Link blogging health care reform- why no single payer option?
Cross posted from MomsRising.org
While doing research for a CNN.com Live appearance on health care reform and the Senate, I collated a series of helpful links. I am a proponent of single payer reform, but as has been reported, it’s just off the table on Capitol Hill. Obama himself said, “if he could start from scratch, single-payer might make sense—the same thing he said during the campaign.” But apparently, single payer is off the table. Without a public option, I don’t see how health reform can last and really make change. Mandating everyone to get insurance doesn’t solve the problem that just having insurance doesn’t really make things better! After all, writes Robert Kuttner,
“The U.S. health care system is the most expensive and least cost-effective in the advanced world mainly because private insurance companies waste about 25 cents on the premium dollar on claims, profits, administration, and marketing. They have no serious financial incentives to emphasize prevention, and every possible incentive to avoid sick people. Doctors and hospitals, meanwhile, make their money from increasing costs.”
Some sort of “public option”–a public health insurance plan (a la Medicare) that competes with private plans– is on the table, but whose version? See here for details. And visit Montanansforsinglepayer.org to see how Montanans are influencing their very influential Senator, Max Baucus.
Comments
About Me
Morra Aarons-Mele utilizes social media strategies to help employers, employees and communities connect. She also consults with leading organizations on how women can use the internet for professional and personal development. In her spare time, Morra enjoys blogging about women and politics. Read her full bio >>
Recent Posts
- Entrepreneurs: not who you think they are
- 10:25 am, Tuesday
- Read His Lips: Workplace Flex Not a Women’s Issue
- Blogging from the White House Forum on Workplace Flexibility
- Wolf at BestBuy- Women’s Affinity Group with Bottom Line Effect