Sen. Harry Reid confirms that the Senate reached a health care reform deal last night that is rumored to have nixed the public option and includes a buy-in to Medicare for individuals 55 to 65 and not-for-profit private insurance  plans that will be overseen by the Office of Personnel and Management.  The insurance industry is very happy….and it said as much:

With the Senate shifting sharply away from a “pure public option,” an insurance industry insider who has been deeply involved in the health care fight emails to declare victory.

“We WIN,” the insider writes. “Administered by private insurance companies. No government funding. No government insurance competitor.”

Okay, so the Senate has come up with a plan that foists the most expensive health care patients on to the public dole.  I am really surprised that the Big Insurance went along with the very idea of it receiving a mandate from Congress to accept obscene amounts of new premiums due to a taxpayer mandate that requires the healthiest and youngest health care consumers buy its insurance.  Congress is really teaching the insurance industry a lesson. (snark)  This of course translates to even more obscene profits because the younger the insured the healthier the insured typically so such health care consumers will in most instances not need health care to the extent that consumers over 55 will need health care services.  In other words, the insurance industry has succeeded in making the government do exactly what the government complains that the industry does (dropping policy holders who most threaten its profits) but do so legally.  Getting rid of the least profitable policyholders, seniors over 55, is change that Big Insurance can believe in.

Also, where is the competition for insurance companies? Where is the price containment?  What about all of those uninsured people under the age of 55?  Not-for-profit insurance plans like Blue Cross Blue Shield that are part of the problem?  Are those health consumers to be left to the mercy of the insurance companies similar to American consumrs being left to the mercy of the credit card industry?  We are very interested to find out exactly what percentage of the uninsured this bill with covered.  There are unconfirmed reports that expanding Medicare to Americans 55 and older would only cover an additional three million people.  What about the other 42.7 million uninsured who are now mandated to buy high cost health insurance ?