as if this bill is some magical absolute with no other alternative.
Here's the thing. Republicans did offer various "alternatives", but they were all "here are our ideas, take them or leave them" proposals. That's how they're used to negotiating, and they haven't adjusted to life in the minority. The minority party in Congress doesn't get to set the starting point for negotiations.
Republicans were more than welcome to provide serious ideas and proposals for changes to the bills as they were being drafted in committee, but that's not what happened. Instead, all of their proposals, including the Paul Ryan plan that got a lot of attention at the end, involved tearing the Democratic bills up and starting over with a purely Republican bill.
Despite this, as I said, the final product had over 200 Republican amendments in it. Democrats *did* water down the bill and made it more friendly to the existing system. There's no single payer. No truly universal coverage. No public option. No immediate effect on the employer-based system, and only a moderate effect on it a decade from now.
Why must we dismantle the free market insurance system just to get 30-40 million people insurance and treat pre-existing conditions?
If the "free market insurance system" wasn't leading to exploding costs, maybe there'd be no need to reform it. This isn't just about covering the 30-40 million without coverage, it's about putting downward pressure on costs for those who do have coverage. Tell me how the current free market system is working when costs are skyrocketing. Or if you acknowledge it's not working to control costs, tell me how you'd prefer to control them.
A small fraction of the price tag of this thing could buy private insurance and where needed cover those that get dropped or excluded.
Total bullshit. The bill's cost over ten years, negating cost savings, is around a trillion dollars. With the low-ball estimate of 30 million uninsured, that's around $3500 per year per uninsured. Show me the insurance plan for *healthy* folks that costs that much, let alone a plan that someone with a pre-existing condition could get. Your statement has no basis in fact.
There are already plenty of programs to treat people with chronic health conditions and perform general health care anyway.
Name them.
I can only hope some of our states with some balls decide to opt out of this disgrace of a bill that has been forced on us.
Last I checked, the team that ran on health-care reform won overwhelming majorities in congress. If people didn't want it "forced" on them, they would have voted for the other team.
Oh, and your point about doctors hating this bill and wanting to leave the medical profession because of it? The AMA supported the bill. Thanks for playing.
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