I thought the exact same thing when this guy made that statement. What he was really saying was that private insurance companies will have to lower their prices if the public plan is offering the same quality care at more affordable prices. So, what's the problem?

i actually have a deep,personal hatred for aetna...
a few years back when i was fighting a drug addiction which was killing me,i had aetna insurance.against not only my begging and pleading,but the advice of the doctors at the treatment center i was at,aetna decided that 5 days of treatment for a heroin addict was all that they would pay for(nevermind that i paid the $1500.00 co-pay as well).
after i lost my insurance(along w/my job) i returned to rehab w/ the aid of medicare-y'know the program run by the gov't.the same gov't who cant do anything right etc...they paid for me to stay for an appropriate length of time.i got the help i needed and ive now been clean for nearly two years.

so for all the talk about gov't taking over and rationing healthcare and people dying on waiting lists and such?i say bullshit."socialized medicine" saved my life and private insurance never gave a fuck.

It won't just be difficult, Bob, it will be impossible, but not because of salaries or lobbying. The health insurance industry NEEDS the uninsured; they need a class of people who are uninsurable, as well as the right to rescind policies.

Why can't they compete? Well, imagine if you've been selling life insurance, and you made promises to pay death benefits, but 85% of the time, instead of paying, you rescinded the policy, or refused the claim based on underwriting done after the death. Then, along comes this new player, who costs about the same for the same policy, does no underwriting ever, and pays claims as promised.

You would either have to change the way you do business, or go out of business. The insurance lobby is entirely focused on writing legislation that does not change the way they do business. They've made their decision. Their only hope is that elected officials will betray their constituents. They do not really believe that this reform will pass, ever. If they did, they'd be fighting differently, looking for ways to look like heroes by helping Congress write legislation that would allow them to slide alongside a public option...say, as Public Option Supplemental Insurance (POSICARE?), sort of like Medicare Supplements.

It's pretty obvious that this is what's happening here.

Ugh.
That was some annoying TV last night. I had to turn it off after another fucking Dr. got to ask a question and before I chucked a shoe at the TV.
The President was great, but Charlie and the stacked deck of industry insiders they had asking questions were too much to take.
Time for another commercial....

No kidding about the commercials. They could have funded all the health care reform imaginable with all those commercials. I was okay with them having the docs and the AMA and insurance leaders there because I felt like it gave the president a chance to answer the criticism directly. I wish the president had been a little more direct and forceful in his answers, though. Overall, I was pleased with what he said, but I really wanted to hear him say flat out that worrying about a bureaucrat standing between you and your doctor is silly when that's exactly what the insurance companies are doing to us RIGHT NOW.

I think he hinted at those things and focused mostly on cost, but as the right already knows, people will support something against their financial best interests if it's scary enough.

Everybody already understands why insurance companies don't want this and why politicians are fighting it. Motivating people to take the leap into what they already want but are too afraid to commit to is at least equal to the problem of corporate control.

When the desired outcome of "health care" companies is more profit - and not just a good, steady profit but a ridiculousness driven by the demand to always make more - instead of providing health care, you get what we have.

Exellent work Bob.