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Grassley: 'Public option' a 'deal-breaker'

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Charles E. Grassley

Sen. Charles E. Grassley (R-IA) said yesterday that he hopes he and Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT) can introduce a health bill to congress by the summer that would allow congress to set minimum standards for every insurance plan. While President Obama has been vocal about his desire to see a "public option" of healthcare insurance--one that individuals can purchase through the government--Grassley told the Kaiser Foundation such a thing is a "deal-breaker," whether it's in or out. 

Grassley and most Republicans oppose a public option for healthcare insurance. They believe that it would severely weaken and "eventually eliminate" private insurance, and ultimately lead to only one, government-run healthcare option. 

"I don't see a compromise in that area," Grassley said. 

Grassley also would like to start paying doctors based on quality, not quantity. He believes that specialists are overpaid and overused, while family doctors are underpaid and underutilized.

For more:
- here's the Modern Healthcare article

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This Grassley person needs to be voted to to the garbage heap where he belongs. It is obvious he is on the take from the insurance company lobbiests like so many other Republicans who are fighting real health care reform that we need. To me who has been denied my insurance claim by Universal Health Care Inc of St. Petersburg Florida run by Dr. Akshay Desai from India yet almost cost me my leg and my life when they denied my claim for a deadly knee infection I had. I was dieing, but their medical director said this "was not an emergency" so I was not covered! What is an emergency to this horrible man? And thier CEO Akshay Desai who donates hundreds of thousands of dollars to the Florida political machine?
These "for profit" insurance company CEO's are getting obscene salaries of hundreds of MILLIONS of dollars by denying care to those who need it and over 20,000 people WITH INSURANCE are dieing every year because of this horror. Untold hundreds of thousands are going without needed care through denial of service. We would be much better off if ALL of these for profit criminal enterprises did go out of business and their criminal CEO's tossed out of their 12 bedroom mansions, private jets, yaachts and sumemr homes WE pay for by dieing for them. A public option would save ALL taxpayers billions of dollars NOT cost them because we would still have to pay premiums to the government whose cost to run this project is only 3% compared to 30% for insurance companies. We need health care NOT budget breaking health insurance that only benefits the insurance companies, ie criminal enterprises and not those who THINK they are covered. Gary M. Ruehle )^_^)

Everyone raise your hand if you think the government can run ANYTHING for 3% - or efficiently for that matter. I would take either

Anything beats the horrors we are facing now when medically disabled. I almost died when I thought and was told that I was covered. This is not right no matter who manages the system. EVERY AMERICAN should automatically have full coverage medical and dental care from credle to grave. We are paying enough in tax and medical insurance already to have this. Anyone should be able to go into any hospital or doctor of his choice, be treeted and the bill sent in for payment, PERIOD. Other countries have that and it works. We are the ONLY country in the world with for profit insurance companies. How do they make their obscene profits.... by denying service, finding pre-existing conditions to deny you, not covered for this event, etc etc. When you call in you should be given a claim number PERIOD, not tons of grief why they won't pay your bill. WHY are these people denied? We don't need health insurance, we need MEDICAL CARE for all of us. Health Insurance = Wealth insurance for the corporate rip offs that are running American citizens into bankrupsy when they get sick. They are wasting enough in their endless wars and fighting half way around the world in some sand box to more than pay for it. Getting rid of the obscene salaries of insurance companies CEO's and top brass would pay for it. Enough fighting each other in Congress, lets work for we the people in stead of they the corporation whose lobbiests are paying us the most money. Are our leaders working for US or the insurance companies? Gary M. Ruehle

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