Healthcare USA #1

Pete’s approval rating in this forum cratered when he started attacking M4A. So did Warren’s after she released her health care plan.

LOL “half the board”. Just absurdly false.

2 Likes

Word on the street is that Karen from next door likes her healthcare and doesn’t understand what all the fuss is about. Imma start printing these reports on cover stock and carrying them with me to use as a club.

1 Like

Uhh, what? You have a very selective memory.

All of the Warren stans shit on Bernie relentlessly for ‘not having a plan’. That’s Alex, AllTheCheese, simplicitus. Wheatrich too.

Bobman equated progressives demanding M4A to right-wingers in the derposphere. Jman wrote a bunch of posts about how a Bernie plan would be unfair.

I don’t think it was accepted fact at all a year ago that M4A was a slam dunk cost savings.

This was a funny find though, 2 months after Biden said that he would veto it. I guess memory is a tough thing to figure out.

Neither of those critiques had to do with the relative cost savings of m4a vs other forms of healthcare, iirc.

I still think this is true.

1 Like

Funny how everything progressive he says “is an obvious lie” and just a politician saying what he needs to for positioning but everything non-progressive he says reflects his deep down core beliefs and should be taken as gospel.

For me personally I am an actions over words kind of guy. Nothing about his time in politics is very progressive. It isn’t a coincidence his words got less progressive as soon as the primary was over. And they weren’t very progressive at the start.

I don’t even think that is a criticism of him rather than an accurate representation of reality.

I agree. I am just pointing out the idea he would veto a m4a bill passed by both the house and senate is just silly. That was so obviously a positioning statement for the general election.

I don’t think he would veto it either. I do think him and his ilk would probably go out of there way to make sure it never got to that point behind the scenes.

1 Like

That is certainly possible.

It isn’t some theoretical soul-searching exercise where we’re squinty-eyed and peering into the heart of Joe Biden when people declare that his progressive statements are lies and his centrist or conservative statements reflect his true beliefs. As Wichita points out, his actions tell us what his true beliefs are and they are NOT progressive, period. Therefore, when he says he will veto M4A, we should believe him–it is in line with the political actions he’s taken throughout his life. The fact that a significant uprising of progressives MIGHT cause him to not do that doesn’t mean he was lying when he said it.

2 Likes

This is true, but Biden is still not vetoing a M4A bill.

Note that this is not the same as saying that a M4A bill will be passed by both chambers, which I think has a roughly zero chance at happening in the next 4 years.

1 Like

I agree with your post, but I also think it’s worth noting that Biden’s position on M4A is a significant reason why the quoted is true.

2 Likes

Because everything he has actually done in his career is in line with the moderate/conservative stuff and not the progressive stuff. We don’t need to guess as to which is more likely.

Ian Miles Clovis

2 Likes

USA #1

After House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard Neal (D-Mass.) blew up a bipartisan deal to fix surprise medical billing last year that his private equity industry donors opposed, congressional leaders have endorsed a new proposal, and Neal is on board.

The backroom deal was announced Friday night between four congressional committees: the House Energy and Commerce Committee, House Education and Workforce Committee, the House Ways and Means Committee, and the Republican-led Senate Health, Education and Labor Committee. Their plan, which has the blessing of Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer, is to circumvent the legislative process and attach it to the year-end omnibus that must be passed to keep much of the federal government functioning.

The proposal will eliminate most of the expensive bills that get sprung on people when they are unknowingly treated by an out-of-network anesthesiologist, emergency room physician, or other health care provider at an in-network hospital. But Neal got some concessions that will help medical staffing companies, including those owned by private equity firms like Blackstone Group and KKR, maintain many of the profits they have been making by springing giant bills on unsuspecting patients. The cost of the savings Neal secured for the staffing firms will be absorbed by the health insurance companies, which will almost certainly respond by jacking up premiums a bit for everyone.

Why would a sitting Democratic congressman blow up a deal that would have relied on benchmark median rates and then back a deal using arbitration that will likely allow providers to secure higher rates? In a joint statement, Neal and Ways and Means Ranking Member Kevin Brady (R-Texas) said that their preference for an arbitration system over a benchmark rate “respects the private market dynamics between insurance plans and providers.” But another answer might be deference to campaign contributors.

Neal got maximum donations for his 2020 re-election from multiple top Blackstone Group employees including President and Chief Operation Officer Jonathan Gray, Global Head of Tactical Opportunities David Blitzer, Global Head of Strategic Partners Verdun Perry, Senior Managing Director Neil Simpkins, and Senior Managing Director Mustafa Siddiqui.

Nothing ruins the faith in the free market system like saying that transparently parasitic middle men have to get their cut of the profits because of “the free market”

2 Likes

Your avatar is perfect for this post.

3 Likes

What happens when you get cancer in a 1st world country? They catch it early because you can afford to have regular checkups? You’re treated almost immediately and cancer free within weeks and live a long and healthy life debt free?

Just the free markets at work. Gotta love that efficiency!

:us::eagle::1st_place_medal: