It’s an interesting news day in the Albuquerque Journal. It looks like a compromise to the public option for healthcare insurance is making its way through committees:
The public option is a provision in the House and Senate bills to establish a government-operated insurance plan designed to be funded by its customers’ premiums and compete against commercial insurance companies.
Over the weekend, Obama administration officials hinted that state and regional nonprofit insurance cooperatives might be an acceptable alternative to the government-run plan.
Oh yeah, that’s a much better way to go. Phew, what a relief. Now we can have state government administer the health insurance program public option. Remember that is what we are talking about here. We are talking about health insurance program redesign, we are not talking about healthcare.
Think of it this way. The state administers an unemployment insurance program. That program pays unemployed people a certain stipend, but it is not near the same amount of money they would earn if they were gainfully employed. Moreover, receiving unemployment insurance benefits does not mean that the recipient will receive better employment the next time they get a job. One has nothing to do with the other. Same is true with the the great “healthcare” reform of 2009.
Speaking of unemployment benefit insurance, which is administered by the state, let’s see how that is working out when the system is in high demand:
For the second time in two weeks and the third time this year, thousands of New Mexicans expecting to find their unemployment payments in the bank first thing Monday morning discovered the money wasn’t there.
This time, a computer glitch on the Department of Workforce Solutions’ end of the process delayed deposits until about 1 p.m., spokeswoman Carrie Moritomo told the Journal.
Hmm, and we want to put these guys in charge of healthcare? I wonder how those system glitches might delay the approval of some life saving medical treatment. If you think that’s totally different, you’ve got another thing coming.
I know, I know. It doesn’t have to be a state run program. It could be a regionally run government program. You know, like the schools are a regionally run government program:
Hundreds of APS teachers were underpaid last month due to a computer glitch.
About 300 teachers were affected, and when some of them notified the school district, officials launched an investigation, Albuquerque Public Schools chief financial officer Dupuy Bateman said Monday.
“Some employees notified us,” Bateman said. “We did research to find that there were others and continue to do that ourselves.”
It was unclear how much money was missing from the individual paychecks in late July. Employees were given the option of getting a check for the missing amount or having it added to their next paycheck, he said.
I don’t know why, but I’m really not feeling a lot of confidence in the proposed health insurance solutions.