the good that has come to me from "obamacare"

[Alaska Darin]

let me ask you this: no attitude at all, I am just very interested in hearing what the other side's goals are.

I don't know who the "other side" is.

 

The way to make things cheaper in a market economy is to increase competition. If you're not doing that, you're not accomplishing anything. This bill didn't do that at all.

 

Get rid of the ridiculous anti-trust rules that govern insurance companies. Every insurance company is free to sell their wares in every state. Welcome to what the commerce clause in the Constitution is REALLY supposed to do.

 

Other things I think I think:

 

Administrative costs in the industry are FAR too high. Some of that has to be due to excessive regulation.

 

I think everyone should have "catastrophic" health insurance.

 

I also think healthy people should get a significant discount and the fatty mcbutterpant's of the world should pay per square inch.

 

I think hospitals/doctors should have to tell you in advance what things cost so that you have a choice on who gets your money.

 

I think there should be independent review boards to stop defensive medicine.

 

I think there should be significant Tort reform. I've seen estimates that 50% of "health care" costs are directly related to Malpractice Insurance/settlements/litigation and 50% of cases are frivolous. That's ridiculous.

 

I think the FDA should significantly streamline the process for getting drugs to market and should let anyone diagnosed with a terminal illness/condition take whatever the !@#$ they want if they think it gives them a chance to survive.

 

I think the government should stay out of people's decision on whether to end their own life.

 

I think Medicare/MedicAid/the VA/should all be abolished. Medicare/CAID is bankrupt and the rest of us subsidize it both through our tax payments AND higher health care costs because it refuses to pay what things really cost. That's pretty funny and hypocritical at the same time.

 

I think the HMO Act of 1973 should be repealed in its entirety.

 

I think the easiest way to save money is to streamline administration but the lawyers won't let that happen.

 

I think employers should be cut completely out of the health care business.

 

I think one of the roles of government is to get more people to want to be in the "medical" field. There has to be a way to ensure there are more doctors, nurses, practitioners going to and completing medical school.

 

I think there needs to be far more emphasis on preventive medicine. If people took better care of themselves, health care would be MUCH cheaper. I think more small clinics would do wonders.

 

I think all medical expenses should be tax free.

[Celtic_soulja]

Look, this is nothing more than another resounding example of how NOBODY represents the middle class...

 

The Republicans represent the elite now...some middle class live under the illusion they are the elite...WRONG...

 

The Democrats represent a centralized welfare state liberal agenda...some middle class feeeel like they will benefit from this...WRONG...

 

See, the truth is the bottom ten percent and the top ten percent attack and destroy and take from the only class that is worth a damn...the middle class working 80 percent...sorry, its the cold truth...we need to wake up and stop putting these losers in thier cushy seats in washington...

 

Now, to address this CP issue...I completely understand, my cousin has been dealing with it his whole life as well...however...does this really help as much as it should?...mandating the middle class to have coverage is FAR from the issue...how about free clinics for the disabled????...10 million dollars would allot a total of 100,000 patients to be seen per year...the math is MUCH BETTER than using a trillion of money from the empty pockets of our middle class funding every tom dick and bureaucrat in insurance and politics along the way to finalllllly come to your son with CP...please...I'm not intolerant and I'm not without remorse...I'm just too damn intelligent to eat up this heart strings bullcrap that these politicians are feeding...when it doesn't address the problem NEAR as well as it could without all of this spending...it's stupid, unethical, unconstitional, and needs to be repealed by the Supreme Court so someone with half a brain can implement a REAL fix...

[Astrojanitor]

I don't know who the "other side" is.

 

The way to make things cheaper in a market economy is to increase competition. If you're not doing that, you're not accomplishing anything. This bill didn't do that at all.

 

Get rid of the ridiculous anti-trust rules that govern insurance companies. Every insurance company is free to sell their wares in every state. Welcome to what the commerce clause in the Constitution is REALLY supposed to do.

 

Other things I think I think:

 

Administrative costs in the industry are FAR too high. Some of that has to be due to excessive regulation.

 

I think everyone should have "catastrophic" health insurance.

 

I also think healthy people should get a significant discount and the fatty mcbutterpant's of the world should pay per square inch.

 

I think hospitals/doctors should have to tell you in advance what things cost so that you have a choice on who gets your money.

 

I think there should be independent review boards to stop defensive medicine.

 

I think there should be significant Tort reform. I've seen estimates that 50% of "health care" costs are directly related to Malpractice Insurance/settlements/litigation and 50% of cases are frivolous. That's ridiculous.

 

I think the FDA should significantly streamline the process for getting drugs to market and should let anyone diagnosed with a terminal illness/condition take whatever the !@#$ they want if they think it gives them a chance to survive.

 

I think the government should stay out of people's decision on whether to end their own life.

 

I think Medicare/MedicAid/the VA/should all be abolished. Medicare/CAID is bankrupt and the rest of us subsidize it both through our tax payments AND higher health care costs because it refuses to pay what things really cost. That's pretty funny and hypocritical at the same time.

 

I think the HMO Act of 1973 should be repealed in its entirety.

 

I think the easiest way to save money is to streamline administration but the lawyers won't let that happen.

 

I think employers should be cut completely out of the health care business.

 

I think one of the roles of government is to get more people to want to be in the "medical" field. There has to be a way to ensure there are more doctors, nurses, practitioners going to and completing medical school.

 

I think there needs to be far more emphasis on preventive medicine. If people took better care of themselves, health care would be MUCH cheaper.

 

I think all medical expenses should be tax free.

 

outside of the abolishing of Medicare (although I also support a level of regulation) I think I agree with all of this.

At this point I wonder who is more cynical. There's no money in your plan, so it'll never go down--I think a lot of your frustration stems from knowing that. As for the current bill I am taking the attitude of pockets getting lined, but some good being done.

 

You are 100% right when it comes to the malpractice issue. My sister is a malpractice attorney and she heps me to some of the cases she has to deal with. If her experience is anything 50% frivolous is a pretty generous number.

 

the government can do very little to inspire kids to become doctors. As a previous (and hopefully future) college prof I assure you parental and cultural indifference has led to widespread borderline illiteracy. Tax credits take you only so far.

 

The overall problem with your plan is it being calm, clearheaded and easy to implement. There is not nearly enough tax raising, panel development, or damning of gays and lesbians/women's health/medical marijuana/existence of evolution....no one has the political cachet to back something like that.

[Alaska Darin]

the government can do very little to inspire kids to become doctors.

I disagree, though I'm not talking about cheer leading. When you get out of medical school with $250k+ of debt and face a system that makes you (and your middle class parents who make just enough money to get screwed along with you) pretty much an indentured servant, it's quite a hill to climb. There's plenty that can be done and it's not as easy as blaming it on societal apathy.

[WisconsinBillzFan]

Who are " the county's least productive and least appreciative citizens" that you speak of?

 

The people who refuse to work and who leach off liberal government entitlement programs.

[Pine Barrens Mafia]

the bad must be remembered and dealt with

 

 

Good luck with that. Anyone tries to lay hands on the new sacred cow, Democrats will trot out Granny and whoever else they can as human shields. Just ask British legislators how easy it is to reform their National Health.

[pBills]

I no longer have to worry about my 7 year old (cerebral palsy) being denied Health insurance for a pre-existing condition.

 

There is no longer a cap on the ammount of insurance available to him.

 

Yes, there are flaws. No one should be mandated to buy insurance, but to those that are screaming that this is communism .... shut the hell up.

 

 

Congratulations on having that pre-existing condition garbage being thrown away. That is truly great news for a lot of Americans.

 

In regards to being mandated to buying insurance. I kind of laugh at that, because in most if not all states people are mandated to buy car insurance. What's the problem with it? Personally, I look at it as there will be less people going to ERs for cold symptoms, etc because they will be able to make doctors appointments. Bottom line, the ER won't have to be their general practitioner or clinic.

[John Adams]

I no longer have to worry about my 7 year old (cerebral palsy) being denied Health insurance for a pre-existing condition.

 

There is no longer a cap on the ammount of insurance available to him.

 

Yes, there are flaws. No one should be mandated to buy insurance, but to those that are screaming that this is communism .... shut the hell up.

 

The pre-existing condition law and the health care for dependents to age 26 are great. Most of the rest is ****.

 

And STILL no tort reform!

[John Adams]

the government can do very little to inspire kids to become doctors. As a previous (and hopefully future) college prof I assure you parental and cultural indifference has led to widespread borderline illiteracy. Tax credits take you only so far.

 

Forget the tax credits for a second. I have a friend who is a doctor and loved the Philadelphia area. But he moved for one reason: malpractice risks were through the roof here and carved too deep a slice of flesh from his pocket. Even now where he lives in Maryland, he gets killed but not as much. So think about it: the government can inspire more people to become doctors by enacting substantive tort reform.

 

Of course, the dems won't do that and scoff at the Reps for even bringing it up.

 

Tort reform would raise the salaries of doctors substantially. Back to my doc friend, this guy is a top surgeon who went to a top school. You'd think he's making millions (frankly, I want my surgeon to be making millions) but he's not. He's got a nice house, a couple middle-class cars and take a vacation in South Carolina for a week every year. The flip side of his nice mid-upper class life is some guy in family practice who has 250K in debt and is only making 120K/year. It's not worth it to him to have gone to med school.

[IDBillzFan]

In regards to being mandated to buying insurance. I kind of laugh at that, because in most if not all states people are mandated to buy car insurance. What's the problem with it?

I love when liberals break out this argument because it makes it so much faster and easier to figure out which of you has no idea what the hell they're talking about.

[Jim in Anchorage]

I love when liberals break out this argument because it makes it so much faster and easier to figure out which of you has no idea what the hell they're talking about.

You are being far to kind.

[3rdnlng]

I love when liberals break out this argument because it makes it so much faster and easier to figure out which of you has no idea what the hell they're talking about.

 

Auto Insurance---liability mandatory because your actions can affect other people. Collision not mandatory by the government because it affects only you. (Notwithstanding insurance mandatory by your lender.)

 

Healthcare Insurance---mandatory by the government because they say so.

 

Now, tell me seriously, did you need PBills to make this correlation in order to tell that he is clueless?

[DC Tom]

In regards to being mandated to buying insurance. I kind of laugh at that, because in most if not all states people are mandated to buy car insurance. What's the problem with it?

 

It's not mandated, it's conditional on owning a car, dumbass.

[Alaska Darin]

It's not mandated, it's conditional on owning a car, dumbass.

Not even that. You can own a car and not have insurance. You just can't drive it on public roads.

[Astrojanitor]

Forget the tax credits for a second. I have a friend who is a doctor and loved the Philadelphia area. But he moved for one reason: malpractice risks were through the roof here and carved too deep a slice of flesh from his pocket. Even now where he lives in Maryland, he gets killed but not as much. So think about it: the government can inspire more people to become doctors by enacting substantive tort reform.

 

Of course, the dems won't do that and scoff at the Reps for even bringing it up.

 

Tort reform would raise the salaries of doctors substantially. Back to my doc friend, this guy is a top surgeon who went to a top school. You'd think he's making millions (frankly, I want my surgeon to be making millions) but he's not. He's got a nice house, a couple middle-class cars and take a vacation in South Carolina for a week every year. The flip side of his nice mid-upper class life is some guy in family practice who has 250K in debt and is only making 120K/year. It's not worth it to him to have gone to med school.

 

I accept most of this. I've always felt higher education should be next to free. I think if it is difficult to stay enrolled (say 2 semesters below 2.0 and you are out) and low cost, kids can be more inspired to actually do work. It cost me $100K to get my masters...right now I can't afford to teach because my debt is so high. Pretty unfair and a total drag. But a lot is on the kids heads too. In 3 years at OSU I probably had 4-5 students I'd trust to have any kind of job at all--let alone a doctor.

[IDBillzFan]

Pre-existing conditions for children not allowed right away. Probably will be fixed soon, but if they missed this obvious selling point, what else are we going to find out that they missed.

[ieatcrayonz]

You told him to shut up, that makes him a victim that believes he should pull himself up by his bootstraps or somesuch...

WWFLPD?