How could a public health option be worse than what we have now?

The right wing is right about health care. A government run program could never compete with the insurance companies. The insurance companies can deny coverage, preside over more “death panels,” and chase far more people into bankruptcy than the government could imagine. They already are.

In all of the right wing’s “sky is falling” predictions about health care, the main point is missing. What we have right now simply isn’t working. Premiums are going up at more than a double-digit inflation rate. Insured people are putting off care because insurance companies aren’t covering the extent of the needed care. The San Francisco Chronicle reported on Monday that most people who are in debt from medical bills are insured. Their insurance just isn’t actually covering health care. The insurance companies will gladly take your money as long as you’re healthy. But the minute you get sick – deny, deny, deny. Sounds like a death panel to me.

I’m wondering, what exactly is the right wing scared of, more of the same?

I'm not going to present myself as an expert on this topic, but there are so many really obvious truths. First, In our system people can't even afford to pay the premiums. When I started teaching, a family premium was $500 each month. Now the rate has gone up to $1500. Every double-digit percentage January increase comes directly out of the pockets of enrolled teachers. Our salary structure hasn't kept up. So each January, teachers get an annual pay cut.

Secondly, those Canadiens sure aren't grumbling about their system. Third, why wouldn't any employer want to get into business without the added responsibility of finding and administering an insurance plan?

It seems to me that the only real beneficiaries of our current system are the health insurance companies. Their investors are making a lot of money, and they don't want to be put out of business. Neither did the folks in the auto industry or the ice industry, as far as that goes. But it's time.

Demand a public health care option now.