Wednesday, March 24, 2010

This is why I'm not doing a happy healthcare dance

Look peeps, I kinda hate the I told you so racket. I told you so about Obama. I told you he was a corporate shill. I told ya he didn't think women have the same rights as men. I told ya he was wishy washy on DADT and DOMA. I told ya he was not the "anti-war" candidate that we were looking for.

And I was right. But instead of gloating, (because truthfully I'd rather be wrong wrongity wrong about him) I just want to point that out so I can maybe get a wee bit of credit on healthcare. Just a little is all I want, just enough to make you think about the craptastic "reform" that was just passed.

First- go read this handy chart at Reclusive Leftist

PLEASE FOR THE LOVE OF BABY JESUS NOTICE WHO WROTE THE SENATE VERSION OF THE HCR BILL THAT WAS PASSED. Hint- it rhymes with sminsurance company smellcraft.

No cost controls, no public option, no anti-trust measures, no premium or OOP (that's out of pocket for you non health care wonks) caps. But us super poor folks are going to get coverage through medicaid. I could just say "hahah suckers, I got mine" but that would make me a TeaBagger and I am not one of those. I am a progressive, I want progress for all of us.

So what will happen in say 2014 when all these measures have been enacted?

Well premiums and OOPs are going to skyrocket for anyone not poor enough to be on Medicaid or old enough to get Medicare. And from personal experience I know exactly who is going to get the blame for that. Not insurance companies and their grubbing greedy hands, but fat people and poor people and brown people and and and.

Reforms to the reforms will be called for. Cuts to Medicaid will be demanded. Rethuglikans will be screaming "See this is what socialism booga booga does". And any hope we ever had of real universal single payer coverage will be gone forever. Poof.

So I am not doing a happy dance because this bill is the death of universal care. It's not "a good start" or "universal care with some kinks". It is the most fucked up way to get people to think that universal care means skyrocketing prices for the middle class and freebies for the poor. It is a way for the elites to piss off the have-lesses by offering crumbs to the have nots so they can keep their shiny pile of gold plated medical care to themselves.

Fuck that.

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