By Alicia BRight on 05-18-09
The fact that he continues to exclude proponents of a single payer system, despite the fact that more than 60% of Americans want single payer, is worrysome.What happened to “listening to the will of the people”?
We can no longer afford to let private insurance companies profit with their expensive and complex bureaucracies, while denying care to their clients.
Doctors, nurses and other health professionals spend inordinate amounts of time sorting out “who pays for what”, and sick people are often deprived of their due because they are not strong enough to fight for it.
This is not what we providers went in to health care for. Clinicians want the freedom to treat patients and patients want the freedom to choose their providers, and the only way to ensure this to to streamline and economize by going with single payer.
Why is Baucus excluding actual health care providers from the conversation?
By Peter S. Mizla on 05-19-09
Having Mr. Baucus head this committee is a big joke- he is a bought and paid prostitute of the Insurance lobbyists.
The for profit component needs to be heavily regulated by the government if there is no single payer of government option- which means costs are set by the government not by the board rooms of these vulture like companies.
Mr. Baucus wants no regulation and no single payer government option. He should not be heading this committee.
He says he wants something similar to the Massachusetts plan, where people without Insurance buy from Insurance companies based on income. If that’s true then a single person making under 16,000 a year would pay about $40 a month for coverage, a $10 co pay at the Doctor and pay $5 for prescriptions- there would be heavy subsidies from the Government to the Insurance companies for low income families and individuals.
I live in neighboring Connecticut- which has a similar plan- ‘The Charter Oak Health Plan’
This plan is a ‘social service’ plan- from the state of Connecticut and like the plan in Massachusetts is heavily subsidized- currently in Massachusetts over 98% of the states population is covered- so its basically ‘universal health care’- but large majority of the people still want a single payer system.
The views expressed in the comments section do not reflect those of the Beacon.