That's because no plan they've presented outside of committee is any better than what's already presented by the Dems.
- S. 1099 calls for establishing a state-based Health Insurance Exchange, retaining Medicaid for low-income individuals w/disabilities, but converting all others under Medicaid onto private insurance.
- S. 703 also calls for establishing a state-based public option, but would eliminate Medicaid, Medicare and CHIP.
- S. 391 would create a new "private-sector" insurance program (currently titled Healthy Americans Private Insurance) using federal subsidies.
It goes without saying, the Republicans are being very underhanded - hypercritical, in fact - in causing all this decention among Americans, yet knowing full well that the health care bills they do have out there are ALL no different than what the Dems are proposing.
To be fair, other Dems bills:
- H.R. 676 would follow suit w/S. 703.
- H.R. 15 would effectily rename Medicaid and follow suit w/s. 1099 only it would phase out Medicare over time and place all future Medicare eligible individuals under this new state-based program. As such, all federal funds that normally would have gone under Medicare/Medicaid would go to this program instead.
- H.R. 193 would establish "AmeriCare" which would mimic Medicare where all U.S. citizens would be covered only under this plan insurance premiums would still be partically paid for by the private sector (employers) same as most Americans currently pay for their insurance cost w/government subsidies helping to defray the cost, as needed.
The only bill that combines all of these ideas is H.R. 3200. Even the three non-official bills currently receiving limited attention (2 by the Senate [Finance and HELP committees], 1 by a non-government affiliate led by former Sens. Howard Baker, Tom Dashle & Bob Dole) all have elements of a government/state-based public option and call for eliminated or expanding Medicaid/Medicare. Go to this thread and
read each bill for yourself, or you can review the
side-by-side comparison of each proposal/bill.
Bottom line: The Republicans aren't being honest when it comes to health care reform....PERIOD! And they know it! They've more than happy to let the current front-running Democratic bill (H.R. 3200) be "their bill" and stand back and watch it fall apart so that they can come in and "save the day". Only thing is, what they're proposing isn't much different. Of course, most Americans won't stop to look and learn for themselves what other reform bills are out there and learn the truth.