The Bishop and the Butterfly: Murder, Politics, and the End of the Jazz Age
    we are stardust's picture

    Think you are in favor of the "public option?" Not so fast...

    By we are stardust on Sat, 07/25/2009 - 10:37am |

    Last night on Bill Moyers Journal, two helathcare journalists,Trudy Lieberman and Marcia Angel, M.D., discussed the current plan, and expressed great skepticism about the true results of a plan based on the current system.  Angell's position was that throwing money at the current system is wrong, and that in the end any public plan will just be a dumping ground for the sickest patients, won't control costs, and is doomed to failure.  If you factor in that everyone will be mandated to get insured, either publicly or privately, a public plan won't be able to negotiate drug prices, etc.:  look out!  It sounds as though in order to placate a few Republicans and some Blue Dogs (woof!), the plan may be not all that beneficial.  If it costs a lot, then doesn't work well, single payer will be shelved forever.  Oh--plus, the public G-plan wouldn't even start until 2013 or something??

    Here's the link   http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/blog/2009/07/diagnosing_proposals_for_healt.html

     

    Here is former insurance exec Wendell Potter critiquing the public option...

    http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/blog/2009/07/assessing_a_public_option_for.html