Health care reform without the public option is not reform

THE COST OF REFORM


If you watched the health care roundtable on ABC last night, you saw Ron Williams, the chairman and CEO of Aetna, complain to the president about how "it would be difficult" for private health insurance companies to compete with the public option.

And why is that, Mr. Williams?

Ron Williams Compensation for 2008
Salary $1,091,764.00
Restricted stock awards $6,456,630.00
All other compensation $101,487.00
Option awards $ $13,537,365.00
Non-equity incentive plan compensation $1,950,000.00
Change in pension value and nonqualified deferred compensation earnings $1,162,866.00
Total Compensation $24,300,112.00

Or would it be the $2.5 million Aetna is on track to spend lobbying against health care this year?

It would seem that the first way to cut costs would be to.... ummmm.... cut some of those costs. Williams will never tell you that 30% of the money they take in in premiums doesn't even go to health care, but to overhead - which includes his salary, lobbying and other incidentals. Including the corporate jet.

Of course, if you watch cable news, you'd get the impression that the public option is controversial.

How can something supported by 75% of the public be controversial? Well, it's controversial if you're the channels that make big bucks from advertising for boner pills and cholesterol meds. If your network were making millions in revenue from cocaine dealers, wouldn't you find a way to make the anti-drug movement look "controversial"?

REALITY T.V.?