Obama is just as corrupt as any other president before him

[Beckwin]

fair enough!

[archibaldcrane]

I guess the real question is: How did the proposed public option differ from the current medicare system?

[Kuya]

I believe i read somewhere that it has a provision for concentration camps.

[archibaldcrane]

Have to do something with Guantanamo now that Obama has dumped all his terrorist friends onto American soil IN OUR OWN BACKYARD.

[Sirrus_Asura]

Have to do something with Guantanamo now that Obama has dumped all his terrorist friends onto American soil IN OUR OWN BACKYARD.

OOOBBAMMMMMAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA.

[Olo401]

Have to do something with Guantanamo now that Obama has dumped all his terrorist friends onto American soil IN OUR OWN BACKYARD.

I thought they were being exported to like Bucharest or someplace in Eastern Europe?

[Beckwin]

people sometimes seem to forget that we had real live Nazis imprisoned in America.

[Plow]

And real life Japanese people too!

[Olo401]

people sometimes seem to forget that we had real live Nazis imprisoned in America.

And real life Japanese people too!

And Native Americans and Arabs... but I digress.

[Acturus]

I guess the real question is: How did the proposed public option differ from the current medicare system?

Greater scope of coverage. Medicare is currently 65+ and special circumstances.

Also, I doubt private insurance would be able to offer "Advantage" Fee for Service plans as Public Option replacements the way that they do for Medicare today.

But then again, never underestimate private insurance's ability to make a buck.

[archibaldcrane]

Greater scope of coverage. Medicare is currently 65+ and special circumstances.

I meant besides that.

[Acturus]

I meant besides that.

In that case, no, not really. Medicare is like any private payer in that there are services it covers and services it doesn't cover, time frames for claim filing, payment, arbitration, premiums offered to specialists like Neuro- and Neonatal-surgeons, etc. Most hospitals accept Medicare on the basis that it's a reliable source of income, and depending on the size and strength of a particular hospital or hospital system within a given area, it's either "good stewardship" to accept Medicare, or it's a tangible chunk of a hospital's revenue.

What's interesting about Medicare today is that a large majority of private insurances and managed care organizations model their contracts after Medicare practices, including both coding and reimbursement. Many progressive hospital systems work their rates as a "percent of Medicare" system.

I know one of the concerns about the Public Option is what it will do to Private insurance, but I'm more curious about how the Public Option will be created in the first place. Since Medicare is the only real standardized system in America (which is why managed care entities like to use it as a model, and Medicaid is state-specific), will the Public Option also use Medicare as a platform and grow from there, or will it be completely ground-up in its design?

*edit* that didn't really answer your question, but I don't know that the Public Option has been designed in specifics yet. It's still more of a buzzword than an actual insurance system, especially given that it seems to be tied more heavily to the "market exchange" that has also yet to be created. It's assumed that the Public Option will be subsidized by the government, but that hasn't been seen yet, and won't be until it's actually developed.

[Zilong]

people sometimes seem to forget that we had real live Nazis imprisoned in America.

Or real live neo-nazis not imprisoned for that matter