Obama Quizzed at Health Care Town Hall: On Taxing Benefits, Single Payer System, and Costs

I have severe hemophilia and my joints have been destroyed from the disease and this resulted im me being disabled in my 50's. Under Obama's plan people with disabilities will be scored lower for recieving better health treatment. We will be deemed not enough econmically beneficial to warrant health expenditures that "normal, productive" people will recieve. This is exactly what occured under Nazi eugenics programs of the 30's and 40's. Our extra suffering and earlier deaths will be at the hands of every government official and other individuals involved in facillitating or supporting the new government plan. Your cynical evaluation and treatment of humans with disease will ultimately bring your own punishment.

While we spend the most money, except for the worlds best trauma care, The World Health Organization (WHO), in 2000, ranked the US health care system 37th in overall performance and 72nd by overall level of health (among 191 member nations included in the study). Why we are so low is that we are the only nation that ignores wellness care! We have been brainwashed into thinking that toxic drugs can "heal" us. There is not one cure available today for any condition or disease using DRUGS. When will Americans wake up to see we must take personal responsibility. A Health Plan needs to include payments for preventative health care, for quality nutritional support and rewards for both Doctors and Patients who improve health and healing. This would give Americans an incentive to lower weight, eat better, get more exercise. Improving health will decrease costs.
Auto-Immune disease today is a major expence and often endless, repeated testing is done with out a diagnosis and yet large amounts of drugs with adverse side effects are given out in the PRACTICE of medicine.

Single payer for all Americans paid for by our hard earned tax money.HEALTH CARE FOR EVERY AMERICAN SHOULD BE A BASIC RIGHT.

"The most unnerving part of Obamacare is the very idea of some beaurocrat deciding who is worthy of care and who isn't"

Are you actually serious? WHile it's true most modern day insurance companies use computers to deny your coverage - sometimes they get "beaurocrats" involved when they really have to deny them. LMAO - and you call me naive.

The status quo approach . ..

Currently the mixed public-private health care system in the United States is the most expensive in the world.

The World Health Organization (WHO), in 2000, ranked the US health care system 37th in overall performance and 72nd by overall level of health (among 191 member nations included in the study).

No need for CHANGE, you say?

MEDICARE IS BELLY UP. SOCIAL SECURITY IS ALMOST BELLY UP. WE OWE BILLIONS TO CHINA WHICH WE CANNOT PAY. OBAMA HAS TOSSED BILLIONS ON WORTHLESS BAILOUT AND STIMULUS PROGRAMS WHICH OUR CHILDREN ALSO WILL HAVE TO PAY. AND NOW GOV SPONSORED HEALTH CARE? MAKES REAL SENSE?? IF THIS ALL GOES DOWN, WE COULD EASILY BECAME A NATION OF HUNTERS, TRAPPERS AND FISHERMEN - WITHOUT SOCIAL SECURITY, MEDICARE OR ANYTHING ELSE.

House Resolution 676 is a bill that needs to be passed. But it won't be.

Paige,

I'm sure your intentions are good, but as you know the road to hell is paved with good intentions. A government option will most certainly subvert the free market system, creating an unequal playing field. If one company government option) can undercut the competition by charging artificially low prices and generate additional revenue from the federal budget to balance the books it won't take long for the others to go out of business. I would say the nearest thing to a success story in the single payer world is with the Swiss. But even their system is burning out doctors and nurses and they're losing talent at an unsustainable rate.

The most unnerving part of Obamacare is the very idea of some beaurocrat deciding who is worthy of care and who isn't (see UK). It's all part of the plan eventually. Don't be so naive.

Flash Override: there are more effective ways of eliminating "bad doctors". Most every other country on earth (even the socialized ones revered by Obama) have ways of dealing with "bad doctors". And they don't, usually, involve giving millions to shyster attorneys. There could be very effective/efficient boards, courts, judges that could deal with malpractice without shysters and uninformed juries. Allow experts and the government to sanction/judge doctors. Awards to the damaged individuals and a general fund for the poor. Not the rich political-giving shysters. Not run by ill-informed juries and attorneys who take much of the award.
ps: we also need to eliminate the "database" and "czar" political appointee that Obama wants to have all access over ALL health information of EVERY citizen. Likely for use in political campaigns.

tjp612,

Your facts are wrong.

Even if you look at medical advances in patents issued only in the US by the Patent and Trademark Office, the majority of them originate elsewhere. That doesn't even count ones from Cuba, which has a cutting-edge biotech industry. Cuba produces enough medical innovation that it would almost rank in the top ten of DEVELOPED counties in medical advances. Of course, none of them would be available to you, except illegally, including their cure for the skin disease M. Jackson suffered from, and their cancer therapies.

In sum, there is no evidence to support your claim.

Ed, doctors don't need tort reform to protect them. Just get rid of the 5% of doctors that cause most of the problems. No malpractice, no problem.

Obama is a lawyer, so I have to assume he is purposely using the words "health care" when he is really talking about health insurance. This is a deliberate attempt to mislead the people - health insurance does not provide health care. That's one of the main problems.

Obama claims that we currently have a free-market system. He is either willfully ignorant or lying. Over 94% of health insurance markets are non-competitive. We do not have a free market system, we do not have choice in health insurance.

Obama claims that we can't have a single payer system because it would be "disruptive". ALL change is disruptive. The people voted for change, and now Obama is standing in the way of change.

Obama is a liar. He is not paying for his health care. The President is covered (like the Congress) with a pretty good healthcare plan and all kinds of other perks. I want a single-payer system with an "opt-out" for those who like good service, private hospitals, etc. Tort reform to protect doctors. And also allow those with religious objections (or those who don't want Obama's henchmen reading their medical records for political purposes) to "opt-out" of the system. The plan to penalize people if they don't give money to a private insurance company is outrageous and I think unConstitutional! We also shouldn't be forced to give away ALL health data and eliminate doctor-patient confidentiality because Obama wants a database on us all for political use!

BTW - I spent last Friday visiting the mother of a close friend (from country with nationalized health care) who passed away from cancer three years. Where did he receive his care? Houston, TX (USA).

BTW2 - While some on this blog are quick to point to how sub-standard our healthcare system is relative to other "more advanced" countries with nationalized care, wanna guess where the overwhelming majority of medical advances and discoveries are realized? Hint: the country has 50 states (or, 57 according to its current president).

"The debate over health care reform in the United States centers around questions of a right to health care, access, fairness, the quality achieved for the high sums spent, and the sustainability of expenditures that have been rising faster than the level of general inflation and the growth in the economy. The mixed public-private health care system in the United States is the most expensive in the world."

1.) What liberals/Dems fail to understand stand is that "health care' is a RESPONSIBILITY, NOT A RIGHT. It is our PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY to make good decisions regarding our health and to earn wages to pay for health care (of course exceptions made for those who are unable to earn a wage to pay for care).

2.) "Access": Are Americans (and illegal immigrants) routinely denied access to health care in the U.S.? Ever been to an emergency room and witnessed the crowding there? Are Americans and illegal immigrants being routinely turned away by hospitals?

3.) "Fairness": The world has never been fair and will never be. "Fairness" cannot be dictated.

4.) "Quality achieved for the high sums spent": The quality of healthcare in the U.S. is outstanding (pull out your WHO reports if you wish, but I'm happy to take my chances in the good ol' USA). Perhaps expenses could come down if tort reform were to be enacted (which Obama has already told the AMA will NOT happen - Obama and Dems are in bed with trial lawyers).

5.) "Sustainability of expenditures": Agreed - So let's all jump on the Obama "Hope and Change Express" and watch him as supports a budget that will result in the LARGEST FISCAL DEFICIT THE WORLD HAS EVER SEEN in his first 6 months in office and is on track to DOUBLE THE NATIONAL DEBT WITHIN 10 YEARS (incurring twice the debt of his predecessor, GWB).

National healthcare does not improve healthcare for all - It will do exactly the opposite. But what does Obama care? Has he proposed giving up the gold-plated healthcare he and his family will receive for life? Has Nancy? Has Harry? Teddy Kennedy? Henry Waxman? Of course not, they are politicians (interchangeable with “hypocrites”).

"Actually I offer up that story because right wingers swear that denial of care will happen with government insurance under the guise that it doesn't happen currently in our system.

Much like right wingers scream about wait times as if they don't exist here."
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LOL, Ryan_c...your about as good at exaggerating as Biden!

I dont ever recall anyone EVER saying there were not waits in our system. Only someone as foolish and someone looking at all the problems we have with Obamaglasses would say what you say. With well over 300 million people in this country, why would anyone suggest there are not waits at times. At least TRY to be credible once in while with your lies.

The point is liberals like yourselves refuse to admit that in many countries where the govt runs healthcare, There are more and longer waits. People have put forth examples. Strange though you always doubt those who are critical of this idea when they releate their own stories, but you buy right into the idea that programs like those in other countries would work so well here.

I would love to see these commitees/studies/surveys from all parts of the political spectrum focusing more on understanding the how & why of our current costs instead of waving around overblown plans that have no details on how to get from the rhetoric to actual plan I can compare to my current one.

I see a definite trend here.

First, sign the stimulus bill without reading it or knowing what's inside. Not to worry. It will create jobs and cap unemployment at 8%. Oops.

Second, pass cap and trade without reading because it will stop global warming. Oops. Not really going to do that either.

Now Obama wants to pass a health care bill without anyone knowing the details. With 1,800 health care companies, he will set up a new government health care plan that is more "affordable" than all the others just so "competition" can be used to lower costs.

Have these 1,800 health care companies had huge profits lately? No? Take a look. They are average or below average from most other companies. They can't lower their prices much lower without reducing their viability as a going concern.

Also in Canada many hospitals (run by the government) refuse to pay overtime to nurses as a cost cutting measure. Sound sensible? On the surface maybe, but let's say you need surgery. The surgeon books your surgery for 3:30pm and tells the hospital the surgery will take approx. 3.5 hours. Unfortunately, earlier surgeries took longer than expected so the surgeon is unable to get to you until 4:00 pm. This means you surgery will not be complete until 7:30pm. The nurses shift is over at 7:00pm and because the hospital refuses to pay the nurses overtime that means yor sugery will not be completed by the time their shift is over. Therefore, your surgery is postponed and you have 2 or 3 sugerical nurses sitting around doing nothing for 3 hours instead of paying them to work an extra 30 minutes.
Welcome to the efficiency of government run health care.

I live in Canada. We have Government run health care and believe me it isn't that spectacular. It's common practice for the government to decide when and who will get treatment. If people are too old or treatment is to expensive, the care is simply denied. It's that simple. There are also literally people dying while they wait for treatment.
I often get the impression that Americans think this Government health care will cover all their medical expenses. This just isn't so, at least in Canada. I still need private insurance to cover the cost of prescriptions and other medical aids. Dental care is not covered. Vision care is not covered. The only thing that is covered is anything that is done in the hospital really. For example, my father had sleep apnea. He still had to pay for his own CPAP machine.
The point is, your taxes are going to go way up to pay for this and in the end, you'll still need private insurance.

"How do you think the term KoolAid drinker got started?"

It refers to followers of Jim Jones which dates back to 1978.

He founded a Temple group, which became synonymous with group suicide after the November 1978 mass murder/suicide of over 900 people by poison in their community of Jonestown.

It's probably in one of your history books from school.