies whose profits are tied to maintaining a flawed system?

  14. Sean D. Martin says:
    September 10, 2009 at 11:30 pm

    SaveFarris: Price controls. You *could* install those here too, but then say goodbye to any innovation from here on in.

    That’s right. We have to have 40+ million people without insurance so that we can discover a blue pill that gives old white guys a hard on.

    (Of course it’s a ridiculous argument, but I figured I’d fight Farris on the level he’s operating at.)

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