Health Care Reform -Worse than Making Sausage!

My desire would be universal single payer health care. Since single payer was “off the table” from the beginning, I threw my support behind the “public option”.

Now the President has decided that health care reform is at risk with the public option, and he tactfully threw it under the bus over the weekend. OK, we still have the insurance reforms- can’t be denied, can’t be dropped, one of those yet to be described co-ops, and of course the other motherhood: cover everyone, improve quality and reduce cost…

Here’s the rub- when the sausage is made, will the choices of plans and co-ops still include the mobility that was implicit in the Government public option? The public option would’ve been ours to use regardless of where we live. I haven’t heard anyone say that mobility will be available with the co-ops (I realize they’re not even embryos yet– just a gleam in some entrepreneur’s eye), or any other private plan. Co-ops tend to be very local in nature- not at all like a public plan would be.

I have Harvard-Pilgrim. It’s only valid in Massachusetts, Maine and New Hampshire. If I move to Vermont, they would cancel my policy. This is a huge casualty of having thrown the public option under the bus! I hope I can stomach the sausage when it’s done!