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So are you against Medicare?
Basically the public option would be a lot like Medicare.
Yes, I know what the public option was designed to be.
Am I against Medicare? I am not on a war-path against it, but I would not miss it if it went away. In the other hand I have paid into it for a long time, soooo...... And I am not on a war-path against HC reform either. I support any solution which would resolve this mess we have now with skyrocketing cost. I DO NOT favor status quo, so don't confuse me with those Obama haters who must oppose everything under the sun.
Yes, I know what the public option was designed to be.
Am I against Medicare? I am not on a war-path against it, but I would not miss it if it went away. In the other hand I have paid into it for a long time, soooo...... And I am not on a war-path against HC reform either. I support any solution which would resolve this mess we have now with skyrocketing cost. I DO NOT favor status quo, so don't confuse me with those Obama haters who must oppose everything under the sun.
You support ANY solution? What about single-payer?
It takes care of rising costs and it offers a lot of savings. No need to have all these middle men and people pushing paper around.
Please tell me exactly why I care about health insurance companies going under? I think they have screwed the American people long enough.
It seems like private health insurance is pretty much for the wealthy anyway or someone with a generous employer.
The "system" in the U.S. works well for the rich, not so much for the poor.
I agree the prices are astronomical and we need reform to lower premiums. At the same time, i don't want to throw the baby with the bathwater. There are many good things to our current model. The quality of healthcare is by far the best in this nation when compared to the rest of the world. We have the best trained physicians, nurses and other staff. Our hospitals are the best equipped. There is a reason wealthy foreigners will pay to be treated in the United States despite the fact that they could have been treated in their country for considerably less money. The only time an American will be treated in a foreign country is to save money or to engage in some unproven non-FDA approved procedure.
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In the U.K., they have socialized medicine. They however do have a choice to have private health insurance if they want it. I don't see why such a system couldn't work in the U.S. If you want private health insurance, buy it. If not, you can be on the government plan.
And their socialized medicine rations care and the quality of care is poor. And only the very wealthy purchase private health plans in those country. Furthermore, the people in the U.K. are paying for that socialized medicine in the form of much higher taxes. Not only do they pay higher income taxes (sometimes 2-3 times as much), they pay more in other taxes as well. Their overall tax burden is much higher than ours. Nothing is free. It's pretty simple, if you want more social services, then you will pay more in taxes. The problem is people in this country are under the false assumption that Europeans pay U.S.-like taxes but get all of these free services. Sorry, it doesn't work that way.
Think your taxes are bad? - MSN Money (http://moneycentral.msn.com/content/Taxes/P148855.asp - broken link)
No one has claimed the public option is socialized medicine. They have claimed it will lead to socialized medicine and it will. If one of the big players is the government, they have unlimited resources to undercut private insurance companies. This will lead to the dissolution of several private insurance companies until we are left with only a few private insurance companies that will cater to the wealthy. The majority of Americans will be on this public option and the government will reduce benefits and service to pay for it. There is no way the government can pay for this without reducing service and quality care. Of the major government health administered systems (Medicare, Medicaid, the VA, Indian Health Clinic), only Medicare offers quality service. The other three are notorious for rationing care so I'm not convinced the government will provide quality care like Medicare if they essentially take over
Please don't apply weak examples regarding the Post Office versus Fed Ex. It's one thing to pay a few more bucks to use Fed Ex to ensure your package arrives on time versus paying thousands more to a private health insurance company.
And we don't have a few MAJOR PLAYERS now? I'm sure your response will be there are 1800 carriers out there but we all know 5-6 companies dominate the 50 states now. There really is no competition, what we have are a few companies colluding and fixing prices to pay CEOs and stockholders. This is a giant gorilla sucking money from a defunct system and offering nothing but hassles and bankruptcy to many and it's getting worse.
You support ANY solution? What about single-payer?
It takes care of rising costs and it offers a lot of savings. No need to have all these middle men and people pushing paper around.
Single payer is a government run system - not a chance in he ll
How do you know for a fact the Public Option will work just like Medicare? We also have Medicaid, the VA, and the Indian Health Clinic which work nothing like Medicare. In fact, they ration care and provide poor service. How do you know the Public Option won't work like Medicaid?
A Target manager named Michael says he was told he was one of 8,000 full-time specialists and team leaders who would be demoted to part-time. Apparently the email went on to say that HR will receive another email within 3-4 months directing stores to reduce current specialist hours to below 32 hours a week. Reason being the company wants to get all the current specs in the company OFF the full time benefits plans to reduce cost. (i.e. health insurance, etc)
Call it what you will but this calls for a public option, exchange, or whatever with a big pool to reduce costs- so that Americans can get affordable and guaranteed coverage. I know too many people who stick with an employer just because of the health coverage and the fear of losing it. Employer based coverage stifles mobility, initiative, and entrepreneurialism.
Just add this action to the growing list of causalities due to NOT having a single payer system. We need that system now before it's too late. What don't people understand? We cannot keep making fiscal policies based on "the principle of the thing"
I agree the prices are astronomical and we need reform to lower premiums. At the same time, i don't want to throw the baby with the bathwater. There are many good things to our current model. The quality of healthcare is by far the best in this nation when compared to the rest of the world. We have the best trained physicians, nurses and other staff. Our hospitals are the best equipped. There is a reason wealthy foreigners will pay to be treated in the United States despite the fact that they could have been treated in their country for considerably less money. The only time an American will be treated in a foreign country is to save money or to engage in some unproven non-FDA approved procedure.
And their socialized medicine rations care and the quality of care is poor. And only the very wealthy purchase private health plans in those country. Furthermore, the people in the U.K. are paying for that socialized medicine in the form of much higher taxes. Not only do they pay higher income taxes (sometimes 2-3 times as much), they pay more in other taxes as well. Their overall tax burden is much higher than ours. Nothing is free. It's pretty simple, if you want more social services, then you will pay more in taxes. The problem is people in this country are under the false assumption that Europeans pay U.S.-like taxes but get all of these free services. Sorry, it doesn't work that way.
Think your taxes are bad? - MSN Money (http://moneycentral.msn.com/content/Taxes/P148855.asp - broken link)
I've never said the quality is bad (even though we could work on cutting down hospital-acquired infections and stupid medical mistakes), what gets me is that health care is becoming unaffordable.
Have you looked at the French system?
There is a good DVD put out by Frontline that shows different health care systems in other countries. I like the German and the French system. We can learn some things on the U.K. when it comes to paying doctors to keep people healthy and having a gateway system.
I don't have a problem with paying more in taxes provided we get more out of them. Currently our taxes are paying for two stupid wars, banker bailouts, and other stupid things.
Every health care system rations. Here we ration based on your ability to pay. There is nothing wrong with rationing, it's a necessary evil.
Meanwhile, thousands of rednecks are celebrating because this news makes their Wal Mart look better. Kind of like the GM fanboys being happy over the recent Toyota news. I blame NASCAR for this extreme brand loyalty.
There is a good DVD put out by Frontline that shows different health care systems in other countries. I like the German and the French system. We can learn some things on the U.K. when it comes to paying doctors to keep people healthy and having a gateway system.
Would you be willing to pay the type of taxes the French and Germans pay? The tax burden for a family with 2 kids in Germany is 35.7% , 41.7% for the French and 11.9% for the United States. In France they pay 4 times the amount of taxes and Germans pay 3 times the amount of taxes. Like I said, those services aren't free. You are paying for it in one manner or another.
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