As you know, earlier this week Senator-elect-Scott Brown won election for the seat held by the late liberal lion, Ted Kennedy. Scott Brown is a Republican and beat Democrat and the State Attorney General, Martha Coakley. Many said she ran a very lackluster campaign, perhaps counting on the fact that she was a sure thing because of this being a traditionally liberal state. The one thing for sure, it was a surprise to many-even Brown himself-the fact that he won.
Where does this now lead the public option and health care reform? Will it be delayed even more now since Kennedy’s legacy isn’t being carried on by a fellow Democrat? What will happen to the millions of uninsured and underinsured Americans, the ones who do not qualify for state-sponsored health insurance such as Medicaid?
Many agree that the government should not be involved health insurance because it’s a conflict of interest and politicians are in the pockets of insurance companies and their lobbyists. So what is to become of the health care reform bill? Now with so many Americans being laid-off from their jobs and unemployment on the rise, many will lose their health insurance through their jobs. What will become of the health care reform bill, will it just be left to die a slow, painful death while millions of Americans will go without insurance?
Related posts:
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
Tip of the hat to Consti and Shawn, Wag of the finger to BB and George.
Let me point out the day the music died for a public option.
Imagine yourself sitting at a Hospital Board Meeting, any town, USA.
The year, say 1951. The price of a needle, 18 cents, an aspirin 01 cents and the spleen surgery on the patient covered a new government plan $157.00. Total bill $157.19.
The government worker in charge see’s that with government overhead this little surgery will cost the gov over $200.00, so to keep things running, he tells the hospital they can pay only 5/6th of the cost and enforces that by suggesting they will not send guaranteed gov money for their patients unless this is accepted.
The hospital agrees, then increases costs 2/6ths to everybody to break even.
A year later, with lots more gov patients on the rolls, and add of another 1/6th.
The private insurance must pay prevailing costs and increase rates to keep up.
Inflation aside, we are now paying the $157.00 for the needle, thanks to the gov, stepping outside the free market.
The more gov money is used the less the medical market will be free.
It is already so saturated with gov money (and so pay offs and corruption), return to a free market and reasonable costs is lost.
Let’s just try and stop the bleeding!
George,
Over half the population doesn’t want healthcare. Apparently you don’t care about what they want so long as you get what you want. That’s what I’m hearing out of your comment. Yes we voted these people in, and they serve ALL of us. Not just those interested in one side of an issue or another. People want healthcare reform yes, we don’t want government run healthcare because we have seen time and again how the government destroys a good thing. Fannie Mae, Fredie Mac, Medicare, Medicade, etc, ad nausiem.
As for constitutionality it is unconstitutional to force healthcare on people. But according to that same constitution the government is tasked with the raising of armies to protect our boarders. And we were attacked WITHIN our boarders. So paying for a war you don’t agree with is ENTIRELY constitutional. Read it again some day.
It’s been the states job to deal with it to date and look what the result is… To just say “Let the state handle it” is a cop-out- a pass-the-buck maneuver for political expediancy so that it can die in 50 statehouses, many of whom can easily be bought and sold. We’ve seen that many times before…
I don’t think health care is dead, but if ti is the American public has no one but themselves to blame. The large number of people who need this and the others who want it let a small vocal minority do the talking for them. A minority who were used and lied to by ones who represent some of the very entities that stand to profit by the death of health care reform.
We were told 15 years ago this needed to be addressed. The American public dropped the ball in supporting change. Things have only gotten worse. Now we are dropping the ball again. Just how bad do things have to get before we get off our collective reear ends (which are getting progressively larger) and actually DO something or support the people who are actually trying to DO something on our behalf. Especially when we asked them to by voting for them. It was no secret that health care reform was going to come up, whether it was Hillary or Obama in the WH- they ran on it. We let them down…Shame on us.
Shawn- Unconstitutional? Just how is it unconstitutional? I’d really like to know. If I have to pay for a war I don’t support that is not in direct defense of this country, and haven’t since negative day one, and that is not constitutional, then how is this unconstitutional? Sounds like a buzzword to me…
The health care bill is dead, and there is no way to revive it in its current form. The Congress will have to start all over, or if the President is feeling lucky find a way to pay off the entire House of Representatives into passing the Senate bill! paying all of them off does not seem viable, so the only other option is to start over and this time the Republicans WOULD HAVE to be a part of the process, or nothing would get done.
Yes, there are a lot of people that have lost or will lose their insurance because of this economy. People have lost their jobs, cannot afford their insurance without a job, and will have to go without. Believe me, I feel for these people. I was one of these people for a while. I did not have insurance when I lost my job and was out of work for about 4 months last year. The issue here with me is Constitutionality of the health care bill as a whole. To FORCE people to buy something that they do not want will not make things better, and is clearly Unconstitutional also.
This is a matter that should be left up to the state’s respectively! Let them deal with it, the federal government has no place in it!