This is precisely why we need the public option as a cost containment in the final bill product, and why we MUST work hard to influence the final conference report! According to the Los Angeles Times, the Senate Finance Bill is a "bonanza" for private insurers because without a public option to lower premium costs and provide competition, what insurance companies get are 47 million new captive customers with big fat government subsidies (i.e. bailouts) that are forced to buy junk insurance plans.
"It's a bonanza," said Robert Laszewski, a health insurance executive for 20 years who now tracks reform legislation as president of the consulting firm Health Policy and Strategy Associates Inc.
And you know what's egregiously bad about this? Private insurance companies currently pay about 80% of insurance policy claims, and in the Senate Finance Bill, the requirement for them will be lowered to 65%! That means you'd be required to pick up 35% of your medical bills. See? You get covered, but you're forced to pay 35% of your bills.
That's why I keep saying that universal coverage does not equate affordability.
In May, the Senate Finance Committee discussed requiring that insurers reimburse at least 76% of policyholders' medical costs under their most affordable plans. Now the committee is considering setting that rate as low as 65%, meaning insurers would be required to cover just about two-thirds of patients' healthcare bills. According to a committee aide, the change was being considered so that companies could hold down premiums for the policies.
Most group health plans cover 80% to 90% or more of a policyholder's medical bills, according to a report by the Congressional Research Service. Industry officials urged that the government set the floor lower so insurers could provide flexible, more affordable plans.
Who here thinks that insurance companies will really hold down premiums for the policies if they're obligated to pay just 65% instead of 80% to 90% of medical bills? I really don't see anything out of the Senate Finance Bill that requires private insurers to hold down premiums for policies, so it's the case of the mouse trusting the alligator to carry it across the river without being eaten.
Where's the affordability really for the middle-class in this crappy Senate Finance Bill? I don't see it, especially not with a community rating of 7:1 in that bill, which means you could pay seven times what a young adult pays especially if you're an adult in your 50s or 60s.
- Go to these townhalls to THANK our progressive Democrats for saying that the public option is a necessary cost containment on making health insurance premiums affordable! Thank them for saying that the public option is the line in the sand for them, and show as much support as you can!
- Also bring a print-out of this diary (just click on the link to print out), and a link to Jacob Hacker's paper explaining why regional co-operatives are an unacceptable alternative to the public option! Print out as much as you can and take them with you to the Democratic townhalls to pass out to the audience and to your Representative.
- Use the FDL Recess Event Tracker Tool to find other townhall events near you. And if you know of a townhall event that's not listed on the FDL Recess Event Tracker, please enter in that information.
This is a list of all Democratic townhall events for this week alone.
- Report back to us at FDL about what happened at the event, and upload any videos or photos from that event. Also, if you go, don't forget to ask questions like these of our Democratic officials, and make the best case as you can as to why the public option is a necessary cost containment on insurance premiums, otherwise it'd be a mandated bailout of the murder-by-spreadsheet industry with no end in sight to your rising premiums.
- Read ShadowSD's diary for his excellent defense of the public option, and the rebuttals to the most common conservative talking points. Please bring a copy of his diary with you and your friends when you go to a townhall event.
PLEASE recommend this diary so others can see the townhall events of these brave health care heroes and thank them! Also don't forget to donate to our ActBlue page for our health care heroes!
And don't forget to donate to our public option fund at FDL since Nyceve, Jane, I, and others are working hard night and day on this issue for us all!