Promoted. Originally posted 2009-01-14 17:34:11 -0500. Over the fold, I appended a brief list of previous healthcare-related pieces to the back end. -- GH

Discussion of the various healthcare proposals is necessary ... NOW! CTMan is awesome in bringing updates on the news about Healthcare Reform. Please join the discussion ... -- roxy

Via DCblogger at Corrente and emphasis mine:

Mercury News

Daschle, the point man for Obama's campaign to revamp the health care system, supports the concept of "a government-run insurance program modeled after Medicare." It would, he says, give consumers, especially the uninsured, an alternative to commercial insurance offered by companies like Aetna, Humana and WellPoint.

But the proposal is anathema to many insurers, employers and Republicans. They say the government plan would have unfair advantages, like the ability to impose lower fees, and could eventually attract so many customers that private insurers would be driven from the market. "The public plan option is a terrible idea — one of our top concerns in the health reform debate," said James Gelfand, senior manager of health policy at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

Why would employers object to a public plan that would be better and cheaper for their workers?

Here, not only do we have the right wing Chamber of Commerce health care Czar telling you flat out that the for profit health care providers can not compete in the free market with Medicare, a government run single payer program... But the fact that it starts with a Tom Daschle hint of things to come that damn near made me have a heart attack.

If this is the starting point of the health care debate than it is already over... (And, for a change of pace from the last 8 years, America wins!)

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Previous pieces:
by Connecticut Man1:

1. How do you know Obama's health plan is bad for YOU?, Tue, 01/13/2009
2. All That I Want..., Wed, 12/24/2008
3. Single Payer Health Care Would Help Auto Industry, Tue, 11/18/2008

by DrSteveB:

1. The Most Complete & Honest Comparison of Health Proposals...so far, Tue, 01/13/2009

Others:

1. Open Thread -- Checking Up On the CDC Edition, by Open Thread -- 01/09/2009
2. Art Imitates Life, Life Strikes Back, by rba -- 10/23/2008
3. Economic Triage: Euthanizing Hope and Promise in the U.S., by GreyHawk -- 07/10/2008
4. AWOL: Soldiers and Suicide, by Dopeman -- 05/21/2008

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