WHY BANKS LOVE CLINTON'S HEALTHCARE PLAN

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ROSE ANN DEMORO, HUFFINGTON POST - Behind the escalating debate on the
health care between Senators Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama on
individual mandate -- she's for it, he's against it -- is a critical
policy battle that not only cuts across health care reform but also the
neo-liberal privatization dreams, the home mortgage crisis, and the
recession that is no longer looming, it's here. . .

Banks are already into health care in a big way, serving as a repository
for health savings accounts and other tax credit schemes so beloved by
the Bush administration and the Republican presidential candidates. But
the financiers would like more.

Enter the neo-liberal think tanks and policy wonks and plans they hawk
to expand the reach of the market, especially the financial market, in
health care. Central to that approach is shotgun insurance, forcing
everyone not currently covered to buy health insurance policies.

Compelling people to buy insurance, however, is not the easiest sell.
Big insurers and HMOs have a well deserved bad reputation for heartless
denials of care - that's how they make money. And, it's pricey. Premiums
the past decade have gone up 87 percent, not to mention the ever
climbing bills for deductibles, co-pays, and a host of other transaction
fees.

The finance industry is over the moon with this scheme.

For insurers, it means millions of new customers marched into their
offices with the force of law. With no controls on costs, many consumers
will just add on more debt. That's a boon for the credit card companies
and other financial institutions, but a heavy new burden on many of the
same people now losing their homes or struggling with other financial
hardship. . .

To shroud the colossal problems and the real story of who actually makes
out like bandits under this scheme, the proponents, including some
liberal policy experts, have dressed it up with poll-tested rhetoric
that mandatory insurance is "universal health care."

But "having" insurance is not the same as being able to use it. You're
only being mandated to purchase the premiums; they're not mandating the
insurance companies to make sure you get the care you need. Nor does
"having" insurance protect you from financial ruin.

It accelerates the dismantling of group insurance plans with individuals
forced to go it alone in the individual market, and institutionalizes
risk and cost shifting on to the backs of individuals and families.

[DeMoro is executive director of the California Nurses
Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rose-ann-demoro/the-new-bailout-individu_b_85717.html


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