Fiscally responsible health care (choose your punctuation [.], [?], [!])

Mixed pot of health-care news:

Health care reform hangs in the balance. Its fate rests with a handful of "centrist" senators — senators who claim to be mainly worried about whether the proposed legislation is fiscally responsible.

But if they’re really concerned with fiscal responsibility, they shouldn’t be worried about what would happen if health reform passes. They should, instead, be worried about what would happen if it doesn’t pass. For America can’t get control of its budget without controlling health care costs — and this is our last, best chance to deal with these costs in a rational way.

Paul Krugman

Bad news for Aetna customers. Actually, bad news for health care customers. More correctly, bad news for everyone, because if you don't tyhink YOUR policyholder will do this, you're just goin' Palin.

Health insurance giant Aetna is planning to force up to 650,000 clients to drop their coverage next year as it seeks to raise additional revenue to meet profit expectations.

In a third-quarter earnings conference call in late October, officials at Aetna announced that in an effort to improve on a less-than-anticipated profit margin in 2009, they would be raising prices on their consumers in 2010. The insurance giant predicted that the company would subsequently lose between 300,000 and 350,000 members next year from its national account as well as another 300,000 from smaller group accounts.

Best system EVER! As Bob Cesca asks, how many wingnuts and tea partiers are Aetna customers?

And Politico reports that there is a serious option on the table that is basically the Swiss health system:

There appeared to be serious consideration of a new proposal on the table: a national health plan similar to the Federal Employee Health Benefits Plan, which provides insurance to members of Congress and federal workers. It would be administered by the Office of Personnel Management, which oversees the federal plan, and all of the insurance options would be not-for-profit.

Commentary:

This is basically the Swiss health insurance system. Private but non-profit and government operated. But, in this plan, the privates are literally forced by the Office of Personnel Management to negotiate lower rates if they want to participate -- and the plans can't earn a profit.