it is the the government we don't trust. Democrat or republicans - we can trust them to run another 10 percent of our economy? I have my own business. I spend about 1000 a month on insurance on premiums for my family. I have 5000 to 1000 in deductibles for each of my 3 kids and my wife. We are almost never sick. It is going to cost me another 6 to 10 grand to have a another child. My wife's prenatal care and birth is excluded. (by the way I am not saying anyone should be supporting our kids) I am pretty sure no matter what the Democrats pass, business owners will be even more screwed, my taxes will go up, my health care costs will go up and the quality of my health care will go down. Then within a few years, you can bet that everyone else with a job will be in worse shape too. We are being walked down a path where the government is so large there will be no way to work hard and achieve an above crappy standard of living. We will have 98 percent lower class populace and a few elites who had enough family money to buy the politicians. I figure my kids are going to have to be like james caan in rollerball or I will have to find away to save 10 million in the next five years.
The opposition to public option comes almost entirely from insurance companies who have developed monopolies or near monopolies in particular geographic areas. And they don't want competition.
That's not quite true and I speak from experience. The ones who "flock" have money and are simply seeking the "have money" method of rationing healthcare. The more serious their health problem is, the more likely it is that they will be treated, and soon, in their own country's healthcare system. The more money you have, the more of your own health problems you can have treated, the faster you can "cut" in line, and the farther you can travel to do so.
bottom line ... It's going to cost more, for worse service ... Does ANYONE dispute this? ( I tune into this site, mainly because reading the more idiotic comments acts as a difibulator ... don't let me down... DISPUTE MY CLAIM! Jump start my heart.)
The reason why the Democratic party has not promoted the idea of reconciliation to pass the health care bill is that they do not have the votes in their own party (Senate) to pass a bill that includes a public option. At the moment there's only about 30 votes in the Senate in favor of a public option. To hide this fact they have publicly hammered the bipartisan theme song, passing along the blame to the Repubs and their trumped up charges of using fear tactics to sway the vote. Although the promise of" healthcare for all" sounds great, the Senate understands the negative economic effects of such a bill (public option) would inflict. The only way to pass a bill at this time is without the public option, so the question is will Pelosi and the House pass and President Obama sign a healthcare bill, that they say is so" urgently needed" if they don't get everything they want? Is something better than nothing? http://online.wsj.com/article/SB20001424052748704107204574473793640804078.html
I don't know about a "public" option controlled by the govt, but there should be something that promotes competition. I think large pools, breaking down state barriers to insurance companies and other things should be promoted. We cannot continue growing costs at 10% annually. The uninsured, self-employed, small businesses and many others pay huge costs and it is growing rapidly all the time. And "risky" people are often denied coverage or dumped for baseless reasons. Bankruptcy is often due to huge medical bills. If you ever had your own business (I had a construction-industry S Corp with about 10 workers), you would sing a different tune. I considered and rapidly unconsidered having health coverage for workers. One worker develops problems, and they skyrocket your whole company's plan costs. And again, I am a conservative.