October 2, 2016

How public option healthcare would work

NY Times - On the campaign trail and in the halls of policy wonks, the health care term of the moment is “the public option.” The idea is to create a government-run health care plan that would be an alternative to the private insurance plans offered under the Affordable Care Act, or provide a fallback in markets where insurers have been pulling out. In an article in The New England Journal of Medicine published on Wednesday, Hillary Clinton reiterated her support for such a measure. Margot Sanger-Katz and Reed Abelson, two New York Times reporters who have been covering Obamacare, discuss the public option and the questions it raises.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

copy of a letter sent to a friend upset with my support for Donald Trump's health insurance proposals.. (***please copy and share widely if you agree!****)

>DEAR XXXXXXXXX, DO YOU REALLY THINK IT IS FAIR AND GOOD THAT WHEN A PERSON LOSES HIS JOB HE ALSO LOSES HIS HEALTH INSURANCE TAX DEDUCTION, HIS EMPLOYER HEALTH INSURANCE SUBSIDY, HIS ACCESS TO A HEALTHY RISK POOL FILLED WITH EMPLOYED PEOPLE RATHER THAN SICK PEOPLE, HIS GENEROUS "WIDE NETWORK OF PROVIDERS" HEALTH PLAN?
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> WHY CAN'T A PERSON, WHEN HE LOSES HIS JOB, AT LEAST KEEP THE TAX DEDUCTION IN CASE HE GETS A LOWER PAYING REPLACEMENT JOB WITH NO HEALTH COVERAGE?
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> WHY **** PENALIZE**** THE NEWLY UNEMPLOYED, OR THOSE WHO MOVE TO JOBS WITH NO COVERAGE, BY MAKING THEM ***NOW*** PAY INCOME TAX ON THE MONEY THEY SPEND ON HEALTH INSURANCE, WHEN THEY DID NOT HAVE OT PAY THAT INCOME TAX ON THEIR HEALTH INSURANCE PREMIUMS WHEN THE PREVIOUS EMPLOYER PURCHASED THE HEALTH INSURANCE FOR THEM?
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> iN THE 5 YEARS BEFORE OBAMACARE, I PAID $5000 PER YEAR IN PREMIUMS AND HAD NO TAX DEDUCTION.. I COULD HAVE USED THAT TAX DEDUCTION TO MOVE 25,000 TOTAL OVER 5 YEARS FROM MY IRA TO MY ROTH IRA TAX FREE, WHERE IT WOULD THEN GROW TAX FREE!!! EVEN POOR PEOPLE WITH LOW INCOMES CAN USE A TAX DEDUCTION , AND, GET THIS, IF WE MOVE TH TX DEDUCTION FOR HEALTH INSURANCE TO EVERYONE'S TAX RETURN, ******MORE ***** EXCHANGE SHOPPERS WILL QUALIFY FOR ****HIGHER*** OBAMACARE SUBSIDIES BECAUSE THE DEDUCTION WILL PUSH THEIR QUALIFYING INCOMES DOWN FURTHER INTO SUBSIDIZED TERRITORY!!!!!!!
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> FINALLY, THE BENEFIT OF GIVING EVERYONE A TAX DEDUCTION IS THAT IT WILL ***** NEUTRALIZE THE ADVANTAGE OF EMPLOYER PURCHASED HEALTH INSURANCE****** WITHOUT TAKING AWAY THAT BENEFIT FROM ANYONE. . EMPLOYER PURCHASED HEALTH INSURANCE IS THE ROOT CAUSE OF ALL THAT HAS CORRUPTED OUR HEALTH CARE AND INSURANCE SYSTEM SINCE THE 1940S.. WALL STREET HAS EXPLOITED THE EMPLOYER PRE-TAX-DOLLAR PURCHASES OF HEALTH INSURANCE TO SELL INSURANCE ONLY TO HEALTHY PEOPLE AND RAKE IN GREAT PROFITS WITH LITTLE RISK, WHILE NOT INSURING SICK PEOPLE, AND OBAMACARE DID NOTHING OT FIX THIS BECAUSE INSURERS CAN STILL WALK AWAY FORM OBAMACARE EXCHANGE RISK POOLS THAT HAVE SICK PEOPEL IN THEM... OBAMACARE NEVER ELIMINATED MEDICAL UNDERWRITING.. IT JUST MOVED MEDICAL UNDERWRITING FROM THE INDIVIDUAL LEVEL UP TO THE GROUP LEVEL.
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> OVER TIME, WITH STANDARDIZED TAX DEDUCTION AVAILABLE TO EVERYONE, EMPLOYERS WILL DO EXACTLY AS CONGRESS HAS DONE FOLLOWING THE GOVERNMETN SHUTDOWN OF 2013 -- EMPLOYERS WILL BUY THEIR EMPLOYEES' HEALTH INSURANCE ON THE OBAMACARE EXCHANGES JUST AS CONGRESS DOES NOW, AND EVERYONE WILL GET THEIR INSURANCE PURCHASED USING PRE-TAX-DOLLARS, BECAUSE THAT BENEFIT WILL BE AVAILABLE FOR EVERYONE.
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> AND THEN, MIRACLE OF MIRACLES, HEALTHY EMPLOYED PEOPLE WILL NOW JOIN THE OBAMACARE INDIVIDUAL MANDATE RISK POOL IN AMERICA, SPREADING THE RISK FAR AND WIDE, WHICH IS THE PURPOSE OF INSURANCE, AND, OVER TIME, THIS WILL LEAD TO A SINGLE RISK POOL WHERE EVERYONE GETS THEIR INSURANCE.
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> NO EMPLOYER AND NO INSURER WANTS TO TAKE ON THE SICK INTO HIS COMPANY'S TINY RISK POOL
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> IT DOES NOT MATTER IF WE GET SINGLE PAYER IF WE CAN GET TO A SINGLE RISK POOL WITH A SINGLE NATIONWIDE PROVIDER NETWORK, WITH MULTIPLE PRIVATE PAYERS COMPETING SELLING A STANDARD PRODUCT NATIONWIDE..
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> AS THE NYTIMES POINTED OUT THE OTHER DAY, IN AMERICA, IF YOU HAVE SINGLE GOVERNMENT INSURANCE, YOU HAVE A WIDE NETWORK OF PROVIDERS FORM WHICH OT CHOOSE, BUT IF YOU HAVE A WIDE SELECTION OF PRIVATE INSURERS, YOU GET TO CHOOSE FROM NARROW NETWORKS OF PROVIDERS.
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Hubert said...

Hillary's enhanced tax credits, UNLIKE Trump's moving the employer tax deduction out of employers' hands and onto everyone's tax return, DO NOT DO ANTHING to merge our health insurance risk pools down to ONE SINGLE RISK POOL for Americans under age 65.

Anonymous said...

2:09

Dude, stop shouting. It makes you look even more foolish then most of the drivel you wrote about Trump's "health proposals" does.