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Mrs. Sonrise, baby Sonrise and myself attended our town hall meeting hosted by representative Bob Ingliss here in Greenville. We are a pretty conservative area, but the left was well represented at this meeting; about 15-20% seemed to support Obamacare. It was really a lot of fun, and it did get heated at times; but hey, that's democracy at it's finest.
The biggest highlight of the evening was an 85 year old man, identifying himself as Helmut. He said that he came from East Germany, then West Germany and then emigrated to the "greatest country in the world", as he put it. Helmut said that he's terrified that Obama is taking this country to the socialist past that he left. This was received with a standing ovation and cheers. Someone commented that Europe is seeing the error of their healthcare and enacting reforms and I yelled out "and Obama is trying to be more like Europe" and got a lot of laughs and nods of agreement. A resounding theme was that businesses would stop insuring their employees if their was a government option, which would skyrocket the costs.
I was able to make a comment and I said that government couldn't get DMV, the post office, cash for clunkers, etc. right, how on earth are we to trust our health with them. I also pointed out that Hawaii tried to have universal healthcare for all children, and had to shut down the program after only 7 months because almost every parent that had health insurance for their kids canceled their policy when they realized that they could get it for "free" from the state; and they were hemorrhaging money. I said, now imagine that on a nationwide scale.
Al in all, it was a pretty cool experience, there were two really kooky women; one on the left and one on the right, no party has a monopoly on kooks. Like the tea party I attended in April, I experienced democracy first hand and really felt proud.
Oh, yeah, I almost forgot; Congressman Ingliss asked for a show of hands of how many people in the audience said that healthcate reform was needed and it appeared that 100%of the audience raised their hands; which dispelled the lie that we on the right don't want reform, we want it, just not government run reform. He also asked how many people felt that we nned insurance to get rid of the "pre-existing condition" issue, and about 90% raised their hands, myself included.
Sonrise,
Thanks for the report on last nights meeting. I wanted to go, but had some things that kept me from it. I even got a personal invite in the mail (all those emails I send I guess). I'm glad to hear that it was civil anyway. Congress people can't put their foot in their mouth if they can't speak.
Part of me wants to hop on one of those busses leaving Greenville for D.C. and the other part of me is lazy I guess. Either way, there should be no doubt in anyones mind (except maybe Keith Oberman's) that it is those who have participated in the town hall meetings who have shaped the future of health care debate in this country. There is nothing Obama can promise any of the Democrats (in exchange for the vote) that the people can not take away at the next election. I truly believe that there is going to be a shake up like no other. Ingliss is no exception either. However, I do give him credit for continuing to have the meetings at a time when most in Congress won't even hold an open meeting.
I'm for universal healthcare but I think it should wait until we get the deficit under control. I think something like the Massachusetts healthcare reform would work: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Massach...th_care_reform
Do some research on how their costs in MA have greatly exceeded their original projections, and how they actually have more people than before who need care and cannot get it. Making this problem even worse is the fact that there are not enough primary care doctors (internists, pediatricians, and family practitioners) to take care of patients. This is in a state with one of the highest concentrations of physicians per capita (if not the highest, thanks to the Harvard hospitals, Tufts hospital, Boston University hospital, etc.). Can you imagine how it would be in poorer, more rural states with fewer hospitals and academic medical centers? It would be tragic.
And that is what people almost always seem to miss when talking about "health insurance for all." It does not matter how many people have insurance if there are not enough doctors to take care of them. And there are not enough doctors to take care of the people who currently have insurance. This shortage will take decades to address, given the 7+ years it takes from the start of medical school to the end of residency training. Giving insurance to thousands and thousands more people simply won't work. It won't improve their health one bit.
Given that, why does the government want to provide health insurance for everyone so badly? Is it because that approach has been successful in other countries? No, in fact it is a failure everywhere it has been tried. Is it because the government cares that much about its citizens? No. It is mostly about the government wanting more power and control.
It was Mitt Romney (a republican) who signed the healthcare reform bill in Massachusetts. And exactly how has healthcare failed in other countries like Britain?
Do some research on how their costs in MA have greatly exceeded their original projections, and how they actually have more people than before who need care and cannot get it. Making this problem even worse is the fact that there are not enough primary care doctors (internists, pediatricians, and family practitioners) to take care of patients. This is in a state with one of the highest concentrations of physicians per capita (if not the highest, thanks to the Harvard hospitals, Tufts hospital, Boston University hospital, etc.). Can you imagine how it would be in poorer, more rural states with fewer hospitals and academic medical centers? It would be tragic.
And that is what people almost always seem to miss when talking about "health insurance for all." It does not matter how many people have insurance if there are not enough doctors to take care of them. And there are not enough doctors to take care of the people who currently have insurance. This shortage will take decades to address, given the 7+ years it takes from the start of medical school to the end of residency training. Giving insurance to thousands and thousands more people simply won't work. It won't improve their health one bit.
Given that, why does the government want to provide health insurance for everyone so badly? Is it because that approach has been successful in other countries? No, in fact it is a failure everywhere it has been tried. Is it because the government cares that much about its citizens? No. It is mostly about the government wanting more power and control.
France has a hybrid system similar in some ways to the plans being proposed in Congress (France's is actually leaning to "socialistic" much more than any plans before Congress). Is their system perfect? No. Is it much better than ours? Yes. Much better.
It was Mitt Romney (a republican) who signed the healthcare reform bill in Massachusetts. And exactly how has healthcare failed in other countries like Britain?
Republicans can be stupid just like Democrats.
The UK's system is not even close to optimal. Do some research on the wait times there and the level of freedom patients have with regard to their own health care, then get back to me.
France has a hybrid system similar in some ways to the plans being proposed in Congress (France's is actually leaning to "socialistic" much more than any plans before Congress). Is their system perfect? No. Is it much better than ours? Yes. Much better.
Our system needs repair, for sure. Pretty much everyone across the political spectrum will agree. But I don't think France's system is the answer. Even if it were, it would be difficult to make the switch to match their training and their compensation. Doctors in France make less than doctors in the United States, but their training is also cheaper and much shorter. French students begin medical school at age 18, directly after high school. In contrast, U.S. medical students must get a four-year college degree before starting medical school. Unlike the French, their tuition is very expensive and the debt incurred is a burden for much longer. So if you're going to drastically cut doctor salaries in the U.S., you would need to reconstruct the training model. That's not going to happen.
The funny thing is we discussed this exact same issue in state and local government class on Monday. This country spends $2.6 trillion on healthcare every year. The system is broken and needs fixing. It's just a question of how to fix it. People go to emergency rooms when they could just go see a family doctor for a lot less. Greenville, what do you think about a co-op type of healthcare plan?
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And exactly how has healthcare failed in other countries like Britain?
