The Times News editorial today was the usual Republican talking points regurgitation. Below is my online reply.

Now let's get to the substance instead of rhetoric.

Sham? Hardly. It was Republicans that stood up and demanded that this hearing happen and be televised, then when the President scheduled the Summit, all they said was that it's a sham. Now the entire world can see what's going on. Republicans have been on all the committees that shaped both the House and Senate bills. To say they have been shut out in any way is outright false. Also, most of the Republican proposals are already in both bills. Or is it the Republicans are perpetrating a sham?

On Tort Reform, Tennessee (2008) joined 32 other states that already enacted medical malpractice laws. Has your premium gone down? Not likely. And, lawsuits only account for about 1.5% of total costs, which is far less than the profits that insurance companies are raking in.

On crossing state lines to buy insurance - think of the banks here. When regulations were loosened on banks, most moved headquarters to states that had the least regulation, like South Dakota. Without serious national regulation of insurance companies, the same would likely happen. A national exchange would accomplish this. That's in the House bill.

Both House and Senate bills already end the pre-existing problem, & stop the cancellation of policies because the policy holder got sick. If you'll notice the line in the editorial -  "It would prohibit an insurer from canceling a policy unless a person commits fraud or conceals material facts about a health condition". What would that entail? At present insurers are canceling policies because people forgot to put down that a doctor gave them a certain medicine (example) when they were young. Does anybody remember ALL the medications or illnesses they've ever had. Every time they had the flu or a cold? Doubtful! If you're sick - you're sick OR injured. It doesn't matter how you got there or what you put down or forgot to put on a form. You shouldn't be forced to suffer or die because of it.

 "It would create new incentives to save for current and future health care needs by allowing qualified participants to use HSAs (health savings accounts) funds to pay premiums for high-deductible health insurance." You're kidding, right? Unless you have a lot of cash laying around already, it's kind of hard to save up money for your deductible, which can be as high as $5,000 or more. If your deductible is that high, you're probably already sick and spending most of your cash.

People are sick and dying because insurance companies have been allowed to run wild, raising premiums & deductibles, dropping coverage when people get sick, denying policies altogether, all while CEOs' compensation (in some cases up to 3/4 of a BILLION dollars) has risen sky-high and profits have soared. The insurance companies have accomplished their profits by killing people through denial of care.

Republicans recently have moaned that the reconciliation process might be used and pretended that it is something rarely used. They didn't think that way when they used it to pass 2 of Bush's tax cuts and the Medicare Part D. Since 1980, budget reconciliation has been used 22 times, 16 by Republicans. Now it's suddenly extremist. It is NOT the nuclear option that Republicans threatened to change Senate rules to expedite confirming judicial nominees.

Insurance companies don't take your temperature or administer medicine or diagnose illness or health. Their only purpose is to take your premiums and disburse it at their whim. They do stand between me and my doctor by their exclusion of a condition that I have no control of, as they do to millions. It's time we had real reform, with a government administered option like opening up Medicare for everyone.

Just don't pretend that it's all a sham.