You heard it here first. The Obama administration is claiming that the Senate health care bill will end all insurance company abuses nationwide. (And spare me the "Plouffe doesn't represent the administration," argument. He was the campaign manager. I doubt he'd touch this subject with a ten foot pole without checking with the White House first.)
"We're going to provide the ability for everyone in this country to get coverage and we're going to end insurance company abuses."Actually, you're forcing everyone to buy coverage under penalty of law while not providing adequate mechanisms to control costs. Slightly different. As for "going to end insurance company abuses," such blanket promises are very dangerous. No one thinks this legislation is going to "end" insurance company abuses. Hell, the legislation reportedly permits insurance companies to still cap our annual benefits, and still charge us 50% more in premiums if we have pre-existing conditions like high cholesterol or high blood pressure. How does that "end" abuses?
"I have very little tolerance for this, because we're trying to solve something that is a systemic problem that's afflicted us for decades. It's very hard. You've got the insurance companies, an entire opposition party arrayed against you."And a growing number of Americans have very little tolerance for a President who rarely fights for anything he promised. I think that makes us more than even.
