Pelosicare will force individuals to buy the government insurance, will tax the wealthy, will result in rationed care and will drive a stake in the heart of the private health insurance industry.
It’s a socialist’s dream.
Reuters reported:
Democrats in the House of Representatives finished work on Wednesday on a healthcare bill that includes a government-run insurance plan, requires individuals to buy health coverage and imposes a surtax on the wealthy to help pay for it.
The measure, the product of weeks of closed-door talks to merge three pending health bills, will be unveiled by party leaders on Thursday and submitted to the full House for debate as early as next week.
The bill includes a government-run “public” insurance option that uses reimbursement rates negotiated with healthcare providers, Democrats said, a setback for House liberals led by Speaker Nancy Pelosi who favored a more “robust” version to compete with private insurers.
Pelosi failed to gain the 218 votes needed to pass a version of the government-run plan using lower rates pegged to Medicare, the health plan for the elderly.
The healthcare measure being prepared for debate in the Senate also includes a public insurance option based on negotiated reimbursement rates but, unlike the House bill, it would allow states to decline to participate.
The House’s version of a sweeping healthcare overhaul, President Barack Obama’s top domestic priority, would require individuals to buy insurance and all but the smallest employers to offer health coverage to workers, Democrats said.
It would offer subsidies to help the uninsured buy insurance through newly created exchanges and would expand eligibility for the Medicaid program to those with incomes up to 150 percent of the poverty level.
The state-run media insists that the majority of Americans want government to takeover the health care industry with a public option plan.
Meanwhile… Plumline’s Greg Sargent has posted the results of a highly confidential House Democratic Party Whip Count which shows 47 Democrats at No on a public option.
UPDATE: The Patriot Room has a link to the full text of the bill.
