http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...900797_pf.html
"Instead of a public option, the final product would allow private firms for the first time to offer national insurance policies to all Americans, outside the jurisdiction of state regulations. Those plans would be negotiated through the Office of Personnel Management, the same agency that handles health coverage for federal workers and members of Congress.
Starting immediately, insurers would be prohibited from denying children coverage for pre-existing conditions. A complete ban on the practice would take effect in 2014, when the legislation seeks to create a network of state-based insurance exchanges, or marketplaces, where people who lack access to affordable coverage through an insurer can purchase policies. "
That is what I actually like/have no issue with really.I have some small issues...but not worth debating....a government bill was always going to have some form of government control/direction.
This is what I do have issue........
"Every American would be required to obtain coverage under the proposal, and employers would be required to pay a fine if they failed to offer affordable coverage and their workers sought federal subsidies to purchase insurance in the exchanges. Reid's package would offer additional assistance to the smallest businesses, however, increasing tax credits to purchase coverage by $12 billion over previous versions.
The overall cost of the package was not immediately available, but aides said it would be more than covered by cutting future Medicare spending and raising taxes in the health sector, including a 40 percent excise on the most expensive insurance policies. The package would reduce budget deficits by $130 billion by 2019, aides said, and by as much as $650 billion in the decade thereafter. "
Two questions...how can you estimate the cost when you don't even know the number of people that will have to join the plan? And why is it costing the government money if Private insurance companies are the one's actually providing the new coverages?
How does cutting Medicare help out the elderly that truly need health coverage more so than the average american?
