health care reality

What is really shocking in the health care debate is how detached from reality the wingnuts and many dems are, and how they are blatantly in bed with the health care profiteers.

The mantra is that no one wants a single-payer system. Really? Which poll numbers are they going by? And, in reality we do have a single-payer, though it's more like a single-reaper. In Nebraska, there is one option for a business or school: Blue Cross/Blue Shield (BC/BS)of Nebraska. That's it. And when this thing boils down, look for the state Senators to defend them to the bitter end. Why? Well, let's look at what BC/BS represents.

In 2007 BC/BS raked in nearly $935 million, and sold coverage to 700,000 residents (about half the population). Nearly a billion dollareenees. That's $1,335 per insured. I don't have the figures on how much of that went to lobbyists and political campaigns. They also employed 985 people in Omaha alone, and their network includes 94% of the doctors in the state.

This is our system. You don't hear about them, and it's not on the 6:00 news that there is only one choice for health care, and they can do as they please. But you do hear from the corporate media what the pundit class thinks, and how bad our government is.

So, who is going to try and change the system? No one outside of the White House, that's who. When it comes down to it, BC/BS et al. will win. The status quo will remain, and the band will play on.