SPREAD THE WORD: State by State Public Option is a fig leaf to provide a non option option.

[ddeclue]

1) Most states do not allow their state gov'ts to run deficits unlike the Federal government. Thus many legislatures will be prevented from passing a public option because they can't do it without deficit spending or raising taxes.

2) Given the divided nature of government it will be nearly impossible in most states to get a real public option passed because either a state Senate, a state legislature or a Governor will "stand in the doorway and block up the hall".

3) This will allow the insurance company lobbyists to divide and conquer - instead of having to face this on somewhat (not really) even terms they will be able to pour national levels of money into state legislatures one at a time and spend huge amounts of money while we won't be able to muster similar levels of support FOR a public option in each of the state capitols because it will be viewed as a state issue.

Imagine if this was how LBJ had decided to bring Civil Rights and Voting Rights reform in the 1960's - in individual state legislatures!

It would have never ever happened.

The Federal gov't needs to set a REAL floor with a REAL FEDERAL PUBLIC OPTION. If states want to go ABOVE that by offering government provided healthcare equivalent to the U.K's "National Health" or a single payer program on a state level that exceeds the REAL FEDERAL PUBLIC OPTION then fine BUT THIS IS NOT A FLOOR JUST A RACE TO THE BOTTOM.

This will offer these Senators a fig leaf so they can pretend that they passed reform when in fact they have just sold us out to the insurance companies.

Shame on them!

Doug D.
Orlando, FL

[Hannah Bell]

1. k&r to cancel out whoever unrecc'd this.

[bobbolink]

5. Thanks for mentioning this. I doubled canceled the cancel.. ^_^

[WillyT]

2. When I First Heard About This...

I got a big smile on my face. I imagined a scenario where the Red states deny the public option to their own citizens, sort of like they tried to do with the stimulus money.

I thought... man, what an interesting way to try to turn the Red states Blue...

But after enjoying a little Machiavellian delight from my fantasies of Democratic Uber-Strategies, I realized that this is not really that great an idea for many many reasons, and we really should not put political gamesmanship above people's lives.

That's what Republicans are for.

:evilgrin:

[Nikki Stone1]

3. THE STATES HAVE NO MONEY

There is no way certain states could even think about a state public plan.

[ddeclue]

6. MOST states actually..

here in Florida you'd have a better chance of winning the lottery than passing PO.

[Winterblues]

4. I actually like it

You know the Red States will opt out. the people that live there will get to watch the rest of the nation enjoy quality care at reasonable cost and it won't take all that long before they demand the same coverage. They are very greedy people in the most part and will vote all those that won't bring them comparable care out.. It may be the very best way to eliminate the Republican Party once and for all.

[ddeclue]

7. No MOSTstates will opt out because they can't afford it or because they get lobbied and bought off.

This is a bait and switch - don't fall for it.

:argh:

[rudy23]

8. Rec'd---hope it counters the unrec-ing crew!

Very important this gets out there!

[inna]

9. KR+13. very important post.

[ProSense]

10. Yes, it is, but there is a different plan being considered

details.

The state-by-state plan proposed was to allow states to implement their own public option, putting the onus and burden on states. Implementing a national plan then allowing states to opt means states will have to go through the process of rejecting an existing national plan. It isn't remotely the same thing.

[ddeclue]

11. It amounts to the same deal.

State legislatures are STILL going to be bought off and/or blackmailed off by insurance company lobbyists one at a time under the radar. My points in the OP are still valid. This is a sorry excuse for a fig leaf.

[ProSense]

14. It absolutely does not. That's ludicrous. n/t

[ddeclue]

16. Not much of a come back...refute my post please point by point.

I know people who are state legislators as well as a few Congressmen. I know a nationwide lobbyist for the Life Insurance Settlement Association - I know how the insurance companies lobby. They will divide and conquer and defeat health care reform state by state just as I described if we pass this crap.

I'm sorry you're so naive about real world politics.

[ProSense]

21. Why?

It was refuted here, and you simply repeated the same nonsense.

[ddeclue]

24. Because NO you didn't refute it there. Nice try but you failed to refute my ACTUAL points in my OP.

This plan is just a way to let the insurance companies roll over us one state legislature at a time.

[ipaint]

22. Guaranteed the state by state baloney is an industry idea and

the ins. co's are busy, as we argue, lining up their lobbyists in the many cash strapped states just in case. That is how they operate.

[flyarm]

12. Obama made a deal with Big Pharma and the Insurance CEO's and the Hospital conglomerates..that is

going to trump all of us and any real reform..people need to understand this ..they don't give a flying fuck about you or me or grandma and grandpa..or your mom and dad ..or your children..the deal was was done..behind closed doors..if they cared ..the deal would be discussed with you and me and Mr.And Mrs America..but it has not been..there has been zero transparency reguarding the deals..zilch has been told to the American people how we were sold out ..

We are not going to get reform..we are going to get Health Insurance Corporation Welfare Benefit Program!


WE CAN SCREAM ABOUT REPIGS..BUT IT IS DEMS WHO HAVE DONE THIS to us..the dems we have donated money to , walked door to door for, campaigned all over the country for..THEY HAVE SOLD US OUT!

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Third Way to Health Insurance Industry’s Rescue
By: Jon Walker Wednesday October 7, 2009 8:00 am


http://campaignsilo.firedoglake.com/2009/10/07/third-way-to-health-insurance-industrys-rescue/


The health insurance “Democratic” think tank Third Way just put out a memo parroting AHIP's demand for a stronger individual mandate and other changes. The memo proposes:

Four ideas for how progressives can defend a strong individual mandate while also minimizing its burden on the middle class.

What could these four great ideas be. Increasing tax credits to make sure every American can afford quality health insurance? Introducing more cost control mechanism to hold down the rapidly increase cost of health care? Give the American people the choice of a robust public option that would be 10% cheaper than typical private health insurance?

No, their suggestions are straight from the health insurance industry:

This policy memo offers four ideas for maintaining a robust coverage requirement while minimizing its burden on the middle class:

• Option 1: Instead of assessing a penalty, eliminate or reduce tax breaks for people who don’t buy insurance
• Option 2: Allow young people to pay lower premiums
• Option 3: Ease the minimum benefit requirement
• Option 4: Allow more people to buy catastrophic coverage

Let me translate this from Third Way inside-the-beltway talk into plain English:

• Option 1: Instead of assessing a penalty, eliminate or reduce tax breaks for people who don’t buy insurance. Translation: Have harsh financial punishment for people who don't buy private health insurance, just be sneaky about it and try to pretend it is not a direct fine. (AHIP demands a strong individual mandate.)

• Option 2: Allow young people to pay lower premiums. Translation: Increase the community rating ratio so that older people can be charged much more. That way, those sick, old people who need medical treatment will have a tough time buying real coverage. (AHIP's letter asks for a larger community rating ratio.)

• Option 3: Ease the minimum benefit requirement. Translation: let insurance companies not really cover anything. We can just pretend that we expanded insurance coverage by having people buy worthless policies that don't cover their medical problems.

• Option 4: Allow more people to buy catastrophic coverage. Translation: We should force people to buy high deductible (high profit margin) junk insurance. (AHIP's reform proposal ask that they be able to sell super-bare-bones, high-deductible "essential benefits plans," which do not need to follow state minimum benefits laws.)

Well, thank you, Third Way. Doing the bidding of the health insurance industry definitely sounds like a great idea. All we need to do is completely water down what we consider to be “coverage,” then we can all rally around forcing Americans to buy plans from the for-profit health insurance industry. Or, to put that in Third Way speak:

These options can enable progressives to rally behind a strong coverage requirement that can help deliver health care stability and security to all Americans.

[ddeclue]

13. This is good stuff. Make it an OP on its own please!

:D

[slipslidingaway]

31. Third Way again - post the link if you decide to make this an OP n/t

[WonderGrunion]

15. Unrecced

Province by province is how Canada achieved national health care. It started with only two provinces offering universal coverage. Insurance companies lost profits and dropped out leaving everyone to go to national single payer health care.

[ddeclue]

17. And America is NOT Canada and lobbyists don't run the place up there like they do down here.

You don't know anything at all about how corrupt and easily pushed around our state legislatures are apparently.

Dean Cannon (R-FL35) is a state legislator here in FL who suddenly decided this year that drilling for oil off of Florida's coast from 3 to 10 miles off shore was a brilliant idea - because he got huge campaign contributions from the oil lobby.

Florida's legislature is hopelessly corrupt and ridiculous as are many if not most states in the union - especially in the states of the deep South.

Doug D.
Orlando, FL

[WonderGrunion]

18. I live in Maine, we're being sued by an insurance company right now

For not guaranteeing their profits to a certain level. Sorry your state is more corrupt than mine.

[ddeclue]

19. Indeed it is and your state is being blackmailed whereas mine will be bribed.

[WonderGrunion]

20. Yeah, but we'll win

Mainahs don't like being told what to do by outta statahs.

[ddeclue]

23. Maybe but I don't know that for a fact...and it is the exception not the rule if true.

the point is that whenever you want legislation to FAIL to be national in scope and effect (such as gay marriage or gun control or children's health insurance or what have you...) you push it off onto the state legislatures and the same big high powered lobbyists that go after Congressmen with multimillion dollar budgets go after rinky-dink state legislators and intimidate them or buy them off with campaign contributions and the lobbyists win and the progressives by and large lose.

[WonderGrunion]

25. I'm sorry. Growing up in New England I forget what it's like.

I have friends that live in red states and I can't fathom a state government not standing up for its' citizens but it's reality to way too many of our citizens.

[ddeclue]

27. I guess it's the price I pay for living in paradise (weather wise...)

our state house is 78-42 Republican and our state senate is 26-14 Republican and we have a Republican governor and Tallahassee consistently screws the little guy every time in favor of the big corporation and their lobbyists.

[ipaint]

26. Yes and you had a strong democratic socialist party that

pushed through the necessary regulations to make sure those private insurers didn't sink the system.

We have nothing remotely close to that here. Zip, zilch.

[Hannah Bell]

28. some details you left out, aren't there?

[nashville_brook]

29. yup.

[SpartanDem]

30. Yes an opt in PO would be bad, but the opt out is a good idea

just look what happened with the stimulus money there was a lot of bluster from red state governors trying to pander to their teabagger base, but in the end ever single one of them took the money. They will take the public option