Bingaman (and Others) Respond to Baucus Health Care Reform Bill
As you probably know by now, Senate Finance Committee Chair Max Baucus released his much delayed health care reform bill (full text) that was produced by the now infamous 'gang of six,' which included our own Senator Jeff Bingaman. By all accounts, Bingaman was the only one among the gang to push for a strong public option. He also tried valiantly to make the bill more like Sen. Ted Kennedy's legislation, which was passed by the HELP Committee before the Fall recess, and got Bingaman's vote.
Original Text of Mark Weaver Show Statement on Health Pseudo Reform
The following is the original text of my “Statement on Health Pseudo Reform” delivered to the American people on the September 12th Mark Weaver Show:
Benchmark Kaiser/HRET Employer Health Benefits Study Finds Family Premiums Rise To $13,375
KEY POINTS: Family Health Premiums Reach $13,375 Annually in 2009, Up 5 Percent as Inflation Fell Nearly 1 Percent
Over 10 Years, Premiums Jumped 131 Percent, More Than Three Times Worker Wages And Four Times General Inflation
Washington, D.C. -- Premiums for employer-sponsored health insurance rose to $13,375 annually for family coverage this year -- with employees on average paying $3,515 and employers paying $9,860, according to the benchmark 2009 Employer Health Benefits Survey released today by the Kaiser Family Foundation and the Health Research & Educational Trust (HRET).
Why are Health Care Costs So High - and Growing
The real problem is that
our health care delivery system is based on a model that makes no economic sense. The system is broken and needs to be redesigned. The current debate seems to assume this is a fight between the free market and socialism. Although there are people who would like us to go one way or the other, our current system is neither.
Our current health system is not that old. It started during World War II when wages were frozen. Employers, looking for new ways to attract workers, came up with the idea of providing health insurance.
Thus began employer based health insurance, which is how most Americans get their insurance.
In most economic transactions in America, there is a consumer and a provider of the product/service. If the consumer doesn't like the product quality or price, they go to another provider. Providers keep their quality and prices competitive to keep their customers.
In health care, patients are the consumers, but they don't pay for the service and rarely even know the price. They don't have sufficient knowledge to evaluate the quality of the service - and even if they did, they have limited choices in providers.
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