(My reply was too long, so this part is about the bill.)
I admit to not having read either the Senate or House version of the bill myself - there have been so many versions bandied about I'm not even sure where to start looking to find the full text of them. Do you have a link to the full text of both versions where it confirms that those are the versions that either were just approved or are currently under debate?
The source of my concern was a post by hrafn, which links to this article (the link in her post is bad) and this one. I tried asking around to see if anyone knew conclusively if the current versions do include coverage for abortions, HBC, or pelvic exams, and when no one knew conclusively, I decided to write this letter anyway.
how is this reform any worse?
For two reasons: (1) I expect that more people will be on the new plan after this reform than currently are on Medicare/caid, and (2) I have read arguments that this will result in changes in the practices of private insurance companies. The arguments go that if a private insurance company also carries an option for federally subsidized insurance for low-income people, that the private insurance company would not want to have two entirely different sets of coverage but instead will reduce the options available to the private clients. I don't necessarily agree that this possibility is likely (my private insurer has dozens of different plan options already, why would they change?) but on the off-chance that it is likely I don't want to support anything that could possibly lead to it happening.
And finally (on this item) it's supposed to be REFORM, the point is to make things BETTER, not maintain status quo.
About the bill
I admit to not having read either the Senate or House version of the bill myself - there have been so many versions bandied about I'm not even sure where to start looking to find the full text of them. Do you have a link to the full text of both versions where it confirms that those are the versions that either were just approved or are currently under debate?
The source of my concern was a post by
how is this reform any worse?
For two reasons: (1) I expect that more people will be on the new plan after this reform than currently are on Medicare/caid, and (2) I have read arguments that this will result in changes in the practices of private insurance companies. The arguments go that if a private insurance company also carries an option for federally subsidized insurance for low-income people, that the private insurance company would not want to have two entirely different sets of coverage but instead will reduce the options available to the private clients. I don't necessarily agree that this possibility is likely (my private insurer has dozens of different plan options already, why would they change?) but on the off-chance that it is likely I don't want to support anything that could possibly lead to it happening.
And finally (on this item) it's supposed to be REFORM, the point is to make things BETTER, not maintain status quo.