Comments | ariannawyn: Healthcare Reform

ariannawyn

Healthcare Reform

Mar 22, 2010 00:34

Peliosi pulled it off. I am amazed. I figured for sure it would go down in flames and we would have to wait ANOTHER 17 years for them to try again.

Now we see if the Senate can pull the same rabbit out of the hat, and then after THAT, we see who was right, who was wrong, and which Congresspersons pay for their votes in November.

My Congressman, Jason ( Read more... )

Comments 13

byronhaverford March 22 2010, 14:49:06 UTC

You're going to vote for the Republican instead?

ariannawyn March 22 2010, 15:04:51 UTC

If you read my comment, you'll note that I specifically did NOT say I wouldn't vote for him. I said I won't promote him with bumper stickers and lawn signs like I did in 2008.

I haven't heard of a primary challenge, but if one came from the left, I would certainly consider it. In the general election, I doubt if I would vote for a Republican, especially NOT Melissa Hart, though I don't know if she's running again.

ariannawyn March 24 2010, 12:55:37 UTC

Just read that Altmire's likely Republican challenger is Mary Beth Buchanan. THAT should be interesting. I don't know her views on too many things, but her reputation as an attorney is pretty impressive.

Oh, and it turns out that our district has a PIV of R+6, so it actually does lean Republican by a significant margin. I think Altmire beat Hart because while the district leans red, it's not nearly as far right as she was. Allying with that crazy idiot Santorum wasn't her best move. She'd have done better as a centrist.

byronhaverford March 24 2010, 20:43:59 UTC

I know nothing about Buchanan, but I've been pleased with Altmire's centrism, so she'll have an uphill battle with me.

Deciding whether to "go Palin" or "go Lieberman" is really tricky, isn't it? If you're an extremist, you lose the center, but if you're a centrist, you risk pissing off your own party and never even getting to the big game.

baron_steffan March 22 2010, 16:22:03 UTC

I'm oddly ambivalent. On the one hand, something needed to be done. On the other, not sure this was it. So they prohibit insurances from hated practices like denial for pre-existing conditions. So...everyone who *doesn't* imagine that the insurances are going to cry higher costs and raise premiums astronomically, please raise your hand.

Everyone is afraid of the Big Bad Wolves of socialized medicine and single-payer healthcare, yet that's the norm in the civilized world, and it works. We really need to totally nuke the US healthcare system and start over from scratch. From scratch. Really. But that will never happen.

retiredmaj March 22 2010, 22:46:25 UTC

Oh it's worse than that....the listed penalty to a company, per employee, for failing to provide health insurance is a tenth of what a company pays for its premium, per employee, right now. (Maybe a little bigger, maybe a little smaller, depending on the plan.) If I'm a CEO simply interested in the bottom line, I can vastly improve my balance sheet by simply dropping my insurance coverage and paying the federal penalty. (There are multiple other fails...I won't hijack the post by listing them.

We absolutely need health care/health insurance overhall. I think you have the right idea...nuke it from orbit, it's the only way to be sure. But this bill ain't it, and the people who needed to "win," aren't gonig to.

ariannawyn March 23 2010, 01:59:03 UTC

Why do you believe companies that offer health insurance now will get rid of it once it's mandated? That makes no sense. Companies don't currently offer health insurance because the government, or anyone else, forces them to. They do it because it's part of a package of benefits that will help them attract and retain quality employees. That won't change. Nuking their health plan would be self-destructive to the company, as most of their good people would leave. Sure, at current unemployment levels some stupid CEOs might figure that could save a buck that way because they currently have their employees over a barrel, but once the economy picks up they will still lose those experienced workers. The cost of training new workers is very high, so any boss with an ounce of smarts has no incentive to reduce benefits that way ( ... )

retiredmaj March 23 2010, 22:54:01 UTC

The company "nuking" it's health plan in a major metropolitan market *might* wreck the company. I'm not so convinced it will in a smaller market such as the one I'm in. Especially in this economy. Whether these poor conditions continue to hold until 2014 will remain to be seen (I certainly hope not.) If a couple of major players to do it to improve their bottom line, it'll set a precedent that'll be hard to kill ( ... )

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