Apparently Klobuchar likes the coop idea

[dflprincess]

I found this in another thread

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x8594873

Senator Amy Klobuchar, who was in Minneapolis today, says the slightly different not-for-profit co-op, may be the way to go.

"And one of the things we're starting to hear is we want to have some tug on the insurance companies so they offer good rates to us. We want to have some type of competition,” says Sen. Amy Klobuchar.

Apparently her transistion to Blue Dog is complete. We really need to someone to run against her in 2012.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

1. Even a token opponent who can mount a sufficient grassroots campaign

to garner attention.

I'm convinced that one reason that the wingnuts are having such a field day with HR3200 is that it's too damn complicated.

I've tried to figure out if I'd be better off or worse off, and I think that it would be a wash for me (Boo! Hiss!, since I don't like my current health insurance), but I'm not sure--and that's after honestly trying to figure out what's going on.

Now imagine a wingnut who looks at the 1000 pages and immediately freaks out. "Me no understand. Must ask Rush and Glenn to explain."

And Rush and Glenn are only too happy to explain.

Maybe it's because I live in Minneapolis, in a neighborhood that votes 80% Democratic, and then go off to my church, where Republicans occasionally complain about being an embattled minority, but I'm just not seeing any opposition to health care reform, at least not among people who aren't right-wing media zombies (like, regrettably, one of my brothers).

If I were Obama, I would have proposed a bill that combined single-payer with an expanded network of public health clinics and gone on television with exactly five talking points: 1) Anyone can now buy into Medicare. 2) The addition of younger, healthier people will help solve Medicare's financial problems, 3) Your providers will still be in private practice and you will be able to receive any treatments that your doctor deems necessary, 4) You can keep your current coverage, but your Medicare coverage will stay with you even if you lose your job or move to another state, 5) We will pay for this by cutting the fat out of the Pentagon's budget. Don't worry; our military will still be the largest in the world by far.

Then I would send the members of the Progressive Caucus, you know, the ones who really believe in health care reform, out on the talk show circuit. I would find a way to keep the Blue Dogs "busy," as in "Hey, you guys, I think I'm sending you on a tour of worldwide health systems: Canada, France, the UK, Germany, Japan, Costa Rica... What an itinerary! You'll have a great time, and you'll be gone for about a month." Meanwhile, the Progressives would be everywhere.

By the way, wouldn't Dan make a great primary challenger for Amy Klobuchar? :evilgrin:

[dpbrown]

5. If I had a group of people who could help synthesize sound bites, maybe I would...

I can't believe how conservative she's become. But she's a prosecutor, not known for their compassion, to tell you the truth.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

6. Well, let's get crackin'!

We have till 2012! :evilgrin:

Too bad Senators don't have running mates. You and Nancy would make a great wise-cracking team.

[dflprincess]

7. Maybe we could just run as a team

tell the voters it was a 2 for 1 deal. Though Dan would spend most his time saying "what she meant to say was...." I'd be the Biden of the duo. :rofl:

[annm4peace]

2. If I could give more than 1 kick I would

thanks for continuing to updates on Klobuchar's decisions. I think she is shameful. MN should not have a Blue Dog. We will have to see who is contributing to her campaign.

I hope a good progressive will run against her. She has been a real disappointment. I knew she was a moderate but she is right of moderates.

[dflprincess]

12. I think she is becoming one of the biggest mistakes the DFL ever made

but she's the candidate the DSCC & the national party picked for us and the local yokels just went along with it. Ford Bell should show up at the next Central Committee meeting and sing "Who's Sorry Now?" to them.

[Mnpaul]

3. According to a MSNBC story

Health Partners is a coop but I looked and the only coverage you can buy is Cigna. Nice of Amy to support something we already have. Just look at all the choices:

Cigna or Cigna or Cigna

[Lydia Leftcoast]

4. Yes, I've made that point repeatedly

Blue Cross, Health Partners, and Medica essentially offer the same plans at the same prices.

So much for free markets.

[dflprincess]

8. Yeah, I don't understand the Cigna relationship with Health Partners

someone told me it's so HP can sell out of state, but I don't know if that's true.

Healthpartners is required to be non-profit in Minnesota, Cigna is not and that's what confuses me.

My employer went to Cigna this year and it's terrible insurance; nearly every claim turns into a fight even the ones for the preventative tests they're suppose to cover. I've been lucky and didn't have to us it until recently after Wendell Potter went public and after the Consumer Reports ratings came out that listed Cigna at something like 37th out of 40 plans and, unlike my coworkers, I had no problem with the claim. I wonder if there's a link between that and the bad PR? :sarcasm: I'm sure they'll resort to their old methods soon.

[glinda]

10. You should send that info to her and to Al.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

9. My letter to Amy Klobuchar:

Dear Senator Klobuchar:

I’m writing to you as someone who also received a degree from Yale in 1982, although in my case it was a Ph. D. Anyway, we were at Yale at the same time, so I know that we experienced the same Yale Health Plan.

I don’t know about you, but I received an initial physical exam, emergency room treatment, counseling and group therapy for depression, and orthopedic treatment and never saw a bill. It was all included in my tuition payment.

Wasn’t it wonderful never to have to worry about medical expenses? Shouldn’t every American have the opportunity to receive health care without worrying about how to pay for it?

To that end, I hope that you sign on to Senator Bernie Sanders’ S.703, which would establish a single-payer system similar to that of Canada.

In addition, if you and your Senate colleagues do not vote for single payer, or even a public option, I will ask myself why we need to have Democrats in office. If you can’t pass useful health care reform with one of your own in the White House and a majority in both houses of Congress, what good are you? Do you and the other DLCers not realize that ultimately you need votes from individual human beings more than you need money from the corporate PACs?

I urge you to read the readers’ comments in the online version of Bob Herbert’s New York Times column for August 18. As I write this letter, there are nearly 500 comments, the overwhelming majority of which reflect anger, disappointment, sorrow, and feelings of betrayal.

Sincerely,

[dflprincess]

11. Beautiful!

n/t

[SomeGuyInEagan]

13. +1 ... wish I could recommend your reply

[indigo32]

14. very nice - nt