Note: this post is a response to this thread on DailyKos.
I doubt anyone will follow the chain of comments all the way to this post. The Baucus Plan, like the Massachusetts model, is just too darn complicated. And it will never be able to contain escalating costs going forward because the insurers will insist on their profits. Keep it simple, Max. Use the model of traditional Medicare (before the Republicans allowed the insurers into the game).
Let’s enact HR 676, the single payer legislation (already spelled out at thomas.loc.gov (Full Text) and co-sponsored by 94 representatives in the House. That proposal has been vetted. The Lewin Group has done the math–we would save billions and only the wealthiest would pay a little more in taxes. We would pay for health care the way we pay for fire and police protection. The Canadian plan is not perfect, but we can improve on that model, adding dental, vision and long term care, for example. As for John Goodman, of the McCain campaign and the National Center for Policy Analysis, he has a tendency to misspeak, citing outdated data or anecdotal research. Usually he is in synch with the Fraser Institute–former pro-market pals of the tobacco industry.