Health Insurance Reform Flowchart

From Donkeylicious.

On my Facebook page, my friend Danny wrote:

Now how does that fit in to the Co-Op thing they are talking about? Are the 27.5 million people in the bottom box going to be forced to get insurance like in MA? Will people be fined if they both can’t afford private health insurance and make too much to qualify for subsidized insurance? I am all for a single-payer health insurance system, but I think this plan they have come up with now is too intrusive without much of any benefit.

Here’s what I wrote in response to Danny, which seems a little terse because I was desperately trying to edit it down to fit within Facebook’s comment length limit:

1) The co-op thing is an alternative plan to the public option, not something to fit alongside it. So to see where co-ops fit in to this flow chart, everywhere it says “public option,” cross out “public option” and write in “co-op” instead.

2) Yes, everyone must be insured.

3) The House bill calls for a fine, with a hardship exemption for those who are to broke to pay. (The proposed cut-off for subsidies is $34,000 for a person with no kids.)

4) Single-payer has zero chance of passing congress. The alternative to this plan isn’t single payer; it’s continuing the status quo.

5) The plan would get millions of currently uninsured people insured, and provide huge consumer protections for people already having insurance. I’d call both of those substantial benefits.