When Congress is through, will there be anything left of healthcare reform?

What’s left?

• More than $100 billion/year of subsidies to poor and sick people to help pay for insurance.

• A huge amount of regulation outlawing rescision (when insurers drop you when they find out you’re sick) and forcing insurers to guarantee coverage.

• The insurance exchange (which will help bring down costs and increase competition)

• Excise taxes and taxes on insurers (also bringing down cost)

• Last I heard, Reid had gotten senators to agree on a public-option-like utility, run by private insurerers, but nonprofit and nationally competitive, which would serve the same exact purpose as the public option.

Look, I’m a dyed in the wool liberal. I would have much preferred single payer. I would have much preferred a strong public option/expansion of medicare, barring that. But pretending that there’s nothing good in the remaining bill is incredibly naive.

is this a question?

B. A windfall for the insurance industry and big Pharm.

We spend twice as much per person as other industrial countries, with millions un-insured and poorer health. Pumping public funds into the insurance companies will only make it worse.

@jaytkay, unless we regulate them to minimize their immoral practices, and unless we help pay for poor people and sick people who otherwise could not afford insurance coverage.

Which the bill still does.

I agree there should be a nonprofit insurance option. But it’s not going to be the end of the world if that doesn’t happen. And it could always happen in the future, especially if we elect more progressives.

It’s already a win for the Insurance Companies. They are thrilled. So, ipso facto, it is a loss for the people. Money won over reason, as is often the case.

Nothing that will not fail and become fodder for Republican misinformation, I’m afraid.

Women were thrown under the bus on this one, too. Even medically necessary abortions will not be covered.

Are private insurers still free to cover abortions? What about states?

Yick!!! I’m thinking of those dark-suited pompous men (and perhaps some women, I suppose) sitting around acting like they are saving lives when they are ruining them, instead. The hypocrisy and lack of understanding is astounding!

And those are the people who are so worried about “Government Control”. What they mean is, they want to control your body, but keep your hands offa their money.

Private insurers will be more limited in their ability to cover abortions, since there was some concern over the mixing of private and federal funds in the case of abortion. A legacy of the Hyde Amendment is that it is forbidden in any way for federal funds to cover abortion unless it is a case of rape, incest, or danger to the life of the mother. The Stupak Amendment to the House health care bill would prohibit any plan that ever receives any federal funding from covering abortion, EVEN IF PRIVATE FUNDS WERE USED. The Senate bill isn’t as bad, but still does have some restrictions.

It will be interesting to see what happens when the House and Senate bills go to conference committee.

I’d like to get a T-shirt that says

I’m With Stupak =====>

@Dr_Dredd Interesting? In the way that train wrecks are interesting?

@daloon Precisely.

@Dr_Dredd It’s nice to find a fellow optimist! Such cheery attitudes as we have always attract a crowd.~

Hold on people. tHe Senate bill’s abortion amendment isn’t nearly as bad as the Stupak amendment in the House.

It doesn’t look as bad on paper. However, I fear the net effect will be the same. Women have to write checks with their own money to pay for abortion coverage, and states still have the option to bar such coverage entirely for plans sold on new insurance exchanges.