Baucus bill is fraught with deal-breakers

First off, the public option lives in the Baucus bill, though it's cleverly disguised. From the Foundry:

While it drops explicit endorsement of a public option, the legislation creates a CO-OP which is literally an acronym for a new federal program – not the empowerment of existing co-ops – and it is in reality a thinly disguised public option.

Pundit comments, "Now that's comedy." Yup, it stands for Consumer Operated and Oriented Plan.

The bill would impose a new mega-tax on "Cadillac plans," which may not be aptly named. From The Moderate Voice:

A tax of 35% on plans costing more than 8k in premiums. (Please note… for those of us who get our coverage through our employer, that’s not what you pay out of your check. It’s the total premium paid by both your portion and that paid by your employer.)

My wife and I each have our own plans through our employers so I ran off to check on mine. And guess what? DING DING DING! Yep… mine cost more than 8k annually. This is a “Cadillac plan?” I intentionally took the one with higher deductible levels and co-pay to keep the cost down! And I’m going to get nailed with a tax of more than one third the cost of it? Or my employer is? What could possibly go wrong?

On the bright side, that elusive creature 'bipartisanship' has finally been sighted in the Capitol, though it's in opposition to the bill. Sen. Weiner (D) says "The Senate and the president to some extent have been like a child looking for a unicorn. I don't see it." Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D) calls it a "dangerous idea":

Referring to Baucus, Rockefeller said, "He should understand that (his proposal) means that virtually every single coal miner is going to have a big, big tax put on them because the tax will be put on the company and the company will immediately pass it down and lower benefits because they are self insured, most of them, because they are larger. They will pass it down, lower benefits, and probably this will mean higher premiums for coal miners who are getting very good health care benefits for a very good reason. That is, like steelworkers and others, they are doing about the most dangerous job that can be done in America."

"So that’s not really a smart idea," Rockefeller continued. "In fact, it’s a very dangerous idea, and I’m not even sure the coal miners in West Virginia are aware that this is what is waiting if this bill passes.

They weren't the only Dems to criticize the bill.

Also from TMV:

And in case you missed the last sentence there, any American who, for whatever reason, isn’t paying for a health insurance policy from a private corporation out of their own paycheck will now have a fine imposed on them by the Federal government. I can just imaging the Supreme Court taking a look at that one.

Yessir, that's Obama's beloved individual mandate, which will be especially punishing on young adults. If the individual mandate becomes law, suits will be filed within about five minutes challenging its constitutionality.

Comments welcome.
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