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News & ArtsTuesday, June 30, 2009
Health Cantwell: "I Support a Public Plan"
Posted by Eli Sanders on Tue, Jun 30, 2009 at 3:17 PM
The first question from the audience today at Sen. Maria Cantwell's public meeting at the UW Medical Center branch in South Lake Union was: Do you support a public plan for health care reform?
Cantwell's answer: "Yes, I support a public plan."
The un-asked question: Does Cantwell consider the coop compromise to be a public plan? In other words, is this a real change of position or just semantic slipperiness?
2
@1- the "public option" works like any other regular insurance company, except without overheads of profiteering...
now stop watching FOX....
now stop watching FOX....
3
@2- the "public option" works like any other regular insurance company, except with a hand in the taxpayers wallet...
4
2
Q- why doesn't some good hearted non-profit set up a "public option"?
A- because EVERYONE who knows knows it will never fly without HUGE taxpayer subsidies.
Q- why doesn't some good hearted non-profit set up a "public option"?
A- because EVERYONE who knows knows it will never fly without HUGE taxpayer subsidies.
6
@1 et alia -- you are already paying a massive public subsidy, to treat the uninsured in emergency rooms, at ten times the cost it would take to cover them normally, and at extreme risk of preventing real emergency treatment to insured people who need it.
7
#4:
Q - Why hasn't someone created a private for-profit insurance company in competition with Medicare, in spite of all of the problems and complaints?
A - Because nobody would be able to afford the premiums. But we all can afford to keep our seniors protected and covered.
Yes, it's a taxpayer subsidy to provide everyone with health insurance. And it's the least expensive option to do that. And it's the morally right thing to do.
Q - Why hasn't someone created a private for-profit insurance company in competition with Medicare, in spite of all of the problems and complaints?
A - Because nobody would be able to afford the premiums. But we all can afford to keep our seniors protected and covered.
Yes, it's a taxpayer subsidy to provide everyone with health insurance. And it's the least expensive option to do that. And it's the morally right thing to do.
9
The costs of Medicare DOUBLED every four years between 1966 and 1980. According to the 2004 "Green Book" of the House Ways and Means Committee, Medicare expenditures from the American government were $256.8 billion in fiscal year 2002. Beneficiary premiums are highly subsidized, and net outlays for the program, accounting for the premiums paid by subscribers, were $230.9 billion.
Medicare spending is growing steadily in both absolute terms and as a percentage of the federal budget. Total Medicare spending reached $440 billion for fiscal year 2007, or 16% of all federal spending. The only larger categories of federal spending are Social Security and defense. Given the current pattern of spending growth, maintaining Medicare's financing over the long-term will require significant increases in taxpayer funding.]
Medicare spending is growing steadily in both absolute terms and as a percentage of the federal budget. Total Medicare spending reached $440 billion for fiscal year 2007, or 16% of all federal spending. The only larger categories of federal spending are Social Security and defense. Given the current pattern of spending growth, maintaining Medicare's financing over the long-term will require significant increases in taxpayer funding.]
10
According to the 2008 report by the board of trustees for Medicare and Social Security, Medicare will spend more than it brings in from taxes this year (2008). The Medicare hospital insurance trust fund will become insolvent by 2019. The New York Times wrote in January 2009 that Social Security and Medicare "have proved almost sacrosanct in political terms, even as they threaten to grow so large as to be UNSUSTAINABLE."
11
Spending on Medicare and Medicaid is projected to grow dramatically in coming decades. While the same demographic trends that affect Social Security also affect Medicare, rapidly rising medical prices appear a more important cause of projected spending increases. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has indicated that: "Future growth in spending per beneficiary for Medicare and Medicaid—the federal government’s major health care programs—will be the most important determinant of long-term trends in federal spending. Changing those programs in ways that reduce the growth of costs—which will be difficult, in part because of the complexity of health policy choices—is ultimately the nation’s central long-term challenge in setting federal fiscal policy." Further, the CBO also projects that "total federal Medicare and Medicaid outlays will rise from 4 percent of GDP in 2007 to 12 percent in 2050 and 19 percent in 2082—which, as a share of the economy, is roughly equivalent to the total amount that the federal government spends today. The bulk of that projected increase in health care spending reflects higher costs per beneficiary rather than an increase in the number of beneficiaries associated with an aging population."
12
Richard W. Fisher, President of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas has remarked that in order to "cover the unfunded liability" for the Medicare program today over an infinite time horizon, "you would be stuck with an $85.6 TRILLION bill" which is "more than six times the annual output of the entire U.S. economy".
The present value of unfunded obligations under all parts of Medicare during FY 2007 over a 75-year forecast horizon is approximately $34.0 TRILLION. In other words, this amount would have to be set aside today such that the principal and interest would cover the shortfall over the next 75 years.
The present value of unfunded obligations under all parts of Medicare during FY 2007 over a 75-year forecast horizon is approximately $34.0 TRILLION. In other words, this amount would have to be set aside today such that the principal and interest would cover the shortfall over the next 75 years.
13
Part of the cost of Medicare is attributable to FRAUD, which government auditors estimate costs Medicare BILLIONS of dollars a year. The Government Accountability Office lists Medicare as a "high-risk" government program in need of reform, in part because of its vulnerability to fraud and partly because of its long-term financial problems. A Washington Post story from June 2008 reported that Medicare fraud is a growing problem. Limited resources mean that fewer than 5% of Medicare claims are audited. The annual cost to taxpayers of Medicare fraud is estimated to be over $60 BILLION.
14
Hi,
I'm Maria Cantwell.
When I'm trying to make myself look even dumber...to appeal to voters...I lean forward and stretch my neck out, and put on my blank dumbo stare look.
Often, when I take a stand, or make a point, I put on a hat, representing the point.
Stupid? Yes, but you elected me.
Because ... you are me.
I'm Maria Cantwell.
When I'm trying to make myself look even dumber...to appeal to voters...I lean forward and stretch my neck out, and put on my blank dumbo stare look.
Often, when I take a stand, or make a point, I put on a hat, representing the point.
Stupid? Yes, but you elected me.
Because ... you are me.
15
You know, if we merely removed the corporate tax deduction for all benefit plans for any employee or contractor that earns more than $1 million in total compensation, and taxed those benefits, we could pay for this with ZERO subsidy.
After all, the Age of Greed is over.
After all, the Age of Greed is over.
16
@5: Having health-care benefits be pre-tax ONLY through employer plans puts lots of people at a massive disadvantage when it comes to access to health care: the unemployed, people with shitty jobs that don't give health benefits, people with chronic illness who change employers, people who are retired, etc. It also harms small businesses - it puts the onus on them to provide expensive health benefit plans because their is a huge disincentive for their employees to purchase independent health insurance. Health benefits should be taxed or tax-free for everybody, regardless of their employer. Tying health insurance to employment is a failed system that needs to be replaced by something much more equitable.
17
The system we have now is taxpayer subsidized by credits and deductions given to employers. What's the difference? I can pay a shitload of money in direct premiums and reduced wages from my employer and get care that is rationed by my insurance company, and see a lot of my money get wasted to pay for lots of bullshit that doesn't improve the services I get. This is socialized medicine, by the way. It takes the costs of health care and socializes it across the coverage pool.
Or I can pay a little less in direct taxes to the government and get care rationed by an oversight body who has more than maximizing profits in mind and is likely to provide better outcomes in the aggregate. There is likely to be some waste associated with the nature of government bureaucracies, just like there is plenty of waste in private bureaucracies, but there won't be large chunks of money going to build huge shiny office buildings with handwoven carpeting and gold-plated shitters and offer ridiculous bonuses to heartless assholes who look forward to telling shareholders how much money they've made by telling sick people to eat shit and die.
It's not even close. Ideology is the ONLY reason to oppose a public plan and ideology is about the dumbest reason to do anything.
Or I can pay a little less in direct taxes to the government and get care rationed by an oversight body who has more than maximizing profits in mind and is likely to provide better outcomes in the aggregate. There is likely to be some waste associated with the nature of government bureaucracies, just like there is plenty of waste in private bureaucracies, but there won't be large chunks of money going to build huge shiny office buildings with handwoven carpeting and gold-plated shitters and offer ridiculous bonuses to heartless assholes who look forward to telling shareholders how much money they've made by telling sick people to eat shit and die.
It's not even close. Ideology is the ONLY reason to oppose a public plan and ideology is about the dumbest reason to do anything.
18
If I may address the individual responsible for the following posts under the following unregistered names:
#1: Right?
#3: Been There and Done That
#4 And Now YOU Know, Too!
#5: Are you still a fan of Obama?
#8 Thank You. You made my point.
#9: since you asked...
#10: Feel better?
#11: Am I Going too Fast?
#12: a TRILLION is a lot
#13: Let's Turn MORE Health Care Over to the Government!
Dear sir, I know you think you're somehow achieving something by flooding blogs with countless posts ostensibly attributable to this army of bitter, semi-unhinged libertarian loners. But you mind my asking, who are you working for? That's an impressive amount of misleading, irrelevant, and disingenuous info to have right there at your fingertips like that.
P.S. Now that Slog has registered comments, it sure would be nice if Slog just disabled the unregistered comments. It's a shame some people feel the only way they can make their case on a blog is by blog abuse.
#1: Right?
#3: Been There and Done That
#4 And Now YOU Know, Too!
#5: Are you still a fan of Obama?
#8 Thank You. You made my point.
#9: since you asked...
#10: Feel better?
#11: Am I Going too Fast?
#12: a TRILLION is a lot
#13: Let's Turn MORE Health Care Over to the Government!
Dear sir, I know you think you're somehow achieving something by flooding blogs with countless posts ostensibly attributable to this army of bitter, semi-unhinged libertarian loners. But you mind my asking, who are you working for? That's an impressive amount of misleading, irrelevant, and disingenuous info to have right there at your fingertips like that.
P.S. Now that Slog has registered comments, it sure would be nice if Slog just disabled the unregistered comments. It's a shame some people feel the only way they can make their case on a blog is by blog abuse.
19
18
Everyone knows it is the same person.
The misleading, irrelevant, and disingenuous info comes from wiki, they have footnotes if you care to read them.
Why don't you get a life, Bitch?
Everyone knows it is the same person.
The misleading, irrelevant, and disingenuous info comes from wiki, they have footnotes if you care to read them.
Why don't you get a life, Bitch?
21
It's a shame that that many America-hating Republicants only have the guts to post anonymously.
But then, what do you expect from cowards?
But then, what do you expect from cowards?
23
Her answer is so vague that it doesn't mean anything with some sort of concrete language... but then again the question was so vanilla that there's no way it could have produced a meaningful answer.
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