“Deal” Could Put Joe Lieberman In Charge Of Regulating Your Health Insurance

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http://fdlaction.firedoglake.com/2009/12/10/deal-could-put-joe-lieberman-in-charge-of-regulating-your-health-insurance/


One of the big components of the new possible “deal” in the Senate would be to create a new, national Office of Personnel Management (OPM)-run program. How exactly this OPM exchange for national non-profit insurance plans, which is meant to be a replacement for the public option, would work is unclear. Rumors are that if the non-profit insurance companies fail to offer good enough plans on this new OPM exchange, it would trigger the creation of a real public option.

Who in Congress would likely oversee this new OPM exchange? The answer is Joe Lieberman.

The plan emerging from negotiations among moderate and liberal Democrats would put a key part of the planned health insurance exchanges under the supervision of the Office of Personnel Management (OPM). And jurisdiction for oversight of OPM falls to the centrist-dominated Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, which Lieberman chairs.

Thats right, Lieberman, the biggest champion of the health insurance industry in the Senate, will chair the committee that oversees this “alternative” to the public option. It would probably be Lieberman’s finger on the public option trigger. The idea of putting Lieberman in charge of keeping the health insurance industry honest sounds like hiring the fox to guard the hen house.
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Lieberman in charge of anything is a big NO! absolutely NOT!

[rockymountaindem]

1. This whole process is turning into a farce

I'm finding it hard to care what happens at this point because it's hard to see how any legislation that manages to bend to the wishes of Nelson, Lieberman and Lincoln can do anything but serve as a finger in the dike. I'll make the easy prediction that costs will continue to spiral out of control and five years from now we'll be right back where we started.

[Stinky The Clown]

2. This is part of the sausage making ........

....... right?


This can't actually be the case, can it?

Not Holy Joe, right?

Right?

[L0oniX]

3. Lieberman is a cancer in the body of Democrats.

[spanone]

4. a hand job to get joe's vote?

[Andy823]

5. Yeah

Kiss up to Joe so that the next time something comes up he can hold the senate hostage and get more! I say we need new leadership on the senate if we have to kiss Joe's ass to get things done. He needs to be taken out behind the woodshed and told what he will "lose" if he doesn't stop his threats and whining. I can't stand the republicans, but at least they get all their idiots to fall in line and vote the way the party wants them to!