The “Public Option” is neither public nor an option

President Obama said today when questioned about the public option,

“If you think about it,UPS and FedEx are doing just fine. It’s the Post Office that’s always having the problems.”

I would rest the public options fate by comparing Fedex with the service of the Post Office that they compete with, overnight letters.

Think about the last time you went to the post office to send a next day letter. Compare that to Fedex.

Case closed, The “Public Option” is neither public nor an option

Public Option's Anti-Competitive Practices

Read this last paragraph of a study of the "Public Option" from the
The Urban Institute Health Policy Center. It is a study of why "we" need the "Public Option"

They admit that the only reason a "Public Option" can work is because of the power of the Federal Government to set prices and force providers to participate.

Can the Justice Department look at this for anti-competitive practices? Microsoft and Google would love to use their market powers like this.

"it is important to recognize that the
cost-containment potential of a public plan
rests fully in its ability to leverage the power
of the federal government as health care
purchaser to encourage provider participation
and reduce prevailing payment rates. Without
taking advantage of that strength, the cost containment
potential of the public plan
option or an alternative would be
tremendously weakened"

I love how they say "encourage" and "reduce" as opposed to force and set by dictate, (see the post below.)

The full report is here: http://www.urban.org/uploadedpdf/411915_public_plan_option.pdf

Lies, Damn Lies and the Public Option

A quick look at the "Public Option"

1-Will the Government set the reimbursement rate as it does now with Medicare? YES

(Medicare reimburses at about a 75% rate, or less vs private insurance. The Medicare rate is set by government dictate)

2-If they set that rate like Medicare will it be pegged to the Medicare rate? YES

(The claim by the ObamaCare folks is , "the details will have to be worked out", but look for the rate to be close to 20% less then private insurance)

3-If not the same as Medicare will it be closer to the Medicare rate or the average rate of the 3 lowest private insurance carrier rates? MEDICARE

(Private insurance negotiates rates with doctors, hospitals, labs etc. That is why networks are different from carrier to carrier. If the public option has rates much lower, private insurance carriers will be at a competative disadvantage, because of government power.)

4-Will Providers (doctors, hospitals, labs, etc) HAVE TO JOIN the Public Option Network? YES

(Providers , doctors, hospitals, labs etc WILL BE FORCED TO JOIN THE "Public Option" network if they want to continue to treat Medicare beneficiaries. Another way to put it, providers will have to join the "public option" and be forced to accept lower payments then private insurance)

5-Has the government in the past lowered the reimbursement rate to Medicare providers as a way to deal with rising expenses? YES

(Since Medicare is going bust, the Federal government has continued to lower the reimbursement rates for providers, strict price controls. This results in the providers charging more to private carriers because they need to make up the difference, classic cost shifting at work.

It is clear that the ObamaCare proponents want the full in "public option" This will result in more cost shifting to the private sector and doctors dropping Medicare so they don't have to join the public option. Eventually the cost shifting will have the effect of driving the private carriers out.

Pretty simple to understand, and they do, thus the LIES.

Captain Free or Pirates Dead!

I'm confused by the US reaction to the pirates.

Shouldn't this be the message:

Captain Free or Pirates Dead!

Good Point about the shoe throwing

On Coach John Thompson's (Georgetown,retired) radio show he spoke of this. Saying that we shouldn't be surprised that this despicable act happened since in our own country many people don't just disagree with the President, they disrespect him and the office. He went to say all Americans should be disgusted by this. You may disagree with the man, but don't disrespect the office for us " it is a sacred position".

Not even Nostradamus

Not even Nostradamus could have foreseen the breath and depth, but this is a good qustion

But this is the most important one: "Mr. Geithner, the job of the New York Fed is to -- now I am quoting its own web site -- 'supervise and regulate financial institutions in the Second District [Wall Street]. Its primary objective is to maintain safe and competitive U.S. and global banking systems.' You have been in your current post since 2003 and during that time the U.S. financial system has come close to complete disintegration. Why do you deserve a promotion?"
James Pethokoukis


http://www.usnews.com/blogs/capital-commerce/2008/11/26/timothy-geithner-obamas-teflon-treasury-secretary.html

Déjà vu: Jimmy Carter

Former US President Jimmy Carter has said the crisis in Zimbabwe is "far worse" than he had imagined According to the BBC http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7746229.stm

Didn't he have the same reaction when the Soviets invaded Afghanistan?

Will he ever learn: You can trust communist to act like communist and thugs to act like thugs.