Well, that was a short-lived Celebration

Not to mention (0.00 / 0)

Sheila Kuehl just savaged the bill in the CPR.

There may be some kind of "change the revenue game and you get your health care bill" kind of thing going on, but of course the Post-Partisanator has no leverage with the Republican caucus to get that done.

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by: David Dayen @ Tue Dec 18, 2007 at 15:46:43 PM CST

Wow (0.00 / 0)

That is quite the analysis from Sen. Kuehl. Wowsers.

Really, just, wow.

Shouldn't 3 strikes apply to Arnold? Strike 1, Strike 2, Strike 3. Life Sentence!

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by: Brian Leubitz @ Tue Dec 18, 2007 at 16:07:56 PM CST

[ Parent ]

And you guys thought *I* was critical (0.00 / 0)

She blasted it into the Stone Age. This, to me, is they key section of her analysis:

Families whose income is at or less than $43,000 for a family of three would be subsidized for their premiums only. This means they would be required to pay an unspecified amount for premiums and receive an unspecified amount from the state budget to help. There is no subsidy for co-pays, deductibles or out of pocket (uninsured) expenses associated with their policies, which could be sizeable if they bought a minimal policy.

Families who earn between $43,000 and $68,680 for a family of three would be allowed to pay full boat for their uncapped premiums and then deduct any part of the premium that exceeds 5.5% of their income as a tax credit, refunded dollar for dollar by state money. (Again, see budget discussion, below). There is no tax credit for their required co-pays, deductibles or out of pocket (uninsured) expenses, which could be big if they purchased a minimal policy.

I hadn't yet answered Maviglio's "how wouldn't this help you" question but I'll use Kuehl's points as my reply. No real cost containment. Sure, we might get a premium cap (at 5.5%, which for our income is $300/mo, which would squeeze our budget nearly to a breaking point) but without a limit on other costs this is pretty much pointless. The reason there's so many medical bankruptcies isn't solely because of no insurance but because insurance doesn't cover the full cost.

Further, without full cost coverage, people will be reluctant to actually use the insurance they have, because they don't want to be on the hook for an unpayable bill. People will sit at home with their abscessed teeth and infected cuts and broken feet.  

You can check out any time you like but you can never leave

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by: Robert in Monterey @ Tue Dec 18, 2007 at 17:29:48 PM CST

[ Parent ]