Sen. Harkin: Three ways to public option

[cal04]

http://thehill.com/homenews/senate/63483-sen-harkin-three-ways-to-public-option#

The Senate has more than one way to get to agreement on the controversial public option, Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee Chairman Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) said Friday.

Though Harkin insisted he continues to support a strong "robust" public option, his comments underscored how Senate Democrats are trying to leave themselves adequate wiggle room to approve something smaller in scale.

During a conference call hosted by the liberal activist group Families USA, Harkin indicated that Senate Democrats had narrowed their choices to a full public option, a proposal that would allow states to opt out of the program and Snowe's idea of creating a "trigger" that would launch a public option in any state where insurers fail to meet residents' needs.

Harkin's committee passed a bill that would create a nationwide government-run health insurance public option program that would compete with private insurers, the approach that remains the favorite of liberals. But in an attempt to appease wary centrist Democrats and Republican Sen. Olympia Snowe (Maine), Senate Democrats have been eyeing several compromise proposals.

(snip)
And though Harkin said he is "willing to listen" to compromise proposals, he insisted that the handful of Democrats who do not support the public option should be the ones to change their tune.

[Echo In Light]

1. And he is correct on that point

[emulatorloo]

2. thnks for posting - rec n/t

[redqueen]

3. "the controversial public option"

Nice framing, Jeffrey Young.

[JDPriestly]

4. The law requiring insurers to cover everyone without discrimination

at non-discriminatory prices will cause insurers to raise rates way beyond what anyone can afford.

Blue Shield was just eliminated from the pool of insurers who insure high-risk Californians (at impossibly high rates). Here is the story of Blue Shield's failure to contain costs.
===

California has ousted Blue Shield, the state's second-largest not-for-profit health plan, from the state's high-risk medical insurance pool because its premiums were too high.

The pool, known as the Major Risk Medical Insurance Program, or MRMIP, insures more than 6,700 Californians who have been shut out of the private health insurance market because of pre-existing conditions.

Through MRMIP, such people are able to buy coverage from private insurers at premiums that are supposed to be 25% higher than the market rate for a comparable policy. The state reimburses the insurers for any losses they incur.

Despite the state's backing, Blue Shield's premiums have been substantially higher than those of the other two private insurers in the program, Kaiser Permanente and Anthem Blue Cross of California.

. . . .

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-blueshield15-2009oct15,0,3875854.story?track=rss

This is what will happen over and over if the plan is passed without a public option. Private insurance companies will simply not comply with their obligations and laugh in the face of the government.

We have to have a robust public option that attracts as many Americans as possible. The private insurance companies are yet another corrupt segment of American society.

[cal04]

5. Harkin Says Health Overhaul Will Include Public Plan (Update2)

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=aELfurYOIDLk

The overhaul of U.S. health care will include a government-run program to compete with private insurers, U.S. Senator Tom Harkin said, signaling hardening Democratic divisions about creating a new federally backed plan.

The Iowa Democrat, chairman of the Senate health committee, also told reporters he expected legislation to reach President Barack Obama before Dec. 25, citing “momentum” for passage. Senators will probably go “outside the health-care system” to raise the revenue needed to expand coverage to the tens of millions of Americans lacking it, he said.

Harkin’s comments underscore Democratic tensions over a government-run plan, omitted from the $829 billion bill the Senate finance panel passed Oct. 13 with one Republican vote. Senate leaders and the White House are working to meld that bill with health committee legislation that does include a public option. House leaders are also combining bills, which also propose a government-run alternative.

The legislation that reaches Obama’s desk “will have a public option,” Harkin said in a conference call. “We have to have a public option so there’s some choice.”