Full disclosure: I'm a Hillary supporter. That being said, I have every intention of supporting Obama in the GE.
But, really, everyone, you would have to have your head buried deep in the Sahara not to understand that a healthcare plan that relies on voluntary participation isn't going to work for the people who need it most. Personally, I favor a single-payer government run plan, but, of the two plans we have before us, Hillary's is the only one that has a chance of actually accomplishing the goal of near-universal, affordable coverage (neither plan is true universal coverage, in my opinion).
I work for one of the largest health insurance companies in the country(in the clinical research division, not the insurance division), and I know what people are saying around here. My company would, of course, just like to leave things the way they are, but, if forced to a choice, they would much prefer Obama's plan because it will allow them to continue to price the elderly, the very young and those with pre-existing conditions out of the individual policy market. The only way we can approach a sensible way to cover everyone is with mandates. Everyone - young, old, healthy, sick - must participate. This is simple actuarial truth, not politics. The whole idea of insurance is spreading the risk. The larger the pool of participants, the lower the average cost.
As for the politics of the two plans, I don't buy the argument that we should go for Obama's plan because it is more likely to pass. Even if one were to conceded the point, it's still not a good idea. If we pass this kind of plan, we will lose any momentum we might have to get true universal, affordable coverage. Politicians are congenital cowards (too bad we don't have a clinical trial to find a cure for that condition). Once they have passed something they can point to as (sort of) addressing the problem, they will breathe a sigh of relief and drop the whole subject. If we are really going to push for change, now is the time to go for broke. To quote the man himself, "Yes, we can."
Peace.
I have a question I'd like to ask someone like you about how to get some research done. I have an idea that I think could help a lot of people heath-wise and save almost everyone a lot of money.
I want to bounce it off a sympathetic soul who knows the inside of how health insurers work. Basically there is a huge, seemingly obvious health problem that is getting ignored for political reasons.
Thanks.
