Baucus Bill

July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.

By -

Editor, Times-Union:

Why in the world are we going to mandate insurance for individuals and then deny these same people an affordable choice with the public option? What a coup for the private insurance companies this is turning out to be. What a cruel joke to play on Americans. Wow.

We have reached the point where our economic system has become a kind of bizarre Socialism where government does not control the means of production, but where the forces of government are used primarily to control the flow of spending from private citizens to the oligarchs of the insurance corporations. What we have is a government which is run by the wealthy. Like the Iraq War, Medicare Part D, various oil and agricultural subsidy programs - this is just another structured transfer of wealth from taxpayers to corporations.

Taxpayer dollars will be used to put more people into the system in order to subsidize insurance company profits. In other words, a bill that subsidizes insurance companies out of the pockets of people barely making ends meet; providing them with plans that will still bankrupt them if they actually need to see a doctor.

The headline is that Mr. Baucus has dropped the unpopular public option, however, his plan still remains a public option for the health insurance companies. The government will offer up huge new subsidies to the insurance companies for the higher insurance costs this regulation will require, and all financed by new taxes and penalties on businesses, individuals and health-care providers.

Hey, Baucus, the only ones to get healthy with this bill is the insurance companies. How much have they been stuffing in this committee's pockets?

It is not a national plan which would simplify things. In contrast, it takes our fragmented, expensive system - the most expensive in the world, mind you - and plops another mishmash of new rules, regulations and bureaucracy on top of it, all in the name of maintaining the private, for-profit insurance market. What we need is comprehensive health insurance for everyone, paid for by reasonable income taxes on individuals and businesses. It should be administered by the government to cut the 30 percent of current health spending that represents insurance marketing, corporate profits and bureaucratic waste. No public option, no deal.

Bennie Hively

Warsaw, via e-mail[[In-content Ad]]

Editor, Times-Union:

Why in the world are we going to mandate insurance for individuals and then deny these same people an affordable choice with the public option? What a coup for the private insurance companies this is turning out to be. What a cruel joke to play on Americans. Wow.

We have reached the point where our economic system has become a kind of bizarre Socialism where government does not control the means of production, but where the forces of government are used primarily to control the flow of spending from private citizens to the oligarchs of the insurance corporations. What we have is a government which is run by the wealthy. Like the Iraq War, Medicare Part D, various oil and agricultural subsidy programs - this is just another structured transfer of wealth from taxpayers to corporations.

Taxpayer dollars will be used to put more people into the system in order to subsidize insurance company profits. In other words, a bill that subsidizes insurance companies out of the pockets of people barely making ends meet; providing them with plans that will still bankrupt them if they actually need to see a doctor.

The headline is that Mr. Baucus has dropped the unpopular public option, however, his plan still remains a public option for the health insurance companies. The government will offer up huge new subsidies to the insurance companies for the higher insurance costs this regulation will require, and all financed by new taxes and penalties on businesses, individuals and health-care providers.

Hey, Baucus, the only ones to get healthy with this bill is the insurance companies. How much have they been stuffing in this committee's pockets?

It is not a national plan which would simplify things. In contrast, it takes our fragmented, expensive system - the most expensive in the world, mind you - and plops another mishmash of new rules, regulations and bureaucracy on top of it, all in the name of maintaining the private, for-profit insurance market. What we need is comprehensive health insurance for everyone, paid for by reasonable income taxes on individuals and businesses. It should be administered by the government to cut the 30 percent of current health spending that represents insurance marketing, corporate profits and bureaucratic waste. No public option, no deal.

Bennie Hively

Warsaw, via e-mail[[In-content Ad]]
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