In Weekly Address, President Obama Says Health Care Reform Can't Wait

Very informative post really i enjoyed too much thanks for sharing........

My issue is the "an emphasis on preventative health measures". Sounds good, but it is really just one more way for “big brother” to try to control our lives and pass the buck. Why? Because big Chemical businesses are still pumping chemicals into the air, water and food via products that make them rich and us sick. That is what made me sick – for the past seven years.
Even now, places are testing for nicotine and turning people away if it is found. I don’t even smoke and I am appalled by this. Isn’t the USA a FREE country??? Hey President Obama, how about making pesticides illegal? Within in a few years, the average health of people in this great country would increase!!! But, it will never happen!!! Again, the common man will be monitored and not the real cause of the problem – just one more hassle for the little guy and big chemical companies keep killing us!!!

If you REALLY have a true emergency There is a LARGE population of illegals, it is a well known practice.Most practices will "fit" you in if you have a true need.

Of course you could save your insurance company some money (and a possible co-payment) by instead of calling 911, just show up at the ER wearing an ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) tee shirt and cap. (Borrowed from an unknown source.)

In ou state where there is a LARGE population of illegals, it is a well known practice that if you REALLY have a true emergency, you call the paramedics or call for an ambulance otherwise you sit in pain for hours waiting for assistance in the emergency room...you see the public emergency rooms are used for standard medical care for they can't be legally turned away it is always standing room only...As well as a larger portion of our doctors each day are no longer excepting PUBLIC health insurance in the form of MediCal or MediCare...too much hassle in the name of government red tape...

danita - "Time to see an orthopedic surgeon for that painful, inflamed knee: 43 days in Los Angeles" - You are talking about a city with a significant illegal population - that makes a difference.
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Population is a huge factor in tis entire discussion, but you NEVER hear the left bring it up. Every one of those "other" countries they love to bring up when this topic is discussed is well less the half of our population size!

by the way danita,

Most practices will "fit" you in if you have a true need. Yuo may indeed have to go to the docotr's office that day and wait, but that is not equivalent to waiting weeks for treatment.

It is indeed true that if your just trying to schedule a regular checkup visit, you may have to wait a few weeks beyond your expectations. To think that will change because of ANY helathcare reform is INSANE. That will only change when the number of doctors in your own area significantly increases.

I have never, nor do I know anyone personally who had to endure the bizzare waits we all hear about. I am not saying they do not happen from time to time, but they are by no means common for the vast majority of people.

By the way, if you have read the bill, perhpas you can help me and other out here.... EXACTLY WHERE in the overblown explosion of words does it spell out HOW it is going to control costs?

"What and no systemized collection of data on wait times?'

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Danita,

Is that kind of like Obama inventing the undefined term "saved job" and then running to every microphone available to tell us how many jobs he will "create/save" with the great "Stimulator", and then we have no data to back up any claims!

This Healthcare bill is joke! It is not a plan at all, only a BS guideline that passes the buck on ALL real decisions! If they passed it today, you will not be able to purchase the so-called plan for many months.

"That's because parents were taking their children in every time they got a single pimple."

But what if it isn't a pimple? It is a tick bite and now the kid has been exposed to Lyme's disease? My little nephew had that exact thing happen to him. When the government tries to tell you to not be frivolous you call it rationing care. Medical ailments are like the weather: they are infinite in their complexity. Are we going to have to set up healthcare courts where medical referees decide what is frivolous and what is not?

The Commonwealth Fund study did find one area where the U.S. was first by a wide margin: 51% of sick Americans surveyed did not visit a doctor, get a needed test, or fill a prescription within the past two years because of cost.
If you thik this is a problem then how does what is being proposed by congress solve this? No one is saying changes/improvements aren't needed, there is lots of room for improvements. Pointing out every wart and wrinkle in the system doesn't move us closer to a solutuion. What improvements would you suggest.

Danita wrote: "51% of sick Americans surveyed did not visit a doctor, get a needed test, or fill a prescription within the past two years because of cost."

I fit in that group! But I can go even further back. I have had the flu a few times (usually when that terrible "man-made climate change" occurs in October--you know when the temperatures DROP after the scorching Summer temps) and a sore throat 2-3 times a year in each of the past 10 years. As soon as I feel a scratchy throat I take a TheraFlu. Occasionally I take another dose 6 hours later. AND I AM JUST FINE AFTER THAT! No need to see the doctor! No need for tests! No need for a prescription! Why should I sit in the doctor's office waiting to see the doctor with other sick people when I am more susceptible to catching what they have OR they might catch what I have?

I used to work for a company that had their own healthcare program. No premiums! They covered 80% of doctors visits and most medical procedures (some procedures only covered 50%). Spouses could use their healthcare plans to cover another 20% (for full coverage for doctors visits and most procedures; and a total of 70% for those other procedures where the first plan covered only 50%). The company eventually had to eliminate their own healthcare program and replace it with an outside health insurance company. That's because parents were taking their children in every time they got a single pimple. That's a $100 doctor's visit plus $20-$25 for the treatment each time a pimple formed. Had the parents been forced to pay even just the $20-$25 treatment, that would have been a deterrent and forced the families to take responsibility for their own children's pimples. But since it was free, they tied up the doctor's office and time. Not to mention nearly bankrupting the company's budget for providing healthcare to its employees.

danita - "Time to see an orthopedic surgeon for that painful, inflamed knee: 43 days in Los Angeles" - You are talking about a city with a significant illegal population - that makes a difference.

danita - your example of the woman waiting for the mammogram is for a ROUTINE mammogram, NOT a DIAGNOSTIC mammogram. From my experience in healthcare, if it were diagnostic she could get in within a week.

Gotta love how Obama started telling us what healthcare "reform" would and would not do -- before the legislation was even written. Maybe someone should ask him if he's actually read any of the three versions that just came out of committees on the Hill, before he makes any more feckless promises.

"The Commonwealth Fund study did find one area where the U.S. was first by a wide margin: 51% of sick Americans surveyed did not visit a doctor, get a needed test, or fill a prescription within the past two years because of cost. No other country came close."

When you talk about wait times here in the US and in Canada, is that the average wait time for these procedures for anybody who needs them? -whether you have insurance or not; or is it just the wait time for people who have insurance in a country where everybody has insurance compared to here where alot of people don't have insurance and could wait forever for a relatively simple but prohibitively expensive procedure that their counterpart in Canada might wait awhile for but will eventually get? I think if you try and factor in the wait times of the people that don't have insurance the infinities will play havoc with the averages. When calculating wait times it's best to disregard people who don't have insurance.

"There is no systemized collection of data on wait times in the U.S"

If that is true, why on earth would this be? Best health care system in the world according to the antiObama types here.

What and no systemized collection of data on wait times?

danita what is your point?

Danita, “There is no systemized collection of data on wait times in the U.S,” from the same article you quote about the 54 year old HR executive. So to ask moderate to come up with the same list of wait times for the same surgeries in the US is disingenuous.

moderate . .. .

Wait time in the United States to see a dermatologist to examine that suspicious (cancerous?) mole: 38 days
Source: Business Week

"we do not have a great deal of information on wait times in the United States BECAUSE WE DO NOT HAVE SIGNIFICANT WAIT TIME PROBLEMS" posted by moderate.

Waiting 38 days to have a suspicious mole is not a wait period?

You're making up information again moderate . .. as opposed to posting facts.

Where are the figures for wait times for procedures in the United States? If they're so GOOD, post them.

"While you're gathering the information . .. you can chew on this from Business Week . . .Time to see an orthopedic surgeon for that painful, inflamed knee: 43 days in Los Angeles That's just to get seen, never mind operated on."

Well, gosh knows how long it would be in Canada. The figures the Canadian government provides on wait times for knee surgery are just that-- waiting times between when there is a diagnosis that knee surgery is recommended and when it is done. It does not include whatever wait time there might be to see someone about the knee in the first place.