Report: Public Option Will Save $200 Billion

You read that right. The public option in health care reform will not only not increase the cost of health care reform, it will save $200 billion.

thebagofhealthandpolitics at Firedoglake explains:

A new study from the Commonwealth Fund finds that the public option could save the country $265 billion. The same study found that (republican Senator) Grassley's favored approach--allowing insurance companies to maintain their near-monopoly status--would cost the country $32 billion.

According the to the report, a combination of insurance regulations aimed at eliminating the insurance industry's ability to discriminate against the chronically ill, broader pooling of risks, and a more stream lined administrative system that the House bill would bring about saves money.

Read the whole thing.

Firedoglake is also sponsoring this petition to make the House of Representatives finish its work on health care reform before it leaves for vacation.

What would you choose - going on vacation or passing health care reform?

That is the choice facing the House of Representatives, who are nearing a vote on historic health reform legislation but are scheduled to go on vacation at the end of next week.

The choice is fairly obvious: the House should keep working until they pass a health reform bill - health care is more important than vacation.

We just created a petition asking the House to stay in session to pass health reform. Click here to sign the petition.

We'll deliver your signature to the House at the end of this week.

Some Members of Congress want three weeks of vacation before they tackle health care reform.

There is a real human cost for going on vacation. Three weeks in America without health care means:

• 143,250 people will lose their health insurance coverage
• 53,507 people will file for bankruptcy because they can't pay their medical bills
• 1,265 people will die because they lack coverage
  

The House is so close to passing a health reform bill - they should not go on vacation now when thousands are losing their health care or worse every day.

Click here to sign the petition and ask the House to stay in session to pass health care instead of going on vacation.

The coolest part is the box in which you can write the reason you think the House should have to finish its work before it goes on vacation.

Try to keep the profanity to no more than 50 percent of the total word count.

And keep the pressure on. Here's a quick way to get to the contact information for your elected officials. (Scroll down to box on the right labelled "My Elected Officials" and enter your zip code.)

Alternatively, Max at Firedoglake explains how to put recalcitrant congress critters up against the wall - the Facebook wall.