Price caps

[joeydb]

Will Price caps work as proposed by the president's re-vamped health care plan?

[Riot]

Only if the parts of the plan that enable them to work are also introduced. Your choices don't really reflect the way things will work out <g> For example, there is no "single payer" option in either the House or Senate bill - that simply cannot happen here. Yet you have it as a choice?

I hope folks realize there is no "Presidents' Healthcare Plan" that will be voted upon. That is only a list of starting points for discussion he has assembled. Has nothing to do with anything really - the House and Senate are in charge of this. He only - finally - came out with his own comments as a starting point, after leaving the House and Senate alone to work it out themselves this past year (and we saw how well that went)

The President is going off parts of the Senate plan as the base of negotiation. The Dems are embracing the House version, especially with strong support of the popular public option. The GOP wants a little, mostly tort reform and to sell across state lines. We'll see. The more of the House bill that is in there, the happier I will be.

[joeydb]

I should have phrased as "will eventually kill private insurance, and a single payer plan will be 'necessary'."

[randallscott35]

Price caps don't work.

[Riot]

Originally Posted by joeydb

I should have phrased as "will eventually kill private insurance, and a single payer plan will be 'necessary'."

The sky is falling! The sky is falling! Sometime in the future - if A and B and C were to all happen - the sky is falling!


Can't we stick to debating what "is", rather than what someday might be?

There's plenty of difference of opinion and stuff to debate if we just concentrate on reality alone

[timmgirvan]

Originally Posted by Riot

The sky is falling! The sky is falling! Sometime in the future - if A and B and C were to all happen - the sky is falling!


Can't we stick to debating what "is", rather than what someday might be?

There's plenty of difference of opinion and stuff to debate if we just concentrate on reality alone

you scare me,really! The sky will fall in on the taxpayer as well as the patient. It's kinda like a tornado warning out there!

[dalakhani]

Originally Posted by timmgirvan

you scare me,really! The sky will fall in on the taxpayer as well as the patient. It's kinda like a tornado warning out there!

Timmi,

Arent you worried about how you are going to get your zoloft?

[timmgirvan]

Originally Posted by dalakhani

Timmi,

Arent you worried about how you are going to get your zoloft?

Never tried the stuff.....I read about the side effects of these drugs, and I'll stick with the ones I have

[Riot]

Originally Posted by timmgirvan

you scare me,really! The sky will fall in on the taxpayer as well as the patient. It's kinda like a tornado warning out there!

You are completely unawares that one of the first things you received from Obama was a tax cut, aren't you?

The tornado warning is WellPoint raising insurance rates in most of their markets.

[timmgirvan]

Originally Posted by Riot

You are completely unawares that one of the first things you received from Obama was a tax cut, aren't you?

The tornado warning is WellPoint raising insurance rates in most of their markets.

was this tax cut I got the one where I rec'd 250 from IRS, with the express
demand it would be included on my 2009 record.....good one!

Who is under WellPoints' umbrella? Don't worry....not a trick question!

[Riot]

was this tax cut I got the one where I rec'd 250 from IRS, with the express
demand it would be included on my 2009 record.....good one!

No.

Who is under WellPoints' umbrella? Don't worry....not a trick question!

Anthem Blue Cross. They are the ones with the rate hike in CA that has everyone in a tizzy. But they are also raising rates double digits in other states.

[timmgirvan]

Originally Posted by Riot

No.



Anthem Blue Cross. They are the ones with the rate hike in CA that has everyone in a tizzy. But they are also raising rates double digits in other states.

I'd seem rumors to the effect that Medicare rates were going up 40%. I have Anthem Blue Cross now, but have to switch to Medicare in June. Oh well, I don't really need to have vacations for the rest of my life!

[Danzig]

the insurance companies will make their profit-if they get capped, they'll cut coverage.
it's kind of like credit cards. they made those rules to get rid of predatory lending. credit cards got more expensive, with higher rates and less people able to get credit in response to the latest rules put in place. it's a good example of a well intentioned law having unforeseen consequences.

[Riot]

From CNN:

House votes to repeal antitrust exemption for health insurers
Posted: February 24th, 2010 04:17 PM ET

Washington (CNN) - The House voted overwhelmingly Wednesday to repeal the antitrust exemption currently granted to health insurance companies.

The vote was 406-19 to repeal the exemption, which has been in place since the end of World War II. The 19 who voted against the repeal are all Republicans.

Liberal Democrats have said a repeal would help inject new competition into the health care industry while reducing consumer costs.

White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs told reporters Tuesday that President Barack Obama strongly supports the repeal. "At its core, health reform is all about ensuring that American families and businesses have more choices, benefit from more competition and have greater control over their own health care," Gibbs said.

"Repealing this exemption is an important part of that effort.

Gibbs said the president is not seeking repeal of the exemption in lieu of broader changes to the insurance market. "This is a complementary step along the way," he told reporters.

The debate in the House on Wednesday included a colorful moment between Rep. Anthony Weiner, D-New York, and Republicans.

"You guys have chutzpah," Weiner told Republicans during the debate.

"The Republican Party is a wholly owned subsidiary of the insurance industry," he said, drawing the objections of Republicans, who asked that his words be stricken from the record.

Weiner then asked for unanimous consent to replace his words and said, "Every single Republican I have ever met in my entire life is a wholly owned subsidiary of the insurance industry."

The Republicans objected again, prompting Weiner to rescind his words.

The House version of the health care bill passed last year would have removed the antitrust exemption, while the Senate's version would not.

Advocates of an exemption repeal say that the exemption has allowed health insurance companies to essentially divide the country into geographic zones. They argue the companies benefit from what amounts to local monopolies.

Industry defenders, in turn, point out that insurers are still subject to state regulations. They claim the impact of an exemption repeal is overblown.

Administration officials and their allies in Congress have taken an increasingly tough stance against the unpopular insurance industry. Among other things, Obama's latest proposal for health care reform would give the federal government new authority to block excessive rate hikes by health insurers.

Specifically, Obama's plan calls for the secretary of health and human services to work with a seven-member board made up of doctors, economists, and consumer and insurance representatives to review premium hikes.

The board - to be known as the Health Insurance Rate Authority - would provide an annual report to recommend to states whether certain rate increases should be approved, although the secretary could overrule state insurance regulators.

[Riot]

Originally Posted by Danzig

the insurance companies will make their profit-if they get capped, they'll cut coverage.

That's exactly why we need immediate healthcare reform that includes exchanges, where insurance companies risk, if they raise rates too high to bear or be competitive, losing customers.