I was reading about the Affordable Health Care for America Act and looking at the Detailed Summary.
It all looks pretty good. There are:
- Insurance reforms to prohibit insurance rating based on health status or pre-existing conditions
- Setting up a "Health Insurance Exchange" to allow small businesses to pool their employees and have the buying power of bigger companies.
- Repealing the antitrust exemption for insurers
- Employer mandates and an individual mandate
- Lots of subsities to help poorer folks buy insurance
- Oh....and a Public option to help control costs
But with all the hub-bub that Joe Lieberman is starting about filibustering any kind of Public Option, the question is, how can we control costs without a Public Option?
Really, it's a serious question...what other options are there to control costs? Right now the problem with costs is that insurance companies take upwards of 30% profit. How can we make them take less?
Price Controls
Price Controls (ala the Swiss) were taken out of the discussion a loooooong time ago.
Co-ops
Really, is this an viable plan? Is there anyway to make these really work ?
Public Option that is state based or triggered or opted in or opted out
Or something...oh hell, Lieberman would vote against a triggered option, but maybe we could flip Snowe as long as it wasn't the Catch 22/bullsh*t trigger Snowe suggested. You know, we need a trigger that would ACTUALLY be triggered. Or a state based opt-in Public Option....?
Allow the States to make their own Single Payer, Price Controls etc
I am only assuming that Federal law prohibits this.
Free Market Forces
Also known as encouraging more competition. For real, is there a way to make this work that doesn't involve 'trickle down economics'?
Anything else??
Really, any ideas...anyone??
My point in all of this is that IF Lieberman join the filibuster over the Public Option, then we are going to need a Plan B.