Thursday, June 4, 2009

Get ready to fight the GOP for PUBLIC OPTION in the health care bill

I said that the hardest legislation that President Obama will attempt to pass will be health care reform.

The president is on board for public option and wants it available for Americans, along with the private insurance plans. In Obama's letter to Sens. Kennedy and Baucus he was explicit about having the public option available for choice for the American Public.

Now the fight is on.

The GOP has decided that there will be no deal for any health care reform because public option is being put on the table. Remember, Senator Max Baucus (D-MT) got slapped around from his own constituents who WANT THIS OPTION. Again, remember, when it comes to health care reform, there is not a left or right or middle about this. It affects us all.

The GOP beef is this:

President Barack Obama's hopes for a bipartisan health deal took a hit Thursday as GOP senators protested a letter he wrote declaring support for a public insurance plan.

Such a plan would compete with private insurers and is opposed by nearly all Republicans. Obama long has supported it, but he had avoided going into detail about his health goals, leaving the specifics to Congress and emphasizing hopes for a bipartisan bill.

That changed when Obama released a letter Wednesday to two Senate Democrats saying he believed strongly in the need for a new public plan.

This is about the WILL of the PEOPLE pushing the WILL to the PRESIDENT. That is what the change is about. The public WANTS the public option, but the insurance companies are AFRAID to compete for it. Now the wrecking crew, called the Republican Party is about to cause havoc.
Added Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev.: "If he wants a bipartisan bill, he has to recognize that a government-run plan doesn't get you to a bipartisan plan." Ensign spoke in an interview following a Senate Finance Committee meeting on the legislation.
[sic]

Opponents say private insurers could not compete with a public plan that didn't have to make a profit. They argue that private health plans would go out of business, leaving only an entirely government-run health care system.

That is the fear. It would put private insurance plans out of business, because the sharing of the public option would be lower costs, etc.

Folks, if the insurance companies, who have screwed many Americans over the years, were honest brokers they would not have to worry about their plans. Why? Because it would be the best, cost effective, and best treatment plan for Americans. That is why. But we all know this story and know that the ones running scurred are the health care lobbyists on the hill, with open check books to buy votes.

This public option, MUST be the will of the people. And we must fight for it. It starts with contacting your congress persons and giving them an earful.

If we put Barack Hussein Obama II, in the White House, damn it, we can and must get the choice for public option in this health care bill.

Lastly, why do we need public option? Because there are upwards of 50 million people in this country uninsured, not because they want to be, but because of how expensive it is just to go to a doctor that it is becoming UNAFFORDABLE. And because of this:
Medical bills are involved in more than 60 percent of U.S. personal bankruptcies, an increase of 50 percent in just six years, U.S. researchers reported Thursday.

More than 75 percent of these bankrupt families had health insurance but still were overwhelmed by their medical debts, the team at Harvard Law School, Harvard Medical School and Ohio University reported in the American Journal of Medicine.

We need public option NOW, not later.

[UPDATED]
Senate Finance Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., Thursday told reporters that a Senate bill will contain a public health insurance option, following the lead of President Obama and drawing a line in the sand on the controversial issue.

After a meeting with senators involved in health-care legislation, Baucus said, "I think the bill that passes the Senate will have some version of the public option." Obama, in a letter Wednesday, said ...

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House of Representatives Phone Numbers
Senate Phone Numbers
OFA, Health Care Organizing Kickoff
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Cross-posted @ Daily Kos

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