Health Care Reform

whos is going to pay for all of thisa

“The intentional error”

People who are in media are a business and they have this
pattern of statement; they realize the error in the statement,
and know all the possible responses.

For example: Lets complain about the new addition to your
household electricity system, the smartmeter. Lets make the
complaint: “I expect a backstop for this product.” or “I expect
this product to improve and both versions worth the investment.”

(If you don’t know “backstop” means replacing a product because
of environmental improvement.)

The company knows the responses, they are accepting criticism in
this way:

The initial consumer ranking game is “comfortable marriage”

1) Who is your assigned male?
2) Explain why he was employable?
3) Does your memory indicate that your finances want to fit in?
4) Are you changing the system?

The purpose of ranking consumers though marriage-ability is the
next obviously important “personal comfort”. Personal comfort
is obviously important to pricing, the economic lingo that is
usually used in it’s place is happiness or satisfaction. I
really want to point out that the consumer ranks those
qualities arbitrarily, it is your personal taste, style,
attitude, your cool, that you fit in the same as years ago.

Personal comfort is exactly why their are twenty times the number
of raw resources that go into a car vs. a computer, yet the pricing
is what the consumer will pay for comfort or satisfaction.

So who’s “personal comfort” changes the company, by setting
consumer trends, changing prices, effecting shares changing the
CEO. The people who at the same time claim approval of a respected
male income.

The fact that the person running the business changes but follows
the same systematic conversation running the company, indicates
their is simply a pattern to running a company, they change the
company like most other consumers, they simply bring their
“marriage comfort” hence “personal comfort” for the consumers
preference, relating to the important consumers preemptively.

So is my only response to media, “dad had a perfect death”.

Like all canadians, I am an obsessive observer of US politics because every thing happens in the US impacts us also. So even though I am an outsider perhaps I can offer a perspective.

The OECD monitors healthcare costs and its analysis shows that America has the least socialised, least evenly distributed and most expensive healthcare system per capita among all developed countries. The argument that universal medical systems are more expensive is simply not true. However, the real issue when changing systems is that it will cause a redistribution and there will be winners and losers, that is where the debate lies, not in the total cost.

From a personal perspective, in 1991 my father needed a heart transplant. In Canada, he did not qualify until he had only an estimated year to live because the system only has so many hearts. It was a difficult wait, but finally, he did get one and lived actively for another 14 years. We are a middle income family and in the US his medical problem would certainly have bankrupted the family, or he would have died without a heart. As it turned out, the cost was minimal and his savings were available to finance my parent’s retirement. For our family, paying into the system for 30 years was worth it from every perspective.

I now living in France where we have a system that is very similar to the canadian healthcare model.

I am a financial comptroller whose job it is to control costs. There is no question that the taxes to support the universal healthcare system are high, but they are also predictable. Business can plan for the costs knowing that there will not be big surprises. In business, certainty is often worth as much as low cost especially since all companies here are subject to the same costs, so it is an even playing field. By contrast, our US subsidiary is threatened with a massive increase in health insurance premiums because our headcount has decreased below a threshhold. Healthcare costs are pretty much as high as in France, but they are unpredictable and rising fast. So from a business perspective as well as a personal perspective I think the universal healthcare model is better.

I lived for a time in the Czech republic where my family was not eligible for the state healthcare system. We bought private insurance to protect against the big risks but it did not cover preventative medicine. Inevitably, We postponed checkups and preventive care. Preventive medicin is much cheaper for the medical system than intervention. In France it would be unthinkable that a pregnant women would not visit a doctor regularly during her term. In the US, there are still a significant number of pregnancies where the first medical intervention is during the birth. This is inefficient and short-sighted.

There really isn’t a strong argument against a system that will be more fairly distributed, provide quality healthcare and at about the same cost (or less) than the current system. But changing systems will cause winners and losers through a process of redistribution. This will be highly political and may still fail.

There are many great things about the US. The healthcare system just doesn’t happen to be one of them. I hope the US will take the best aspects of each of the systems used by its neighbours and build a better, fairer new deal.

Mr.Obama, You are the best Ive seen in years.I would love to talk to you.Our heath care ststem needs to be fixed.We would have alot more money in Medicare.If alot of things changed.The prescription plans are doing bad things.I uncovered it myself.I am very sick.The goverment takes care of me.Its a diseaster.I have kept all my records.There is alot going on.We would have plenty of money in the system.I cant print very long.Its unreal.You would be shocked.I am not afriad to talk about it.I have to go.It will come outJoAnn

I come from a lower income family.

I work my butt off to provide for my wife and I while attending college.

I don’t take handouts, and I never will.

I am already paying for all of the failed and failing programs already available to the populace.

Grow a backbone and provide for yourselves or crawl back into your hole and die. If you need help…I am getting to that point.

Rise up.
Take your stand.
Or lose it.

Well take Congress and the President and V P and the rest of the Government workers and put them in with us to go to a regular Doctor and a regular hospital and sit back and watch how fast things get fixed.

Also while we are dreaming look at the Old People on Medicare. No dental coverage or eye care or hearing aids. Now ask yourself “Who needs dental care,eye care, or hearing aids more YOUNGER people or the OLDER people”. I am on Medicare and need dental care bad, but can’t afford it. Bad teeth and gum disease cause more sickness in Old Folks.

Franklin D. Roosevelt said it best “The most scariest words are I’m from the government and I’m here to help”.

Health Care providers say that they will do their best to cut costs… Example: BCBS just announced that they will not be giving their employees any raises or bonuses next year. What a great gesture coming from a CEO that made $40 million last year! The problem with America is a lack of corporate responsibility and too much influence in Washington. Of course there needs to be Health Care Reform! Pre-existing conditions… what a scam!!!

You people that want a government run healthcare program, tell me one program that the government provides that is run efficiently. Medicare is bankrupt. Social Security, bankrupt. Postal service, bankrupt. Everyone of the programs that the government administers is bankrupt. We need to stop providing “free” programs in this country that are geared toward satisfying the lowest common denominator at the expense of everyone else. A couple of readers have made a great point, you want national heatlhcare, move to Canada and experience the nightmare they are dealing with in getting any kind of service while controlling costs. Sure you can control costs, its called RATIONING. To everyone who wants a government controlled single payer system my advice to you is to not get sick. I once talked in depth with a former Canadian physician now practicing in Michigan and asked how the system worked. He said it was great for the first couple of years until the governement rationing board starts to make decisions to cut costs. He told me he got sick of playing God. Another words it is diffcult making the decision on who lives and gets the care they need, or who dies. Don’t think this is possible. Believe me, I grew up accross the border from Canada and I cannot tell you how many people would come over to our hospitals and pay for the care out of their own pockets just for the fact that they could get it quickly. This was 30 years ago. My dad was recently in the hospital and I was amazed at how many Canadian nurses were working in the our hospitals. This is another casualty of nationalized healthcare. Doctors and nurses are limited on what they can make. This does not promote providing good service. Do we need healthcare reform. Absolutely. Is a single payer government run national healthcare system the answer? Not if my life depended on it.

Saving $2 Trillion on medical expenses, 5 million new jobs, $12 trillion in debt, contemplating $17 billion is savings. The Nurses Union is going to save on administrative costs? Why aren’t they doing it now?

There is the mouth and then reality.

There is almost no point in posting…I know that people who believe gov run health care system will find a numerous catch phrases and sad stories to justify their stupidity.

But, all I want to say is when gov takes over your health care and you have an opportunity to see how “great” it is, I will be laughing and saying: “I told you sooooo!”

At 15 years of age, my appendix burst; yet, i had to wait 27.5 hours to see a doctor, and over 48 hours to receive an emergency surgery. It is a pure miracle that I have survived. By the time they actually got me to an operating room, I was non- responsive.

——————-

There is a “free,” gov run, European health care for you, America! Don’t be surprised when you are the one dying while you are waiting for a bureaucrat to decide when you can go in to see a doctor. (that of course is assuming that there are any doctors who care after being harassed and censored by all knowing government.)
————–

P.S. anyone who speaks of socialism without having lived it, should shut up and not distribute their ignorance.

According to Money Magazine, the top 14 health insurance compaines posted a combined $8.61 billion profit in 2009, with the majority of company revenues down more than 25% from the year prior. In other words, in one of the worst years on record for profits, health insurance companies still managed to make more than $8 billion. Now, I wonder why most insurance companies, special interest groups, and lobbyists paint such a bleak picture of universal healthcare?

An engineer would say,
“The graph of the function indicates all expectations.”

126 395 086

I am a physician in New York.. When Obama stands up there and talks about how he is gong to “fix healthcare” and makes no mention of tort reform, he is like the “Emperor” in the “Emperor’s New Clothes” standing in front of his public wearing a barrel with suspenders.

If you are in a raped medical specialty (raped by lawyers, ie neurosurgery, Emergency Medicine, or John Edwards favorite, OB-GYN) , you don’t work for your patients, you work for the malpractice attorneys. Do I really care about containing costs, if all it’s going to do is get me sued for not ordering a CYA test and I get no benefit?

Lets make things absolutely clear, healthcare reform is not interefering in a free market. There is no free market in heaalth care in the united states. Doctors, hospitals, drug comapies, insurance companies etc. do ot compete on the basis of either price or quality.

I believe strongly in free markets, and i am in no way a socialist, but when the market fails, or when there are concerns that transcend profit it is entirely appropriate for government to get involved. The free market has failed the people of the united states when it comes to health care.

I am sick of such comments as “do you really want government to run your health care”. Government can and does do many things well. A Government health care system can provide quality care to everyone at reasonable prices, but the system must be well designed and well run and it must be accountable. Our current system is none of these. It is not well designed, in fact it is not designed at all, but a hodge podge of efforts that have grown up independently over the years. It is not well run. Some aspects of american health care are well run, amy hospitals are well run, but the SYSTEM is not run at all. And it is not accountable. We don’t know if we are getting good care at reasonable prices because no one reports on it.

Finally people talk about enormous costs. The fact is we sepnd enough money on health care in this system tp provide everyone with high quality care. Health care reform does not need to cost an additional nickel, in fact it should cost much less.

My father-inilaw is a dentists and feels that current medicare restrictions require him to provide short term fixes instead of more costly long term solutions. he uses this as an argument against government run health care. A good system wood need to be designed to provide appropriate care to everyone. A system that provides care to everyone, not just the poor and elderly, would have built in safeguards because the patients would demand appropriate care.

Oh, and by the way. We should also move from our failed automabile insurance “system” to a true no fault system that we pay for at the pump. Such a system would be good for the people, good for the economy, good for the courts, but bad for trial lawyers and insurance companies.

Health care in the US is a monster. Mostly because it is completely socialized for the old, the poor and all government employees. These beneficiaries pay little for health care on a scale and generosity that is unmatched anywhere in the world. No one ever says no to anything. The president wishes to extend this same luxurious plan to the rest of us who are already paying for the freeloaders. The cookie jar is already empty. At least in the EU all pay heavy taxes, not just the high income taxpayers. This is where we are going and there is no turning back:

1. Higher taxes for some.
2. Initially generous unlimited benefits for all.
3. Reality setting in.
4. Higher taxes for all.
5. Limitations on coverage. Howl all you want.

The wheels will fall off of the gravy train, and we will have health care the way it is in the rest of the developed world. No better and no worse.

Ha ha…one writes

“If we can get those people to give more than take, then this will work and work well.”

I guess that’s Obama’s plan summed up in a nut shell. Thoes that get from thoes that give is what makes Obama’s plan “work”.

Some level of health care should be available for thoes who are without but to create an entire system that will negatively affect the remaining 90% does not make sense.

As another said “healt care is not a right”. What made this country great was Americans who were proud to earn what they received and depended on themselves. No one helped the pioneers. Where is the American spirit these days? Let’s look at ways to reduce costs and increase competition, like another said, so it is more affordable. Freedom that fosters competition benefits the consumer and is the American way.

I come from a country with a full national health service, so I have a working idea of the end effects, if not the nadministrative side of things.

First and foremost – it does NOT save money. It costs MORE.

Second, if you think you’ve got an illegal immigration problem now, wait until outsiders start seeing comprehensive ‘free’ healthcare waiting for them here.

Third, people who get ‘free’ healthcare tend to start thinking of it as having no financial cost. They devalue it in their minds and approach it with an uncaring attitude – ‘other people’ pay for it, so why should they (at least a sizable proportion of them) care? It’s ‘free’ – wrong!

It is this last point that makes it a socialist’s dream come true, invoking the tired old phrase, “the richer people must do more to help the poor”. Redistribution of wealth cloaked in emotive plea for ‘reason’ – which sounds good until “richer people” starts to include the only marginally richer people and then anyone who earns a wage, as the costs in supplies, staffing and above all a burgeoning administration start biting deep as they eventually will.

The president talks of saving $2 trillion? Sorry, but well-intentioned as it is, it is still a socialist pipe-dream that will eventually bankrupt the nation as nothing else has yet, and I include the current Iraq and Afghanistan troubles. Take everyone down to the lowest common denominator and then tell me that it isn’t a socialist state we live in under the allegedly benevolent rule of champagne socialist grandees in government.

I’m no foaming at the mouth right wing reactionary. I’m an immigrant RN from England, now a US citizen who came here to escape the very things that our president is working to introduce.

I most definitely do NOT support a government run health care system. Maybe we need more competition in healthcare, but the American public
would be very foolish to support a government run plan. That’s because
eventually (within just a few years, probably) the government would have to
ration health care in the name of “fairness.” That’s because the costs are simply too high to allow everyone to see a doctor and have the tests they want when they want. How to ration? Well, either extremely long waits (6 mos. to a year) to get the MOST BASIC things scheduled (E.g., MRIs, CTSCANS, an annual physical, a maintenance appointment) and/or denying those who are elderly the chance to get screened and treated for certain expensive diseases at all.
Here’s a case-in-point: a friend of my parents, who was an elderly woman in England, recently died. An autopsy showed that she had three types of advanced cancer. Despite her and her family’s best efforts to have her symptoms addressed, the British medical system completely failed to diagnose her cancer. Why? She was too old. What a way to die.
A government-run system would be absolutely horrible for our country.

I think our country should provide universal healthcare. The healthcare industry charges too much money for its services. Insurance companies only want to cover preventative expenses (in other words don’t get sick). I’ve seen posts saying healthcare is not a right… well maybe it should be… our country has the technology and knowledge… our country has the money… just ask Chrysler and other companies about their government loans… I think some people need to grow a heart and think about someone other than themselves…

Until health care is totally nationalized, this plan is doomed for failure. The current system of private inusurers (Non-profit what a joke) does not work. I have heard that administrative costs for medicare is only 3%. The cost is high because there are a greater number of people that utilize the care. Match that with the 20+% administative costs for private insureres. Further the group that the private insureres include are youger, and healther than the medicare recipients, yet the cost go up staggering amounts each year. As much as many people would rail against it, what is needed is a single payor system with none of the current private insurers allowed to participate.

This will hurt, big time. Take Canada for example, and their socialized medicine. Yes sure, everyone gets healthcare, but everyone else pays for it, through their national sales tax, which is near 15% on just about everything. So the people who spend the most, pay for everyone else. If this healthcare ends up being free, then employers will begin realizing this and stop paying for privatized healthcare, and everyone will be stuch with the government healthcare, which will not be very good. Doctors will get screwed out of their share, as was the case in Canada, they will stop practicing. Canada’s healthcare, for anyone who doesn’t know, is terrible, heart surgery, what might occur in a matter of hours in the U.S. now, takes weeks in Canada, because of the shortage of staff. If we think there aren’t enough doctors in the U.S. now, then let the government get involved, there will be even less!!

Beware when the insurance companies and the pharmaceuticals join with the Obama adminstration to insitute a new health plan.

There is really only one way to save the health care system in the long run and that is moving from the “fix it” mentality to preventive medicine. I read the wonderful word “prevention” often in the reforms.

But the reality is going to be tough. There is a ton of money in pills, surgery and electronic devices. There is hardly any money in preventive medicine because nothing is needed if the person doesn’t get sick in the first place!

That’s the way out. There is an awesome amount of information about how other cultures prevent disease by eating healthy foods and being much more physically active. Here again, the money is in selling hamburgers, dairy products, donuts and canned soda (7 teaspoons of sugar per can!). The data warns against all of this, but they have the advertising money and force of habit on their side.

Only wise government testing and advertising what is healthy can hope to overcome the money driven forces that are tearing this country’s health apart.

The odds are against beating the corruption of lobbyists and campaign contributions, but we must try.

N. Korn wrote “Universal health care is a required minimum. Sick must get help. ”

Food is necessary for life. Should the government take over farms and grocery stores? Okay, well, they’re well on their way in farming–thus the inefficiencies.

The government should set limits (i.e. pollution limits, FDA limits for safety), but not try to control production or research, nor distribute resources. Government should set and enforce the rules, then let capitalism–which integrates the individual knowledge and creativity of billions of suppliers and consumers in natural daily negotiation and exchange–develop and supply the most efficient, effective solution. That’s what capitalism is all about.

How is Obama going to fix Health Care when the gov’t doesn’t have any money ? Is he going to fix Health Care the way he “fixed” GM and Chrysler ? Keep the government out of it, let the private sector compete and costs will stabilize. Stop giving free hospital care to illegal immigrants. Is this that hard to figure out ? All Obama is doing is using his Thug-onomics to intimidate these care providers and they’re scared of him.

We cannot allow the National Government to enter the health care arena as a provider or an insurer. I am very concerned that by allowing the Federal or State government to play in the healthcare sandbox, we are adding a layer of competition that the private sector cannot compete against. If our private insurers dont get their mix to the risk pools, they will be run out of business. If that happens we may have a single payor system in no time. I for one, do not want the federal government dictating my care…. do you? Forget about a State run HMO , we’ll have a single source for providing healthcare. think past the first year. A healthInsurance Option given by the Federal Government will cause long term changes that nobody will be able to stop.
Who will become our physicians if the reimbursement rates get cut in half?
Have you seen how Medicare works? The elderly are buying in to medicare it isn’t free. Then they are still purchasing supplements… A+B+F+D. No thanks to the federal help!
Adding insult to injury, our government cannot afford the healthcare tab. They are choking on medicare and it’s funded not only by the elderly but the taxpayers as well. It’s still all but bankrupt I cannot imagine the Federal Budget trying to take on the entire private sector. We need to be VERY careful what we Wish for… Be an American .. Stick up for your rights… don’t let the govenrment pass something without educating you to the turth.

I think it will help lower costs, but I strongly believe that this will have a detrimental impact on research and development of new drugs and procedures. With no cost benefit, of research for the companies producing these drugs, they are less likely to even spend a dime on research for a certain thing. So much of the money taken in by drug manufacturers is actually reinvested in research for other drugs, so taking this money away will significantly stifle the medical advances we have worked so hard for to date. This is just another move by an inept administration to try and look better in the face of the people. I can’t believe how much they are hurting this country without even realizing it. The budget is nearly $4 trillion and the country’s revenues aren’t even $1 trillion. But this is what happens when a bunch of people want “change” facilitated by an inept leader who has never run anything in his life.

Personally, I do not support the direction we are going in with health care. I suspect if only someone would look at Medicare (for starters) and look at what is paid out to providers, they’d die of shock. My most recent experience with my mother in law was when she was told she needed a back brace to help with her back pain. So, after being told Medicare would pay it, she agreed. She got the bill which showed that Medicare paid over $1100 for what amounts to a wide belt with bells and whistles…her part would be $264. Needless to say, I thought the provider had billed this ludicrous amount to Medicare–then I found out MEDICARE placed the price they were willing to pay for it and that was what was charged and paid. Reminds me of the Pentagons hammers and toilet sets. Who the heck does a reality check on these things? And oh by the way, she returned it, never having worn it…do you think Medicare was given back the money? In a pig’s eye they were….and the same thing happened when a wheelchair was ordered when it wasn’t needed, also returned the very day it arrived…was Medicare sent back the money….in your dreams.

Let’s get real folks, medical coveage is very desirable and needed but the reality is we need to get rid of the insurance companies part in this fiasco, look at what is reasonable for a cost and go from there.

Doctors must not prescribe over-priced drugs when generics are available. I’ve heard they get kickbacks from the drug companies.

To those of you that say everyone has access to health care, I can tell you that is not true. Individual health plans are NOT available to everyone; the cost is especially prohibitive to those of us that are on the low end of the scale. I am sure most of you will call this post uninformed but when the cost of insurance is more than 1/3 of your gross monthly income, you will know where I come from.

We should keep the current employer-provided health insurance and at the same time, provide a public health insurance option for small business owners and the early retired (50-64 years). Many Americans do not retire even if they can afford to before they turn 65 years old because of the lack of health insurance options. By providing a public health insurance program outside of the employer-provided one, many Americans in their late 50’s and early 60’s will leave the workplace and make room for young Americans who are now out of work.

As a Canadien living in the USA with a son in Canada a doctor. I cannot belive some of the comments. Doctors in Canada decide what you need not government, and unlike the insurance companys in the US who decide what u can have in Canada its the doctors. In the us you will go broke if you lose your job and need medical help. Its not perfect in Canada but in the long run it works out better. The amercian population is being fed by the medical field in order to protect their interests. Do not believe all of what yu hear or read in the new media.

The more the health care industry (or any industry) must go through government for sales and approval, the less it will pay attention to you and your needs. If we subsidize more than we do now, doctors, pharmaceutical companies, insurance companies will care even less about what you think than they do now. They will ignore you and bow to the feet of the congressmen on the health care committees. They will spend their money and time finding out what the congresswoman wants in exchange for getting a product or service on the “Approved List.” Costs will skyrocket in the long run.

The problem now is that the end user isn’t motivated to act like a smart consumer, since the government, or government-subsidized company (via tax breaks) pays most of the medical and insurance costs. Drug companies spend trillions on drugs that don’t work, and through the current system of subsidies and regulations, we pay for this nonsense, one way or another.

The health industry’s big profits already come from pleasing the government, and it’ll get worse the more government is involved.

To lower health care cost:
(1) stop giving tax breaks for companies to provide health care to employees; companies can instead increase pay and let the employee buy his or her own
(2) Abolish Medicare and Medicaid, then increase welfare, tax breaks and/or vouchers to the poor, so that these individuals can go out and shop for their own insurance and care.

By doing these, the health care industry will once again be accountable to meeting real needs of consumers. It’ll become more efficient and effective. Prices will come down drastically and rapidly.

@Steve Orange ….. costs of litigation is less than 1% of medical costs and being in health care, I know that dr’s make deadly mistakes all the time.

@Carl Sullivan ……. I’m a pharmacist and I wouldn’t advise anybody to go into it …… not if you are looking for money ….. many insurance companies pay us $1.50 total to fill an rx ……. there is an oligopoly of processors …… most are corrupt, “pushing” drugs on their plans because they are getting kickbacks from the drug companies …… sometimes we’re forced to dispense Brand Name drugs when a generic is available …… the processors and drug companies are not interested in saving the system money ……. most large mail-order prescription fillers have been sued numerous times for medicare fraud and are still in business ….

@Charlie ……. Japan has a national health care plan and has more MRI’s per capita than the US.

@ Michael ….. I agree …… there are fewer seats in medical schools now than there were a decade ago ….. at a time when the population is aging ….

@Tyler …… the WHO list the US medical system 34th in the world (which puts us on a par with 3rd world countries) mainly due to lack of access for a large segment of its population.

The largest cause of bankrupdcy for people over the age of 45 in this country is medical bills.
You can very easily create a bill in the hundreds of thousands in a few days …….. no one but the very rich can afford such bills.

This letters section is riddled with cliched knee-jerk reactions to this issue …… the insurance companies love you.

And as for the free market (whatever that means in a country where most major sectors are controlled by oligopolies)……. I don’t know how you can point to that with straight face …….. look how the banks just destroyed the economy …… that’s the “free market” for you …… there is a place for govt involvement and regulation ….

America seems to have a talent for creating amoral crooks …… the larger the business ….. the more corruption you find.

First, placing blame on lawyer’s and litigation is unfair albeit it has played a minor part in health care costs. In summary, our technological advances are what is increased our costs significantly and, regarding litigation, doctors feel the need to offer any and every test in order to cover their risk thus ramping up costs. The solution is not universal health care and will actually create more problems. Until the cost of health care is shared by the consumer costs will never get under control. Think about it: your doctor suggests several tests, x-rays, etc. – what is your response? To simply schedule. Until the first question out of the consumer is “how much will this cost” we will never get control health care costs. By the way, why won’t universal health care work? Because the government is never as efficient as the public sector. When the government can show me how they can run an efficient Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) then MAYBE I will consider government controlled health care. At least at the DMV the worst thing that can happen is you have to wait a few hours or days to get a driver’s license but what happens when you must wait a few months, or years, for that important surgery?? Do not think universal health care is the solution. As Ronald Reagan once said “Government is not the answer to the problem – Government IS the problem”.

To me the issue is how do you eliminate greed in a Capitalist society? Europeans have found that a social system funded by higher taxes can create Healthcare for all. Our system is based on “buyer beware” and applauds high shareholder payback.

I am concerned about any Medicare cuts. My husband and I are barely making ends meet. The Market has taken so much of our savings, and our meager dividends got even more meager. Ages 65+ need Medicare to cover their healthcare. I cannot imagine where we would be if we did not have this coverage. Please Keep Medicare viable. I was without insurance for sometime because we could not afford it. Not a good position to be in. No one would insure me because of a pre-existing condition. Medicare has been a blessing. We also have supplemental that continues to go up every year.
Vicious cycle.

The recent talk about Insurance savings is a wash. Whatever is saved in premiums will be lost in coverage. It’s just another example of the constant bait and switch that goes on in this debate. Get catastrophic care and pay for everything else out of pocket at the time of service. You can negotiate payments with the service provider just as easy as the insurance companies can. I know this from the experience of saving thousands on health care. Nothing else is or will be cheaper.

(In response to Leo Otis, Phila PA who said: “I will support a national health plan only for citizens who take responsibility for staying healthy. In other words, smokers, overweights, illegal drug users, etc. cannot be in the program.”)

Why we are at it let’s not forget the people who go outside without coats in the winter, or those who forget to wear insect repellent in the summer and contract Line disease. Better yet make people apply for social medicine and ONLY except those in perfect health. Then only keep those that stay in perfect health!!! YOUR A MORON.

I also believe that the lawyers & litigation have played a huge part in the cost of insurance. But there are other factors, i cant go outside the state of PA. to check for other carriers, pre-existing conditions will not let us change companies. Why cant i get out of my carrier now & get into a larger group & spread the cost between more people. We have our own business, yes my company pays for all my insurance, we just received our new rates for the upcoming year, $2100/month before Now $3100/month to cover my family, are they serious? As far as other countries with national health care, i have talked with people from Canada, they are very happy with it, yes there are some drawbacks, but for the most part they are pleased with the care they receive. My suggestion,#1 eliminate pre-existing conditions,#2 open up the market so we can go to more carriers for prices,#3 drug companies make way to much for their products, i know because i have family in the drug business & i heard what they give to doctors & hospitals. Something has to change FAST or no one will have insurance except people on welfare.

Cost to high

If we are going to reform health care then we need to address why 80% of our costs are going to support the last 90 days of a person life. What is considered a scared cow and taboo where we spend billions yearly to support our older generations in their dying days.

Their are two reasons for increasing Health care and the Obama Adminiostration is failing to recognize one of them. Lawyers are a huge(not the biggest) reason for health care problems. litigations raise the Dr.s insurance which raises rates. However the biggest reason health care is out of control is the illegal immigrants being given FREE health Care at our expense. I recently had work done at a hospital in NY and they flat out say that any illegal that comes in automatically gets FREE care. Where is the justice in that?? Turn them away make them go back to their own Country for care. No matter whatb reform is passed won’t work as long as they get free care. Look it up see how easy it is for them to get free care. Its ridiculous. Americans deserve the care not these illegal –Yes that word means not allowed– freeloaders. Fix this Health CAre drops significantly… Drs pass on the cost of their free care to us.

The Republicans claim that health care should be left to the free market forces, as is now. However, free market requires free competition, that in turn lowers prices. The truth is that the medical lobby is limiting competition. There is a shortage of physicians. The price of hospital rooms is absurdly high. Both physician fees and hospital fees are outrageous, due to the conspiracy of physicians and hospitals. Only a single payer system will solve the problem. Unfortunately, I am disappointed to see that the new administration does not consider ’single payer’ systems.

The only thing that scares me more than the present health care system would be one run by the government.

Expanding Medicare to All would save money because Medicare’s overhead is only 3% versus 20% for private insurance.

The increase in the Medicare payroll tax would be offset by the fact that businesses can raise wages when they are relieved of healthcare costs.

Cheaper healthcare is a must…Socialized medicine is not the answer..Talk to anyone from Europe and they will tell you the awful problems that they have with not getting treatment because of socialized medicine.

What has destroyed health care in America are lawyers and litigation…..

Universal health care is a required minimum. Sick must get help. They get it now, but it cost a lot. First, people do not go for help until they are very, very ill. Second, provider charges whomever they can find (ultimately –us ) and whatever they feel they can get away with. Not very cost-effective, is it? With a system in place, these costs can be controlled systemically and the entire model will be self-funded. Does that mean that everyone gets hoarded into a state-run HMO? Hope not. There must be alternatives and healthy competition of service providers. Today, you can have the best insurance in the world and still be told that the specialist you need can see you second Thursday next month. Socialized medicine does not look so scary after that.

I’ve worked in Healthcare for more than 20 years. Like everyone in America, I agree we need healthcare reform in America. The problem with Healthcare is not the Hospitals as most people think. It starts with Insurance Co’s, Pharmacy, and Equipment suppliers, and the lack of Congressional action in the past to regulate these three supporting segments of the industry.

We need to talk more about numbers: cost per capita comparison with other countries, life expectancy, results of health organization ratings on countries, components of cost of Medicare as compared with other insurers.
Only numbers and knowledge of medical care systems in other countries will convince uneducated uninformed people that one player system is the best option. It will be not perfect but it is the only reasonable option.

I can not believe the stupidiy of most of the people who have posted comments here. They simply have not done their homework when it comes to government run healthcare.

Many cite Cananda and European nations who have this kind of healthcare. The facts are that these systems are failures. Bureaucrats decide when you can go to a doctor, or specialist, or have a procedure, or even major surgery. A lot of people wait months, or even years before they receive treatment. Some people are denied cancer treatment because of their age, and many die waiting for treatment.If this is the kind of healthcare you want then move to Canada, or to Europe, but leave my healthcare alone!

Remember, anyhting that the gov’t giveth it can also take away. When the cost of this program becomes so excessive healthcare will have to be rationed. Guess who gets hurt? The weak, the elderly and those who are deemed by the government to perhaps not get well even if they are treated.

Freedom above all else!

I work for the state of Va. and have good health care insurance at only a little over 100 dollars a month. What concerns me is when I retire it will cost me about 1000.00 a month close to half my pension. I do support any efforts to lower health cost. I see why many cannot afford the cost of health care and see myself facing some cut backs once I reach retirement in about 10 years. I don’t have alot of faith in the government it getting it done. The government talks a good plan but fails in many areas of getting the job done.

Health care is not a right.

Ask anyone currently living in a country which already has socialized medicine, about Obama’s plan to move us in that general direction, and they’ll tell you that we’re crazy. Sure, the poor will get coverage, but no one seems to take into consideration the quality or accessibility. You think HMOs are bad? Just wait until you are forced to join (and pay for) Obama’s HMO…

The cost of healthcare will continue to rise, just like everything else. The only control is what can be done to slow down that rate of increase. We all want to blame someone else for this problem. It is our(citizens) problem and lets address it. Fist get healthy-lose weight, lose the nasty habits, don’t run your kids to the doctor everytime they get a runny nose, don’t fill your medicine cabinet with medicine you never take because you have a low RX co-pay. What do you expect the government to do??? Yeah they can limit the # of MRI’s and other costly machines so you have to wait in line. They can limit what drug companies can charge and drug companies will quit finding new cures. Other than us getting healthy, the one thing I would like our government to do is to make health insurance mandatory. Then the healthy would have to buy coverage and that would help offset the cost of the unhealthy.

I am baffled that we, Americans, do not understand the simple logic of supply and demand. In other words, we cannot solve the problem of health care without understanding the concept of SUPPLY and DEMAND.

What do I mean?

Typically, only a small percentage (less than five) of medical school applicants is accepted by medical schools. Hence, as the demand arises due to population growth, there is less number of doctors to serve the growing population. In another words, since you have no where to go, you are going to pay whatever the price that doctors demand. Please check out your local medical school record of the number of applicants vs. the number of applicants that are accepted. I promise you that you will be baffled and enlightened.

Unfortunately, everyone in the related industries (medical suppliers, insurance companies, etc.) knows this except us – the stupid Americans. Why do I call myself a stupid American? Because our leader (Obama) doesn’t get the concept either.

It is a shame that 50 million people can not offord to have healthcare insurance and we still claim that this is a great and rich country. Think for the children who do not have healthcare insurance.

Our country already has an example of a nationalized healthcare system – The VA hospitals. Look at the quality of care received by the veterans who dedicated their lives to serve and protect America. The results are pretty embarrassing and it is not where I would send my loved ones for medical attention. What kind of medical care will be provided for the other 50 million people who are in need of a nationalized healthcare system? How well has the government handled Medicare, Medicaid, or Social Security? How will they possibly handle healthcare for the entire country? Cutting payments to physicians and hospitals will only lead to less access of care and make the problem worse.

Take the Insurance Companies out of Health Care and everything will be put right. To poster Wendy and the rest of the “Free Market” zombies out there – It isn’t a free market as long as health insurance companies control the money and the drug companies bask in monopolies.

Single payer health insurance or he’s not getting my vote next term, 60 votes in the senate so their is no excuses anymore. Democratic party remember who voted for you, don’t sell us out to the insurance company, profits on health is immoral.

No, I totally do not support Obama’s plan. Everyone has access to health care now. Many people have employer sponsored health care and choose not to pay for it. Low paying jobs such as Wal-Mart and Starbucks offer health care. There are also many independent plans available but some may not choose to pay for it. In both instances, people prioritize their big screen TVs, premium cable, internet, or cell phone plans higher than health care. That is their choice and they are free to make it.

Obama’s plan is a socialized system that forces everyone to have the same health care and be taxed to death in order to pay for all of the unhealthy people. People should have the choice to elect a health plan or take their chances without one fully knowing they would be responsible for their bills. I want the option to be able to choose a low-cost plan that is right for me or a premium plan that allows access to all the services possible. Not everyone may be able to easily afford the premium plan but everyone has the opportunity to work harder and get a better paying job to afford it.

Do not let Obama take our freedom of choice away!!!

I support Obama’s healthcare plan and I think it will work. It is easier to get something done if we all work together and pool our money and effort. I pay taxes so we can support things that we all need. Health is a need, not a want. The only problem is the clock in clock out gov workers that will admin this. If we can get those people to give more than take, then this will work and work well. Those gov workers are too safe, they sail along with no reason to work really hard, and that could be the drain here unless people step up and accountability is real.

Do we really think that having insurance companies tell us who our doctors can be and what medical procedures we can have makes any sense? Do they really care about our health or about their bottom line? I hear the same people who brag about our military (which is the best in the world) claim that our government can’t get anything right. We need a single payer system in this country. My wife and I have $1300/month health insurance. That’s more than our federal and state income taxes put together.

The plan will most certainly cost too much money, and most likely will simply create all the same kinds of problems with health care that exists in the UK.

The problem with health care, is that people expect too much for what they can pay. You cannot provide pregnancy benefits, for normal childbirth. that is a cost that prospective parents should have to bear. (The childbearing benefits that have been paid over the past 18-20 yrs. have been more than significant.)

There also needs to be changes in child care, as parents today, run to doctors for every little ailment. Some things, such as first aid for minor injuries, should not be covered.

Also, drug company advertising for prescription drugs should be banned. The cost of this heavy TV advertising, is simply running up the cost of prescription medications, for no good reason.

There are many ways to cut health care costs, without resorting to mandatory health care insurance, for everyone……which will ultimately cost citizens Billions in tax dollars for illegal immigrants……more than the billions we already are paying for illegals.

Why isn’t anyone pointing fingers at lawyers that instigate frivolous lawsuits against legitimate doctors and health care institutions?!? Last time I checked, malpractice insurance was a huge cost for doctors. Who ends up paying in the end? So now people want health care for free, who is going to end up paying that? Pretty soon, we’ll be a welfare state of lawsuit happy people. What kind of future does that paint for our children?

A national single-payer system is the only way to go. It’s time the USA grew up and became a mature responsible nation. The health of our citizens should not be a playground for irresponsible corporate interests.

The good thing about the free market is we have to know EXACTLY how it will work, create competition by allowing the CONSUMER to choose, and watch what happens. The price will go down and quality will go up. Period. When insurance companies compete, you win. Let’s just let them compete. If the Government gets involved in this all I can think about is…..Medicare, FEMA, Social Security, Public Schools, etc….does anyone think these are “well-oiled” business models? WAKE UP!

Having the government oversee healthcare is like having the proverbial fox oversee the henhouse. The government is full of bureacratic waste, mismangement & inefficiency (their long-term track record in other areas speaks for itself). Obama’s healthcare plan is yet another set in a long, steady journey towards the socialization of this country and is a big mistake. My wife & I save on healthcare by living a healthy lifestyle and practicing preventive measures to minimize medical costs.

Government intervention is not the answer. Yes, there are some area of health care that need to be fixed but the US has the best health care in the world. The Government will do what they always do. Provide poor service and increase costs in the long run.

I don’t want to duplicate some of the comments that have been posted I think would contribute to cost savings.

My aÄ‘dition is there should be some kind of reward or credit to people who take proper care of themselves; It’d alleviate costs quite a lot. For example, obesity is a growing problem that has many medical ramifications from diabetes to hypertension, heart problems and stroke….It seems that people don’t care much of their own body. We have to emphasize more on medical education and invest more in preventive medicine. According to Silicon Valley Wellness Group: For $1 invested in prevention, $8–20 are saved in return

Rewarding health care providers/ physicians etc.. would also make lot of differences in encouraging cost saving. A rating system of providers might be a good idea.

While there are many avenues of attack, I believe alteration of health care provider economic incentives to be paramount. Incentives must be congruent with goals. If the goal is to optimize a patient’s health status by effectively treating a disease or managing chronic disease to best functional level, then reimbursement systems must be congruent with this goal. They are not. Fee for service, as currently configured, rewards health care providers for volume of services, rarely outcome of services. Currently, outcome only serves to establish reputation. The beginning attempts by Medicare and a few private insureres to “bonus” health care providers for “quality of care” are only the beginning of what need to be drastic changes in incentive structures.

By the way, the free marketers need to be explain why Medicare is currently a more cost effective delivery system than private insurance, not only in administrative cost management, but also in cost effective management of disease burden.

Insurance companies pay huge salaries to their executives and must make money for shareholders ……. cost of administration of private insurance companies is thus 30% to 35% as compared with less than 5% administration costs for Medicare ……..we can save 30 to 35 percent of health care costs simply by going to a single payer non-profit insurance structure …. we’re not talking about welfare or a handout here ……simply more efficient delivery of health care ……… the federal govt is uniquely positioned to offer this type of health care insurance to the public ….. why shouldn’t the american people be able to opt in for a public not for profit system ?………are public servants entitled to better health care coverage than those they work for ?????

“Do you support the Obama administration’s plan to reduce healthcare costs?” I can’t help but see bias in the question, as many people (myself included) believe that gov’t control of healthcare would increase costs, not reduce them.

Anyhow, the idea of gov’t ran healthcare scares me. I will admit – our system is not perfect; however even supporters of gov’t healthcare cannot point to an example where it has worked for the better. Anytime the gov’t gets involved in anything, the quality goes down and the costs go up because there is not a profit motive to discourage waste. On the face, electronic medical records would help to ensure that multiple procedures are not repeated, but the real reason why the gov’t wants to make medical records electronic is so they can monitor them and determine what care you get and what care you don’t. Once the gov’t starts paying for this, people are not going to have the choice anymore to decide where they go and what service(s) they get – the gov’t will do it for them.
Here are my ideas that I think would help, and NONE of them include gov’t ran healthcare:
1. Cap settlements that are paid in lawsuits – this would lower the cost of malpractice insurance which would lower the cost that the doctor incurs to provide care.
2. Hospitals & other medical facilities need to charge the same fee for the same service (within the same facility – costs to provide the service could vary greatly from location to location). It should be like taking your car for an oil change – you know how much you are going to pay up front. It’s also like that at minute clinics and other similar facilities that are in drugstores nationwide.
3. Encourage insurance companies to provide preventative care/wellness benefits and encourage people to use them. Part of the problem in this country is that over 1/2 of the people are overweight, and 1/3 are obese. This leads to heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, and other ailments. Giving someone a discount to use a gym and providing low cost yearly physicals over a lifetime would be a lot cheaper than having to pay for that same person to get a triple heart bypass at 60.
4. I don’t think any gov’t program should provide any healthcare whatsoever to people who are not here legally. That’s one of the main reasons why the state of California is almost bankrupt. You don’t pay taxes? You don’t get gov’t provided services – healthcare included.

I will support a national health plan only for citizens who take responsibility for staying healthy. In other words, smokers, overweights, illegal drug users, etc. cannot be in the program.

@DJM, Atlanta, GA

You say “What limits doctors, insurance and medical facilities from making millions?” Then answer yourself “Nothing”. Then say “Let the market compete?”. What has stopped them from competing till now? Answer: Nothing. They all wanna make money. Health care costs will not level out via the free market. Its like expecting different results by doing the same thing over and over again.

1) Remove the tax break from the employer and give it to the individual so you don’t lose your insurance when you lose/leave your job. 2) Let insurers sell their products in every state so there’s maximum competition 3) Subsidize premiums for the “uninsurable” 4) Let Consumer Reports rip the bad insurance plans/companies to shreds and elevate the good ones.

If it is going to work we do not know yet. But at least someone is doing something about it; the issues of healthcare will not simply go away and if we keep postponing it as we did so far the problem will just keep growing. The healthcare system needs to be improved and it has a huge impact on our entire economy, starting from the individual families to the American companies. Everybody is feeling the pain.

What is driving up health care costs is our government. Our government is providing a steady stream of excess medical demand through socialized medicine programs (Medicare, Medicaid). With everyone taking advantage of free medicine, it is forced to curb costs, so it cuts payments to doctors and drug companies. That forces doctors and drug companies to provide fewer services and products at those unprofitable prices. With reduced supply, prices go up. It is a vicious circle. We need to completely privatize medicine instead of doubling down on the cause of the problem.

When the fear of using healthcare causes American families concern that they will lose their homes if they get ill, the gig should be up.

I worked in healthcare for over 5 years and it can be a VERY dirty business. Big Pharma is even worse with how they exploit the consumer. The Controller of a very well known public Big Pharma company once told me that after you strip out the R&D costs, the plastic bottle with child proof safety cap of their latest blockbuster drug cost more than the pills inside. Because they were still on formularie (sic), they could charge the consumer over $110 for a month worth of supply of the pills with gross margins well in excess of 90%.

Absolutely despicable!

Universal Health Care For everyone and paid by our taxes is the only way to go. Otherwise, we’ll be back in few years looking for a new solution to the same old problem. People who advocate Gov. Hands-off don’t think of the entire nation. Wait till you’re unemployed or your grown kids withouta job or money. Universal just like Canada and Europe.

H.R. 676 or die trying.

Healthcare is a prevlidge, NOT A RIGHT!!!! Capitalism and free market should rain supreme, just as our fore-fathers intended!!!!!

We need to do something.

As a 49 yr old male who is on COBRA from my small company I am currently paying $324(round) a month when it expired end of August BCBS will charge me (for the same policy based solely on age and state of residence) $2,764.00. My previous employer has less then 50 people (I used to handle the bill) on the plan WHAT GIVES?? And this is not just BCBS, you think maybe the Insurance companies are going the way of the Big Banks?? Profit no matter what the cost? If you cannot afford your problem not ours! Where is my multi million $ salary and stock bonus’s???

The announcement that insurers, hospitials, and the AMA can commit to the President that they will limit future price increases proves that they are monopolistic entities and are not functioning in a free marketplace. All the groups that stated they can control future price increases should immediately become regulated or disbanded.

I have an HSA insurance plan. This has made me more aware of the actual costs associated with health care. The HSA portion provides a way to save for healthcare in the long term. I think a HSA is the way to go for universal healthcare.

The healthcare system in this country is severely broken and unless something is done quickly it will result in catastrophic failure. More and more people do not have any healthcare insurance as more and more employers find that providing healthcare insurance is too expensive. As unemployment rises and job creation remains weak more and more people will not have or be able to afford healthcare insurance. The lack of insurance will drive hospitals into bankruptcy as the uninsured do not have the money to pay for their hospital care. The healthcare industry and the healthcare system has far too many costs associated with it that do not concern healthcare. Unfortunately healthcare insurance has become just another profit making sector and really has nothing to do with healthcare. Unless a national healthcare policy is offered to everyone such as Medicare the system will fail. No opt outs but private healthcare policies can be bought in addition to a Medicare type policy. Administrative costs can be brought down tremendously and the money saved can be used for actually providing health care. A single healthcare system such as Medicare is good for Capitalism as it will lower costs for business and make American companies more competitive in the worldwide economic sector.

I have been in health insurance industry for over three decades, and have made ton of money at the cost of your health and wallet, thank you, and I have no intention of letting go of my gold mine yet, not until I safely put away all of my $$$ in a swiss vault and get out of this hole …. Hey, I have never done anything illegal. You should try a little capitalism, too before it becomes illegal, instead of crying about me making money off your health.

I am in favor of socialized medicine, but mainly as a way to rein in the outrageous profits of insurance companies, medical facilities, and pharmacuticals at the expense of the general public health. F Law from Austin had some good points in his comments. Maybe some of his/her proposals would be a better solution. Either way, something really needs to be done. It’s a crime that we as a nation can’t get this one right.

I agree with President Obama. We need to fix the Health care. What we are proud with country because We have a compasion, generous, hardworking and smart. Unfornuately we still have over 50 million people without insurance and every day at least one or more people die because of the disease. my question is : Is it American a third world country? Wake up!!! look at the european countries, Canada, South Korea and supprise Taiwan all of their people were taken care with health care. Also my point is Why we spend billions to protect Oil companies in Iraq, bail out the CEO of Banks, Auto industries. Why we are so selfish to help out unfornately our brothers and sisters in US!!!! We, American, are the hardworking people and we are deserved a good health care.

Put all politicians into the same plan as is being proposedf for the general population.
Why should they be exempt from the system that they want to create for all of the rest of us to follow.
This should not only apply to medical insurance but, to pensions & perks not generally given to the public sector.

The American healthcare system consumes 2.5 trillion dollars each year, a number that is larger than the French economy. Health care reform has received increased press because of Barrack Obama, yet each of us feel health care’s increasing impact to our expendable income, but why is healthcare so expensive and growing faster than the cost of living?

The average citizen may believe that doctors and hospitals are unfairly profiting, but were that true hospitals wouldn’t be closing or physician practicing moving due to increasing malpractice insurance. In 2008 California health insurance companies spent 6 billion dollars on administrative costs and earned 4.3 billion dollars in profits. Clearly, the insurance companies are the financial winners.

Insurance company profits are sizable, but lack of universal coverage and technological inefficiencies are the largest factors contributing to our expenses.

It is anticipated that by 2010 fifty million citizens will be without health coverage. These are citizens that can’t afford the coverage and those that choose not to purchase it. Americans without employer sponsored plans must afford a mortgage sized expense or put it to the back-burner because paying for heat, food and shelter are more immediate. Many in this group are left destitute after catastrophic injuries, and represent the lion-share of unreimbursed revenues for hospitals and physician practices.

When physicians re-order tests because results from the same text conducted elsewhere are inaccessible, we are increasing the cost of care. Because of antiquated technology clinicians may have no access to critical information trapped on your paper medical records. Electronic medical records exist, but a majority of American hospitals still rely on paper. This inability to access information accounts for the majority of medical errors and duplication of services. How can an ER physician know of a latex allergy when you’re unconscious and there is no access to your primary physician or chart?

The government has committed considerable resources to focus on the adoption of information standards which will support national health information organizations. These organizations will collect medical data from every clinician you visit, and then make that information available to any authorized clinician wherever that information is needed. This type of organization will save billions in unnecessary expenses, but more importantly will increase the quality of care for all Americans.

Which of these two issues do we tackle first? Do we invest money in universal insurance when we know the money is being wasted on an inefficient system? Or do we deny citizens health coverage while we fix a broken system? Fixing the system is an enormous endeavor and it will take years to accomplish.

The good news is that the conversation is well under way and we have no choice but to fix the problem. By applying pressure to our representatives and focusing on our own health, every American is an active participant in this process. Adopt health eating habits at home and in our schools. There is no one answer or quick fix, but I am confident we are well on our way

America is rapidly becoming a nation that expects government to take of all our problems. Health Care Reform is just another step in that direction. As others have mentioned, there is no government program, project, or department that is well run and highly productive. Our Politicians are not able to discipline themselves and say no since that does not buy votes. Creating a national health care system will add one wasteful program that attempts to say, “Look how I, your elected politician, am taking care of you. So vote for me.” It’s time for a little tough love.

Most of these “commentators” are paid shills for the industry that treats our health as outrageous profit generating hostage. or, they ARE the industry. how else do you explain these lies and non-sensical fear-mongering against a just system most other civilized nations have been enjoying?

I think that all insurances plans should reward you by making you have wellness checks more often. By doing so we can catch more illness and issues in the early stages and get the treatment that is needed at a much smaller cost. I do not like some one telling me that I NEED to use this plan or this insurance. I want the freedom to choose what is best for me and my family but for a reasonable cost. Right know it seems that you pay so much and get so little in return. I think it needs to be looked at and rework to make the system run better and to do what we can to get the cost down not only for the premiums but for treatment and procedures.

Recently, health care professionals have contacted the White House with a vague plan and promise for health care reform in the future that will save trillions of dollars. The health care industry cannot be trusted to deliver on their vague promises as they do not have a clear itemized plan set forth for the Obama administration nor can they be trusted as they have always fought against any health care reform since the Clinton administration. We need some government oversight to verify and insure that REAL reform is going to take place that will help the citizens of this country.

Pay Package of my manager based here in US = $ 130,000 + Bonus + Benefits.

Pay Package of a manager for my company with the same job profile in France = $ 80,000 and Zero Bonus.

Height of hypocrisy!

Why would any one in their right mind want to destroy the greatest health care system in the world? Only a Marxist would want to do that. Think about the loss of our freedoms!!!

I had severe astigmatism and needed polycarbonate glasses that would easily cost me about $500. Earlier, I would avoid going to the ophthalmologist to get my eyes checked because I knew I couldn’t afford buying a new pair of glasses. Two years back, I got Lasik done in my home country (by a doctor who got his MD from NYU) for $ 700. It has been almost three years and my eye sight is perfect.

Health care reform is needed in this country. Costs have gone through the roof for everyone including families that have insurance. Premiums increase anywhere from 10-40 per cent in a year and coverage diminishes. We save by going to generic drugs, delaying routine office visits, trying to lead a healthy lifestyle and limiting expensed in many other areas of our life.

As a Materials Scientist working for a leading healthcare company, I am appalled by the lack of respect among the top management in my company for patient costs. In fact, at one recent town hall meeting, the VP mentioned how the company wanted to do better for the stockholders, employees and doctors. He then chucked after mentioning patients. I also come from a family of doctors and the amount of money they make is just outrageous. However, as a researcher I do think that a socialist system of healtcare would kill the engine of innovation in a sector where America is still a world-leader.

Having lived in 3 countries, 2 (UK and Canada) with universal health care and 1 without, I find it amazing how brain washed people in the US are about government health care.

The US spends far more overall, documents a far greater percentage of that spend being wasted on administration and similar and yet does not provide any guarantee of care to anyone. The insurers can do as they please with far fewer restrictions than auto insurers and zero liability.

The provision of health care in the UK and Canada provides services that are frankly, superior to the US and they are available to everyone with zero threat of bankruptcy.

I agree that government bureaucracy is inefficient and wasteful, but compared to the current state of healthcare in the US, Canada and the UK provide better services to all for far, far less money.

It is time for the US to look at how other countries provide universal care, see where they are getting it wrong and where they get it right and implement the best universal system in the world – it will save a huge amount of money and countless lives.

And for anyone who thinks that healthcare is not a “right”, come back and leave a comment on this page when it is your friend or relative who can’t get care when an insurer denies coverage or a provider tries to charge 3 times more to them because they don’t have insurance.

The Governmet is only telling you a portion of the Naional Healthcare reform story. Just look at Canada or Europe and you will see rationing of health Care and at an even greater tax cost. Also,look at Medicare / Social Security and you’ll see that the Goverment can’t manage these Programs effectively and they will only be a fraction of he cost of a National Health Care System. National Health Care is a really bad idea!!!

the “quality” of the comments here, or lack thereof, is why we as a nation are in this mess: as long as people stay dumb, they deserve what they get, which is an inhumane and criminal society.

Preventive care is the best way to reduce the over all health cost. Going to the gym, exercising, eating healthy are some of the ways to prevent health issues. The government should be taking more of a stance on this. Some ideas might be to give tax incentives on gym memberships exercise equipment eating healthy ect. The fast food chains that sell unhealthy food should be taxed on those items. Cigarettes should be banned or taxed so high that it would make people think twice about buying a pack.

I am a bit uncertain if simply computerizing medical records is going to help that much. More to the point the whole thing needs to be socialized (yes I used the dirty word – get over it). Americans are being controlled and ripped off, financially crippled and sometimes killed, just because they afraid of words ’socialized medicine’. Face it, you can’t make money from sick or dying people, only from the healthy and one day, we will ALL be in that position, sick and dying. America needs to get real. On another point, not having universal health care, hurts American companies (ie all the car companies) ability to compete with the world market. Get over it people – it works in Europe and Canada and it can work here, if we just have the will.

Health care must be accessible to all rich and poor alike.

The rest of the world can do it. So can the USA.

Stop the lies about big Gov’t trying to take over.

Stop the bloodsucking health Insurance Companies. Health care is not a commodity for treading and profit taking.
Get rid of health Insurance Companies.
These parasites have got to go.

I just don’t see doctors. Or have health insurance. Like a mortgage it’s all just a scam. It’s so the 5% of the poeple with the money keep getting the money. This whole country is built and designed to care for the rich. After all who else matters?

I like the idea of lowering health care costs, but I totally oppose a government run health care system!!

My husband and I have health insurance through his employer. I am wary of universal health care as I believe the government should use a “carrot and stick” approach, but they won’t. If I, the taxpayer am going to be gouged with yet more taxes to pay for universal healthcare, I want the people who are getting their health care paid for by me to pay on a sliding scale based on their health. If your are obese, you have to pay more out of your own pocket. If you smoke, the same. And so on. Many employers are using the same tactics and, I believe, encouraging their employees to make healthy life choices, thereby lowering both their own out of pocket, their companies, and the health care system in general. However, the federal government will probably just make me and my husband pay more in taxes to cover universal health care, without asking anything in return of the recipients.

I own a small company and make around 100K+ per year. I pay approx. $1200.00 per month to cover my family. That’s 14.4% of my gross income for medical insurance. That’s up almost 100% over the past 8 years. Something needs to be done. Have you noticed all the fancy Hospital decorative upgrades?

My husband and I are both self employed. We pay A LOT {100’s a month} for health insurance. We almost never go to the dr. – we can’t afford to! With a $2000. decuct. pp, we end up paying for every visit ourselves. We have a good income, but in reality have an “emergency only” health plan, as every dr. visit is very expensive. Surely we can do better here in the USA?

I support universal healthcare access in the form of a public, single payer option such as expanded access to medicare. I totally oppose mandatory private insurance. How does the insurance industry add anything toward providing healthcare? They simply add 25% overhead to each dollar spent on actual care. In my experience, the insurance companies act as healthcare deniers not as healthcare providers.

If the Obama administration falls for this latest ploy by big health insurance companies to control costs, we will all be in big trouble once a republican gets in office.The only way to keep their greed in check is to have a government backed option available to all americans.

Lets face it Health Care is being a money maker for lots of characters. Doctors, insurance, and medical facilites all making millions. What limits this? Nothing! There is no competition and Obama insists on a huge federal governmental solution. This is pure 100% bunk and we all know it. Let the market compete! Let Health Care level its costs out via the free market.

For the Gentleman working for the Fortune 100. Your company is most likely self insured and designed their own benefits. A third party administers the benefits, under the direction of your employer. the plan’s risk is underwritten by a major carrier, or the plan may completely self insure their own risk. You have mixed Short Term disability in with a discussion about Health insurance, meaning major medical, or comprehensive medical. STD has time periods that are established where a person must be fully disabled, unable to perform their job. White collar people are given a better rate, because they are typically able to continue to work through many types of disability. Understand your benefits. Did you read your policy? If you don’t like the coverage, you can afford to buy more and should with the income level that you purport to be at. Education is a consumer responsibility.

How can anyone possibly think having the government run our healthcare will make it better? Sure there are problems but we must look for free market solutions for making improvements, not more government involvement. The waste will be phenomenal and the costs unsustainable. Can anyone name a successful government enterprise? People look to government when they perceive a failure in a free market system, but when government steps in and messes it up more they will look to even more government. Only with the balance of profit motivation vs. people choosing how and where to spend their healthcare dollars can the system improve.

Healthcare needs to be fixed. However, I am not sure that anyone is on the right track for fixing it. There is more to it than just its cost. We pay more for health care and the care gets worse not better. It is a double edged sword. Socialization of medicine is not the answer. The care will get worse. Here are a few of my ideas:

1. Open the door for more doctors to be trained and the government pay for the education. Basic supply and demand.
2. Centralize all medical records to prevent duplicate testing or unnecessary testing.
3. Do not allow Rx to be sold in the U.S. for more than what it is sold for in the lowest cost country. If they can sell it cheaply somewhere else, they can sell it that way here.
4. Let entire states negotiate premiums and coverage with insurance companies. The larger the pool, the better the cost, the better the program. We need to squeze the insurance company profits on medical insurance.
5. For those that are not on the best insurance policy, hospitals cannot charge more than the lowest negotiated price with an insurance company. Everyone should pay the same for that region.
6. Eliminate out of network
7. Change Medicare and Medicade to cover only, Doctor visits, Hospital visits, medicine, nursing homes and recovery care. No wheel chairs, shoes, etc. This will help to get some of the waste and fraud out of the system.

The healthcare system in this country is a disgrace. The care provided is tops but the costs are inflated by both the hospitals and health plans. I have worked for both hospitals and health insurance companies as well as pharmaceutical companies. The fact that now all theses companies are “volunteering” to self regulate show that the Obama administration is on the right path. The only way to lower health care costs is to legislate. Doctors and nurses should still make good livings, but all the administration and fat should be cut out of the hospitals and healthcare insurers. The only way to do that is to legislate electronic records and put controls on the amount that is charged for procedures. Whatever happens I am willing to pay to make sure that everyone is covered. The bottom line is: If everyone is healthy then there is less chance that people will transmit diseases and health care will be less, because people in general will be healthier.

AS LONG AS A CEO IS LOOKING TO MAKE A SALARY AND PAY DIVIDENDS TO SHAREHOLDES THE COST WILL NEVER GO DOWN AS PREMIUMS GO UP PLUS THEY WILL NOT BE LOOKING AFTER YOU’RE BEST INTREST HEALTH CARE WISE

I have been in the Health Insurance Business for almost 20 years. I have been downsized 4 times, seen divisions sold, dismantled. Insurance companies have trimmed everywhere they can. Frontline CSR’s are paid less than people working in MacDonalds. Healthcare costs must be tied to quality in a manner that incents better choices, and better care. Currently there is no readily available method for consumers to measure one facility or provider against another. This means that there is not an effective method to establish competition between providers on anything that is meaningful. No competition, no quality improvement, no cost controls. This is what we have seen for the last 40 years among healthcare providers. Insurance premiums are just a reflection of the underlying costs. Focus on costs and quality, and meaningful measurements.Standardisze pricing and link it to Medicaid and Medicare reimbursement levels. Publish quality scores for all providers and facilities, combinging those scores with a cost score. Good quality + low cost, should be rewarded with better reimbursements. Low quaility should not be tolerated below certain levels, and high cost, high quaility facilities should seek to compete. Facilites providing those most difficult types of services, ie transplants, premature babies, burns, head injuries, should be stringently monitored. These types of ailments are severe in cost, yet need a full mind body and soul approach. Regional risk sharing pools should be established for small employers. Must establish membership guidelines so that the pools act more like large employer groups and less like leaky boats. I have lots more ideas.

I am behind Obama 100%! We need to do something and NOW is the time. We must get behind Obama on this.

I am sick of the republicans fighting Obama on this what is wrong with these idiots. Families are suffering because of this. Let’s get behind Obama and get this done!

Americans want only to have 100% coverage for 100% of services and they want this all now with no limitations or restrictions or they will sue. The govt wastes hundreds of billions with medicare but no one cares. They do nothing to promote a strategy of quality or offering a realistic appraisal on what healthcare costs, or limit what is paid for until it is paid for, then it is too late. Unions have 100% benefits and the bankrupting of cities and industries does not seem to matter. The govt can form a saftey net and should, but what they promise and what they deliver will be vastly different if they seek a single payor system. Illegals covered in full, costs are going down, value up, no litigation reform, no mandate reform…at some point folks have to realize they have to be come heathier and have limits to care or acces in some way. No national health plan in any country is effective for all parties. Pushing a solution on amerians because they have the votes is like having a trillion dollar bill no one read passed then gassing up two half full govt jets to go to paris for valenties and see the pope at about $3mil….now that would never happen…or could it

I get health insurance for my family for about $200 a month, since my employer offers a good plan. I change jobs every few years and wish we had good private insurance (like auto insurance), so I didn’t have to change insurance every time I switched jobs. I have good dental and eye care, but glasses can still be $300 to $500 if you want nice frames and lenses with UV protection and anti-glare coating. I found zennioptical.com from the shopping site fatwallet.com and have been very happy with the quality of their $20 glasses. Very similar to $500 glasses. It does take 3 or 4 weeks to get them, which I don’t like.

Going to universal health care will be a disaster. The only way to cut costs is to ration health care. Cutting costs will lead to a shortage of doctors, less research on drugs and equipment and a maintenance of the status quo–meaning no significant improvements. The bureaucracy will be huge, service will be poor, waiting will seem endless. I notice today that providers indicate they will slow cost increases by 1.5% per year to enable universal health care. These same providers are envisioning a huge increase in patients because of universal health care–won’t happen because most people are treated now.

the health care INDUSTRY (insurance, doctors, hospotals, pharmas) are trying a pre-emptive strike against any real reform, which will have to be something like the australian or the french model. if this BS goes on, i will join the civil disobedience movement and stop paying my OUTRAGEOUS premium for inhumane criminal system.

The problem about fixing healthcare should start with the fundamental understanding that (as in housing) we consume more healthcare than we can afford. This needs to be controlled. Also, healthcare is so regulated that it sans commonsense. Procedures that can be done at doctors’ offices for a fraction of the cost are performed at hospitals costing tons more. Why? Because hospitals have big lobby groups that forbid entrepreneurship.

My wife and I work hard and pay for health insurance. She recently needed back surgery and coincidently we saw Mike Moore’s movie, Sick O, at the same time. Our experience is that the movie is right on. We were toyed around with to the point she thought of quitting her job to work somewhere else, her company is listed as fortune 100, because the insurance wouldn’t pay for her part time disability while she was recooperating. We make over $150k a year, we’re not loafers. Wake up people if they don’t do something soon it will be your family hurt by this huge scam/sham.