Its public option-less
Posted by GreginMeffa

In Response to Re: Olympia Snowe to back Baucus Health Plan : As a tax paying, hard working, law abiding patriotic citizen of this country, how will this plan negatively impact me??? I already pay a huge premium to have a great plan for my family, and I pay extra because hospitals have to treat illegals and people who can't pay, and they have to make up for the money that Medicare won't reimburse them. How much more do I get to pay under the Baucus plan and what care will my family now be deprived of as a result???
Posted by macnh1

Well, here is section that describes how the self employed and family business will be helped. From the National Assoc of the Self Employed--- "The self-employed will be specifically excluded from accessing the small employer tax credit in the Baucus plan: "Self employed individuals, including partners and sole proprietors, two percent share-holders of an S Corporation, and five percent owners of a C Corporation would not be treated as employees for purposes of this credit. There will also be a special rule for sole proprietorships to prevent them from receiving the credit for the owner and their family members. Thus, no credit would be available for contribution to the purchase of health insurance for these individuals and the individual would not be taken into account in determining the number of employees or the average full time equivalent wages." So for all you sole-proprietors out there with employees, you may be able to get assistance in paying for your workers' health insurance, but for your own health care you're out in the cold.  Additionally, you won't even be able to qualify for the individual/family tax credit if your income is more than $32,490 for an individual or $66,150 for a family of four.  If you are self-employed or a micro-business that employs family members, then you are even worse off because you will receive absolutely no financial assistance to afford group health coverage.  Considering that family businesses account for 50% of U.S. gross domestic product, generate 60% of the country's employment and provide 78% of all new job creation, Senator Baucus might want to reconsider his choice to exclude them from receiving assistance to afford group health coverage. (Statistics courtesy of University of Southern Maine's Institute for Family-Owned Business.) Again absent from the Baucus legislation, as with all of the other reform proposals, is the ability for the self-employed to receive a business tax deduction for health insurance like all other businesses and the expansion of Health Reimbursement Arrangements (HRAs) to allow the sole-proprietor owner to participate. "
Posted by Mike473

Well, here is section that describes how the self employed and family business will be helped. From the National Assoc of the Self Employed--- "The self-employed will be specifically excluded from accessing the small employer tax credit in the Baucus plan: "Self employed individuals, including partners and sole proprietors, two percent share-holders of an S Corporation, and five percent owners of a C Corporation would not be treated as employees for purposes of this credit. There will also be a special rule for sole proprietorships to prevent them from receiving the credit for the owner and their family members. Thus, no credit would be available for contribution to the purchase of health insurance for these individuals and the individual would not be taken into account in determining the number of employees or the average full time equivalent wages." So for all you sole-proprietors out there with employees, you may be able to get assistance in paying for your workers' health insurance, but for your own health care you're out in the cold.  Additionally, you won't even be able to qualify for the individual/family tax credit if your income is more than $32,490 for an individual or $66,150 for a family of four.  If you are self-employed or a micro-business that employs family members, then you are even worse off because you will receive absolutely no financial assistance to afford group health coverage.  Considering that family businesses account for 50% of U.S. gross domestic product, generate 60% of the country's employment and provide 78% of all new job creation, Senator Baucus might want to reconsider his choice to exclude them from receiving assistance to afford group health coverage. (Statistics courtesy of University of Southern Maine's Institute for Family-Owned Business.) Again absent from the Baucus legislation, as with all of the other reform proposals, is the ability for the self-employed to receive a business tax deduction for health insurance like all other businesses and the expansion of Health Reimbursement Arrangements (HRAs) to allow the sole-proprietor owner to participate. "
Posted by Mike473

In terms of real change, this bill is likely the weakest effort to "overhaul health care" that the GOP will see.  The overwhelming majority of the health care industry will still be left in the hands of private enterprise/insurers.  It comes nowhere near the "socialism" of successful government-run HC systems in, say, Scandinavia.  Further, it fully retains the peculiar American principle: that the quality of health care you get depends upon your ability to pay for it.  If this is indeed "socialism" (it isn't), then it's "socialism" that even conservatives should be able to believe in.  It's by-and-large the bare minimum amount of "change" conceivable in this debate.
Posted by Mattyhorn