Glad to See Health Care on the Table,

but I don't think real reform - the kind we need - is going to come from HMOs. We should be happy to hear what the health insurance industry says, though at the end of the day the government has to do what's in the best interest of the American people. Unfortunately, those interests conflict with the profits of the HMOs.

Small concessions - and new corporate welfare in the form of billions of government dollars going to HMOs - isn't going to cut it. We need to tackle the rising cost of health care and make sure that America, too, has a better quality of care, that's universal and costs significantly less per capita - like the rest of the freaking industrialized world. Single-payer isn't the only answer, but no answer is going to come without a high-quality government option for health insurance to introduce true health care competition as well as a high base of care available to everyone.

Some other health care reform items that should be non-negotiable:

• Doctors pick the treatments, not HMOs.
• No preexisting conditions should bar someone from getting private health care.
• The government should be able to negotiate the price of drugs for medicare, medicaid and any other government program.
• It's time for health insurance to cover necessary autism treatments, not public schools.
• Repeating for emphasis: we need a high-quality government health care option available to everyone.
  

Anything else?