Health Care Options

[cmac]

Can someone explain to me in retard terms what we have now, what is being proposed, and what the consequences and benefits of each side are? The news web sites no longer report actual news.
Thanks in advance.

[Hartmann]

My problem is that the wording is off on both sides. This isn't a fight for "healthcare for everyone", because everyone already has the ability to get healthcare, it's a fight for "insurance for everyone". The government option isn't very appealing to me because on its face, it isn't competitive, it's monopolistic. How do you compete with someone who doesn't have to make a profit? There is also nothing keeping employers from making a mass exodus away from their current healthcare provider and turning their employees over to the government. Sure, they'll save money on health insurance, but the federal government won't be able to sustain it and will eventually raise taxes.

Everyone in favor of the government option seems to tout Medicare, leaving out the fact that Medicare is a hybrid system and barely works as it is. And, let's not forget that one proposed way to pay for the government option is to cut some of the Medicare spending.

I had an open mind with the Obama administration coming in to office, but I think the left and right are being pushed farther and farther away from each other, when in reality our fundamentals are the same, it's just the method of carrying out those fundamentals that are different.