Ask Sen. Klobuchar to support a public option

by: The Big E

Tue Jun 23, 2009 at 19:56:35 PM CDT

It is clear that she gets it on who and what is the problem (this is from her campaign website):

The debate on health care in Washington has been dominated by the drug companies and the insurance companies for way too long. When our health care policies are written for the insurance companies and the drug companies instead of America's families, we get things like Medicare Part D.  Medicare Part D gave the prescription drug companies something like $90 billion a year in Christmas presents by banning the federal government from negotiating drug prices.

Health care policy in our country needs an overhaul. Too much money is spent on paper pushing, instead of care from doctors and nurses.  We need to work together to find immediate solutions to reduce the cost of health care and provide health services to all Americans.

But will she fight for us on a public option?  I found this little gem:

I will fight to expand health care coverage for more Minnesotans and Americans, with universal coverage as our goal.  As a first step towards that goal, I will push the federal government to work with the states to make sure that all children are insured and have access to basic preventive care and immunizations.

A new poll shows that 72% of Americans favor a publicly funded insurance option.  While around 50 million Americans don't have health insurance, how many tens of millions of us are one major illness and/or job away from bankruptcy?  How many employers face 10-15% annual increases in the health insurance outlays?  How many small companies (or large ones) are not providing insurance or charging exorbitant rates?  With Obama setting health car reform as a top priority are we finally at the tipping point when we can finally pass real health care reform?

I asked her staff for a response or statement to the question does she support a public option?  Here's her response:

"Senator Klobuchar's first priority for health care reform is to make health care more affordable and to protect what works in Minnesota and fix what's broken in the system.  She wants to make sure that the legislation controls costs, rewards quality and provides access to preventative services.  She is considering health reform options that include Health Benefit Gateways or Health Exchanges, but wants to analyze how the plans in their entirety will impact our state before signing on to a specific proposal."

It's time for Sen. Klobuchar to stand up for us on health care.  Call her and urge her to support a public option.  

Call Sen. Klobuchar
202-224-3244
888-224-9043

More about what constitutes a public option after the break.

A carefully constructed "public option" to private insurance would provide an antidote to the market consolidation that has propelled premium increases and administrative inefficiencies, shrunk coverage and degraded quality. However, it can only succeed if it:

•    Provides all Americans access to the largest risk pool possible. Universal access to Medicare provides the best option.
•    Includes new regulation of private insurers to level the playing field with the new public option-namely guaranteed issue, community rating, and a guaranteed base benefit.

The option to join Medicare, regardless of age, would be beneficial to Americans because by almost every measure, Medicare is cheaper and more effective than private plans, according to government and academic research.  For example, Medicare spends 2% of revenue on overhead; private insurers typically spend 25% to 27% for overhead and profit.

Medicare also comes with established relationships with health care providers which, though undercut by low reimbursement rates and a prescription drug program hamstrung by drug manufacturers, provide a solid base for expansion. Competition with a low-overhead health insurance alternative provided by Medicare will force private insurers to prove that they can be cost-effective while offering similarly comprehensive coverage.  Leveling the playing field between private insurers and the public option by requiring all players to guarantee access at a fair price would significantly reduce costs and increase access to health care.

FEHB is a poor choice for the public option.  FEHB, which provides health insurance for all federal employees, is a captive of private insurers.  Enrollees are provided a choice of high-quality insurance plans, but program costs are higher than need be due to insurer overhead and profit demands.

To benefit from real savings, the "public" in public option must mean "public program."  If not, then the public option will become a meaningless bargaining chip in the health reform debate that would be used to keep the stakeholders at the table, but provide most Americans with only table scraps.
(Consumer Watchdog)

So what is the opposition saying?

There is no doubt that the insurance companies and their Republican allies in Congress will fight the inclusion of a public option with every bit of power they can muster. They'll call it "socialized medicine" -- but by now we should all have realized that Republicans will call any health care reform Democrats propose "socialized medicine" (that's what they said about Clinton's 1993 health plan, whose chief cost containment measure was enhancing the role of HMOs). They'll scream about "government bureaucrats getting between you and your doctor." But anyone who has tried to get reimbursement for a medical service from an insurance company that didn't want to provide it knows that government bureaucrats are pussycats compared to insurance company bureaucrats. Republicans will offer some bogus plan of their own, presented for no purpose other than pretending that they're not operating in bad faith. But their goal will be to stop any effort at health care reform - particularly the public option.
(The American Prospect)

The bottom line is the CEOs running the for-profit insurance companies don't want to jeopardize their mega-salaries.  They want to continue denying people care and rationing care to the people so they can make ****loads of money.  These CEOs will spend millions and millions to kill any public option.

The danger any public option faces are the conservative Democrats who have been bought off by industry donations and believe the conservative talking points they've been spoon-fed.