Democrats Compromise on Health Care? Mandates Coming?
Woah. This looks very troubling. There should be a lot more to come tomorrow. The basic outlines do not seem like they went far enough in guaranteeing affordability. AP:
After months of refusing to budge on health care reform, Democratic leaders on Monday agreed to key elements of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's plan, including a new mandate that all Californians have insurance.
The move signals that Democrats may be willing to cross their allies in organized labor, who have steadfastly opposed the idea of mandatory insurance.
But Democrats accepted the insurance mandate with the caveat that there would be an exemption for those who do not qualify for subsidies and cannot afford the minimum level of coverage required by law.
How is this universal? What would this change?
Democrats also lowered the minimum amount employers must spend from their previous health reform bill, which Schwarzenegger vetoed. The new plan has a sliding scale for employers, with a maximum contribution of 6.5 percent of payroll.
Other funding comes from a $2-a-pack increase in the tobacco tax and from a hospital tax similar to what the governor has proposed. The total cost is about $14 billion, the same as Schwarzenegger's.
That is up from 4% in the governor's plan, but below the 7.5% the Democrats wanted. A tobacco tax increase would be on top of any increase by the federal government, as part of the SCHIP bill.
Latest health care bill
You're clearly right. This bill badly fails the affordability test.
Uninsured individuals, whose employer does not provide coverage, will be forced to buy insurance. They'll have to buy a minimum plan set by the state MRMIB, which is likely to establish a bare bones junk insurance plan that you'd have to buy with a junk insurance plan that you have to buy -- with a long list of health care needs, including dental, vision, mental health, long term care, etc that will all cost extra.
And, if you don't want to buy the bare bones plan, they'll enroll you anyway and just deduct it from your wages. Punishing the uninsured by threatening to seize their wages is hardly humane health reform.
Additionally, you can count on the insurers to continue to gouge patients and consumers for any genuine, comprehensive plan, since this bill, like the Governor's proposal before it, fails to set any limits on skyrocketing premiums, deductibles, co-pays, hospital charges or other fees.
The other supposed protection for the middle income is tax credits. If that sounds like the Bush administration scam, that's because it is. Tax credits are worthless if you still can't afford the monthly premiums you will be held hostage to pay to further enrich the insurance companies.
Finally, at 6.5%, the employer mandate is an open invitation to businesses that now provide health coverage to shift more of the cost burden on to the backs of their workers, such as demanding high deductible plans. Or they may just move to drop coverage entirely. Unionized employers, for example, now pay on average 14.5% of their payroll for health benefits, more than $5,000 per employee than they would have to pay under this bill.