Public Option: For Who?

Posted on 09/13/2009 at 5:21 pm by admin

by Lee Stranahan

Help me out. I’m confused about the Public Option that the President is proposing. He came out for the Public Option again today at a rally in Minnesota. That’s good, I think. But it’s still playing defense in a weird way — apologizing for it.

Here’s part of what he said…

I think one of the options should be a public insurance option. (Loud cheers) Let me clear. It would only be an option, nobody would be forced to choose it. No one with insurance affected by it.

Don’t worry about the scary Public Option, people. It probably won’t ‘affect’ you.

But here’s my question – is this idea the Public Option is ONLY available for people who don’t have insurance new? I don’t remember hearing this before. If I have insurance and but think the Public Option is better, I can’t switch to it? Am I missing something?

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  • Alex00

    Are you honest to God complaining about this? Wow….He’s coming out in full support of the thing in this speech and he’s trying to drive home the fact that you won’t be forced off your insurance (one of the many popular lies being shouted from the mountain tops) and somehow that translates into apologizing for it. And I’m going to go ahead and assume you know what the word option means so…..no I don’t think you’re not really missing anything.

  • http://www.bobcesca.com Bob_Cesca

    Read the bill, Lee. HR 3200. I’ve posted numerous summaries and links. I also posted an easy to read chart the other day. In fact, I think it’s still on the main page of the blog.According to HR 3200, anyone who doesn’t have insurance and small businesses can buy into the exchange and choose the public option as their policy. The president is pitching the same thing.Also, there’s nothing wrong with the president debunking wingnut memes.

  • http://www.bobcesca.com Bob_Cesca

    Also…>>>If I have insurance and but think the Public Option is better, I can’t switch to it?If you’re buying insurance as an individual. Yes. You can cancel your policy and sign up for the public option. But not if you’re an employee getting insurance through your job. Then again, employees can’t choose their policy anyway.All of this information is readily available and searchable on the internet, Lee.

  • LeeVanSpleef

    He’s being dipomatic. It’s up to us (you guys) to call out the wingnuttery and keep doing it. We’re doing OK so far, as far as I can tell, maybe not as good as we want but we’re not out yet. On a side note, as I asked previously, don’t you guys talk?

  • Stranahan

    I think a lot of employees can actually choose their insurance, can’t they? Sort of?I could when I was an employee. I had 3 choices but I could opt out of all 3 and do my own insurance; this allowed people whose spouses had a policy, for example, to be on their spouse’s policy. It was EASIER to choose one of the 3 options, of course. That’s why I said – seems normal.And I know what the word ‘option’ means – which is why I’m confused about the idea that it’s NOT an option for most people.But my question is really – is this what you expected the PO to be?

  • LK

    LeeI think you were fairly lucky to have choices at your company. I was in HR for my old company and you basically were given an HMO; if you wanted a “better” service within that plan you could pay the difference for the POS or PPO. But it was the same healthcare provider. And anyone can opt out if their spouse had coverage. This existed at all the companies I worked for….

  • Tony

    Obama used to say “if you like the health insurance plan you already have, you can keep it.” Which implied that if you didn’t like the plan you have, you could switch to the public option. He also said that one time, a few months ago, that the health insurance bill “must” contain a public option. Remember that? He doesn’t say these things anymore. Matt Taibbi’s latest article in Rolling Stone clearly explains what is happening with health care “reform” in the congress, and it’s not pretty, and it’s not really reform.

  • Neme

    I don’t get it! Where is the apologizing in that speech? You aren’t making any friends Mr. Stranahan by pretending you Jane Hamsher. It doesn’t suit you. Stick to facts and analysis and not feign outrage by every cough and hiccup that comes out of the White House. Then you wouldn’t come across as so annoying.

  • Stranahan

    It”s obviously annoying to some people to ask questions – but that’s an attitude I associate with wingnuts, not progressives. Dissent is not disloyalty.I asked a legitimate question. Tony gave a useful answer – it’s NOT the way I remember. That “if you don’t like your insurance’ line is something I remember, now that Tony brings it up.I’m sorry – there’s way too much pressure on me here to some sort of party line that I honestly don’t even understand. I guess I’ll stop blogging about health care reform here. Thanks Neme for helping me make that decision.

  • Terri

    I read the bill. It’s easy to read and has very little specifics!So, to your question:If I have insurance and but think the Public Option is better, I can’t switch to it?_________________________If you are getting employer-based insurance you cannot choose the Public Option Exchange.So much for “Choice” and “competition”!You can only drop your own insurance if you are buying it and not obtaining it from your employer.

  • Eric

    I feel the tone in Neme’s comment was unwarrented. Actually, I was surprised by the overall response here in the comments.I don’t think Lee is out of line in regards to how he perceived the PO as it was presented in the joint session speech. I can remember thinking to myself – ‘that sounds really puny…’, and then chalking it up to a deliberate choice of those words to allay all of the crazy fears that are out there. But…I can’t say for certain.I had the feeling, while watching the speech in Minnesota, that Obama was simply going to give a basic overview of the exchange, and then move on to the next set of points. I fully expected him to not mention the PO, thinking – ‘well, if it’s going to be phased out, this is how it will happen…’, and then was more than pleasantly surprised when he launched right into a pitch for the option. It seemed to fly in the face of his regard for it in the earlier speech, but that could simply be a function of the audience.Having said all this, I think we need to keep fighting for it. And we need to keep an objective outlook on what exactly a PO will do for us, and it may not be that much. I ran across a diary on DKos that I found illuminating, and bookmarked it. Here it is:Dkos Public Option diaryIt’s full of well researched facts, one being that if we strip all profit from the current health insurance industry we lower our total bill by 2% (I think I’m remembering that correctly). The author makes that point that the profits accumulated by the hospital industry are greater than the insurance companies.Why doesn’t anyone talk about that?Why does an MRI cost $1500 in this country and only $10 in Japan?Lee, please reconsider about blogging here. While I don’t always see things as you view them your posts always get me to thinking.

  • chauncey

    I have to say, I’m with Lee on this one. I too thought I caught a subtle change in earlier WH rhetoric from the public option being open to anyone who wanted it – hence frightening the beejebus outta private insurance who envisioned millions of their customers flocking to it and ending civilization as we know it – to suddenly being out of reach of currently insured folks.Not sure if it’s apologetic or not, but it sure sounds like the appeasement to me. I could be wrong, and I know there is no actual “final bill” yet, but I sure hope the end result is not some watered down, toothless “reform in name only” product.One last point – if the folks who can sign up for the public option are only those folks currently uninsured, or privately insured, where’s the impetus to compete for the insurance companies. I mean the majority of these folks aren’t being wooed by big insurance now due to pre-exisitng etc, right? Why do they suddenly become potential customers once a public option is in place? And if the insurance companies didn’t care that I couldn’t afford their product before the public option, why would they try to get my business once a public option is available to me? Makes no sense.

  • eve

    Face the Nation: White House’s David Axelrod, who put his foot down and said the White House is “not willing to accept” a plan without one.then this:Harkin Says Bill Will Have Public OptionSen. Tom Harkin (D-IA), the new chairman of the Senate’s health committee, “predicted that a health-care reform bill would pass Congress before Christmas, with Republican votes,” the Des Moines Register reports.Speaking at his annual Steak Fry fundraiser, Harkin also declared that the legislation would “have a strong public option.”good

  • eve

    Lee, I have insurance. Not great insurance because we are self-employed, but I do have it. I wanted the option to buy the public insurance. I may still get that option, but if I don’t that is ok.What I will get is a bill that guarantees that BCBS cannot dump me if I get very ill and no more worries about pre-existing conditions. AND people who have no insurance will have insurance through a gov run plan. That’s wonderful!!!And when the public option is doing well and is popular, then Congress will expand who can buy it.

  • http://www.bobcesca.com Bob_Cesca

    chauncy wrote:

    One last point – if the folks who can sign up for the public option are only those folks currently uninsured, or privately insured, where’s the impetus to compete for the insurance companies.

    Small businesses can also enroll. Also, business eligibility for the public option will expand as time goes on. Remember: Social Security, Medicaid and SCHIP weren’t passed in their present forms. They were expanded over time. This will create huge impetus for competition.It’s just so crucial right now to get the strongest possible public option passed. If it’s not everything we expected it to be, we can build upon what’s been created. Eye on the prize.

  • MatW

    Lee -I was wondering the same thing. I currently work for what has been dubbed the fourth most conservative county in Texas where we are self employed, allowing our employer to exempt themselves from certain HIPAA law, such as exemption from “prohibitions against discriminating against individual participants…based on health status” and “standards relating to benefits for mothers and newborns”. A co-worker was 2 months pregnant when she started working here and her pregnancy was considered a “pre-existing condition” thanks to the later exemption. My son receives supplementary insurance through the state that help pay for required vaccinations our insurance won’t cover.I recall the statement Tony mentioned and was initially under the impression that my family could switch to the public option if we don’t like our insurance. After Tuesday night’s speech and the chart Cesca posted, I was disheartened to learn that it doesn’t seem so anymore.I’m getting ready to read Taibbi’s article now.

  • http://watergatesummer.blogspot.com/ enigma4ever

    It was as strong as we heard him for the public option, I think he is still trying to explain it as easy as possible and also not sound like he is trying to take away anyone’s insurance….I think it was fine- actually of all his speechs it was the main one where I felt that it was going to happen and that he knows how many people need it- he evens said that 30 Million have been denied insurance& care this week- that is a huge number of people, especially when you consider that some of those people need care NOW. Bob up above and some other commenters also explained that people who have no coverage or are single policy holders- they will now have immediate access… Small businesses as a group can still buy into option… I think that it was great moment….

  • kansasdem

    Lee, it doesn’t matter!There will be no public option! (Except for me since I’m on Medicare).The best we can hope for now is co-ops! Probably co-ops that will be “phased in” in 1,500,000,000 years!

  • iLLogicaL

    Lee, your question is legit and I don’t know why Bob is acting the way he is, but when I heard that only people without insurance could get the public option I too was like WHAT THE FUCK?!?An option, as I understand it, means something available to me. I guess for Bob it’s okay that you need to get fired or quit your job before you can pick this non-profit based system of health insurance, but in my opinion it’s total fucking bullshit, along with his cheerleading for a watered down piece of turd bill.And that’s why I’m trying my best to stop caring. I have insurance, so does my wife. Why should I care what happens to my fellow citizens, when so many of them are so selfish, ignorant and hateful that they gladly stomp all their own self-interests to a pulp just to make sure their neighbor doesn’t get a single penny of their tax dollars.Goddamn. Awesome.