Comments on: Fannie Mae for Health Care

By: Beldar

Beldar — Sun, 08 Aug 2004 03:55:35 +0000

Political trivial — Jamie Gorelick, most recently of 9/11 Commission fame, spent the interim between her departure from the Clinton Justice Department and her soft landing at Washington powerhouse law firm Wilmer, Cutler & Pickering as vice chair of Fannie Mae.

Pure trivia — I can't see how it fits into any conspiracy theories, right or left.

By: Chris

Chris — Sat, 07 Aug 2004 23:55:58 +0000

I can't believe I'm saying this, but Kerry's health care proposal is rather interesting too. He wants (or claims at least - I'm not sure I believe anything he says) to have the govt serve as a re-insurer, basically picking up the tab for health care costs in excess of $50K on any individual in a given year. The insurance companies, knowing what their max expenditure is, could reduce rates and even take on more risky folks without the fear of eating a few million in claims for one person. I'd rather see open competition and employers totally out of the insurance chain. But since that won't likely happen, Kerry's proposal isn't a bad idea at all.

By: Joseph Marshall

Joseph Marshall — Sat, 07 Aug 2004 19:40:22 +0000

This is one of the most hopeful signs for this country I've heard of it quite a while. I would so like to get this issue on a serious bipartisan table. It's one we could fix in quite a number of ways with postive results and benefits for everybody.

Frist even appears to have figured out that its an insurance problem, not a health care problem. Of course being a doctor helps. Now if only he were a little more effective as Majority Leader, and the White House was willing to govern rather than rule....

By: Charles Fenwick

Charles Fenwick — Sat, 07 Aug 2004 16:43:19 +0000

I wonder if any of this ties into an idea that one of the Republican candidates for Senate in Florida is pitching:

Legalize Health Care Aggregation. Health care group coverage with its lower rates should be made available to individuals through a process called aggregation, whereby business, religious and fraternal organizations and even credit unions can provide group insurance at more affordable rates. This can relieve many small businesses and self-employed individuals who must pay for more expensive individual and small group coverages.

I had never heard of this idea before (although I admit health care isn't exactly an issue I focus on) I saw it articulated in Doug Gallagher's campaign movie.