Duke Professor Explains What the Health Care Bill Actually Says (Representatives, Congress)

[tonyandclaire89]

DURHAM

The Health Care Bill

What 'right' to health care? - Columns - News & Observer (http://www.newsobserver.com/opinion/columns/story/1630906.html - broken link)

[ViewFromThePeak]

Someone should try to get the professor fired for speaking negatively about Obama's plan. Academia is solidly blue and we don't need anyone questioning liberal policies within the ivory tower, which is pure and clean of conservative thought .

[plannine]

Originally Posted by tonyandclaire89

DURHAM

The Health Care Bill

What 'right' to health care? - Columns - News & Observer (http://www.newsobserver.com/opinion/columns/story/1630906.html - broken link)

We can keep putting up peoples "opinions" all we want, but it's not going to change the fact that Americans are held captive by Insurance Companies and Drug manufacturers, which in no other civilized country in the world have such power as they do here. They control the prices and they control the treatment. (They even try to control the consumer.........just tell your doctor about our wonderful drug, that you saw on TV, that will make all your problems go away, with only these minor possible side effects)

I keep hearing some (like the above linked associate history professor) that we can do this and that (to fix the broken system), but none of those things have been acted on in my lifetime, so suddenly when UHC gets brought to the front, we suddenly can think about doing those things. The same people who've blocked those changes over the years, are the people putting all the effort to stop UHC.


So either we are a government for the people, or we are a government for the corporation, and UHC will be the proof of where our government representatives stand.

[domergurl]

Originally Posted by ViewFromThePeak

Academia is solidly blue and we don't need anyone questioning liberal policies within the ivory tower, which is pure and clean of conservative thought .

You've never been to Duke have you?

[plannine]

Originally Posted by domergurl

You've never been to Duke have you?

The only thing liberal about Duke, is their recruitment of athletes.

[ZGACK]

Originally Posted by ViewFromThePeak

Someone should try to get the professor fired for speaking negatively about Obama's plan. Academia is solidly blue and we don't need anyone questioning liberal policies within the ivory tower, which is pure and clean of conservative thought .

Not entirely. Duke, Davidson, Georgetown, Boston College, Notre Dame, Vanderbilt, Washington & Lee, Hillsdale College, Pepperdine University, Rice University, Dartmouth College are all top schools that, I think, would be hard to categorize as 'blue'. So there are bright spots where a real education can be obtained versus indoctrination.

[ViewFromThePeak]

Originally Posted by domergurl

You've never been to Duke have you?

I've dated three faculty members (our school collaborates with their comp sci dept at times), all in liberal arts. So, perhaps my sample size regarding exposure is biased, based on the majors these people had (classics -- roman antiquity, history, and art). All 3 ladies were liberal to moderate and had radical friends.

[helenejen]

Originally Posted by domergurl

You've never been to Duke have you?

You stole my line. Anyone who doesn't know that Duke University is conservative should really hold his tongue on the subject of politics in academia.

[dorock99]

Originally Posted by tonyandclaire89

DURHAM

The Health Care Bill

What 'right' to health care? - Columns - News & Observer (http://www.newsobserver.com/opinion/columns/story/1630906.html - broken link)

I actually agreed with everything said in the Article, but again i think we require a mix of those proposed by conservatives and those proposed by liberals.

1. Tort Reform is a must A++++++ (Doctors have complained about this for a long time and the only reason congress has not addressed this issues, is because these same insurance companies and attorney groups lobby for this, yes, can you see the conflicts of interest?)

- If we had Tort Reform a long time ago John Edwards would not be a wealthy man and many of his attorney buddies that go after doctors for malpractice suits.

Okay, so let me know if I'm reading this incorrectly. The government seems to want to operate as an additional competitor for consumers on the back of other consumers who may pay for private health care?

Competition is always a great thing right?

Okay, so if the government enters as a competitor are we to all assume they'll have the best plan and the cheapest plan?

If yes, how long will this competitive advantage last?

OR

Is the government acting as a large single payer insurance provider sort of like a company would for the 50 Million people that are insured??

Like will the government be going in with a list of 50 million people in a pool, and ask the insurance companies to give them competitively low rates based on the size of the pool they have to offer?

I could see the concern of insurance companies, but wouldn't this competitor tend to lower prices overall? Because of the size and the fact that consumers naturally will always go to the provider that offers the most for the lest amount of money?

Now, will this actually destroy the insurance companies or will the insurance companies welcome the competition and start to lower their prices and expand the coverage they offer?

I mean tax cabs compete with government sponsored public transit in most cities etc, so there are plenty of industries that are private, but government acts as a competitor and it seems to work.

I can see the fear on both sides. If I'm an insurance company to compete and retain clients I'm going to have to do the following

1. Lower my premiums
2. Extend my coverage options

This will have an adverse effect on my bottom line

1. My Margins will certainly go down
2. I may loose clients etc??

Um, it just seems to me if this happens we'll get extremely close to a single payer system. If everyone realizes government has the best option,then will the government contact like different private insurance agencies for various premium contracts?

Like how is this supposed to work???/

[ViewFromThePeak]

Bzzzt...Duke still liberal by a mile.

Duke Magazine-Leftward Leanings by Robert J. Bliwise-September/October 2006 (http://www.dukemagazine.duke.edu/dukemag/issues/091006/leftward3.html - broken link)

The percentage of self-identified liberals beat out conservatives 36.3 percent to 22.2 percent, averaged over five years.