President Obama’s Health Care Reform Push

Will this be just as “bipartisan” as the stimulus bill negotiations were? Bipartisan, meaning that Pelosi and Friends write the bill and shut every Republican and Blue Dog Democrat out of the drafting process?

So who will be paying for this one? Since we have tons of money just sitting around…..
oh thats right….we don’t. We are close to 2 TRILLION dollars more into debt b/c of Obama and the spend happy Dems.

Socialized government run/paid for health care is a FAILURE everywhere in the world. It rations what you can/can’t get and is even denounced in England by one of the major proponants who got it started (their solution to it’s failure in Britian is to…privatize parts of the health care coverage!)
Why in GOD’S name do Liberals think that the US of A is going to accomplish what the rest of the SOCIALIST world hasn’t been able to is beyond me…oh WAIT! It’s all about SOCIALISM and the control of all our pathetic lives by LIBERALS/SOCIALISTS/COMMUNISTS!
Never mind. Socialized Medicine in the USA…one giant leap for destructive socialist liberals who want to run your lives…one giant LEAP backwards for freedom from Government tyranny.
Wake up people.

What a country illegal immigrants get free health care and I have none.

Bill said “Well Mr. Obama…we can start by not thinking we have to give medical care to every illegal immigrant the crosses the border. ” News flash, if an illegal can’t pay, we pay one way or another. I hope Obama does something about securing our boarders and getting rid of the illegals. Getting rid of the policy of anchor babies is a good start.

Obama’s plan will not lower the cost of health insurance for those of us who pay for it. This is an absolute joke! What the government pays doctors, hospitals and pharmacies for Medicare and Medicaid patients is an absolute joke. If we get rid of private health insurance for universal coverage our taxes will skyrocket and the the quality of care will be worse because every non-working person will be in line at the doctors office. Believe me in Philly they don’t believe in appointments. They got there before you so if you get seen before them they start a riot. A good portion of the population of Philly is either on Medicare and Medicaid. Because Medicaid doesn’t pay enough to cover the cost of a normal child birth a dozen maternity wards have closed the past decade and the ones left are having trouble handling the increased workload.

I have a perfectly good high deductible HSA plan that costs me $6 a week. I use it as a tax shelter and haven’t been to a doctor since 2001 since I have a $3000 deductible. My wife actually has an interesting plan that also has a $3000 out-of-pocket deductible but it pays out on the first $500 you use every year so you don’t avoid checkups. Seems reasonable.

Why can’t this administration first have a debate and engage experts outsite the Washington lobbyist circuit to find a way to structure healthcare that doesn’t rely on the failing models we see in socialist countries? This is America where new ideas come from. Why can’t we have some new ideas? Why can’t government be innovative? What about a tax deduction for health care insurance? What about a requirement to put money aside into a health savings account through a health care bank/service. If everyone is required to have insurance or a health savings account(CA requires every driver to have car insurance) the cost of insurance goes way down and the competitive market for this service will explode with innovation and tailored, low cost plans. Why is it that the only solutions the O administration considers involve taxing people and taking away their freedom to choose what’s best for themselves?

ConservativeGal:” I have yet to see a plan to implement anything.”
Did you miss the stimulus passage? Or the headlines about the mortgage plan details being release today? Or his submission of a budget outline following his campaign promises right down the line?
You honestly haven’t see ANY of these plans? He’s going right down the list of what he was elected on.

Despite the naysayers healthcare reform will happen and Republicans are in the room form the very beginning to address conservative concerns. We already spend more per capita on healthcare than any other country and still have tens of millions uninsured. Knee jerk conservatives will lose this battle for the same reasons they lost the last election. They are simply wrong on this issue.

I’ll say this… The man is bringing these issues to open talks. People are getting involved. I would rather watch politics than the wold series on T.V., this is a big step in changing the Nation. Liberal, Democrat Republican, drop the act no man can be put in a box. This country needs everyone to contribute, EVERYONE. So get off your pedstools and get your hands in the dirt. I’m no english major but I never met one who could fix his own plumbing.

I have worked very hard for my entire life just to provide the bare essentials in order to survive in life – - and I was wounded and therefore unable to work until I healed,…. In the mean time, the bills piled up, and now I have nothing. I am ruined before I even started. Like I woke up one day and decided to wound myself for no reason and thereby destroy myself and my future.

It is exhausting. Many families are one car crash or medical calamity away from financial ruin. So even if people’s cars aren’t working properly, or they are seriously ill, they are discouraged to get help due to the increased insurance costs, deductibles, and the lack of coverage.
I had an asthma attack and had to be hospitalized. You would think that I would be covered considering that our family is paying over $10,000/year on coverage. WRONG! We end up paying a $2500 bill for going to the emergency room, waiting there for two hours while my condition deteriorated, and eventually recieved medicine which took only 1/2 hour, then sent home. We pay $10k/year and the insurance would barely even cover 1/4 of the total $3000 bill.
Its not just the insurance companies that nickel and dime you, but the hospitals as well. Even the smallest and simplest of procedures can cost several hundreds or even thousands of dollars. This has to change.

Hey, I just thought of the solution to the previously stated problem…Set a portion of net taxable income to be paid directly to a physician of your choice. Let them get together and fund hospitals and buy equipment and pay for medicines. That way, the physician you choose will be the one that will have to look you in the eye and say, “sorry, but we just can’t afford it.” It will save all of us working triple time to pay for the bureaucratic inefficiencies. Oh, wait, that would likely circumvent the intent.

“This will give opponents of the plan a line of critical attack by claiming that forcing everyone to be covered will infringe on personal freedom.”….In addition, the Swiss system relies on government price controls. An inescapable economic law states that if you control prices the supply will be restricted.

The fact is, there is no free health care even with the Euro systems. Someone has to pay. In Switzerland, everyone pays the same amount monthly, depending on your age category like 1-10, 11-18, >25.
Whether you are rich or poor, you pay the same amount for your monthly premium. Those unable to work are subsidized by the government.

Hey, I’ve got an idea, why don’t we all work on Monday to pay our utilities, Tuesday and Wednesday to pay for our house and car, Thursday to pay for our kids, Friday to pay for ourselves, Saturday to pay for others, and then Sunday we can work for Sigmund and his friends!

bpower:” It is actually health care “rationing”. Deciding who gets treatment and who does not. That is not what Doctors do. Nor government.”
That is EXACTLY what insurance company and HMO bureaucrats do; it is rationing, and it is currently done to maximize their profits. I take it you are young and healthy if you have no personal experience with this.

“Hey, I’ve got an idea, why don’t we all work on Monday to pay our utilities, Tuesday and Wednesday to pay for our house and car, Thursday to pay for our kids, Friday to pay for ourselves, Saturday to pay for others, and then Sunday we can work for Sigmund and his friends!”
Sounds like you think everything should be free in life. Everyone has to work, including me, to pay for a house, car, insurance, etc. Everyone in the world who can work, has to work. Except you, maybe.

bring on socialism its about time. the free market has failed, and if some changes dont happen so will america

“the free market has failed, and if some changes dont happen so will america”
America hasn’t failed. You have.

NEWS UPDATE!!!
WHITE HOUSE JUST REVERSED ITSELF THIS EVENING re inviting Single Payer advocates to the summit to discuss on Thursday! Yes we can and yes we will – pass HR676.
PNHP (Physicians for a National Health Program) and Sen. Conyers (HR676) NOW invited after thousands and thousands of emails, calls, faxes, et al flooded the White House saying “LET US IN”.
Thousands of us are absolutely fed up with corporate bailouts and allowing the private insurance industry to get another bailout/handout by literally handing over to them the nation’s health care has now crossed the line with the electorate.
Last words, and the press and media will no longer so easily be able to bypass us as they have been doing for the last several years. You don’t have to like it but you may have to accept it. Change is coming re health care especially.

“0bama is going to lower the price to the lucky 50% of Americans that get a free ride…”
Are you really suggesting that over 100 million Americans ‘get a free ride’ or are you just whining again?

“Sigmonde- WE haven’t been working. We’ve been living off of crude.” What do you mean – WE?
Right now is no where near the economic mess Carter put us into. Maybe you don’t know about that period. Mortgage rates at 18%, inflation at 14%, unemployment at high levels and foreclosures everywhere and home values dropped like a rock. The economy will get better. Quit complaining.

What people don’t realize is the fastest growing demographic for the uninsured is those who can afford it and chose not to have it. You want to fix healthcare, fix it by mandating everyone have it…period! There is all this talk about universal health care and that will never work in the US because #1: the US is in the top 3 when it comes to obesity. The US doesn’t care about personal health anymore. Here is an idea, pose a tax break for those who are w/in a certain BMI, don’t smoke, and are ovarall active individuals. The primary care physician can submit a form through the new electronic records to certify this #2: people would take advantage of the system. As anyone can testify to, when something is free people take advantage. Patients would go to the doctor for everything further increasing costs and not helping the system at all. #3 in a capitalistic society it is not a just system. What would end up happening is those who are in the upper tax brackets would continue to see their taxes increase to pay for others in a lower tax bracket and pay less. Studies have shown there to be a large difference in personal health when comparing lower economic status to those of higher. So by making those who studies show are already healthier and make them pay more in taxes for those who are less healthy you will eventually exhaust the source of income driving the program and will bankrupt the system. Instead why not make physical activity a bigger part of the K-12 education?
Just some thoughts I had.

“Sigmonde” wrote: “This is a ridiculous statement. Show us a source for that statement.”
It’s common knowledge that AMA was for years predicting oversupply of doctors and advocating accordingly. Only a few years ago, former AMA President John Nelson was stating that he did not know for sure if there was a shortage of physicians. Smart guy;) And the Association of American Medical Colleges has finally also agreed that it was in error in predictions. These and other groups had, and still have, vested interest in keeping supply and demand on their side, although now we know they erred in a big way. Doctors are not gods. Understand human nature before you are the one who looks ridiculous.

Well, those from other countries seeking top health care won’t have to journey here anymore (e.g. Lech Walesa coming to TX for his heart surgery), because our health care system will be just as junky as everyone else’s in the world. . . God help us, this man is on a rampage.

“Instead why not make physical activity a bigger part of the K-12 education? ”
That’s a good idea but then you’ll have lawsuits from parents whose chunkier kids can’t cope and are treated “unfairly”.

maybe i missed something but an election was won here and a mandate to CHANGE things as well. The Greedy Old Party screwed up bringing in a half wit the last 8 years and now it time to mop up.

“one gave me a honest answer. They can only put so many people out in Field with out causing a problem for people in that field.”
della- that’s nonsense. Get a lawyer and sue the school that told you that.

Zorro
OB is giving these co money and they are still laying people off. his answer is no where near the solution every Pres that has tried this has failed. This is not new Change. hope what ever platatudes he gives. He is a empty shirt and he is using scare tactics so congress can do what they want. Im still waiting to see some change. Not the old enslaving people to the gov.Welfare destroys people it dosn’t help people at all. Letting people keep more of their money to start business or exband business employs people. Gov creats nothing People do. That means you and I. Regimes which opress their own people will collapes of their own immorality. Welfare keeps people oppressed.

Sigmund they can just deny it. What proof is their. well I guess you can find proof But I bet its pretty difficult. Unv. are a business they tell you what you want to hear to get you in. Most people never even ? it. But Im long out of school. But they have Quota in and out. But they make the money But I hear their having a tough time and I amagine the gov will start looking into what they do with the money.

“Well, those from other countries seeking top health care won’t have to journey here anymore (e.g. Lech Walesa coming to TX for his heart surgery), because our health care system will be just as junky as everyone else’s in the world. . .”
Statistically it is likely that a certain average value of something in a large sample will be similar to the same average value in a small sample but the extreme values will not be similar. The larger sample will be much more likely to have more extreme values.
So a country like France will probably have about the same quality medical care as a larger country like the US, but at the extreme the very best medical care in general will be in the larger country (US). That’s why people come here.

Interested08:”..I’m not sure what you’re referring to with “rationing” here, but it’s NOT the same thing as what is done under gov’t run health care systems. In those systems, there are boards who determine who will receive treatment and who won’t.”
Currently insurance companies and HMOs have boards who determine who will receive treatment and who will not, what medications are covered and what are not, etc. What are you going to do if the board rejects your doctor’s request for a specific cancer treatment – dump your HMO and get insured (with pre-existing condition) elsewhere?
It’s not like the governement will be the end of some sort of utopia with infinite healthcare resources. Currently our rationing is done first by personal wealth then by mostly private, for profit companies whose primary motivation is to minimize their expenditures to fulfill the bare minimum of their contractual obligations.

No sigmund it is not a law or a rule it is more covert then that it is economics.

Naveen have you ever lived in another country?

those of you that argue that private insurance companies have boards that decide what is and what is not covered need to realize that they base this off of medicare. the difference between private coverange and medicare is that reimbursements to the physician are actually what they should be on an patient to patient basis with private coverage where medicare decides to pay the physician a flat fee say $600 regardless of the extent of the patient’s injuries. these flat rates are what are driving the increase in healthcare costs b/c to compensate for this physicians and hospitals have to make more from someone else so they charge more on the private side which in return drives up premiums. Take government out of the equation and you fix the issue.

Obama’s plan includes lowering the prices paid to doctors and hospitals. Now do ya think that’s going to give us quality care?
Half the doctors in this country can’t speak English now, all good doctors will go into private groups.
In England, there is a shortage of gov’t dentists. The gov’t programs require dentists to only treat superficially massive amounts of patients in an assembly line fashion. As a result, many dentists just go into private practice and people have to pay for their own treatments. Many pharmacies carry fillings, crowns and pliers for people to do their own dental work.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/3353121/Dentist-crisis-4.7-million-opt-for-private-care.html

I don’t have health care. I have a job, but that can’t pay for it.
I kinda just resigned to be screwed if I get sick… that’s the way American’s do it. Bankruptcy is better than death, right Republicans? Duh.

mm11145 Thats very intersting. I always wonder were there # came from

Sean when you took that job maybe you should have weighed the benefits of taking a job that lacked healthcare coverage. I’m a full time student w/ $200,000 in medical school loans yet I am still able to live comfortably and pay for my family to have health insurance. I realize that health insurance is more important than a home theater system, the best computer, ipods, etc. and budget to protect my family. Your employer doesn’t have to supply insurance coverage for you; you can purchase it yourself

I’ll say it again, Americans are the last to know, we have been duped by our own government/the insurance industry–even if you can’t stand Michael Moore and are a die-hard Republican, go see the movie “Sicko.”

They are left to die if they don’t have health insurance. In Oregon last year, something like at least 1200 people died because they had no medical insurance, and could not get treatment to save them.

citizen4honor:”No guarantee with Obama’s plan you’d be alive. If you happen to get one of the diseases his team has deemed too expensive to treat”
Did you read the article at all? There is NO plan out there yet and the proposal is to have a plan hashed out in full view of the public with all stakeholders at the table. Obama’s plan doesn’t exist except apparently in your fearful head.

pre-existing conditions goes back to my earlier statement about the lack of self accountability in this nation when it comes to personal health. Those who stay active, eat healthy, and avoid obesity would have no problem with coverage. Yes there are the few exceptions, which my wife has (she has genes BRCA1 and BRCA2) look those up if you dont know what they are. Im pretty sure that preexisting condition trumps any one that is preventing you from being covered and we still were approved.

On the sharing the wealth deal I beleive the people being us have no objections on share the wealth But we would just like to the ones to choose who we want to give it to instead of the gov deciding who to give it to. But we the people need to speak up about it and demand it ( What we want) Gov is not the answer and never will be. every time they get involved they do not look at the ramifications of their actions.

Maybee
I know exactly what you mean all this stuff they throw around. The #s change all the time too.

most people that are in a bubble and are driven like the president and the first lady have to have their treadmill or whatever because they get bored without it… most regular people have access to excercize stuff and can excercize but dont have as much time on their hands as the leader of the free world does its always different for elected officials normal people barely have time to breathe

Della
I would gladly do a copay for health insurance out of my paycheck but my employer says its too expensive so they wont offer it even before the president was president or even a state senator he could afford it and thats not a fair deal to say do as I say not as I do when its free for him

Congress will try to dictate the stimulus talk about the president but the truth is the president needs to be tough with both democrats and republicans…. what pelosi is doing is telling the president that its all very nice but they are doing it her way!

I just fell in love with our corrupt politicians. They have caused the implosion of the British strategy to enslave us through finance, and soon enough they will bring collapse to any effort to enslave us through socialism. Given the tyranny of the elite, the tyranny of one, the tyranny of the appetites, or the tyranny of earmarks, I’ll take earmarks.

I read some of it . That was my job at one time reading regs. And they gave a bunch of money for a four wheeler trail for some state. It just amazes me. I wonder if it is polosi and read that are really the head of the gov. They sure have the purse strings. That would be like when clinton was pres after he got into trouble. The fiscal purse strings were cut. for threat from the dems for him to siding with the rep for fiscal responsability man its been a long time sence we have had any of that (fiscal responsability)

mark
then what was that with the Brittsh PM trying to get the US to foot the bill on a worldwide stimulus.. sounds liek enslavement to me!

della creighton
yep… in the 90s Clinton had a fight over closing down the govt with the republicans over the operating budgets of each dept….thats what its goignto come to… but I fear the president isnt even in the conversation

Comrade General Secratary: Wanted to drop by real fast, Can’t stay long, but I wanted to encourage you to keep fighting the good fight.

newsrook
yeah.. taking seriously a national crisis with Chinas money since the money … even with the tax increases on wealthy is goingt o be put on the government CC and the money we get from our payroll taxes is still owed the government it means we will pay it back after 2011 applaud we will be trying to and doing it is different

wuddinyalik2know
yea I can prove that ACORN etc was on the ground in the primaries tryingto run up the score in North Carolina … I overheard meetings in Dem HQs where I worked… I know they used church busses to take african americans in the polls in NC in the praimary may 5th and the election its how HJohn Edwards ever became a politician because he won in heavily black eastern NC using church buses for political things is illegal by the way but since it was a primary who was watching eh?

If you become ill in your late teens in this country, you can never own your own business. You can only work for companies which offer health insurance, and if you happen to lose your job, or cannot become employed sufficiently quickly to avoid a major hospitalization, you are in debt for the rest of your natural life, with no hope of escape. Or worse, you are dead.
That is slavery, and is not expected out of the citizens of any other civilized country than this one. Obama is our one, slim hope at emancipation.
I’m very lucky. Somebody in my family has always been employed with benefits, so I still live. However, my life should depend more on hard work and intellect, and less on luck.

wuddinyalik2know
yea it was Nancy pelosis symbolism to have PM Brown address congress and ask for US help for a world stimulus.. presumably because the markets are here… we arent that dumb

They bussed people from Chitown into IN for the dem primary, that’s probably how the state went blue in November. Lake county, or gary, is known for it’s rampant corruption. In MO, they supposedly rounded up the ACORN types, but with a Dem Sec of State, who knows what they pulled in KC and STL. They could have done likewise in Ohio, where a judge ruled a week beforw E day that you could vote from a park bench. You telling me the Obuma people could turn that down? If the dude won, it was barely. Voter Fraud is NEVER pursued in most states, especially blue ones.

general secretary
yep, separation of church and state! they used the fact that the DNC is “not subject to the constitution” argument and Hillary was only 300 delegates behind if there were full votes for MI and FL in the primaries.. guess who wouldve won by 300 delegates…Clinton and she had to ceremoniously release her delegates tt he convention so that Obama wouldnt be embarrassed and not get the minimum on the first ballot… I can hear Chief of staff immanuel laughign histarically all the way from washington

afranio08, Any Govt that has the power to give you everything you want has the power to take it away too. Just because they put your name on a list that doesn’t mean they are giving you healthcare. THERE’S NO SUCH THING AS A FREE LUNCH, DID EVERYBODY FORGET THAT?

At least Hillary Rotten couldn’t call me a racist in typical Stalinist fashion. They both loved Alinsky, but she would have been easier to go after than the post partisan partisan.

Had my share of fun with this. Comrades, we shall prevail against the bougeois running dogs of capitalism. Sweet dreams.

What did the article say? Health Care bankrupts someone every 30 seconds? Obama wants to bankrupt an entire nation with the same BS that has failed in every SOCIALIST country on the planet. Hope? Change? How about ignorance…stupidity…power hungry…facist…socialist. Shear and utter fool hardy madness.
WTG DEMS!

Obama is merely mimicking what Hillary said during the primary. But at least he stole a good idea. Good luck to him with this – and even better luck to the American people that it indeed turns out to be a blessing and not a curse.

Not another speech!!!! I am sick of listening to this guys BS. He is so busy preparing speeches that he doesn’t have time to actually learn what is going on.
How much is he spending today? Another trillion? LOL

Obama need to be admitted to a mental institution. He has completely lost it. Or is he another Hitler and we have lost it?

MIguy said “I can’t believe anyone on here would actually whine about this? What exactly is wrong with trying to fix healthcare?”
The problem is that the government shouldn’t be trying to fix it, since it is the government’s fault it’s a mess. The creation of Medicare is the reason our system is such a mess now. You can trace the deterioration of the system directly from that. It all started with how the government paid providers for Medicare patients. It was a mess (with incomprehensible regs) that paid providers for certain expenses & capital items – but yet, still didn’t cover the costs of Medicare patients. The Medicare Cost Report was worse than any tax forms the IRS creates. That in turn created cost shifting to commercial insurance plans. Several insurance companies went to similar payment systems (paying a % of charges & then settling with a cost report at the end of the fiscal year). HHS then created the prospective payment system (PPS) – (DRG’s, base rates, weights, outliers and days stay that they’d pay for). The commercial insurers followed suit & jumped on the HMO bandwagon (even though HMO’s had been in existence in California for years). And it has just gotten worse every year since.
**Every horrible thing the insurance companies have come up with, has its roots in the Medicare system.**
The sad thing is that the people who are anxious for universal healthcare are probably the people who will be denied care because their cost/benefit ratio will be too high – the chance of a good outcome will be too low for the cost of the treatment. They will be in no better shape than they are now.

Illegal immigrants come to this country to have their babies at no cost. Those babies automatically become US citizens and qualify for free healthcare, free meds. and a check every month. THIS IS OUTRAGEOUS !!!

“Crushing cost”? “The economy won’t recover until we deal with health care”?Can we have a helpful conversation on health care without Obama using fear mongering and bully tactics to force his radical plans that will ultimately kill quality and availability of health care in the U.S.? We already have a severe shortage of doctors.

Part of the problem is that Americans go to the doctor to much compared to the rest of the world. Obesity, also causes a wide range of problems such as diabetes. Drug companies charge way to much for the same medications that can be bought in Canada for half the price. Malpractice lawsuits need to have limits.

Fear mongering is all this clown has left.
Meet the new boss, same as the old boss.
So much for change.

ABC where is the story about Obama’s expensive wednesday dinners for the elite?

Obama’s like a pup on the loose – he’s gotta run around and mark everything in sight, just to leave his mark….. running around and marking EVERYTHING to do with this country, in a big frenzy.

CW @ 6:21: Good post! We’re getting a speech every other day….this guy sure misses the campaign trail, doesn’t he?…… I’ve never heard anyone – even a politician – give as many ‘I’m A Gonna’ speeches as this fella…..problem is, it’s all “I’m A Gonna Use YOUR money and it’s money you don’t even HAVE yet!”

That is right! Check out the $100.00 per meat selection that Obama dined on with his guest Wednesday. It is disgusting that he spends that kind of money while blasting crooked CEO’s. In other words, Obama is lying his behind off when he says he is for a change in Washington. He is more of the same only ten times worse.

Pres Obama used to be a community worker. This man works for Joe Mainstreet NOT Joe Wall street. Finally we have a president that knows what the average American needs. He is the first president who started to work even days before his inauguration. This man is a workaholic…How many presidents u know, make the congress and Senate work on week-ends? This man is a workaholic. Finally we have someone who works for the average countryman NOT the wealthy fat pigs. Give him a chance! Let me tell you something, I worked for a rich pig who gave money to charities because he would be tax deducted NOT because of goodwill and he insisted that I put it on his tax form. No more greedy pigs running the white house, no more please…..

This isssue is critical – Facts on healthcare:
We have the best healthcare technology in the world
however
We pay twice as much for half the access to top healthcare
We have a child mortality rate worse than Spain and Cyprus
Our life expectancy is 5 years less than all the other industrialized nations
Over 50% of bankruptcy is related to medical bills
Everyone of us, who is not independently wealthy, are one catostrophic illness away from bankruptcy (even if insured)
Our companies are at a cost and competitive disdvantage due to the cost of health care coverage and costs…
I can alos attest to the quality of national healthcare given my direct experience when my son was born in the London…(and he was in intensive care for 4 weeks), I can personally attest to the fantastic care he recieved, and the best thing, was not having to fight the insurance companies, allowing us to completely focus on him…which saved his life…
So folks, our system is broken, we need to drop the blind ideology and fix this now…it is a national discgrace, and unchristian to leave people without access.

Obama, you just lost support from someone who voted for you.
tick tick tick…your approval rating is coming down down down.
Your spending and proposed spending in a time like this when we trusted you….I am outraged!

Well, I’m glad bho is gonna give all of us healthcare. I’ve quit my job and I’m jumping on the obamabot bandwagon. I’m gonna let big daddy government take care of me now. I’ve worked for 30 years paying taxes and taking care of others, but hey, if you can’t bet em’ then join em’.

“Illegal immigrants come to this country to have their babies at no cost. Those babies automatically become US citizens and qualify for free healthcare, free meds. and a check every month. THIS IS OUTRAGEOUS !!!Posted by: CW | Mar 5, 2009 7:03:00 AM”…That’s not the worst of it CW. He wants to give amnesty to 20 million illegals even we can’t even pay for the people we have. What is this man thinking? MORE VOTERS for his voter farm. Obama is a disater that the democrat snuck in with the help of the media. They want a total power, and I fear since we are already living socialism(my husband works 7 months a year just to pay our taxes before we see a dime)communisum is what BO has planned for us. Read The Slobering Love Affair by Bernard Goldberg. Obama’s past is so corrupt and was totally hidden during his campaign by the MSM

Well, it’s about time somebody come to the realization that it’s healthcare that causes the collapse of so many families. It caused bankruptcy for my family during the last recession 20+ years ago and it costs me $40K a year, now. You can’t live with the cost and you can’t live without it.

interested08…where did I say “infant mortality rates?” – I said “child mortality rates”…
totally different…this is children age 2- 5 years old….check the OECD stats..internationally accepted facts and figures…
care to quibble with any other facts?

“STOP THROWING OUT JUNK STATS TO JUSTIFY SOCIALISM!!!!!! ”
Spoken like a true right-winger with an anti-socialism agenda. And yet you say it isn’t about money. So we’re supposed to disregard the numbers and just follow your ideological opinions?

I realize this may be extreme, but a may help solve a lot of issues.
Encorage Mandatory Birth Control for those who don’t have insurance and/or can not afford to raise children.
I would rather support someone who is responsible than someone who is not.

interested08 – indeed not, I do not have all the answers and I am not a proponent of “socialized medicine”…and if you take it as an insult and presumption – I apologize – was not intended…
Clearly you had a bad experience in your interactions with “national health” in your travels…I had a good one and am letting people know…there is nothing to be frightened of.
As far as facts, I go on the OECD statistics which are accepted by the US govt and the AMA and the UN …as accurate…so it isreasonable use these stats….IMHO.

Indithinker: If you break down the categories of CHILD mortality stats in the U.S, and you can “quibble” about those (you can’t seem to comment w/out being trite and judgmental, can you?), you’ll see where the CHILD mortality rates arise from. Child mortality rates in the U.S. are for different reasons than in other parts of the world. Many of the % are from congenital diseases which sadly, the child would never have survived no matter what amount of health care they receive. The U.S. also has, which is devastating, a high rate of child deaths due to accident and abuse….in terms of accidents, the number one cause of death for children (which is up to ages 18) is vehicle accident, taking about 6K teens a year. Add in those younger than teen age and there’s a whopping stat…..now, those deaths are included in CHILD mortality, but are vehicle related and not related to treatment of a disease or preventive medical care. If mortality due to vehicle accident is removed, life expectancy in the U.S. rises considerably, as does life expectancy for children. This needs to be taken into account when comparing stats to other parts of the world, if the reason to address the stats is for purposes of crafting a health cares system.

I find it odd when people are discussing health care reform no one ever brings up the savings that would be created by a)ensuring that a valuable employee doesn’t lose that employee because they needed surgery and couldn’t get it. That is a hidden expense. I used to be an upper middle class worker. 7 yrs ago a drunk hit me while I was at a light and changed my life for the worst.
As it turned out my wife had recently been let go from work not too long after breast cancer surgery and treatment. When she lost her job and our health insurance with it, I was temporarily uninsured, naturally when the accident occurred.
Because I had no insurance I could not get the necessary spine surgery I needed and my herniated disc pressed against my root nerves that come off the spine.
Anyway, it took three years to finally get the surgery and by that time, the nerve damage was irreversible. So now I cannot work, am typing from my wheelchair and can no longer earn my good paychecks and pay taxes on them.
The drunk who hit me had minimum liability as it turns out, and there was not enough to even cover my surgery ($123,000) not even close. Something has to be done to fix our disastrous state of health care.
I think it would be a good idea to ensure what happened to me doesn’t happen to someone else because of an untimely lapse in coverage.

“But like most Republicans, you don’t actually use facts, ”
What country, in your opinion, has the best health care system and why do you think so?

Indithinker: Great experience in fact, with health care in Great Britain – injury treated in the ER at of course, no expense. However – is the qualification for something simply “a good experience”? Lots of people have a “good experience” using heroin – should it then become supported? …….aside from the good ER experience, GB’s health care system does take into account “need”. Obviously a tax supported system can’t provide all care, to everyone, all the time. So there’s waiting list which then present a dilemma. For e.g., if a woman finds a lump in her breast, she can wait to have her mammogram (six weeks, maybe longer) or she can pay private (very expensive) and have one the next day. What should she do? Wait and save the money, or pay more for a privately done Mamm and have the results immediately? It’s easy to see then how such a system gives an advantage to those who can pay for the private testing. Such choices are part of the system, and need to be part of the discussion…….and it’s not “quibbling” to point out the realities of mortality stats, if those stats are being used to tout one system or another.

If there is to be any mandate, it should be that a fraction of net income goes DIRECTLY to a physician of our choice. Eliminate government oversight and let the local group of chosen physicians manage the health of the community. Counties or cities could even determine the portion of mandated net income for that community. Their pay will then be directly related to productivity and expense/health benefit, the management of that health going to those best able to manage it, in combination with business agents that they interview and select. What better way to help rebuild the health of America? A small federal spending could balance any neglected communities at times. On the other hand, we could all just start working for British/European bureaucrats through a huge federal program and watch the quality of care disappear.

Health care reform is a bad idea if everyone has to take it. I have great Insurance right now and only pay $55 a week and I don’t see a bill for anything. So why should I lose that and be charged to where my family can’t afford to live. This is just another stupid idea by the democrats to try and tell everyone in this country what to do. I’m thinking of going to the republican party. My spouse works in Insurance and she could lose her job if this goes thru. Thanks Obama, Pelosi and all the idiots in Washington that what this.

I am a self employed Realtor who has paid through the nose for years for health insurance. I never filed claims until the last few years, when aging caught up to me. I was on my husbands Aetna policy for the last 4 years. He lost his job in Dec 2007 and our 18 month Cobra ($900/mo) expires at the end of this month. I have been diligently shopping for health insurance for the last few months and have been TURNED DOWN due to pre-existing conditions – which by the way are under control with very reasonably priced medications I purchase each month with my prescription card – NOW – Tell me why the government mandates that employers cover their employees regardless of pre-existing conditions – but when it comes to the Self-Employed people in this country – we can’t even obtain a reasonably priced policy (80/20 PPO w/$1000 deductible) we are willing to pay for!!! When I was turned down – I was directed to apply with the State of Wisconsin (HIRSP – Health Insurance Risk Sharing Plan) for the cost of $1600 /month (no wonder the system doesn’t work!) PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE – WHEN PASSING HEALTH CARE REFORM – DON’T FORGET ABOUT THE SELF-EMPLOYED – WHICH SEEMS TO ALWAYS BE THE CASE!! MANDATE A REASONABLY PRICED POLICY TO BECOME AVAILABLE TO US AS WELL, REGARDLESS OF PRE-EXISTING CONDITIONS. FIX THIS MESS NOW! DON’T FORGET ABOUT THE 45-65 YEAR OLD AGE GROUP IN THIS COUNTRY! FOR ONCE – TAKE CARE OF US!

I was burned in a gasoline fire and lost fifty one percent of my lungs, i have Diabetis, and I don’t need handouts from the government because I’m willing to work for a living. Handouts from the government cost everybody, and if you think it is free and fair you do your homework. Taxes on Juunk food, higher payroll taxes, higher income and business tax, and there are other tax increases coming down the pike, including a proposal for a gas tax. Duh people go back to school and take a math class. Just wait till you get your free Obama care. Like my sister-inlaws family in Spain said “my dad had to wait for 7 years to get his surgery that he was in desparate need of, he almost died several times. That was in Barcelona people. Good luck with your communist style socialist party. Oh thats right, he’s not a communist, just all of his advisors are. Walk like a duck????? DO YOUR HOMEWORK!! And if you would like to call me right wing go ahead, At least I know how to work,
balance a check book, and serve people without having to lie and cheat. By the way the goverment will govern your health care, read the 2,500 page document, it is online