tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8512362.post486006667852910470..comments2024-03-10T13:59:19.230-04:00Comments on xpostfactoid: Eight rebuttals to "10 reasons to kill the Senate bill"Andrew Sprunghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17601269968798865106noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8512362.post-2260902719159139232009-12-23T11:29:48.949-05:002009-12-23T11:29:48.949-05:00I think you could improve your response to #1 by r...I think you could improve your response to #1 by removing the quotes around the words "forced" and "mandated" and then capitalizing them.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8512362.post-61193714214028396022009-12-23T10:25:27.115-05:002009-12-23T10:25:27.115-05:00AxelDC:
1) health care inflation is driven above...AxelDC: <br /><br />1) health care inflation is driven above all by rising payments to providers. The Senate bill has a host of cost control measures designed to move Medicare away from fee-for-service over time, including an empowered MedPAC. It's true that a strong public option would have increased the power of those savings by imposing them on another large chunk of the system. But the impact of Medicare/Medicaid practices on pricing is still huge. <br /><br />2) The Reid bill mandates insurers' loss ratios no lower than 85% for large groups, 80% for small groups. Some states currently allow minimums as low as 55-65%.<br /><br />3) Per Jacob Hacker (cited above), focus on fighting for the stricter exchange rules in the House bill rather than on killing the whole effort, which will leave costs skyrocketing.Andrew Sprunghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17601269968798865106noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8512362.post-79666577977417142802009-12-23T10:22:05.559-05:002009-12-23T10:22:05.559-05:00To summarize:
"Not ideal... poor women in re...To summarize:<br /><br />"Not ideal... poor women in red states can use coathangers... we can't afford to let anyone have Cadillac (read: "adequate") coverage... a pity... an unfortunate giveaway... a sweetheart deal for Big Pharm... doesn't contain costs"<br /><br />Why don't you run a TV ad with that information so people can have the appropriate degree of enthusiasm?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8512362.post-88336801651162317892009-12-23T09:49:43.171-05:002009-12-23T09:49:43.171-05:00This was a pathetic attempt at a rebuttal. Your b...This was a pathetic attempt at a rebuttal. Your basic argument is "this bill is bad, but so are a lot of things".<br /><br />This bill does nothing to prevent escalation of health care premiums, which are what are driving the crisis in the first place. Without the public option to force competition, these mandates, subsidies and removal of pre-existing conditions will encourage insurers to accelerate the already double-digit inflation in premiums. <br /><br />The end result will be the middle class, unqualified for the subsidies, will be forced to shell out more and more for health care, or downgrade their plans, exposing them to more financial risk due to health crises. Employers will face the same pressures to downgrade or drop coverage, especially if we tax their policies. The result is a crushing blow for the middle class, and may bring down our entire private health insurance system.AxelDChttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07662286277495407471noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8512362.post-88488402358605264112009-12-22T22:40:27.652-05:002009-12-22T22:40:27.652-05:00Regarding points 1 and 2 above, I'm an America...Regarding points 1 and 2 above, I'm an American expatriate living in Southeast Asia. I don't have insurance because the cost of an appendectomy here is about the same as the cost of one month of insurance in America. <br /><br />I wonder if expatriate Americans will be required to purchase prohibitively-expensive American health insurance which probably doesn't even have doctors in our area, or whether we'll be able to purchase the $100-per-year local health insurance in order to get the IRS off our backs?Jil Wrinklehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08289612869693691661noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8512362.post-9516397165359077892009-12-22T19:20:27.644-05:002009-12-22T19:20:27.644-05:00Thanks, phoneranger - definitely the wrong word. C...Thanks, phoneranger - definitely the wrong word. Changed to "intransigence."Andrew Sprunghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17601269968798865106noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8512362.post-18775300157420982352009-12-22T19:13:01.303-05:002009-12-22T19:13:01.303-05:00irredentism?irredentism?phonerangerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04907114979294515070noreply@blogger.com