[lbo-talk] Senate Dems drop public option

[Joanna]

Maybe I'm not thinking this through in the right way, but putting 
everyone on Medicare 55 and up seems like another example of socializing 
the losses and privatizing the gains.

55 and up is when people start needing medical care.

So now we have a situation in which the insurers get to collect the 
premiums from everyone up to the age of 55 without actually having to 
guarantee any kind of coverage; meanwhile, the state (through taxes) 
covers everyone else.

I mean, I know the insurers can't deny insurance for pre-existing 
conditions with this new deal; but they still retain absolute power in 
deciding whether you need medical care; it still won't be the doctor's 
decision.

Doesn't look good.

J.