The “Public Option” Flash Point
The most controversial point of health care reform centers on the need ,or opposition to, for the “public option”. Current bills and committee notes in the House and Senate have various versions of the “public option” with the Republicans favoring no option at all. Almost all other components of the legislation need only tweaking to get passed. This issue is the proverbial ‘line in the sand’ on both sides of the aisle in Washington. The truths, falsehoods, and half-truths should be openly discussed. All progams have pro's and con's.
With nearly 50% of Americans covered by some sort of government plan already (Medicare, Medicaid, VA, Government employees) it’s admitted difficult to fully understand the arguments of something that already works for half the people already.
Will the Chinese veto U.S. Health Reform
Now that the Blue Dog Democrats and some Republicans in the house have agreed on a watered down health care reform package, yet to be fully outlined, we can start actually looking at how and who is going to pay for this reform. Of the six goals outlined in the Presidents wish list on health care reform, it looks like only two are going to ...<< MORE >>
Bulletin: Blue Dog Democrats in House have reached Health Care compromise
- Bill to be voted on in September.
- Senate Majority Leader HArry Reid says that bill will be bi-partisan.
Rumored components:
- Small business exempt from mandates and penalty tax from not providing it.
- Mandate for individuals to carry insurance.
- Taxation of benefit packages that exceed $25,000 per year for the employee.
Late Night Bulletin - Preview of the Senate Bill
Late Night Extra: The Senate Finance Committe has leaked some big changes to the House Bill.
- Individual Mandate to have insurance.
- No employer mandate but a tax to reimburse subsidy's to low income workers obtaining insurance.
- Scaled deductibilty of high cost insurance. Those with $25,000 of annual benefits might only get to deduct 65% of the cost, much like the entertainment 50% deduction.
- Limit on Flexible Spending Accounts. HSA's not mentioned, but ...<< MORE >>
Enough Criticism - What's your plan
It's easy to be critical, it's tougher to present an alternative. Today's entry will focus on an outline of the components that should be debated point by point and my suggestion of a bill that would probably be palatable to the majority of American's. Even though this debate is less than two weeks old, most are already tiring of the hyperbole being thrown from all the special interests.
To design any plan, ...<< MORE >>
Organizational Chart of the Public Health Plan
I also want to mention that if I were critiquing the current plan, it would be less complicated, but have some different, and sometimes very unfair, obstacles. You must remember that while private insurance will be grandfathered, it will not be available to most going forward, most private carriers will most likely fold or be non-competitive, and you will lose your ability to make decisions without a governmental approval in this system.
...<< MORE >>
Obama Press Conference Review and the Truth-O-Meter:
President Obama opened his conference with a clear, passionate, and generally accurate depiction of the state of current health system with some broad goals for reform. Most importantly there was the new admission, as we have been pointing out in previous entries, that the main reason for this reform is “the biggest driving force in the federal deficit is the skyrocketing cost in Medicare and Medicaid. If we do not control these costs, we will not be able to control our deficit” . The ...<< MORE >>
Who is uninsured and who pays?
It’s not just Federal Taxes that will go up. State and local taxes will too.
We all know that there is going to be a cost for healthcare reform. Collectively we all know that major reform is necessary and that most of the criticisms of the current system have some serious validity. The majority of the issues will be addressed by mandating coverage for all, eliminating preexisting condition ...<< MORE >>
Obama Healthcare speech :update 7/21/09
- Objections (to reform) are Politically based - Doesn't pan out. This isn't about $30 million for the Harvest Mouse in Nancy Pelosi's district that was essential in the economic stimilus bill in 2/2009. This is about a $2.5 Trillion threat to scrap a healthcare system that, right or wrong, has existed for 60 years and, with all it's flaws, does currently cover over 250 million ...<< MORE >>
A view of healthcare under HR 3200
If anyone has seen any other general projections of how it would work for individuals or families, please let me fact check it.
I get a significant number of private emails daily with fears and anxiety about what these bills will do to them. Some are for it and against it for reasons that appear to be unsubstantiated on each side. Here is my projection of how it will work for individuals and businesses.
Big picture: Everyone must have health insurance protection. No exceptions.
For the Employer:
