Closing Arguments: Your Health Care ?s for President Obama?

I would ask the President why he doesn't FIRST clean up all the WASTE and FRAUD within Medicare and Medicaid before taking on Universal Healthcare. Medicare is a ticking time bomb and everyone knows it. We are constantly told that the waste and fraud within Medicare is something like $90 million a year. If we could save that Univeral Healthcare might be easier to get through. Please ask him what (in concrete terms) he and others are doing to combat the waste in the Medicare system.

Amid the chaos health care questions have caused recently my question is this.........How much will it save over our present system which now staggers under the weight of the un and under insured for programs such as medicaid?

I am a health insurance professional. I have studied both healthcare delivery systems, gov't sponsored and private delivery systems. It is well noted by many (including the media) that most of the countries that offer socialized medicine come here to the United States for the state of the art care. How will you insure the United States healthcare system will continue to be the best of the world if you move to a govt sponsored system? Are you also going to provide funding for medical research in addition to national healthcae system?

I believe something has to be done about health care. That said, however, having been traveling in Halifax, Nova Scotia several years ago we were able to witness the province making a decision to not cover the cost of a chemotherapy agent that was proven to save lives because the expense was too great. They figured they'd only lose ten or fewer people a year by saving the money, and that was acceptable to them. How do we keep these types of decisions from being made in a government run program? Or, in any program that would decide to weigh costs versus life saving treatments?

Ask the President if people who are unemployed and have no minor children will be covered under this health care plan. I ask because I've been looking for employment for 3 years now, I even when back to school last year to learn another type of career and still have not found employment here in Chicago or the surrounding areas.

When I walk into the US Post Office at 11:45 am, the line is 10 deep on any given day. I nervously watch the clock because when the clock hits 12, the window gate folds and you are now asked to return atfer lunch. Tell me is this the same system you will offer when our govt offers healthcare?

Good question concerning medicaid....one that certainly needs to be addressed and as you said it would help promote the idea of a better insurance method that would be government run.

I have a comment first-I am gravely concerned that this guy wants the USA to move in a socialist direction,ie:Europe--that is not who we are!!!That being said howcanyou,Charley, with your education background,want to go in this direction---socialism does NOT work--never has!!I do not wish this on my kids!!We need the gov't out of our lives--they can't run anything correctly, can they!!and now you want them involved more in healthcare--ouch!!--
Ok let's get to a question---one would be "why the socialistic direction??
2--we need a healh plan that covers our whole body--you know, our eyes,ears,and teeth--how about comin up with one plan to do that!!diect the insurers and the health industry to come up wit ONE plan to cover us.. the insurers can hadle the money --the cost would be as now as far as payrlool deductions etc.AND group rates for all of us--I would see some type of a watchdog to make sure the plan was run honestly--but I believe after 40 plus years in healthcare running hospitals etc that this can work, if done right---gov'tcan be the facilitater--and then get out..C it is late--

The U.S. already has 2 government run universal healthcare plans currently in practice: Medicare for seniors and Medicaid for the poor. I've seen both systems are so ridiculously convoluted that they fail to cover reasonable health care goods and services for people that truly need them in many instances, yet both plans are still plagued with fraud. The govt has a proven record of inefficiency in these 2 universal healthcare systems. Please ask President Obama why not develop a federal framework for private sector to compete and deliver care in the same way some other industries are federally regulated (e.g. FAA, FCC, etc.)?

Will health insurance companies make less money in a new economy if trend toward more universal or socalist-like healthcare happens?

I would like to know how this plan will be different than Medicare or Medicaid. As it stands now, the government doesn't run these two programs well. Second question, why should I have to pay for people who can afford insurance, yet choose not to get it? I realize that not all the uninsured fall into this category, but there is a large number of people that do. Third, is this plan going to be available to the MILLIONS of illegal immigrants who already suck off the system?

Will doctors and nurses make less money if a trend toward universal or more socalist healthcare ensues?

Both my wife and I were laid off this year. I am concerned we will not be able to get health insurance after we exhaust our COBRA coverage, because we have both had some serious medical conditions in the past, but are both in good health now. We would like to see affordable health care made available to us and anyone that is not tied to an employer and is not subject to the exclusion policies that for project health insurance has. We might want to start a small business or do something else, but health care is a real issue for us, so we might need to take some job for the health insurance, if we can find one. I think employer based health care probably hurts the economy by keeping people dependant on an employer to get affordable healthcare. It also forces people who might otherwise retire to keep working solely to keep health care coverage until they reach 65. I know of at least two people in their late 50's, early 60's working solely to keep health insurance. This also hurts the economy by keeping these jobs from younger workers coming into the work force. It also hurts the company because these older workers who might otherwise retire probably have a much higher salary than someone younger.

I am disabled and receiving Medicare with an additional prescription plan. How will your proposal impact my coverage?

I've been listening to President Obama over the last few days regarding the many problems with our current health care system. I am a nurse, presently back in school to become an Advanced Practice Nurse, and am very disturbed that the president has not once mentioned individual accountability as a cost saving mechanism. All of the other important factors I think the president has grasped. But, there will be no costs being cut if we do not expect more out of the American people in taking control of their health. I see it over and over again. We can educate our patients about their disease, give them a medication, and hope that they listen to our expert advise. But, people continue to eat what they shouldn't, thus, we have the most obese nation worldwide! People continue to smoke, despite the known risks and costs to our health system. The list goes on and on. We must include incentives to live healthier to prevent the chronic diseases that are costing our nation hundreds of millions of dollars per year, like Diabetes Type 2 and Obesity. Insurance premiums should be less expensive for those that choose to live a healthy, risk free lifestyle, and more expensive for those that choose to smoke, not exercise and eat to the point of morbid obesity. Having a government controlled health care plan will not save money until it includes preventive medicine and disincentives for bad health habits.

Two questions I would like to pose out there that I may have missed being asked but have not heard anyone mention. 1. The majority of medical cost is generated in the last 6 months of someones life. No amount of prevention will change the fact we will all die of something, so where is the savings. 2. I don't have an issue with taking a responsibility of the >250,000 paying more since I am one of them, but what about the responsibility of the patients. The top two preventable causes of death are 450,000 from smoking which are president dose and number two is 400,000 a year to obesity. If these are preventable and affects a significant amount of the population what responsibility will these people have. I am not proposing to not help them but should there not be some sort of accountability since a certain group of the population will be made to be accountable by paying more?

Dawn you beat me by a few minutes. I have the same concerns.

Will Nightline or anyone post these questions to the President? I understand the situation is complex and not everyone will be happy, but would at least like a responce that is at least logical.

ABC, appears to be the official propaganda wing of the Socialist / Democratic Party. I have now lost all respect for ABC News.

I sure was glad to hear the President use the Mayo Clinic for an example of better way to do cost effective. He is hitting that nail on the head. If all will listen to him, then we all will have better health care and most cost effective. I would like for congress and the repubicans to go to Mayo clinic and just see for their selfs, how well a team approach really is the less costly way of doing the health care in AMERICA!!!

Alicia,
Georgia