SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
Liar, Liar ... Well, Healthcare Pants on Fire
So, we've been told over and over again that under the
healthcare reform plans currently defended and pushed by the President and
Congress that we can keep what we've got if we like it. No one will
take your health insurance bennies away. Not under our employer-based,
for-profit system.
Aug 27, 2009
So, we've been told over and over again that under the
healthcare reform plans currently defended and pushed by the President and
Congress that we can keep what we've got if we like it. No one will
take your health insurance bennies away. Not under our employer-based,
for-profit system.
Well, tell that to the latest batch of employees in Chicago
to have their insurance benefits cut right out from under them - they
sure didn't get to keep what they had.
The workers at SK Tools had no choice. Their health
insurance benefits were cancelled. Sick family member? Too damn
bad. Need a doctor. Tough luck. The company representatives
say the recession has hurt them, and they have no choice. The company is
also asking for 20 percent cuts in hourly wages. Wow.
Now, the workers have voted to strike. And there will
perhaps be some resolution for this bunch of employees. Folks will cry
out, perhaps even President Obama will step in, and this situation will
probably get resolved - though folks will suffer in the interim.
But the larger issue remains. Just how gullible are we
when we trust that any private company will be forced to keep any benefit plan
it chooses not to keep?
Employers will still be able to change up healthcare plans
to meet the company's needs - and if that means you have to see
another doctor or pay a higher co-pay or drive to a more distant in-network
provider, that will not be your decision. And health insurance companies
will still be able to change their provider lists and covered services and all
sorts of other things without any input from policyholders.
So, America, it just isn't true that you can keep what
you have if you like it when it comes to private, employer-based healthcare
benefits. It's a big, fat lie. And the company noted in the
article above provides but one example. There will be many more.
The House bill on healthcare reform, the Senate plan for
healthcare reform and the President's plan for healthcare reform - none of these actually guarantee that you can keep what you have if you like
it, because tomorrow your employer or your insurance company may change what
you like to suit their bottom line. That's the truth.
If this big lie about healthcare reform rolls off their
messaging engines like melting butter on a warm slice of bread, what else do
you suppose they are lying about? Come on. Get real. We
won't have what we want in terms of truly having the freedom to choose
and keep or change our doctors, our providers and our own treatments until we
break free from the lies and produce reform that guarantees a progressively
financed, single high-quality standard of care for everybody. Everybody
in, nobody out.
Then you can keep what you like. Your choices.
Your decisions. Your health. Your healthcare. Your
money. Period.
It's not just the right-wing selling myths in this
discussion. We need to admit that and work to be as honest as we
can. Too many lives depend on this. There will be no death panels
to order Grandma's demise, but there are also no guarantees that you can
keep what you have if you like it under this system. Both things are
lies.
We can provide one another the healthcare security that
we're being misled to believe is in the current reform plans. But
we will have to help our fellow Americans to understand that a publicly
financed, privately delivered healthcare system - like Medicare - for
all of us is the most reasoned, most economical and most freedom-protecting
choice.
And that's the truth.
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
Donna Smith
Donna Smith is the former executive director of Progressive Democrats of America and currently a Medicare for All campaign surrogate for Sen. Bernie Sanders.
So, we've been told over and over again that under the
healthcare reform plans currently defended and pushed by the President and
Congress that we can keep what we've got if we like it. No one will
take your health insurance bennies away. Not under our employer-based,
for-profit system.
Well, tell that to the latest batch of employees in Chicago
to have their insurance benefits cut right out from under them - they
sure didn't get to keep what they had.
The workers at SK Tools had no choice. Their health
insurance benefits were cancelled. Sick family member? Too damn
bad. Need a doctor. Tough luck. The company representatives
say the recession has hurt them, and they have no choice. The company is
also asking for 20 percent cuts in hourly wages. Wow.
Now, the workers have voted to strike. And there will
perhaps be some resolution for this bunch of employees. Folks will cry
out, perhaps even President Obama will step in, and this situation will
probably get resolved - though folks will suffer in the interim.
But the larger issue remains. Just how gullible are we
when we trust that any private company will be forced to keep any benefit plan
it chooses not to keep?
Employers will still be able to change up healthcare plans
to meet the company's needs - and if that means you have to see
another doctor or pay a higher co-pay or drive to a more distant in-network
provider, that will not be your decision. And health insurance companies
will still be able to change their provider lists and covered services and all
sorts of other things without any input from policyholders.
So, America, it just isn't true that you can keep what
you have if you like it when it comes to private, employer-based healthcare
benefits. It's a big, fat lie. And the company noted in the
article above provides but one example. There will be many more.
The House bill on healthcare reform, the Senate plan for
healthcare reform and the President's plan for healthcare reform - none of these actually guarantee that you can keep what you have if you like
it, because tomorrow your employer or your insurance company may change what
you like to suit their bottom line. That's the truth.
If this big lie about healthcare reform rolls off their
messaging engines like melting butter on a warm slice of bread, what else do
you suppose they are lying about? Come on. Get real. We
won't have what we want in terms of truly having the freedom to choose
and keep or change our doctors, our providers and our own treatments until we
break free from the lies and produce reform that guarantees a progressively
financed, single high-quality standard of care for everybody. Everybody
in, nobody out.
Then you can keep what you like. Your choices.
Your decisions. Your health. Your healthcare. Your
money. Period.
It's not just the right-wing selling myths in this
discussion. We need to admit that and work to be as honest as we
can. Too many lives depend on this. There will be no death panels
to order Grandma's demise, but there are also no guarantees that you can
keep what you have if you like it under this system. Both things are
lies.
We can provide one another the healthcare security that
we're being misled to believe is in the current reform plans. But
we will have to help our fellow Americans to understand that a publicly
financed, privately delivered healthcare system - like Medicare - for
all of us is the most reasoned, most economical and most freedom-protecting
choice.
And that's the truth.
Donna Smith
Donna Smith is the former executive director of Progressive Democrats of America and currently a Medicare for All campaign surrogate for Sen. Bernie Sanders.
So, we've been told over and over again that under the
healthcare reform plans currently defended and pushed by the President and
Congress that we can keep what we've got if we like it. No one will
take your health insurance bennies away. Not under our employer-based,
for-profit system.
Well, tell that to the latest batch of employees in Chicago
to have their insurance benefits cut right out from under them - they
sure didn't get to keep what they had.
The workers at SK Tools had no choice. Their health
insurance benefits were cancelled. Sick family member? Too damn
bad. Need a doctor. Tough luck. The company representatives
say the recession has hurt them, and they have no choice. The company is
also asking for 20 percent cuts in hourly wages. Wow.
Now, the workers have voted to strike. And there will
perhaps be some resolution for this bunch of employees. Folks will cry
out, perhaps even President Obama will step in, and this situation will
probably get resolved - though folks will suffer in the interim.
But the larger issue remains. Just how gullible are we
when we trust that any private company will be forced to keep any benefit plan
it chooses not to keep?
Employers will still be able to change up healthcare plans
to meet the company's needs - and if that means you have to see
another doctor or pay a higher co-pay or drive to a more distant in-network
provider, that will not be your decision. And health insurance companies
will still be able to change their provider lists and covered services and all
sorts of other things without any input from policyholders.
So, America, it just isn't true that you can keep what
you have if you like it when it comes to private, employer-based healthcare
benefits. It's a big, fat lie. And the company noted in the
article above provides but one example. There will be many more.
The House bill on healthcare reform, the Senate plan for
healthcare reform and the President's plan for healthcare reform - none of these actually guarantee that you can keep what you have if you like
it, because tomorrow your employer or your insurance company may change what
you like to suit their bottom line. That's the truth.
If this big lie about healthcare reform rolls off their
messaging engines like melting butter on a warm slice of bread, what else do
you suppose they are lying about? Come on. Get real. We
won't have what we want in terms of truly having the freedom to choose
and keep or change our doctors, our providers and our own treatments until we
break free from the lies and produce reform that guarantees a progressively
financed, single high-quality standard of care for everybody. Everybody
in, nobody out.
Then you can keep what you like. Your choices.
Your decisions. Your health. Your healthcare. Your
money. Period.
It's not just the right-wing selling myths in this
discussion. We need to admit that and work to be as honest as we
can. Too many lives depend on this. There will be no death panels
to order Grandma's demise, but there are also no guarantees that you can
keep what you have if you like it under this system. Both things are
lies.
We can provide one another the healthcare security that
we're being misled to believe is in the current reform plans. But
we will have to help our fellow Americans to understand that a publicly
financed, privately delivered healthcare system - like Medicare - for
all of us is the most reasoned, most economical and most freedom-protecting
choice.
And that's the truth.
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.