Health Care Reform to be Defeated Says Betting Market

Health Reform

According to the Intrade.com market a public health insurance option looks set for defeat. Currently the market gives the initiative only a 32.0% chance of being passed into law.



Earlier this week the probability of a public option had sunk to just 14.0% after President Obama appeared willing to compromise and accept non-profit health cooperatives as an alternative to a government run health insurance plan.



But the market rebounded to it's current level after prominent congressional Democrats expressed their desire to see a public option passed, and a willingness to go it alone on health care reform in the face of continued Republican opposition.

Despite this rally the market is still far from confident the public option will survive as part of the reform process. 

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Hell Care

The other day, I received an interesting and very instructive e-mail from my brother Jeff who lives in France. He asked me to share it with the readers of my blog. I think I will share it with you also. "HELLO, AMERICA! “As an American who has been living in Europe for most of the last 20 years, one who has visited doctors numerous times in four different countries, whose two children were brought into this world in European hospitals (France and England), who has himself spent a week in a public British hospital, and who underwent an operation in a private British clinic, I think I can say a thing or two about health care in Europe. “Our out of pocket expenses for the births? Zero, even though in France my wife spent 5 days in the hospital after the birth, which is standard, by the way. “During the three years we lived in England, we never once paid for medicine for our children. Children get drugs for free in the UK. Visits to the GP are free for everybody. “My expenses for the week in the NHS hospital? Zero. “The cost of the operation in the private clinic? Zero, it was covered by my work insurance, as was the post-op physical therapy I needed. “In Western Europe you would never be forced to sell your home in order to pay for your medical bills, as happens all too often in America when catastrophic illness strikes and the insurance company decides that your condition was ‘pre-existing’. “The quality of the care? Mostly good. French hospitals are excellent, even the food is decent. The food at the NHS hospital was beyond awful, but then again most English food is pretty bad (though they do have great Indian food). At night, they were understaffed, but I am guessing that, apart from that place where Dr. House works, most American hospitals are understaffed at night, too. “In short, in the US, you pay more, get less, and die younger than we do in Europe. What part of that don’t you understand? “My fellow Americans, you have nothing to fear except those who would use fear to keep you enslaved to the myth of the might of the American health care system.” Jeff Degan What can I tell you? The guy is a Communist. Not only does he live in France, he actually likes it there. An eternal shame to our family’s good name. Let us boil down his seven paragraphs to their juicy essentials, shall we? HEALTH CARE IN THIS COUNTRY SUCKS. Here is (Excuse me, I meant to say, “Here was“) a golden opportunity for real reform and the idiotic Americans are screaming about socialism. Is it any wonder that we have become the laughingstock of the Western world? http://www.tomdegan.blogspot.com Tom Degan Goshen, NY PS – I love English food!

Good post and I totally

Good post and I totally agree with you!!!!!!