Public option

I read in The Star that HR 3962 would force employers to provide health insurance for their employees (11/8, National/World, “House bill from Democrats has mandates and penalties”). Why?

Back in the halcyon days of American industrial dominance and tight labor markets, offering health insurance was necessary for attracting workers and a cost of doing business. Today, America doesn’t even pretend to be an industrial nation, and the unemployment rate is above 10 percent. With more workers than jobs, it does not make sense to force employers to incur expenses that they will be forced to pass on to us consumers. We need a strong government-run public option to relieve them of this onus.

I know that Sam Graves is worried that the health insurers won’t survive such competition, but the ABC Buggy Whip Company folded and America survived. Besides, isn’t he supposed to be looking out for us?

Ken Knox
Rushville, Mo.

Jeanette Welch (11/10, Letters) says that in all the many articles she’s read about the Democrats’ new health care plan that she has seen nothing regarding where farmers and other self-employed people can get insurance.

Pretty much every article I’ve read about the Democrats’ health care plans has mentioned a “public option,” which is a proposed option for self-employed persons and those who have been rejected by private insurers to buy health insurance. Her letter makes me wonder what on earth she thinks the public option is.

Cathy Edwards
Kansas City

Comments

[Greghand]

Good bye small business = Good bye middle class! Closing the gap between the U.S. and any third world country! But what do you expect from a lawyer who has never run a business? I don't fault the president because of his stupidity just his resistance to get educate himself and his narcissism.

[Smarter Than You]

"and" not "are" in the first sentence.

[Smarter Than You]

First thing, let's just ignore the financial reality of current entitlements are what the cost is going to be to fix those.

Then let's ignore the record deficit that has our biggest creditors voicing public concern over our spending.

Finally, let's skip the proposed bill that takes ten years of financing to provide six years of coverage, has limited coverage (that's how our Democratic friends are trying to sell it) and doesn't address the issue of the actual cost of health care.

Being oblivious to those issues we can then address these silly letters.

[NoMoreMrNiceGuy]

My physician does not take medicaid any longer either. Medicaid does not pay R&C, they basically extort. Typical of government and viewed as genius.
You can shove your "hope and Chnage " up your you know what. My family will be bankrupted by more of this government absolute power. We can not afford to pay anymore to government, we already pay 62 cents of every dollar to some deadbeat in government to hand it out to some other deadbeat.

[Proud American]

My question for the Democrats is, who will be the doctors? You can't force doctors to sign up to be vendors. My doctor doesn't take medicaid patients. After what the car dealers went through in getting reimbursment, how do they expect doctors to sign on? It would be interesting to find out how they are going to force doctors to accept the "insurance"

[Kee]

And by God you had better buy that option or the government will fine you or toss your ass in jail!

You public option whack jobs see that thing flying out the window, take a good look its your freedom.

[NoMoreMrNiceGuy]

Ken typically businesses do not always pass along costs, a primary step in cost reduction starts with human capital.
You see, there are a large majority of idiots that think government is hnest, supplies most of the jobs and can be trusted over private citizens and industry.
Those of us with any intelligence know better. The "public option" is nothing but a sugar coated Medicaid type of product that will be expensive, inefficient and of lower quality, just like most government run enterprises.

[aarongantt]

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