Print
E-mail
Share
digg
Newsvine
Facebook
Stumble
Technorati
reddit
Fark
twitterSun editorial:
Making insurance affordable
Public option remains one of the best ways to repair failed health insurance marketplace
Thursday, Oct. 1, 2009 | 2:06 a.m.
The Senate Finance Committee defied common sense Tuesday by rejecting a government-supported public option to buy health insurance. Far removed from the “socialistic government takeover” that Republican fear mongers have cried in a deliberate attempt to mislead Americans, this public option would simply be designed to spur competition, resulting in privately owned insurers lowering premium costs.
As Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., explained so well to her committee colleagues, the reason to approve a public option is this: Over a 10-year period, she said, insurance company profits soared by 428 percent and premiums rose 120 percent while the average wage of an American worker nudged upward only 29 percent.
Lack of competition in the marketplace clearly has created an untenable situation in which premium costs have far outpaced the ability of Americans to afford coverage. Cantwell said her constituents and Americans nationwide are asking the question: “What are we going to do to restore competition in the marketplace so that somebody isn’t just walking away with the store here?”
A reasonable solution is the public option. Just as the federal government has helped provide a health care safety net for seniors in the form of Medicare, so, too, does it have a legitimate role to play in correcting an insurance marketplace that is dysfunctional.
Cantwell’s common sense support of the public option stands in stark contrast to the lack of reasoning displayed by Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., a fellow committee member who opposed that proposal. As reported Wednesday by Lisa Mascaro in the Las Vegas Sun, Ensign is fearful that the public option might become so popular that the government will never take it away. Heaven forbid!
Ensign also uttered this gem: “Government was set up to do the things we need it to do, not the things we want it to do.” So the senator is really saying “tough luck” to those who need lifesaving surgery but cannot afford insurance.
Despite the setback for the public option, there is still plenty of opportunity for reasonably minded members of Congress to do the right thing and give Americans that choice.
It is one of the best ways to bring sanity to the health insurance marketplace.
Discussion: 26 comments so far…
Post a comment
- Most Read
- Discussed
- Most E-mailed
- Tiger Woods allegedly linked to LV nightclub exec
- 6 charged in Metro officer’s death appear in NLV court
- Reports: Mayweather Jr. has agreed to fight Pacquiao
- Home prices cut in half in 12 valley ZIP codes over year
- Report: Investors buying up Las Vegas foreclosure homes
- No. 24 UNLV gutsy in 74-72 victory at Arizona
- M Resort notes improved business in recent months
- CityCenter unveils Crystals retail district
- Vdara exec predicts strong sales
- Las Vegas Sands analysts see signs of improvement
Blogs
Elsewhere
UNLV in at No. 11 in SI's college hoops power rankings
Top Chef: Las Vegas
Top Chef Episode 13: A few good chefs
Gray Matter
Fight weekend in Las Vegas and Thanksgiving (1 Comment)
Politics: Ralston's Flash
Consultant who knocked off Tom Daschle would love for Lowden to knock off Reid (9 Comments)
Gibbons: Timeline shows lawmakers (especially Marcus Conklin) at fault in unemployment insurance fiasco
The Kats Report
Noteworthy: More from the Trop, Cher changes, Newton on 'CBS Sunday Morning' (2 Comments)
TUF Heavyweights
Marathon season finale (1 Comment)
Calendar »
- 4 Fri
- 5 Sat
- 6 Sun
- 7 Mon
- 8 Tue
-
Ray Price at Boulder Station
Boulder Station Hotel and Casino | 8 p.m. to 10 p.m.
-
Clay Walker at The Golden Nugget
Golden Nugget Hotel & Casino
-
Gloriana at LAX
LAX Nightclub | 10 p.m. to 11:59 p.m.
-
Brooks & Dunn at the Hilton
Las Vegas Hilton
-
Bill Engvall at the Treasure Island Theatre
Treasure Island Theatre
-
Ron White performs at the Mirage
Terry Fator Theatre
The Sun
Locally owned and independent for more than 50 years.
Obama's play to make insurance "affordable":
1) Remove insurance payments caps on payouts
2) Reduce or remove co-pays and deductibles
3) Let deadbeats who refuse to get insurance then get sick then can get insurance
4) Tax insurance companies
5) Tax drug companies, makers of medical equipment and health providers
Sounds like an excellent plan to reduce health insurance preminums......
Hey...wait a minute...all that stuff will actually drive up cost.
listen up boys and girls...
it really is very simple...
you either support the public option...
or...
you support the greedy pig insurance company and the money grubbing whore doctors...
period...
end of story!!!
John Ensign is right about the public option. It could have been expressed better. People will adapt to it just as they have with Social Security and Medicare and oppose any change. However, it will be another unfunded entitlement. The only time that can be avoided is now, not in the future.
Fellow Idiots: Excellent piece. Correct on all counts. The only regretable part of the piece is the mention of Ensign, a fake, an oath violator, a cheat, a hushmoney payer and a cover up artist who has no class, no credibility and should not be representing anybody. Thank You.
And the name calling continues from the zealots on the Left.
If Obama really cared about making health insurance affordable, why doesn't the Obama administration IMMEDIATELY through a Presidential Proclamation make Medicaid available to all who can't afford health insurance and have preexisting conditions and can not obtain health insurance?
But, it's not really a important issue with the Obama administration. Obama is using it as another crisis to get a complete government takeover of the health care system.
You see, a government takeover of the health care system advances his socialist agenda.
Fellow Idiots: The Republican's Private Mantra - "Keep 'em in the dark and feed 'em bull sh**!" Yeap, that's what they practice and what they believe and it's quite similar to the philosophy of Wall Street - they consider their constituents and clients MUSHROOMS!!
If every person between the ages of 18 and 40 were made to buy health insurance they would not have money for tattoos, ipods, all night rave parties and all other excessive habits. Like the man said "Change you can believe in"
who cares what that little maggot johnnie boy ensign has to say...
he is completely irrelevant...
he is a fraud...
a total and complete fraud...
this little maggot was granted every single advantage in life...
rode mommy and daddy's coat tails all the way to the us senate...
but that wasn't enough for this snot nosed punk...
he had to have his best friend's wife too...
and when he got caught he fired both of them...
just ruined their lives...
then...
then this little maggot went running to mommy and daddy to fix his boo boo...
all while a member of "the family" cult...
and a "promise keeper" to boot...
what a sad clown ensign is...
and by the way...
where the hell is the ethics investigation!!!
Or you could stop taxing personal income used to buy private insurance (rather than tying health insurance to employment via World War II wage and price control era tax law), encourage HSAs, reduce mandates, and lift restrictions on insurance competition.
The system has failed because of government, so more government doesn't seem like a smart solution.
Dear Americans;
The health Insurance companies are spending $1.4 million a day lobbying against the public option, These are $ collected from you to provide you with health care. Do you really believe that your best interest is what they have in mind when they spend a half billion dollars a year to buy politicians instead of someone's medical care.
Wake up & smell the coffee you are being screwed royally by the insurance companies & Health care system & many sit back & say they don't want Government interference in "their" health care system. You deserve what you get (or don't get actually) when it comes to health care. Get out & support the Public option or die when you are denied coverage & care.
Signed, A Canadian who just doesn't get it.......Fred
Fred,
A tired and false argument that has been tried over and over. At one time the left in America argued that companies would be far more efficient if the government limited them to just a handful or even just one company. Their reasoning assumed that they could, without competition, devote previous advertising dollars to providing service to the people.
Of course, without competition, they had little incentive to keep prices low, keep quality high, and maintain good service for consumers.
We need more competition, not less. Never, has government provided real and meaningful competition. Government destroys competition when it tries to do anything but play umpire.
ON a side note, if the government wasn't so busy meddling, threatening, regulating, and restricting these companies (and most every other company) would spend that money figuring out ways to reduce costs, increase quality, improve service, innovate...
Just a note, I had an American in my shop yesterday they were returning from Europe, His wife broke her foot in Belguim & I inquired as to the cost. Well guess what? 2 days in hospital & treatment & drugs for pain etc. all FREE! My wife had an emergency Hospital visit when we were in St.George Utah & not quite the same result. In Fact they would not even fill in any papers to look after her until I parked my car & brought in my Credit Card.
EVERYONE should watch Moores SICKO it is not a fairy tale the rest of the Westernized & Even Communist countries all have a better health care system for they're people.We all live longer than Americans, that alone should make you question how great your care is!
I know many will say that it is Socialism & they don't want a socialist country! Well I guess you don't want Mail Delivery, Police, Fire Dept., Highways & on & on. The reason we have Goverment programs is to look after the common good of the people. I spend 1/2 of each year in the U.S.A. & love both the people & your country, But I don't always understand the thinking of some.
I am sure that all you guys knocking the health insurance companies know the answers to the following questions:
How much money does the health system absorb yearly due to unpaid bills for illegal immigrants?
How much money does the health system absorb yearly due to unpaid bills for those who do not have health insurance?
How does the above two effect the premiums that the health insurance companies charge?
The Health care in the U.S. cost more then double the cost per capita of any other country & everyone is covered Legal, Illegal & in many countries the Tourists as well. So don't blame the Illegals for the cost. It is the Insurance Companies ripping off the people & DENYING the coverage that you paid for if you do have insurance. You will never convince me the insurance companies have your best interest at the top of their priority list, That is likely at the bottom of their list with Profits & their own bonuses at the very top.
gamblingfred...
Thank you for your posts. You're a breath of fresh air in a stagnated debate over health care reform...
I agree with everything you said.... Yes, your statement saying:
..."don't blame the Illegals for the cost. It is the Insurance Companies ripping off the people & DENYING the coverage that you paid for...." hit the nail on the head.
That's so true but yet we have people out there who refuse to see that. Some, like "free trader Gibby" would have all of us believe that it's all about a "free market" and competition, and then there's LarryVegas, who believes that it all comes down to the "socialist agenda" of our president.
Of course, LarryVegas always leans on his favorite argument, saying that the presence of illegal's in this country is the main problem.
I guess LarryVegas actually believes that if we sent every single illegal packing then all of our problems would be solved. We would have a balanced budget; no trade deficit; no national debt; an absence of war in the Middle East and every American would have a job!
Wow! Sounds like a very simple solution to a number of very complex problems... I wonder why other people haven't thought of that?
"I guess LarryVegas actually believes that if we sent every single illegal packing then all of our problems would be solved."
I agree it Wouldn't solve all, but would solve most! Were not just talking hispanic, but all including those pesky whites that sneak in as well.
It is easy to figure out how to lower costs.
#1. Tort reform. cap lawsuits and add a loser pays all. This will eliminate a lot of waste.
#2. Open up state lines. A lot of insurance companies do have a benign monopoly in many states.
#3. Tax breaks for businesses (especially small) to provide insurance as a benefit.
#4. As in auto insurance, assign a risk pool. Not for pre-existing conditions, If you are born diabetic or with leukemia you could not help that, but for known unhealthy habits (i.e. smoking, drug use, alcoholism, obesity).
Those 4 items alone would drop health insurance rates for those who wish to participate.
Please everyone keep an open mind & consider all options, To be hard & fast on a topic isn't a discussion. We all have our opinions and few will change but always consider the others point of view.
When Health Care is paid by the Taxpayer many things happen.
1st everyone is covered, 2nd your dollars do not go to running huge insurance companies with all their fancy trimmings, 3rd no more HMO'S denying coverage that your doctor has recommended (as well they the "HMO'S" won't be taking a slice of the health money), 4th People will go to the Doctor when they have an illness & receive prompt treatment (this saves huge dollars as early detection & treatment costs are much less then trying to treat a person whose disease has worsened).
I am a Canadian & would never give up the Health Care that is provided to me, There is NO Co-pay & we have excellent care. I have never seen a bill in 60 years & never been denied any treatment or procedure. Why are so many Americans terrified of a system like this?
I agree with Ensign. "Tough luck," as this editorial so eloquently puts it.
Fred also wants everyone to know the earth is flat. Anecdotal evidence is NOT sufficient to decide public policy.
A good emphasis is to remember that U.S. citizens have a better cancer survival rate compared to the people of Europe. Most of whom have a universal health care system.
Communist countries do not have a superior health care system. Its also widely known that Cuba has two systems. One for the well-connected and one for everyone else. There is a reason why Cubans are coming here in boats and its not just to play baseball and its not because Castro hates and bans rock and roll music.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3WnS96NVl...
John Stossel on health insurance.
Patrick if USA health care is so great why are there 28 countries with a greater life expectancy?????
you tell em Fred!! Bunch of scared ignorant fools..........Must be rich republicans!
"a fake, an oath violator, a cheat, a hushmoney payer and a cover up artist who has no class, no credibility and should not be representing anybody. Thank You."
Hey......give Clinton a break.
"a government-supported public option to buy health insurance. Far removed from the "socialistic government takeover"
Corporations with large numbers of employees can't wait for a public option. They drop employee coverage and everyone gets on the public option. In short time we have single payer - aka the "socialistic government takeover."
Sorry Sun, Ensign got this one right. Reform is needed, we all agree, but we should refrain from making it worse. Please provide examples of some things the government has done well and efficiently - without waste and corruption.
larry5 said:
"Please provide examples of some things the government has done well and efficiently - without waste and corruption."
Not attempting to answer for any one but myself but how about TVA, Pell Grants to education; building the Interstate Highway system; federal aid to education; Kennedy's Peace Corp program; putting a man on the moon; and building a series of dams (Hoover & Coolidge comes quickly to mind..) through out the United States that continues to provides cheap electrical power.
Of course we shouldn't forget that the government did built the A-Bomb in a very short period of time (less than 5 years) that ended World War II....The vets who fought in that war will tell you that it was worth every single penny spent on the project....
How's that for starters?