Gene Frenkle

Your logic is flawless.

So we should take away an employer's ability to switch the health care plan it is currently providing its employees. That's what you're saying, right?

He hit like a ton of bricks. He was better than people are giving him credit for here.

Well if they wait a couple more years this country will be just like Cuba, so they'll have even more reason to come here.

I didn't know you were a developer - there are so many competing standards in play or coming into play and without some governing body, it will take forever to sort itself out. The evolution of W3C standards is a perfect example of this. Because of nonsensical politics, people are focusing on the wrong things. The overall system need to be improved, but the greatest gains in efficiency will come from the standardization of communications protocols, patient records, etc... within these types of software systems. This is why I don't really think that any added complexity within the rules governing health care brought on by added government control will adversely affect the bottom lines of the private insurance companies. They will of course have to upgrade their systems and move into the digital age, but that's really in everyones best interest, including theirs. I understand your objection to the public plan, but I don't consider myself a Libertarian and the public plan seems reasonable to me.

Agreed, but the need for reform is still there. Of course if we regulate it at all, we're Socialists. Now who's the idealist?! You've hit the nail on the head as far as my industry is concerned. Add in standardized EDC for patient records and we're on our way.

We could hold picnics in Texas and let overzealous border patrol agents try to run down low information voters while they make a break for the Mexican border and the health care utopia that can only be found there. I'm sensing a new reality show here!

I deal directly with doctors on a weekly basis. We design systems that do lots of things to streamline their practice's workflow, patient records and finances. We've also written software to help them streamline their insurance paperwork process: ie. auto-submission to the insurance companies when applicable/available. I can say that the differences we've had to write into our software to accommodate various standards and pricing models is unbelievable. The system needs some sort of order and standardization across various insurers. People who cite increased bureaucracy with government intervention fail to realize the potential for relatively complex submission software to make the process simple because of the government institution of common practices, pricing and submission process. Just my opinion.

You are a jackass. My statement was that private insurers will need to find ways to cut costs to compete with the supposedly cheaper public option. Am I wrong or do you think the private insurance companies are as efficient as they can be right now? Incidentally, way to grab on to a talking point and ride it into the ground. Rush/Hannity/Beck would be proud.

As opposed to...now?

Health Care Reform = Communism now? Even you can do better than that.

Pretty fckued up isn't it? Old Testament God is a real a-hole! Thankfully Jesus softened things up a bit or there might be very little difference between Fundamentalist Christians and Islamic Jihadis. Organized religion sucks.

Link? Is it in the Bible Code? Improv?

Despite your predictable anecdotal evidence to the contrary, prayer actually has no measurable affect on anything anywhere. I'm sure you're convinced now. How many hours of your life have you wasted in this deeply selfish act?

I've read some things about Mother Teresa that make me think she is no saint. As far as Jesus goes, well he wasn't real tight with the government of the time, but you think that he would avoid employing government help for the poor and sick based on 21st century political hang-ups that he probably never would have even thought of? I don't buy it. The irony I was referring to, of course, is all of these Bible Belt Moral Majority Christians who claim that America is a Christian nation and all that crap. They are the first to spout the selfish ideals of the Right which directly contradicts their professed 'do unto others' creed. Then they come back with (as you did): Jesus was anti-big government. It's utterly fckuing ridiculous.

You can never have enough prayer!

WWJD...how incredibly ironic.

My claim (based on my understanding of how a free market works) is that increased competition (see public option) will cause these companies to become leaner and more efficient so that they can compete with said public option. There are great inefficiencies in the current private health care system that we as health care consumers are paying for now. Who would choose the public option? Those who have no need for a pricier, deeper plan and those who cannot currently afford health care. So people who choose the (supposedly) decreased coverage and those who have no health insurance now (a.k.a. the ones who we pay for now). I believe that the malpractice question needs to be addressed as well, but I remember reading that that problem is possibly overblown, at least relative to other inefficiencies in the current system. There is nothing that says that health care under a private insurer will decrease in quality. Nobody is taking your private option away. Life Expectancy in Canada > Life Expectancy in America While this conversation is stimulating and all, I need to get some work done. Holy crap!

If the private insurance companies are forced to compete with a leaner model or die, then yes. Human beings have an amazing ability to adapt to new environments, even on a short time scale.

I'll spell it out: The profit margins could be improved simply by eliminating 'Administrative Costs', thereby making the system more efficient and increasing the profit margin. What am I missing Mr. Smith? You were paraphrasing what I said totally off topic and out-of-context. The definition of Poisoning the Well. In a related note, we're talking about health care, not banks and the auto industry. Let's stay on topic.

That was more directed at the term itself. The resources that mere paperwork and red tape seems to be taking up almost has to be bad in any system.

Well, I guess your 3% profit margin could be improved with some incentive then, couldn't it? This is a classic 'Poisoning the Well' argument, a logical fallacy. I bet you've never even heard of it and you used it so well! Bravo. http://www.nizkor.org/features/fallacies/p...g-the-well.html There has always been a line - don't pretend one is being freshly introduced here. Just because it is hard to define the correct boundaries does not mean that those boundaries are not worth defining.

Again, fix the fkcud up system already! Administrative costs...

That was a good article with a lot of valid points. It highlights what Obama has accomplished so far and gives some pretty sound advice. It does highlight the Republican predilection toward fear though, doesn't it? This health care bill, in any form, does not need to pass right now as far as I'm concerned. The more thought and development that goes into the solution the better. The difference between you and me is not so great. However, I try to keep my mind open and would never take an article from a reputable source and disregard what it says out of hand. I am not a partisan stooge. You might disagree, and that's your right of course. The center always looks left from the right and right from the left.

The system is as efficient as it could be? Were you laughing when you typed this? Be honest. Perhaps a reasonable option (public) for the less fortunate (less hard-working) would cause these behemoth health care companies to streamline their ridiculous operation a bit. There are gross inefficiencies in the private health care/insurance industry. Maybe they need a good kick in the a$$. This is a complete Straw-man. This is not being proposed anywhere as far as I've seen. However, knowing something about how these drug patents and pharma companies operate, the world would be better off with reform in that process as well. How long should a cure for Malaria be kept from diseased children in third world countries because of a pharmaceutical company's patent on a drug that could cure them? The Moral Majority (or Minority) should start practicing what they preach.