RAW STORY: Dems dropping preexisting condition ban?

[CLANG]

http://rawstory.com/2010/01/democrats-dropping-ban-preexisting-conditions/

This makes me sick to my stomach!

[endless october]

1. careful, nausea might be a pre-existing condition.

this congress is almost worthless.

they have a huge majority in both houses; more than Bush ever had. and they're making the bill worse? unreal.

[Brickbat]

2. Waiting to feel any modicum of surprise ... waiting .... hmmm.....

[berni_mccoy]

3. Raw Story reports a Blogger's Concern on a NY Times plausible outcomes. hmmm.

Hyperbole anyone?

[WeDidIt]

7. Not to mention the fact tha Plouffe's statements were about what happens immediately

Children cannot be denied coverage due to PECs immediately upon the bill being signed.

Adult bans on denying coverage over PECs takes effect 1/1/14.

That's the Senate version, and no, the dates cannot be altered by reconciliation, nor can a ban on PECs be taken up via reconciliation.

[jpak]

20. "Some say" that Democrats are dumping the preexisting ban.

Same tactics used by FAUX News.

and suckers believe every word of it.

yup

[Mass]

4. If true, they can forget my support, but careful. Plouffe talks about immediate

suppressions. The Senate bill gets rid of preexisting conditions for adults in 2014 and has high risk pools in between. It may be what this is about.

We need to be careful, but not jump the gun.

[Teaser]

5. this is why you can't break up the bill

you can't ban denial of pre-existing conditions without a mandate. So no mandate, no pre-ex protections.

So, the solution, is to pass.the.damn.bill.

[robinlynne]

11. why cant you ban denial of pre exisiting cond w/out a mandate?

Most of Europe and Canada have no denial for pre-existing, and NO mandate.

[CTyankee]

16. Their mandate is their taxation. We have mandated Medicare thru taxes.

I do think tho that in places with private, nonprofit (and heavily regulated) health insurance, like Switzerland and the Netherlands, you are required to get insurance. They also have generous safety net coverage for those too poor to get the insurance.

[robinlynne]

17. I think the whole concept of insurance does not exist. you are not required

to do anything. If you get sick, you go to the doctor or hospital. it is free. that is that. end of story.
WEll you also get in home care, medicines, and more for free.
you pay taxes.
Insurance is the betting on whether or not you will get sick.
We do not need insurance. We need health care. HUGE DIFFERENCE.

[Teaser]

18. if there were no mandate, but still was a ban on pre-ex condition exclusion

think about what the logical course of action for a given human is...

You don't buy insurance until you get sick. Just stay uninsured. Get sick, go and buy insurance.

So, what happens to the insurance company? Because you haven't been paying into the system, they don't have money to defray the cost of your treatment. So they raise prices for everyone across the board. Which then discourages more people from signing up until they get sick. Which then leads to more prices increases...


See the problem?

[CTyankee]

21. I sure do see the problem! We need single payer, universal health care!

I hope you do too.

This is ridiculous. Our system doesn't and cannot work. What is the matter with us that we don't have a leader who just says "ENOUGH!" and gets it DONE!!!

[Teaser]

24. of course we need single payer

but given that we're not going to get it, I can tolerate the system in the bill. It's a half assed way to do things, but it is marginally functional, which beats the current system. Given time, with community rating, for profit insurers will become nothing more than heavily regulated health utilities.

Which is still an inferior approach to single payer, but it is workable, and has been implemented in other countries.

[closeupready]

6. No compromise is too compromising - try them!

You'll see. :sarcasm:

[Bullet1987]

8. I'm hoping they're not stupid enough to drop it

[Kurt_and_Hunter]

9. The story is bullshit so don't waste your nausea on the specific claims

There is no discussion anywhere of dropping the pre-existing condition ban (except as a by-product of dropping the whole thing)

The OP article plays on the fact that most people didn't realize that the ban for adults doesn't kick in for four years.

That is its own problem, but not the same problem as that fancifully "deduced" in the article.

[BzaDem]

10. It is impossible to ban discrimination on the basis of pre-existing conditions without a mandate.

If you do, premiums will go up to the actual cost of treating someone with a pre-existing condition (possibly several thousand/month).

The only reason there is talk of dropping this is because they might not be able to get a mandate/subsidies through.

[Bluenorthwest]

12. Of course it is possible to have a mandate without allowing

profit to be part of the deal, as other Democracies do when they mandate that their citizens purchase insurance. Also, the premiums can be capped, as they are in other nations.
So maybe the problem is not the mandates, but the mandated profit, making people contribute to the profit of private companies, under the force of law, is not necessary for any reason.
Let's just be clear about that. You do not have to agree that we should do it that way, but that is how all of our 'peer nations' do it. In fact, it is usually a crime to profit from these basic health care policies. So there's that.

[Nikki Stone1]

14. Without the mandate, the bill is meaningless. It becomes a suggestion to get health insurance.

The mandate will be kept. No matter what.

[change_notfinetuning]

13. This administration believes in CONpromises, not COMpromises. It's the

anti-promise mentality that sees everything as negotiable. Surrender might be a better word.

Whatever the promise, you can kiss it goodbye. Their strength is weakness.

Any hope of Obama getting it? If you think so, I hear Bernie Madoff has a new venture you might wanna get in on.

[Javaman]

15. Living: is a pre-existing condition. nt

[Faygo Kid]

19. If this is dropped, that's it for my support. This is non-negotiable.

What the hell are people 50-64 supposed to do? None will be insured. They can't do this and expect support. Period. I have gone along with almost anything to get something passed, but not this one.

[Irish_shark]

22. Relax. You're not being a pragmatic realist n/t

[thatsrightimirish]

23. sort of like how karl rove was indicted?

hopefully this too isn't true