Jan 04, 2010
There is no better proof that the Senate bill is a massive giveaway
to the health care industry than the radically different enforcement
mechanism for the individual mandate and the new insurance regulations.
This Senate bill will force you to buy insurance from only private
insurance companies. It will use the power of the federal government in
the form of the IRS to make sure you buy private health insurance.
While the Senate bill will technically put some new regulations on
the books, it will not use the power of the federal government to make
sure the health insurance companies are following them. Enforcement of
new regulations is left completely up to the states, which, for the
most part, have an extremely poor track record at this function.
This Senate bill will use the power of the federal government to
force you to buy a very expensive product, but it refuses to use the
power of the federal government to ensure this product meets even
minimum standards of quality. It uses the sledge hammer of federal
power to force middle class families to hand their money over to
private insurance corporations, but handles the extremely powerful
insurance companies with the soft kid gloves by leaving regulation
enforcement up to the states. The imbalance of power between middle
class consumers and insurance companies produced by this bill is
shocking.
The House bill uses the power of the federal government in three
ways to hold the insurance companies honest. It creates a national
exchange with a national insurance regulation enforcement mechanism. It
creates a national public health insurance option to serve as a check
and benchmark for the private insurance companies. And, finally, it
repeals the health insurance companies' anti-trust exemption. These
tools help put regular Americans on a more even footing against the
private insurance companies.
It is both immoral and financially reckless to do what the Senate
bill does. It uses the power of the federal government to force people
to buy private insurance and gives the private insurance companies
hundreds of billions in federal funds. Yet it does not use the power of
the federal government to police the insurance companies to make sure
they are not wasting the billions in federal funds they receive, or
abusing their millions of federally mandated customers.
No one left, right, or center should accept this system which puts
regular people in such a weak position compared to the private
corporations with which they are force to do business. Attempts to
justify the individual mandate by comparing it to Swiss, Dutch, or
Belgian health care ignores the reality of those systems. Not other
country forces people into such a powerless, subservient position
compared to private companies. The Senate bill does not create social contract
guaranteeing quality, affordable health care for everyone in exchange
for mandating the buying of health insurance. It just forces people to
buy a poor-quality product from an extremely wasteful, predatory, and
poorly regulated industry.
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Jon Walker
Jon Walker is political writer who has written for FireDogLake, Vice, The Intercept, @TheProspect and The Week. He is an expert on health care policy and the politics of health care reform.
There is no better proof that the Senate bill is a massive giveaway
to the health care industry than the radically different enforcement
mechanism for the individual mandate and the new insurance regulations.
This Senate bill will force you to buy insurance from only private
insurance companies. It will use the power of the federal government in
the form of the IRS to make sure you buy private health insurance.
While the Senate bill will technically put some new regulations on
the books, it will not use the power of the federal government to make
sure the health insurance companies are following them. Enforcement of
new regulations is left completely up to the states, which, for the
most part, have an extremely poor track record at this function.
This Senate bill will use the power of the federal government to
force you to buy a very expensive product, but it refuses to use the
power of the federal government to ensure this product meets even
minimum standards of quality. It uses the sledge hammer of federal
power to force middle class families to hand their money over to
private insurance corporations, but handles the extremely powerful
insurance companies with the soft kid gloves by leaving regulation
enforcement up to the states. The imbalance of power between middle
class consumers and insurance companies produced by this bill is
shocking.
The House bill uses the power of the federal government in three
ways to hold the insurance companies honest. It creates a national
exchange with a national insurance regulation enforcement mechanism. It
creates a national public health insurance option to serve as a check
and benchmark for the private insurance companies. And, finally, it
repeals the health insurance companies' anti-trust exemption. These
tools help put regular Americans on a more even footing against the
private insurance companies.
It is both immoral and financially reckless to do what the Senate
bill does. It uses the power of the federal government to force people
to buy private insurance and gives the private insurance companies
hundreds of billions in federal funds. Yet it does not use the power of
the federal government to police the insurance companies to make sure
they are not wasting the billions in federal funds they receive, or
abusing their millions of federally mandated customers.
No one left, right, or center should accept this system which puts
regular people in such a weak position compared to the private
corporations with which they are force to do business. Attempts to
justify the individual mandate by comparing it to Swiss, Dutch, or
Belgian health care ignores the reality of those systems. Not other
country forces people into such a powerless, subservient position
compared to private companies. The Senate bill does not create social contract
guaranteeing quality, affordable health care for everyone in exchange
for mandating the buying of health insurance. It just forces people to
buy a poor-quality product from an extremely wasteful, predatory, and
poorly regulated industry.
Jon Walker
Jon Walker is political writer who has written for FireDogLake, Vice, The Intercept, @TheProspect and The Week. He is an expert on health care policy and the politics of health care reform.
There is no better proof that the Senate bill is a massive giveaway
to the health care industry than the radically different enforcement
mechanism for the individual mandate and the new insurance regulations.
This Senate bill will force you to buy insurance from only private
insurance companies. It will use the power of the federal government in
the form of the IRS to make sure you buy private health insurance.
While the Senate bill will technically put some new regulations on
the books, it will not use the power of the federal government to make
sure the health insurance companies are following them. Enforcement of
new regulations is left completely up to the states, which, for the
most part, have an extremely poor track record at this function.
This Senate bill will use the power of the federal government to
force you to buy a very expensive product, but it refuses to use the
power of the federal government to ensure this product meets even
minimum standards of quality. It uses the sledge hammer of federal
power to force middle class families to hand their money over to
private insurance corporations, but handles the extremely powerful
insurance companies with the soft kid gloves by leaving regulation
enforcement up to the states. The imbalance of power between middle
class consumers and insurance companies produced by this bill is
shocking.
The House bill uses the power of the federal government in three
ways to hold the insurance companies honest. It creates a national
exchange with a national insurance regulation enforcement mechanism. It
creates a national public health insurance option to serve as a check
and benchmark for the private insurance companies. And, finally, it
repeals the health insurance companies' anti-trust exemption. These
tools help put regular Americans on a more even footing against the
private insurance companies.
It is both immoral and financially reckless to do what the Senate
bill does. It uses the power of the federal government to force people
to buy private insurance and gives the private insurance companies
hundreds of billions in federal funds. Yet it does not use the power of
the federal government to police the insurance companies to make sure
they are not wasting the billions in federal funds they receive, or
abusing their millions of federally mandated customers.
No one left, right, or center should accept this system which puts
regular people in such a weak position compared to the private
corporations with which they are force to do business. Attempts to
justify the individual mandate by comparing it to Swiss, Dutch, or
Belgian health care ignores the reality of those systems. Not other
country forces people into such a powerless, subservient position
compared to private companies. The Senate bill does not create social contract
guaranteeing quality, affordable health care for everyone in exchange
for mandating the buying of health insurance. It just forces people to
buy a poor-quality product from an extremely wasteful, predatory, and
poorly regulated industry.
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