Without the public option, it's not health care reform

Source: Psychic Medium Rare

Howard Dean is not one of my favorite politicians, but he has a good point about leaving the public option out of health care reform.
Dean and former Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, both MDs, were interviewed last night on the Charlie Rose Show. Towards the end of the interview, Rose asked Dean about Democratic liberals in Congress. Would the Democratic left rebel against the President if there was no public option in health care legislation?
“I hope so,” Dean replied.
Dean went on to make the argument that, without the public option, the legislation simply amounts to insurance reform. Certainly that’s worth something. It would be great if insurance companies could no longer cancel a policy once someone got sick. Or refuse coverage for a pre-existing condition. But insurance reform, by itself, doesn’t require any spending. And this is an $800 billion bill.

Rose: So without the public option, you should not have health care reform?
Dean: You should have insurance reform. There is no health care reform without a public option. … I don’t think you ought to pour $800 billion into the present private health insurance system. All you’re doing is giving more money to the people who screwed it up in the first place.
I think if you’re going to give Americans a real choice, and let them choose reform, then it’s OK. But if you’re not, here’s what you ought to do. … [D]o the insurance reform. We did this 15 years ago in Vermont. But it didn’t cost us anything to do that.
If you’re not going to have a public option, don’t pretend you’re doing health care reform. That’s what Presidents of both parties like to do. They like to sign a bill and say they’ve had a big victory. It isn’t going to do anything. So do the insurance reform, take all the money out of it [the bill], and call it a day. You’ve made an improvement in people’s lives, but you haven’t done health care reform.

The rebellion against the President, or least against the Democratic leadership in the House, may have begun already. Earlier this week, Blue Dog Democrats won concessions from Democratic leaders on health care, including scaling back the public plan so that it doesn’t compete with private insurers. In response, 57 liberal Democrats sent a letter to House Speaker Pelosi today saying they would not vote for a bill with these new terms.
For most Democratic liberals, the public option is already a concession to what they really wanted: a single-payer system. So to lose the public option is just too much to take.

Where the Blue Dogs get their chow

If you follow the money, what’s happening becomes clear. According to an article in the Washington Post, health care and insurance industry lobbyists (and their monetary contributions) have been in hot pursuit of Blue Dog votes.

[T]he group [the Blue Dog Coalition] has set a record pace for fundraising this year through its political action committee, surpassing other congressional leadership PACs in collecting more than $1.1 million through June. More than half the money came from the health-care, insurance and financial services industries, marking a notable surge in donations from those sectors compared with earlier years. …
[T]ypical Blue Dogs receive significantly more money — about 25 percent — from the health-care and insurance sectors than other Democrats, putting them closer to Republicans in attracting industry support.

“The Blue Dogs are carrying water for the industry instead of their constituents,” according to the national campaign manager for Health Care for America Now.
It’s now clear that it will be months before we reach the end of this drama. So there’s still time for your voice to be heard. For information on how you can support the public option, visit the Health Care for America Now website. Or you can call the US Capitol switchboard and leave a message for your Senator or Congress person: 202-224-3124.
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