maven&meddler

If you have been just too busy with multiple jobs, family and other responsibilties to get the facts on Obama’s plan for heatlh care reform, you might be swayed by the claims from Sue Lowden. She would have you believe that the Democrat plan is a “one size fits all’ approach”.

There are just a few things that I’d like to point out.

It’s been tough to keep track of all the various proposed parts of the House and Senate health care proposals, but I can tell you this - they were crafted by hundreds of members of Congress. Laying it all at Harry Reid’s door - like he wrote it - is ludicrous. The final bill will be a hybrid of what the House came up with (not a public option, but not terrible) and the Senate bill (not as good as the House bill ) and what the White House has proposed.

Maybe Sue Lowden isn’t able to keep up with it any better than some of the rest of us out here in the sagebrush.

To keep it simple, you don’t have to look any further than the White House website for the Clif Notes version, as follows:

“At this moment, we are being called upon to fulfill our duty to the citizens of this nation
and to future generations… I don’t know how passing health care will play politically, but
I do know that it’s the right thing to do. It’s right for our families. It’s right for our
businesses. It’s right for the United States of America.”

– PRESIDENT OBAMA

Americans across this country agree that our health care system is broken: Unaccountable
insurance companies ration care, soaring premiums cripple the budgets of our businesses and families, and vital care remains out of reach for far too many. The time for change has come.
President Obama’s final proposal incorporates the best ideas from both parties to put
Americans in control of our own health care.

HERE’ S WHAT THE PRES IDENT’ S PLAN FOR HEALTH REFORM WILL DO:

PROTECT AMERICANS FROM INSURANCE COMPANY ABUSES

• You will never be denied coverage because of pre-existing conditions
• You will never be hit with arbitrary premium hikes
• You will never see your coverage revoked just when you get sick or injured
• You will never face unlimited out-of-pocket expenses for your care

GUARANTEE AFFORDABLE CHOICES

• If you like your current doctor and you like your current plan, you keep them
• Uninsured individuals and small business owners will become part of a powerful negotiating pool, just like members of Congress and other federal employees, lowering prices and increasing choice
• Struggling middle-class families will receive a tax credit to make coverage even more
affordable – the largest middle class tax cut for health care in history

REDUCE THE COST OF CARE FOR OUR FAMILIES, BUSINESSES
AND THE GOVERNMENT

• We’ll save billions of dollars every year by reducing waste and abuse in our current system
• We’ll save and create millions of jobs, raise wages and strengthen the economy
• We’ll cut the deficit by nearly $1 trillion over two decades

 

Nah, that doesn’t sound like a ‘one size fits all plan’ at all. In fact, it sounds like the kind of plan Republicans out across the country have said they wanted … one just like Members of Congress.

It could be better ( as a single-payer ) but if you want the same thing as Congress, here it is.

“So how much higher do premiums have to rise until we do something about it? How
many more Americans have to lose their health insurance? How many more businesses
have to drop coverage? How many more years can the federal budget handle the crushing
costs of Medicare and Medicaid? When is the right time for health insurance reform?”

– PRESIDENT OBAMA

IF WE DO NOT PASS HEALTH INSURANCE REFORM:

Up to 17 million more people will be uninsured by 2019 than today.

The average family’s health care costs will nearly double by 2020, from $13,000 to $24,000
— meaning they’ll be paying a quarter of their income toward health care costs.

Insurers can continue the massive and arbitrary premium rate increases we’ve heard about
recently — such as Anthem Blue Cross raising rates for customers in California by nearly
40%, and rates in Illinois going up by as much as 60%.

As many as 275,000 people could die prematurely over the next 10 years because they
don’t have health insurance.

Health care costs will take up a staggering amount of our national budget. In 1960, it was 5
percent of gross domestic product (GDP), last year it was 17 percent. Costs will reach 21
percent of our economy by 2020 if we fail to act.

Rapidly rising costs will make it harder for employers — particularly small businesses — to
provide quality health insurance to employees, leading many to drop coverage or shift to
plans that cover less.

Even those who have insurance today will be less secure, and more likely to lose coverage if
they switch jobs or lose their job due to rising costs on the individual market or being
denied coverage due to a pre-existing condition.

Hmmmm, none of that stuff sounds very good - especially to this cancer patient.

“I HAVE INSURANCE THROUGH MY WORK.”

Keep your doctor and plan if you like it, but your plan will be strengthened and you’ll be protected from insurance company abuses.

According to the independent and non-partisan Congressional Budget Office, people who get coverage
through their employer today will likely see lower premiums.

If you like the health plan you have, you will be able to keep it.

The President’s proposal will strengthen the coverage you get at work by reining in the worst insurance company abuses.

Nothing about the President’s proposal will interfere with the choice of doctors you have today, or cause you to change the coverage you have at work today.

Again, nothing there sounds like a horrible, regressive mandate  that we’ll all have to bow to.  Which is what Sue Lowden would have us think.

It’s simply not the case.

It’s time Sue stuck to issues that she can speak truthfully about.