Health Care, Part III: The public option

Eventually the scenario will occur where most everyone is paying for the public option. Would the govt be able to sustain the low rates, go without the overhead and profit, with an entire country to cover? It sounds like a great plan and something that should work, but is it wise to change the entire system when it might not work. How can they undo this if the financials don't work out as planned, if it costs more for the govt to run the healthcare system than they thought it would.

Or what if some other govt agency takes the money earmarked for health care? It has been known to happen before. Roads in San Antonio received funding, but the money was taken to pay for other things; Children Health Insurance Plan was given funding in Texas from Tobacco lawsuits, but the money went elsewhere. Education funding was supposed to come from the new state Lottery... See a pattern? Is it possible that this happens in other states as well? Ask the people in Oklahoma and Illinois who are fixing to be asked by their state gov'ts to pay $9K and $32K respectively.

This entire issue all comes down to a person's fundamental belief in either competition among insurance companies and less federal regulation leading to better practices or the gov't taking over and coming up with their own best practices. My money is not on the federal gov't. Sorry.

There are many things wrong with this huge industry, and I think people would be glad to support some of these reform measures right now. This would give Washington more political capital to work out the larger problems without the rush we have experienced in the last six months.

One concern that so many people have with this particular version of reform is the fact that someone has gone on the record as saying they are going to pole vault over the People to get this done. Wow, that doesn't sound right! I think it makes people defensive and wonder why they would need to do that if it was the right action.

I'm still offended by Obama's comments at the State of the Union where he said that people against his health care reform are wondering what's in it for them. He needs to get a clue. Even if congress and the president are being 100% up front about everything, the people are pushing back hard because their ability to choose is being taken away from them.

If I thought that our gov't could do something efficiently and streamlined, I might agree with you. Our family has been on a govt insurance plan three times: SChips for my kids, medicaid for myself, and tricare. I love free or reduced cost health care and I think many people love the idea of not paying very much for health care. But if this became the norm, you would get what you paid for, in terms of updated equipment and meds and caliber of dr.

Another thought is that the health care providers in the military are great, but the military medicine system is so large that it is hard to change course, to update, to somehow make decisions based on a short-term and long-term basis. There tend to be access issues due to the sheer volume of patients.

On the other hand, China is a great country to look at as they try to combine socialism with capitalism. Because the Chinese govt does not worry about political games, they are free to consider the long term. China obviously has socialized medicine, but they are attempting to update that system and offer other options. Is it possible for the private system to run side by side with a public option? Watch China, but don't write anything bad about them on the internet.

My overarching concern with this bill is financial: most people who oppose this bill worry about the cost. Will it really be as inexpensive as they say it will, where will the money really come from? Would it be possible to set aside tax revenue and premium payments without other gov't agencies taking it? Also, people look at the Social Security program and even state pensions and wonder how we will fund healthcare if we can't fund these other programs.

The gov't just does not have a great track record as far as keeping costs low. Ask Hillary Clinton who recently authorized $5.4 million dollars in lead-free cyrstal for freaking entertaining at American embassies around the world. Really? My left-leaning friends wonder why I worry about health care costs staying affordable and this legislation staying under budget.

BTW, look for the picture of Obama on the Great Wall of China shaking hands with some diplomat. Read Obama's body language and tell me what you think he's saying. That's the next bump on the horizon.