Sen. Charles Schumer (N.Y.), the third-ranking Democrat in the upper chamber, said Wednesday that insurance affordability, a controversial excise tax on high-cost insurance plans, whether most employers will be required to offer health benefits, how to raise needed tax dollars and whether to create a federal long-term-care insurance program are the remaining issues.
“I’d say those and the public option are probably the [five] big ones. … And all of those are going to have to be resolved,” Schumer said.
From this point until the Senate floor debate begins sometime next month, the fate of some of those issues rests in the hands of Reid — and the Congressional Budget Office (CBO).
The issue of affordability is huge! Imagine being covered by a high cost insurance plan provided by an employer and then having to pay taxes on said high-cost plan, losing your job and having to try to pay the full cost of the plan, and not being allowed to be covered under the public option. Wouldn't a single-payer system be easier to manage? We already have good models in Medicare and Medicaid.
My prayer is that we collectively remember what our intentions regarding health care really need to be: to provide health care coverage for all of us, at a cost affordable to individuals, families and taxpayers. I don't believe that our intentions need to be to provide or maintain profits for insurance companies, pharmaceutical companies, hospitals or medical equipment manufacturers. I do believe that our intentions need to include an emphasis on basic care for all, prevention of disease, and maximization of health and wellness.
No comments:
Post a Comment