Obama's 'Last, Best Chance' on Health Care

I have two major concerns about Health Care reform. I have had original Medicare and Medicare Advantage. By far, Medicare Advantage is superior in cost and services. The president says as part of reform he will cut $177 Billion from Medicare (must be Medicare Advantage). You can read that as increased cost for me or reduced coverage.

Secondly Senator Schumer said on a Sunday talk show that the public option has a 20% cost advantage over private plans; then within 90 seconds said all he wanted was a level playing field! Since no private plans have a 20% profit margin and none can operate without some profit; how many years or even months will it be before there is ONLY the public option to choose from!

Art Johnson

It is time for all Americans to recognize, there are no free rides. The government has to pay for it somehow, irregardless. That means your friends, family, and neighbors will pay, if you don't. It is that simple.

Every person must be responsible for themselves. There is no other way. If you don't have employer coverage, then you must buy your own coverage, even if that is limited to major medical only.

Or, you must take the risk of not being insured, and suffer any consequences of your actions.

O.K ALLRIGHT.ICON,,NOW WE IS NOT TAIKING ABOUT BECAUSE WE THINK OR THAT HE MAKED HIS POINT ON THAT AS IT CAN BE. BUT WHAT WE IS TAILING ABOUT IS THE GRANTS THAT IS BEING GIVEN OUT,BUT NOT TO THE POOR PEOPLE THAT NEED IT.WE ARE LOOKING AT THE 3-KEY FACTORS WHICH IS THE -KEY-ELEMENTSTHIS IS AS TO WHAT IS ACCESSABLI.OTHER THAN SUCH FORM APPLICATIONS,TO THE PEOPLE OR PUBLIC OR U.S.CITIZENS,OR JUST POOR CITIZENS OR NONCITIZENS.WE ARE LOOKING AT ABOUTTHE PEOPLE IS BEING DERIVED BY FALSE APPLICATIONS INTEREST WITH . TIME V.HILL INC 1976,PUBLISHED WITH RECKLESS DISREGARD OF THE TRUTH.COMPANYS CAN TILL YOU ABOUT GOVERNMENTS GRANTS OR MONEYS.BUT THERE IS THAT TAIK ABOUT LOWERBAR. CERTZ V.ROBERT WELCH INC 1974,A NEGLIGENCE STANDARD OF LIABILITY.

If it doesn't raise the deficit by a dime they can use reconciliation. But who gets to decide that? The parlimentarian? The CBO?

Art, unlike you I have two health insurance plans. Both of them are group plans. One is an HMO and One is a lifetime limit of $1,500,000 million dollars. With a 750 deductable and a lifetime !,500,000 million dollar maximum. A 50 deductable on meds. and them the regular co-pay falls into place. Some procedires are covered 100%. Some are covered 80-20.
My point is they are both flawed. Each year my dsductable goes up $250 dollars. Certain medications are excluded. Ususally the newer more expensive brands, those with out generic counter parts.
Health Insurance companies are scalping us each and every renewal date. Higher drductables, higher co-pays, less coverage, and in HMO type plans the hidden costs of co-pay after copay is already out of sight.
So if your premiums initially go up, over the long haul they will come down faster and further than where they are now.
Do you believe a government option will bankrupt the big 6 health insurance companies? I would suggest you are inaccurate and are worrying about a monster that has you and every other American by the throat.
Mopstly everyone is happy to HAVE health care. The reall question is are they happy with the greedy practices insurance company's employ? I bet you'll find a lot of people very, very unhappy with the way claims are currently handled by rheir carriers. Or the fact their deductables go up every year. As their co-pays and benfits covered are changed, reduced, or completely elimunated. Most are comfortable with their doctors. But that is health care and it's provided by each individual doctor's office.
Only relationship is the health care industry usually pays 40 cents on the dollar to Doctors enrolled in their plan.
Want to worry about the future. Many doctors are going into private practice. Charging a yearly fee and reduced charges per visit. This isn happening today. Doctors will not see patients unless they payn them.Art, now worry. Insurance companies give doctors a hard time when it comes time to pay them for theirn services. Most doctors have full time staffs, just keeping the insurance companies honest.
So if it means a few more dollars of premium payments for us, and we can break the stranglehold insurance company's have on the Doctors and patients they service. So be it.
In the lomg run it will save you and me money. Keep doctors working with insured people.

SECREG_756

If the democrats are smart the will bring the public option to a vote. Pass or fail they will win. If it fails the 2010 elections are just 14 months away and we will clean our ranks and go for single payer which is better than the public option. Bring on the vote!

IT DOESN'T HAVE TO be O'Babble's "last chance", last chance for the current Socialist mess, yes, but everyone acknowledges the need for changes that would affect high costs and lack of competition, tort reform, etc. If the Emperor will begin again with a plan to reform those areas, he would likely be successful.

SECREG,

As he pointed out (and as I have been saying since the Obama made this his crown jewel), if you throw a gov't backed plan into the market at a reduced rate (20% in this case) WHY wouldn't any employer in the country move to that plan? It is an immediate benefit to the bottom line!

The REAL unanswered question is EXACTLY what will the cost VS the benefits package be? How will it stack up with current offerings?

IF the gov't option matches your current coverages at a 20% less cost, The end result is obvious. Employers will move to it when their current insurance contracts run out. In time, it will force out all the public plans. We also do not know if the gov't plan will drop its premiums even further in cost if some of the big private companies do drop their costs. The gov't CAN operate their plan at "loss" because all they have to do is tap the tax payer to make up the difference.

By the Way, all this will have ZERO effect on the actual cost of services!

I believe everyone is agreement that pre-existing conditions should not prevent an individual from obtaining insurance, but should it be thrown out of consideration altogether?

Should not a person 40 yrs old smoking since 15 pay more than the 40 yr old in good health with a non-smoking history?

no public option. also 83% of americans are against public health care for illeagal immigarants. the democrats socialist agenda is be resoundingly rejected by americans. we dont want anything that smells like socialism

I have Stated this in a Previous Post....
YOU have to look NO farther than The VA Hospital System and Military Insurance to Understand a Government Controlled System is Plauged with Exact Same Problems.....Veterans get Denied Coverage and Claims....They are Denied Treatment...They Die due to Doctors Making Wrong Decisions...They even have LESS Recourse than YOU the Average Citizen...Can't Sue the Government..

SO to sit here and Say a Government Controlled System is going to be better is Just Flat out BS....This is NOT about the Government Caring about YOU, this is About the Government wanting to Grab more Power.....

The whole Reason this has Been Changed from " Healthcare Reform" To "Health Insurance Reform" is so the Socialist Obama Administration can again resort to Class Warfare Propaganda....Liberal Socialist chanting their Montra "Hate Companies that Make Money"...."Hate Companies that Make Money"....Yeah...Go Ahead Destroy the Insurance Companies as SO MANY of YOU Brain Dead Liberals have been Proposing on this and other Forums....Put another 5 or 6 Million People out of Work that Obama will NOT create jobs for...

YOU wonder why you are being Portrayed as NAZI's by the Right....Because Your Propagandist Media Hype and Your Political Stragtegy is Straight Out of Mein Kampf....Hilter Used the Same Exact Tactics to Usurp and control the German People....How Many Times Have You Asked Yourselves...OH How Could they been duped into believing and thinking the way they did.....GEE...Liberal Socialist Sheeple...Go Look in a Mirror and Ask Yourselves that very Question........
Do you Really think a Government Controlled System won't find Reasons to Deny YOUR CLAIM or Deny you Treatment.....

Failure to support single payer universal health care coverage is due to the unwillingness of the haves to help out the have-nots by allowing some of their taxes to pay for the program. Isn't it funny that the unwillingness doesn't extend to paying for wars, military overspending,bank bailouts?

billg...that ought to tell you its not about thr haves and have nots. most people dont have yet most people dont want govt health care. its about free enterprise and capitalism which makes this country the greatest in the world.we take care of the truly needy.we dont the need the govt to tell us who to take care of. this is about votes and political tenure.

billg,

good job !

you have captured the liberals true lack of understanding on this one.

In case you have forgotten all of your sides talking points.....

They want to tax the upper 1% (or 5% depending on the phase of the moon) to pay for these fun little social engineering agendas.

Yet, its is a MAJORITY of the American people who DO NOT WANT this concept of healthcare reform, not just 1% or 5%.

A MAJORITY of the American people are satisfied with their healthcare. They acknowledge that the system has problems but do not accept the concept being presented as the correct route to go.

Before you jump & down to hand over nearly 20% of the nation's economy to politicians & beaurcrats, try to remember that it is the healthcare industry that has actually ADDED over 500,000 jobs since the start of the recession. Interesting how the you dont hear much about that from the "its all about jobs" Obama administration. But then again, its hard to demonize something that your praising !

Let's See we have the Government wanting to get their foot in the Door on the way to complete takeover of the Health Care System...OUT of Obamas Own Mouth.."The Government Takeover of the Health Care system won't happen overnight"....But Don't think for a Moment that is NOT exactly what he wants and what he wanting to lay the Groundwork for with his Pelosi Proxy Proposals

YOU talk about the Haves not wanting to Pay for the Have Nots...Well, let's just look at that...Out of the 40 million the Governemnt says does not have Healtcare, about 15 Million of those are Young People who can Get health care insurance and choose NOT to...We have probably another 10 million or So Illegals who don't have Health Insurance but Get it everyday for Free at countless Emergency Rooms and Health Clinics...Which we Are Already Paying For through our taxes.....SO, that Leaves Us with 15 million People out of 240 million without healthcare insurance
And for this Reason you think we should
allow the Government to come in and try to takeover....Yes, We need Reform, We also need Inforcement of Present laws...We don't Need Obama's Socialist Version of what those should be....

Cut $170 Billion from Medicare to provide healthcare for illegal aliens. Why wouldn’t Americans want to do that?

We all know how well the government runs things. They bought a hammer for only $500. Outhouse for a little over half million. $400 million for another global warming study to tell us what we already knew. Given that track record we know they’ll save us money and we’ll get better care too!

I can't wait.

The Baucus bill will be Obama's undoing for sure. I have never heard of worse craziness than the provisions of that bill!

There is no way American Citizens will stand for it!

There are a few people who feel having a comprehensive and affordable health care system would mean we are becoming a communistic society. When President Roosevelt introduce Social Security,there was alot of dissension at the time. But,it was a blessing to many Americans who couldn't save for their retirements. We are a capitalistic society that without it's citizens would not prosper. It has been the American way to help those less fortunate than ourselves and there are millions of Americans awaiting for a health care system that would benefit all.It doesn't mean we are becoming communistic, just a more caring society of decent Americans.

His leadership in healthcare is of the same quality as his leadership of the wars. Our men are now dying faster and more often, than at any time in the eight years of that war.

His foreign policy is Missing In Action. We have no National Strategic Strategy. We have no quidance for DOD and National Security Agencies. You cannot run National Defense by Committee.

Where is the leadership we were promised? Where is the agreement we were promised? Where is the consensus we were promised? Where are the solutions we were promised?

As a country we CANNOT afford the health care reform. WHY NOT regulate private insurance companies? i myself was diagnosed with cancer last year and went thru treatment. i WASN'T dropped from my health care insurance? why do they keep saying if you get sick you get dropped. i don't think that is as true as they want you to believe. We cannot afford this. lets regulate private practice.

if we do have teh public option. do you really think the uninsured will PAY to have the public option???? NOPE!~ they will keep going to the emergency room. it's free to them. belive me. a cheap option will not be used by those who refuse health care today. they know they get free health care in the emergency room. so why pay for the public optiopn.

FIX THE PRIVATE companies. make us all pay. BUT DON"T let our government dicate who insures us. it's crazy. the gvmt can't even run themselves. i'm so excited for 2010 elections. all the dems will be OUT. the minute they pass this health care plan - they might as well sign their meal card good-bye.

socialized medicine (lets face it, this is the ultimate goal- dont beleive me, read/view past speeches and interviews with BO) has NEVER succeeded anywhere it has been tried. you read horror stories all the time in Europe and Canada- why do the people who have the money migrate to the U.S. for their healthcare, ever wonder? ironically as well, the same media wizards who are lauding the advantages of socialized medicine are the same ones producing the socialized medicine horror stories from abroad? whats going on? could be sheer arrogance to think we can do it better..if its so great, lets see Congress, BO and the union thugs not only enjoy it with the rest of us, but PAY for it as well.

mary- speak with your brains, not your heart. social security with all its good intentions is broke.. same for medicare/medicain, heck anything the govt touches. why cant people simply live within their means and save for their retirement? ever hear of 401k's?? and this intent of yours to make us feel guilty and look out for my brother, PLEEZ. Americans are always the most generous, charitable people around, esp conservatives by the way. we DO support those who are needy. but enough of this victim excrement. either work your keister off to get where you wanan b in life (only in america can you do this) or live within your means- no fancy car, no flat screen tv, no multiple cellphones and iopods. i speak from experience, i worked hard (no free rides 2 get where i am) AND i dont get everything i ever wanted materialistically. its called mature responsible living, try it sometime and tell your victimized friends to try the same cuz i aint supportin you anymore

I believe that George Stephanopoulos
is a better speaker than the joke of Robert Gibbs. My only comment would be after hearing Mr. Stephanopoulos this afternoon on Sean Hannity it already sounds like he is on Obama's payroll. Wake up George you need to be on the people's side and give both sides of the story. Stop drinking the kool-aid and actually abide by the oath of the reporters.

Mary--Can't understand everyone wants to blame President Obama for the losses in the two wars--This has been going on now 8+ years and he has only been in office less than 7 months. I am not saying all that he does is perfect, but much of it was there long before he got in office. I am definitely not for either war, but now we have to figure out how to get out. I have had 2 husbands in the military (One was in Vietnam and one in Saudi Arabia) The Desert Storm was a Fiasco-and thousands of soldiers were put out when they returned.

WHEN BUSH HAD HIS REIGN OF TERROR, I BARELEY HEARD ANYONE OPPOSE. HE MADE HIGHLY UNINTELLIGENT DECISIONS THAT LANDED US IN ONE OF THE WORST ECONOMIC CRISIS EVER. WHY ARE PEOPLE SO AFRAID OF CHANGE? I AM FULLY INSURED AND CURRENTLY HAVE NO HEALTH ISSUES, BUT THERE ARE OTHERS THAT ARE SERIOUSLY ILL AND BEING LEFT ALL ALONE TO FACE IT BECOMING HOMELESS FOR PILLS AND TREATMENT THATS CRAZY, WHEN YOU WORK ALL YOUR LIFE, JUST TO HAVE ILLNESS COME AND WIPE OUT EVERYTHING YOU WORKED FOR. THIS IS IN HUMANE AND WE HAVE ALL SAT BY AND WATCHED THIS HAPPENED TO MILLIONS OF AMERICANS. FINALLY THEY HAVE A CHANCE AND WE COMPLAIN??! LISTEN TO THE MAN FOR ONCE HE IS OUR PRESIDENT HE IS TRYING TO STAND UP FOR ALL OF US THESE DRUG COMPANIES ARE EXTORTING US.. OBAMA IS DOING MORE THAN ANYONE HAS DONE FOR US IN A LONG TIME. WE NEED TO GIVE HIM THE BENEFIT OF THE DOUBT, THIS COUNTRY IS A MESS AND I THANK GOD ITS SOMEONE UNBIAS IN OFFICE TO DEAL WITH THESE ISSUES BECAUSE, IF IT WERE SOMEONE ELSE WE MIGHT HAVE MORE TO WORRY ABOUT THAN THESE ISSUES. GIVE OUR PRES SOME SUPPORT FOR ONCE LETS DO THIS TOGETHER!!!