The "Government Take-Over" Isn't About the Public Option

In his The Take blog in the Washington Post (8/12), Dan Balz writes that the vocal opposition to Obama on health care isn't really about health care as much as it is about the debate over the role of government. He's right. But Balz's proposed solution -- jettisoning the public option -- would do nothing to diminish the right-wing anti-government opposition. Such a move would simply take the legs out from under any progressive support for reform.

Balz is correct that extreme reaction to the health care proposal is really a rejection of the notion that government can help solve key problems in America. The election last fall was a strong repudiation of those who would limit the government's role in solving huge challenges facing the nation. President Obama's New Foundation program faces the same virulent reaction that FDR engendered with the New Deal.

No matter what the president proposes on health care, the right will loudly label it a "government take-over." Just as soon as the economic stimulus bill was introduced, the right-wing message machine began demonizing government-funded research on which medical treatments work the best. Every component of Democratic health reform plans is characterized as a government take-over: establish standard benefit packages for insurance plans, require individuals and businesses to contribute to coverage, set up an insurance marketplace, etc.

The public option became an early lightning rod because the health insurance industry started gunning for it the week after Election Day. Republicans quickly jumped in. For the industry, having to compete with an insurance plan that has a public mission and the clout to deliver good, affordable health care is a threat. They'd like reform to deliver a government mandate for everyone to buy insurance, giving them tens of millions of new, profitable customers without making them compete with a public health insurer.

But if the public option weren't part of the Obama/Democratic reform plan, the right would still be screaming about a "government take-over" as loudly as it is now. If you look at the Frank Luntz Republican message playbook, it doesn't discuss the public option or any other policies; it's a ready-made, anti-government message for any and every Democratic policy proposal. And the right-wing anger we're seeing now isn't directed at giving people a choice of a public health insurance plan. Instead, opponents have managed to turn a doctor's discussing a living will with a patient into euthanasia.

If scuttling the public option won't quiet the right, it will definitely quiet the left. And that would be disastrous to the prospects of Democrats passing legislation this fall. Giving people an alternative to the private health insurance industry is the one issue that highly motivates progressives. Over and over again at Health Care for America Now, it is what our tens of thousands of activists -- from grassroots community people to high-dollar Democratic donors -- want to talk about. For them it has become the measure of whether health reform is about real change or just a cosmetic lift to a broken system. Responding to those same voices, the four Democratic committees in Congress have passed legislation that includes a public option, and the President has consistently reaffirmed his support.

Maybe that's another reason that Republicans in Congress are so focused on killing the public option. The Republican strategy for health reform is the same as the insurance company strategy for paying big medical claims: delay and deny. If Republicans in the Senate succeed in killing the public option, they'll cause mass desertion from the progressive army that's powering the President's agenda for reform.

(also posted at the NOW! blog)

Comments

[hsr0601]

Good News !

A staff writer at The New Yorker and some experts have examined Medicare data from the successful hospitals of 10 regions, and they have found evidence that more effective, lower-cost care is possible.

Please be 'sure' to visit http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/13/opinion/13gawande.html?hp for credible evidences !

Some have followed the Mayo model with salaried doctors employed, Other regions, too, have found ways to protect patients against the pursuit of revenues over patient.
And a cardiac surgeon of them said they had adopted electronic systems, examined the data and found that a shocking portion of tests were almost certainly unnecessary, possibly harmful.

According to analysis, their quality scores are well above average. Yet they spend more than $1,500 (16 percent) less per Medicare patient than the national average and have a slower real annual growth rate (3 percent versus 3.5 percent nationwide).

Surprisingly, 16 % of about $550 billion (the total of medicare cost per year) is around $88 billion per year, except for Medicaid (total cost of around $500 billion per year), medicare 'alone' can save $880 billion over the next decade.

In addition, under the reform package, along with the already allocated $583 billion, the wastes involving so called "doughnut hole" , the unnecessary subsidies for insurers, abuse, exorbitant costs by the tragic ER visits etc are weeded out, the concern over revenue might be a thing of the past.

[wallyone]

These town hall mobs and tea party patriots are not about health care or stimulus or deficits. They cry to take back their country. Their real agenda is their loss of the country that is now ruled by a majority from urban America, including most of our minorities. It will take a while for them to adjust and find out that the President is going to actually improve their lives and make America better in every respect.

[DrP]

One of the characteristics of all fascist regimes is the use of a scapegoat/common enemy to incite fear in the populace.

[dadw5boys]

The bottom line of health care reform is overturning protectionist laws that allow HMO's to act above the law.

[WinterParkMom]

The basis for any public option should be:
Coverage for EVERYONE who applies
Structured premium payments of not more than 100 per individual, 300 per family
Deductibles capped at $2000 and based on income (means testing every year like the va)
No mandates forcing people to purchase insurance (a windfall for private carriers)
No triggers (also a windfall to private carriers)
No subsidies to private insurance carriers
No taxes on employer provided benefits
If someone has private insurance and wants the public option, they can drop private with no problem and be covered immediately under public.
No mandates on employers to buy into the public option to cover employees. Has to be free choice.
Everyone with coverage gets treated for new or pre-existing conditions.
Fairly negotiated reimbursement to private pracitce, specialty doctors and hospitals
Fairly negotiated prices for medications, even on name brand stuff which has no generic equivalent.
AND IT HAS TO BE EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY. Within 1 month of the above bill passing, Americans must be able to start buying in and using it.
It must be administered by an autonomous federal agency. Monies paid in must not be co-mingled with any other money, does not go into the general fund so it can be looted.
The ONLY payouts from this fund will be for: payments to practicioners, pharmacies and admin. In 5 years if we see significan overages, those overages will be used to suplement medicare and fund medical research.
See my next post on funding

[vanmungo]

No such public option is in play. Your proposals are all pie in the sky.

If you're serious about health-care reform, you should be supporting single payer. It's a cheaper, more comprehensive reform than what you're proposing, and has no worse a chance of succeeding.

You're squandering your energies campaigning for a half-loaf that has no better chance of passing than the whole loaf.

[WinterParkMom]

47 million un insured
20 million under insured
Subtract 10 million poor/indig­ent/mental­ly ill, etc, who are uninsured and will have to get free care = 37 mill un-insured who can pay.
18.5 million can pay $50/mo = 925,000,000
18.5 mill can pay $100 = $1,850,000,000
20 mill under insured will switch and can pay $100 = 2,000,000,000
That is a grand total of $4,775,000,000
That is FOUR BILLION, SEVEN HUNDRED SEVENTY FIVE MILLION DOLLARS IN PREMIUM PAYMENTS PER MONTH. FIFTY SEVEN BILLION THREE HUNDRED THIRTY MILLION PER YEAR IN PREMIUMS FOR ONE SET OF PEOPLE.
That does'nt count the millions who'll switch from private companies if they can pay $100 or 200 per month and have their entire family covered even with pre-existing conditions. Repeal bush tax cuts asap another 700 billion.
After thinking about it more, institute a 1 penny federal sales tax on EVERY item. I can hear the opponents shouting about making the poor poorer, but my statement is 1 cent on each item NOT on every dollar or hundred dollars. From candy bars to big screen tv's to your house. 1 cent on everything. If your grocery bill was $100. for 53 items, your bill would be $100.53. That's not putting people in the poorhouse especially when we've been dealing with price increases. Also, if you're saving 300-500 per month on insurance, you have that money to spend and put back in the economy, save, or invest.

[AntsyAmerican]

I have read through Reality Check and I don't see anything that guarantees affordability, a standard of care, etc. and I certainly don't trust the government to actually regulate the private industry.

Anyone? Am I wrong?

[n5ifi]

Are you talking about Health Care or Health Insurance?
The system in the USA as it pertains to health care is not broken.
The high cost comes primarily because Doctors are forced to protect themselves from Attorneys.
The House bill as it is written has no provision for Tort reform.
When you look at Socialized Health Care in other Countries then you quickly see that those countries don't have to deal with the same types of situations that doctors in the US have yet these parts of the other countries programs are not included in the US system.
This is a mistake. Lets do reform but lets fix the whole system.
We should be on the same system as congress.

[dadw5boys]

let's get a bill to the floor first.

[LewDan]

We elect our government representatives. Anything wrong we can have fixed. IF WE do our job and demand performance, punishing those who won't deliver with defeat at the ballot box and in the marketplace.

Our efforts may or may not succeed, but I like our chances a whole lot better than your belief in Santa Claus. -- That WE don't have to do anything. Private industry will magicaly solve all our problems for us because we all know private industry is dedicated to serving the public's interest.s. Right? RIGHT?!

[slowtono]

Hate is a Democratic word! There is no public option because there is no option! Have you been given an option to Social Security? Private investment. Have you been given an option to medi-care,­?Insurance­. Have you been given an option to taxation? Wealth! Maybe we should be hearing formulas like, If a company profits at $750.000 annually insurance will be offered and shared by that employer. If I have private insurance I don't pay tax into government insurance. Government will not decide if I get care or not, they just give me care! What ever I want. For alcohol,drug addiction, AIDS, obesity, diabetes, gonorrhea, pregnancy, bulimia, anorexia, ADD. You will make the laws and live by those laws. So if you want to be free, don't ask me to provide for you. Because to me freedom means I do as I please and you say nothing!

[Duffy]

I don't understand your comment. Government will give you health care? Where? In the town hall?

And what does "don't ask me to provide for you" mean?

This whole conversation sounds like a bunch of emotionally disturbed people throwing around political theories while they're drunk.

[Digeeedad]

And if your house is on fire, or a family member has a tragic accident needing immediate paramedic and ambulance assistance.... you just want to be left alone? OK..............

[LewDan]

Actually, yes, we have been given an option -- on all those things, its called "a vote." And we have the option every two years.

And, since you clearly have no clue about ANYTHING -- insurance means private individuals pooling there money to pay fior each others health care. JUST like Social Security, and Medicare.

If you're so against providing for anyone else why do you have insurance? And Why do you expect others to provide for you? If you get sick and are hit with a $250,000 hospital bill -- just pay it! Since you're so self-sufficient.

[EagleFury]

As evidenced by the White House internal memo displayed on Huff n Puff's front page today, the Obama administration seems intent on giving the public option short shrift. So much for that part if this blog's discussion.

Beyond that, the shrill screams of the over-the-e­dge-of-the­-flat-Eart­h far righties are little more than the self-parodying ripostes of politically lost souls. They committed themselves to the cheney/bush b.u.n.d. (good riddance, 2000-2008), and are lost without a harsh, unfeeling autocracy in charge of their authority-craving egos. So be it.

We have more important things to deal with than the calculated distractions these poor louts have been deployed to create. Such as, for instance, not letting the Dem/Rep corporate machine get away with burying the public option health care plan so that health insurance corporations can continue to have their way with Americans' lives.

[dadw5boys]

do not trust lobbist leaked papers.

[tompoe]

Lest we forget, every one of these squealers was jumping up and down with joy when, on September 19, 2008, Paulson demanded entitlement for Bush's $1 trillion dollar going away present for his cronies. That was the day the Party of Small Government came out. That was the day they announced they will now be known as the Party of Corporate Welfare. The squealers were delighted. If they're squealing now, they aren't squealing loud enough for me. The louder, the better. I hope they get hoarse. These members of the Party of Corporate Welfare need to find another country to move to. America does not tolerate corporate welfare.

[EagleFury]

tompoe wrote: "America does not tolerate corporate welfare."

Um, true, except for the nagging little fact that the corporate welfare lobby runs the US government as its private subsidiary, and that a discouraging majority of fed, state and local pols appear only too happy to kowtow to the $$$upreme being.

[Carl Caroli]

The republicans and the right wingers are trying to brew up the perfect storm for Obama. It's definitely not just the public option as suggested, it's about gun control, racism, keeping you hands off my medicare, nazism, socialism, fascism, abortion, religion, gay rights, marriage, it's about anything they can use to stir up discontent among the ill informed, self absorbed, nimby, vocal part of our society and dooming the president and the democrats in the 2010/12 elections. They are perfectly content not doing anything at all for the middle class or anybody else, since the rich are doing just dandy and don't need any help. Sadly, they're being very successful at it.

[EagleFury]

Far-right cheney/bush mouth-foamers decrying Obama/Clin­ton/right-­of-center Democrats as "fascist" or "nazi" is like bush blaming Iraqis for the Iraq War. Of course, what's left if you've given up thinking for life?

[Bernique]

From a friend who lives in the U.K. --

"go to#welovetheNHS on Twitter to see some of the comments being written! Someone writes that Palin should "go murder a moose" (apropos her "death panels" bullshit)

It's a hoot!"

[PenGoddess]

FDR was right. The only thing we have to fear is fear itself. I think what the rethuglicans are doing proves that beyond a doubt. The key is to eliminate the mistaken beliefs driving the fear. Unfortunately, the right seems to not just want fear, they promote it and thrive on it so they continue to lie and their followers just keep on believing it.. Frightened masses are controllable masses. The right just wants absolute control and totalitarianism rather than democracy.

[EagleFury]

Uh, yeah.

[Dosadi]

A mass desertion to where?

[drkazmd65]

" If Republicans in the Senate succeed in killing the public option, they'll cause mass desertion from the progressive army that's powering the President's agenda for reform."

Exactly Mr. Kirsch. They are playing a high-stakes, all or nothing game,... 'cause that's all they got left in the playbook.

Lord - let's hope they don't win - or we all lose.