Caterpillar Opposes Health Care Bill, AARP and AMA Support It

“WE ARE GOING TO CONTROL THE INSURANCE COMPANIES” Joe Biden

This article forgot to mention that 55% of THE AMERICAN PEOPLE oppose this health care bill while only 35% favor it. Shouldn’t the voice of the American people make a better report than a couple of special interest groups?

The fact that 55% (or greater!) don’t want this legislation isn’t terribly important to ABC or any of the alphabet networks…it’s what Obama wants and we ALL know who’s in the tank for Obama – or any other Democrat. Right where they’ve been for the past four years.

Open letter to Members of congress about health care reform :
Dear Members of congress ,
Here are some questions for You :
1 – Why are we the only industrial country on earth to not have health care for all? Look at all of the countries in Europe ,England ,France , Italy ,Germany , Japan , Korea ,Canada,Israel ,Spain , …… Even dictatorship countries like Cuba ,Iran ……offer health care for their citizens .
Do you think we are smarter than the rest of the world? If you say we can not afford it, then why can we afford $ 700 billions a year or $ 7 trillion in 10 years on military ( spent on bombs & guns ) ?
What do you expect people around the world to think of us when they see us bringing an injured Dog from Iraq to the United States for treatment ,while we left 50 millions of our own people without medical care ? For sure, they will think We are insane !!!.
Is your heart breaking when you see thousands of people get in line at midnight under cold weather each time they have FREE check up ? How about a woman, who will never have the chance to see a doctor in 27 years ?
2 – Do you and your family have health insurance? If Yes, then why not 50 millions of your fellow citizens have it ?
3 – How would you feel when any member of your family dies because of having no health insurance ? Think about 45 thousands of your fellow citizens and children dying every year because of the lack of health care .
4 – Children are the future of this country. How can our sick, unhealthy children, and young adults can compete with the Chinese , Japanese , and European children in the future? Our nation will be strong or not depend on their health , why not invest on them for a healthy nation ? .
5 – Millions of people use Emergency rooms as primary care .Thousands of Americans file bankruptcy every year because of health care bills, and at the end we still have to pay for them anyway, so why can’t you find the smarter way out?
6 – Why do we spend the most on health care but still have 50 millions without health care with a broken system?
7- why don’t You learn anything from housing crisis ? Like housing cost in the past. Health care cost now is sky rocket and many experts predict the next big crisis will be health care so millions of our people will die if health care reform failed.
Businesses & companies have to pay too much for health care and our products became more expensive, compare to other countries.
Many talent & skilled people are being wasted because they have to do the job they don’t like for health care.
Many inventions & new ideas never became new business because the system holds people as hostages, and people can not open business because they are afraid of losing their health insurance.
No wonder unemployment is so high because Jobs can not be created.
Once the health care reform pass , many skills & talents will be discovered, and new businesses will be open with new inventions and new ideas .American products will be exported around the world instead of being imported too much from China, and many jobs will be created .
Super powered, special interests have super voices, but millions of families have no voice. Many commented from the Internet ,media may be posted by special interests, and millions of people may not even have Internet access .
Please forget about politic, It can be half empty & half full bottle of water story .
Many people that support or oppose, may not tell the full story . Think about the old times all of us believed the earth was flat. Remember back at the time when many of us believed Women should not be allowed to vote?
Not long ago 80 % of people opposed medicare & social security bill at that time.
After 9/11 80 % of us believed war on Irag was a good idea. Sometimes, special interest controls the story, and tell people the story they want and control the minds of the people, so please forget about politics.
Please stand up and do what is right for the future of our country. I believe if you vote YES on health care reform, history will remember you as hero of our great nation.
Take an action , pass health care reform NOW.

Most people are unaware of the “doc fix” as it’s not being included in most reports of the support of the AMA. Most are probably still thinking “Ha, this bill will show those rich doctors”. If this bill goes through, it’ll be because of the covering up of facts by the media and the widespread ignorance of far too many Americans.

I am seeing allot of rhetoric about the loss of the middle class with this vote.
Seriously, wake up folks…. In Canada the middle class are fine, companies are growing rapidly without government assistance (including their financial institutions) and everyone has health coverage.
Scare tactics are the tools of the ignorant as are hysterics.

@mark, Canadians are also waiting in line a hell of alot longer then americans for health care.

@mark, Canadians are also waiting in line a hell of alot longer then americans for health care.
Posted by: Zaggs | Mar 19, 2010 3:17:49 PM
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How long do Americans without the wealth or the health insurance have to wait for chemotherapy for their child, or bi-pass surgery, or a knee, or hip replacement, etc, etc, etc?
Let me tell you . . . forever. In Canada, they would ALL receive the treatments.

I’m going to burma for my heart bypass – yeahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!11

@Tierra, they don’t have to wait. Not tomention places like St. Jude and Shriners hospitals
ALso how many americans will have to call the police because government wards have left them dying of thirst under Obamacare like they do in Britain?
How many americans will die waiting in line for even the simplest of procedures like they do in Canada?
How many with any sort of infectious disease will be separated from the populace like in Cuba?
How many heart patients will be told they cannot have a new heart because obama said they’d be better of with pain pills as Obama’s government take over rations care?
Also who ever said keep the status qou? Oh yeah, no one!

With the $500 Billion in Medicare cuts, AARP will make more money selling Medicare supplemental policies. Conflict of interest much?

destroy the middle class and the working class
Posted by: tickedoff
republicans have successfully achieved this already, they were working on this since FDR, it took ‘em a while, but they finally got it done..

The AMA DOES NOT represent American physicians. Only about 15% of docs are members, and most of those (including me) are now planning NOT to renew our memberships. The AMA is a corrupt organization that represents NO ONE but the fat cats who run it.
The proposed reform bill would be a disaster for our nation. We already spend 3 times what we should on healthcare due to Congress’ past blunders of mandating insurance abuse, and applying price controls and central bureaucratic management to healthcare. Before that, healthcare was less the 5% of GDP, not the 17% it is today!
As a physician, I squander half my time coping with the “cost control” measures inflicted on me by Medicare. Every rule saves somebody a few pennies. But the net effect of drowning doctors in bureaucratic regulations is massive inefficiency and ever-higher net costs. Now Obama wants to bless us with another 2700 pages of the same heavy-handed, misguided policies that created this mess.
The only way to an efficient healthcare system is to end Medicare price controls and central bureaucratic management, and let doctors and hospitals compete on quality and price, as in every other industry. The current system, and everything in Obamacare, strangles innovation and prevents competition on quality and price. To survive, doctors and hospitals are forced to focus on “gaming the system,” not on quality and efficiency.
How well would our auto-repair industry or our food industry fare with Congress and Medicare setting prices and policies? America needs to wise up, before healthcare gobbles up 25% or our GDP, destroying our economic abundance and international competitiveness.
Yours for Better Healthcare,
Dan Jones, MD

nobody really cares about your Canadian viewpoint
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I think it important to know what people say about other health care systems. Too many on the Right want to ignore other systems that are popular with the people covered by them. I don’t know if Tierra is Canadian or not,but if so, its valid to hear what she has to say about the health care experience in Canada.
My friends in France and Australia think we’re pretty nutso about health care here. And yes, they’ve spend time here– sometimes years– and can compare and contrast.

This reform depends on fed. and state goverment doing their jobs right and like that is going to happen.Read the Bill

The story on Politico about ‘doc fix’ is well worth the read. It’s unbelievable the lies and misleadings this administration is willing to put out there just to ‘save’ the Obama legacy. ”
Politico has retracted the story since they got the supposed Democratic memo from Republicans sources and GOP leadership are running away from it as fast as they can.
Of course Politico ran it uncritically at first even though it reads like right wing talking points.
The lesson as always? Right wingers lie.

“This country has the best care and insurance in the world.”
Unfortunately we do not.
We are 37th in WHO’s ranking of healthcare systems.
Many right wingers don’t like that access (ie universal healthcare) is a component for that ranking.
However we are 15th even when considerations like access are taken out and that is spending quite a bit more on healthcare than other countries.
We are the only 1st world country without universal healthcare.

“Anyway, HONESTLY telling us what goes on in the Canadian system is one thing, but trying to tell us what we need to be doing with OUR tax money is another.”
Yes I remember when you were quiet on letting Iraqis determine their own destiny versus our invading, so great is your respect for the concept of sovreignty.
What a lame argument.

Obamamnesty is coming! 20,000,000 newly legalized illegls plus all their family members.

I keep myself in great shape. I own my own business. Now I am going to have to pay ??? for health care insurance at a time when I am trying to keep my business afloat or be forced to pay FINES!!! This is getting ridiculous. This country is great because we have options, not mandates.

This whole argument is stupid I have to pay 800+ a month for just me and my wife if they raise my taxes by 200 dollars a month but lower my health insurence by 500 dollars HELLO DO THE MATH ARE YOU ALL IDIOTS?? Not to mention that the republicans tryed to push this exact reform though during the Bush admin and Bush and the republicans used reconsiliation 3 times to push though tax cuts that drove up the deficit. The republicans are hypocrites and only want to stop everything the democrates want to do because if they do and you stay misrible jobless homeless and without health care they can say look your lives still suck vote for us next election. And they know that you are all to stupid to see that they are the ones preventing any legislation to go though that would make your lives better

If the Canadian healthcare is such a good thing, why did the premier of Newfoundland go to Florida for his heart surgery?

I have long quit as a member of AARP, because it shamelessly denied that the h.c. reform is a government run program.

It’s good to see someone from corporate America speak out, even if it appears the people on capitol hill who should be listening aren’t listening. This legislation, if passed, will not improve the financial fix our country finds itself in. It will not inspire companies to hire more workers. It will not reassure nervous small business owners to invest and expand (I know, I’m a small business owner myself). It will not reassure Wall Street and beyond that the federal government is serious about fiscal responsibility.
It will do just the opposite of all those things. This is depressing beyond words.

The bottom line: the lack of universal healthcare is hurting US competitiveness.
Try selling that “bottom line” to someone in Massachusetts or Tennessee or Maine where these structures have been tried and failed MISERABLY- people most hurt were those who relied on the empty promises. Massachusetts is so unsustainable that even the stimulus bailing them out didn’t make a dent in the real mess created there. How competitive are they now- only 4 insurance providers, hospitals going bankrupt and suing the state for not paying for services, people still without insurance even thought they have a mandate and state governemnt going bankrupt under the weight of a program they can’t afford. Sound like a real competitive edge doesn’t it.

“If the Canadian healthcare is such a good thing, why did the premier of Newfoundland go to Florida for his heart surgery”
Because he’s a millionaire who wanted a less invasive procedure that was available here in the United States, much like Magic Johnson used to get HIV treatments in France
Health care is great if you’re a millionaire.
Its the rest of us that health care reform is supposed to help.

How long do Americans without the wealth or the health insurance have to wait for chemotherapy for their child,
Posted by: tierra
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I can’t answer that. I don’t think it is so dire as you make it sound. How long do they have to wait?

Posted by: obieone40 | Mar 20, 2010 12:00:28 AM
Its interesting that if you read the New England Journal of Medicine, a well-respected journal that uses rigorous polling methods, they’ve found that both physicians and patients (the citizens of Massachusetts) strongly support Massachusetts Health Care reform and system.
In fact, a whopping 70% of physicans support the reform! 72% of all primary care physicians polled support the reforms.
(Physicians’ Views of the Massachusetts Health Care Reform Law — A Poll, New England Journal of Medicine)

Its interesting that if you read the New England Journal of Medicine, a well-respected journal that uses rigorous polling methods, they’ve found that both physicians and patients (the citizens of Massachusetts) strongly support Massachusetts Health Care reform and system.
_____________________________________
Isn’t that the same journal that published a survey that 46% of physicians nationwide will leave their practices if this Healthcare bill goes through?!
I also wonder if it’s so popular why are hospitals going bankrupt and suing the state gov’t for payments for services.
Why in the same article you cited (done in 2009 regarding the law passed in 2006) did 50% of doctors respond that their practices have gotten WORSE over the past 3 years (only 23% said they had gotten better)? Also 53% of those docs respond that the impact on the law on costs in Mass for healthcare are hurting. Unfortunatly there is no comparison poll from before 2006 to put these numbers in proper context but the only poll done before this was from emergency room docs who said the reform was putting increased pressure on emergency rooms’ capacity.
Why does Mass have the highest insurance costs in the nation and lost the number of providers now down to only 4 (I thought this gov’t intrusion “increased competition”)? Why has their state treasurer signed an affidavit/budget review to the governor showing that the medical costs have risen 52% since enacted and projections are unsustainable for the state budget?

Caterpillar is a publicly traded company. That $100 million will come straight from shareholder dividends. Seeing that as anything but a negative is foolishness.

This isn’t even real health care reform. Requiring us to purchase insurance? How does that help anyone? This is just helping insurance companies that much more. Perhaps a good business to go into now.

I think if you look closely at the article, 79% of Massachusetts physicians reported being very or somewhat satisfied with their medical practice. While 50% reported that things at their practice had gotten worse over the past 3 years, very few said that the Massachusetts health care reform law was a major reason for changes– either positive (13%) or negative (11%). Moreover, 23% said things had gotten better over the past three years.
What would be interesting would be a comparison to other states where no reform had been enacted. Do physicians everywhere or in particular regions, regardless of reform, feel their practices have gotten worse during the past three years– and if so why.
If you read a lot of medical and health journals you’d likely reason, as I do, that in many specialites and areas the response would be yes — its gotten worse.
I suggest people read the results themselves and drill down into all the questions.
The great thing about it is that it’s a real survey done using rigorous polling methods, unlike the shoddy Medicus “survey”. Some of the responses/findings are counterintuitive, and mixed. But, it remains true that patients and physicans in Massachusetts support their health system. Many are satisfied– or more satisfied than not– and want nothing to do with repealing it and being in the same boat as many other states.

One American dies every 12 minutes for lack of heath care.
Posted by: Sharon
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Please explain such a ridiculous statement.

Oh, Sharon, where does one begin to respond to your emotional, illogical post? Let’s go over it line by line:
“One American dies every 12 minutes for lack of heath care.”
For openers, this statistic is IMPOSSIBLE to prove. The assumptions in that study are ludicrous and it still takes some major mental gymnastics to infer that it is a ‘lack of health care’ that led directly or indirectly to the deaths attributed to it. This is just fearmongering masquerading as research, and there is plenty of this on all sides of the issue (not just the pro-Obamacare crowd, I want to make clear).
” This bill covers children, veterans and those with hardships.”
Covers them HOW, in what way that they are not covered otherwise? Veterans are already covered and do not need Obamacare to get health care. Children’s coverage was vastly expanded by the expansion of SCHIP last year. “those with hardships”– what does that even mean and how does this particular bill address them? A republican proposal to create a nation-wide pool for such ‘uninsurables’ and to provide government subsidies to cover the cost for those who could not afford it went nowhere.
“This bill is imperative to Americans and as the republicans drag their feet more are dying.”
Poppycock. The Republicans do not have the numbers to stop this bill. You must know that. And if ‘foot dragging’ means people die, why are the measures that will supposedly provide that health care you are ranting about not going to kick in for 4 YEARS? Are folks going to postpone dying for four years? Didn’t think so. This line of argument is unconscionable.
“I don’t understand how some Americans are saying the dollar value is more important than the value of life. When a republican puts the all mighty dollar above the life of Americans,…”
Providing access to good quality health care at affordable prices is the goal of many involved in this debate, including most Republicans. Paul Ryan, for example, tries to explain how this bill does not lower prices and is unaffordable and unsustainable, but folks like you are simply not listening. Damaging our economy, limiting access to quality heath care, discouraging innovative, cutting-edge medicine– those are not things that are going to improve the quality of our lives. Please realize that people who disagree with you, as I do, about the specifics of this bill are equally concerned about improving lives and providing excellent health care to Americans. We disagree with whether this bill improves our ability to do that and whether it does more harm than good. We do NOT value money over human health. Stop demonizing what you do not understand.
“I change sides and will most certainly find time to work to help the Democrats in elections. This is a moral vote on integrity.” That’s lovely. I’ll continue to work to remove those Democrats from office. We’ll see where the majority of americans fall come the next elections. For example, today, when one congressman from my state announced he was a no vote this time, I contributed money to his campaign, even though he is a democrat and I am not. The threats of reduced funding and being ‘primaried’ that he is facing from the left should be, and hopefully will be, counteracted by those of us in the sensible middle as well as on the right on this particular issue.
Seriously, please stop insisting that only people who agree with you on THIS BILL are good people, moral people, people who value all that is best about America. It simply isn’t true. We who oppose this bill also care deeply about this country and the health of all its citizens. You seem to have fallen for the president’s line that the alternatives are this bill, in its entirety, or the status quo. That simply isn’t true. There are alternatives. We should defeat this bill and start working on those alternatives immediately.

Aw, progressive mama, surely you don’t really think that this is a case of the perfect being the enemy of the good. This bill is not good. It is jury-rigged with special deals and loopholes galore– which are NOT all removed in the fix legislation. It ignores the good ideas that president said he heard from republicans at the white house summit last month and thought should be included– lip service again? It is financially irresponsible and will harm our economy in both the short and long run.
I guess I’m just more of an optimist than most around here. I truly believe if this bill is defeated, we can get some bipartisan legislation done in an incremental fashion. Tort reform. National pools for high risk individuals. The end of the antitrust exemption. Regulations on matters like pre-existing conditions and caps. Large pools for small businesses and individuals.
We need legislation that the states can afford and that the federal government can afford. We need legislation that actually addresses health CARE costs, not insurance costs. (As the cost of health care continues to skyrocket, the cost of insurance companies paying for that health care must also skyrocket.)

The AARP has done a lousy job with this piece of…well, guess we call it, legislation. Much ado about nothing. ..and some of the insurance companies they support through their “use our name prorams”……..just another insurance giant….not sure just whose side they are on anymore.

I don’t understand Caterpillar’s stance on the bill. Are they saying that giving their employees health insurance puts them at a disadvantage in the global marketplace? Does that mean Canada and every other major industrial nation with health care for all, has put their companies at a disadvantage? And how far can we carry this competition complaint? There are surely country’s without workers rights and safety regulations which makes their products cheaper to produce, so should we eliminate workers rights and safety rules? Just where would this end?
Hurrah for AARP and the AMA for actually reading the bill and judging it on the world of good it will do for our country.

I don’t oppose this bill i HATE it. It will put yet another “wrecking ball” through our country, whether you want to believe it or not. Small businesses will be chased out, and big business will be forced to pay up. Oh by the way, we the people will be forced to pay up, and if we don’t, we will have fines. How is that “change” especially when the unemployed cant get work because their area has a choke hold recession going on! WAKE UP.