Feinstein's "Public Option" position

[Tars]

According to The American Prospect, "The public option is a government health insurance program akin to Medicare, which would be open to anyone."

I recently saw on oped which said that Barbara Boxer supports a "public option" in healthcare legislation. The same piece said that Diane Feinstein hadn't taken a firm position. I Googled "Feinstein+healthcare" to see if she'd stated her position anywhere. I couldn't find anything in the initial search. Has anyone here seen her say it anywhere?

Her positions on relative issues seems encouraging, but, as we all know, politicians are slippery at best. I sent her an email urging her to difinitively support a public option. I hope you'll take a few moments to do the same.

Email DiFi

[Tars]

Did I miss something? Did Diane Feinstein join the GOP? Finally this weekend, Feinstein states her opinion on healthcare. It smells like waffles. If you want healthcare similar to the rest of the world, please do take the opportunity to email DiFi and demand she get with the "public Option" program.

Feinstein's lack of position:

"(LA Times) Reporting from Washington -- Republicans questioned the cost of healthcare reform plans Sunday, and even Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) acknowledged similar concerns and said she wasn't sure there were enough votes among President Obama's fellow Democrats to pass a plan at the moment."

(On CNN) "Feinstein called the question of cost "a very major and difficult subject."

"I think there's a lot of concern in the Democratic caucus," she said."

Of course it's a difficult question, it involves over 35% of U.S. domestic spending. In my household it's more like 60%. Of course it's going to be expensive...because it already is! The "medical system" as it exists, is plain injurious to Americans. Changing the status quo is just the first step to improving. Like all worthwhile projects, it's initially expensive, but improves as we work to adjust it. That's the converse of the status quo, which just keeps getting horrendously worse.

[danmonte]

The number of bankruptcies attributed to not being able to pay healthcare bills has climbed to 60% of all personal filings. This in a time of an unprecedented mortgage crisis. Now let’s consider that of those medical bankruptcies 75% had been paying for and were “covered” by our private for profit “health insurance” system. In other words nearly half of all bankruptcies arise from folks who had health insurance and still went bankrupt. And yet some still insist that we cannot afford a public healthcare system.

The 2007 Lewin Group Report produced for the supporters of twice vetoed SB840 shows that healthcare insurance premiums rose on average from 2000 until 2006 at 11% a year. If increases had continued at that rate we would be paying 256% more for insurance now in 2009 than in 2000 and 187% more since Schwarzenegger took office. However, we know that premiums are rising much faster now. Some BlueShield plans alone have just raised their rates 19%.

The January 14, 2009 study by the Institute for Health and Socio-economic Policy, IHSP, shows that nationally the passage of HR676, a single payer health insurance plan, would create 2.6 million new jobs. HR676 has 83 sponsors in the current congress. This plan would boost the economy with a $317 billion increase in business and public revenues. It would add $100 billion to the employee compensation. Public budgets would benefit by a $44 billion increase in revenues.

Locally for California, the Lewin Group Report shows that the healthcare bill SB840 would save $8 billion healthcare dollars the first year (2006) and the savings would grow in ten years (2015) to $25 billion. This would save state and local governments about $900 million in the first year at the same time all Californians would have comprehensive healthcare. Compared to projected ten year costs under the current system state and local governments would save a combined total of $343 billion. Businesses would benefit by a 16% reduction compared to the current system, and average family spending would decline to $2,500 a year.

Just who are these so-called fiscal conservative legislators trying to save by denying Californians and all Americans a comprehensive healthcare system? Just how many millions did Schwarzenegger take from big pharma and the medical insurance industry to twice veto SB840 thus contributing to the crash of our state’s economy? Just how are our representatives, Democrats and Republicans alike, unable to see the damage that the current government subsidized for profit private insurance system is doing to families, businesses, and to our local state and national governments?

This is not a temporary economic crisis. This is a crisis in our democratic system of government. How many more months of economic collapse can our system endure before the world will be watching an Iranian style crisis in the United States? Do we really need to wait till then? Single-payer is privately provided healthcare, publicly funded. California’s population is 37 million, Canada’s is 34 million. Canada does not have a single-payer system. Canada’s healthcare is funded by 14 government agencies. AB840 and HR676 are uniquely American systems protecting American values!

[Lewin Group Report, January 2005]
[Amer. Journal of Medicine, June 5, 2009]

[Tars]

Just saw this germmaine post on the Huffington Post:

Exclusive: MoveOn Targets DiFi On Healthcare In New Ad

by Ben Stein

Excerpt:

"Intensifying efforts to keep recalcitrant Democrats in line on health care, the progressive activist organization MoveOn.org is launching a new television ad calling on Sen. Diane Feinstein to stop "dragging her heels" and support "significant" reform.

"California voters sent Senator Dianne Feinstein to Washington to fight for us," goes the script. "That includes fighting to pass President Obama's health care plan. A recent poll shows that 71% of California voters want a significant overhaul of the health care system now. But Feinstein has been dragging her heels, saying health care may just be too 'difficult.' News flash Senator: We don't expect you to lead just on the easy issues. Senator Feinstein, please: Fight for California. Fight for President Obama's health care reform now."


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