At the same time, I would certainly support a medicare-like public plan i.e. everyone contributes, everyone is eligible, even though it would provide fewer services than my current employer provided plan. I have no problems with different tiers or levels of insurance, some of them mandatory and publicly paid for, other optional and paid for privately. That would give me more choice, depending on my particular life situation.
I think my position on the issue is quite rational, and not based on fake stories about "waiting lines" manufactured by the spin industry. I also think that the majority of people think of the issue in more or less similar terms. I think that that fear of the "government involvement" and opposition to "government plan", while certainly present, is grossly exaggerated by the spin industry. That is, most people would support a universal public health care plan i.e. one paid for by taxpayers and to which everyone has access, even though the benefits provided by such plans would have to be supplemented in some circumstances by privately purchased insurance. However, most people would NOT support a plan aiming at narrowly defined groups (e.g. only those who cannot obtain private insurance) but paid for from general tax. This is the fundamental lesson of Social Security - it enjoys wide public support because it is universal, while targeted means tested measures typically face considerable public opposition.
Wojtek
On Tue, Aug 25, 2009 at 9:08 AM, Matt <lbo4 at beyondzero.net> wrote:
> On Mon, Aug 24, 2009 at 09:09:54PM -0400, Bill O'Connor wrote:
>
> > Oh, it's definitely not just Grassley. Many people worry that they're
> > own insurance will be adversely affected by the proposed changes. Why
> > they're not worried that their own insurance will be *canceled* by the
> > soulless actuaries that decide when they'll be dropped from the rolls is
> > left as an exercise for the reader.
>
> Because for a lot of these people who get their insurance through
> their employer - it can't be *canceled*.
>
> There are a lot of people who are perfectly happy with their insurance
> (above-median income people who work for large employers, like most of
> my co-workers) and who are afraid that their employer will dump the
> private insurance and force them into a public plan which gives them
> worse care.
>
> Note I am not arguing that position, simply explaining what their
> position actually is. The horror stories of people being dropped do
> not resonate with a large number of people because their
> employer-sponsored provider can NOT just drop them as long as they are
> employed. And what if they get laid off or fired? Well, the answer
> is to bust your ass to find another job!
>
> The horror stories, even if invented, of Europeans and Canadians
> dieing while waiting for an operation because they were forced into a
> government plan, *do* resonate.
>
>
> Matt
>
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>
> For all that faire is, is by nature good;
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> -Edmund Spenser
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