Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
First of all, government is not taking over healthcare, it is attempting to offer a public option health insurance policy. Big difference. I cannot understand why, when the reasons that the oppostion to the plan prove to be the lobbyists spending millions daily to divert the issue, more citizens are not enraged, Republican and Democrat alike. I'm finding this fact mote upsetting than the issue of healthcare itself When the public is in favor of something and their reps are not listening to them, but to lobbyists for an industry that wants total domination, something is very wrong with our country and democracy.
I'm also not opposed to a public option if it's enforced strictly as an option and not one that is designed to take over healthcare. I simply do not trust it will act in that way and the reason is the govt has no one to answer to. The Presidents mentions keeping the private insurance companies honest but who keeps the government honest? The government can dictate price and policy and there is no recourse for those who disagree with the government's action. If the govt wants, it can slowly reduce premiums to the point that private insurance companies fall one by one. This is essentially, the Wal-Mart effect. Wal-Mart with it's vast resources offered prices that mom and pop stores couldn't compete with which ultimately forced them out of business.
Can you please explain to me, what would be the best Republican move now to insure health care
for even Republicans?
I am not concerned as much with what Obama said during the campaign, but what my party's
answer is to a growing problem with their constituents.
What is the answer is what I am interested in. Maybe because of my youth I don't know. But I
tell you, this is the concern of young Americans and specifically young Republican Americans.
If you know of a good solution, could you please post it? Thank you so much.
Can you please explain to me, what would be the best Republican move now to insure health care
for even Republicans?
I am not concerned as much with what Obama said during the campaign, but what my party's
answer is to a growing problem with their constituents.
What is the answer is what I am interested in. Maybe because of my youth I don't know. But I
tell you, this is the concern of young Americans and specifically young Republican Americans.
If you know of a good solution, could you please post it? Thank you so much.
RFSilver
Sure
1. Eliminate pre-existing conditions
2. Increase portability
3. Eliminate state restrictions when purchasing policies
4. Expand Medicaid to cover more low income families
5. Enforce strict identification and screening policies to prevent illegals from exploiting the system and using resources.
I'm also not opposed to a public option if it's enforced strictly as an option and not one that is designed to take over healthcare. I simply do not trust it will act in that way and the reason is the govt has no one to answer to. The Presidents mentions keeping the private insurance companies honest but who keeps the government honest? The government can dictate price and policy and there is no recourse for those who disagree with the government's action. If the govt wants, it can slowly reduce premiums to the point that private insurance companies fall one by one. This is essentially, the Wal-Mart effect. Wal-Mart with it's vast resources offered prices that mom and pop stores couldn't compete with which ultimately forced them out of business.
First of all...health insurance and healthcare are separate enitities. The public option will not dictate which doctors you can see, just as Medicare doesn't. Thus far Medicare and The VA Hospitals seems to be satisfying people that utilize either of these. It is the private sector that is incresing cost for Medicare thru Medciare Advantage. I posted a link about this yesterday and I will find it and post it here. Right now the health insurance companies have a monopoly and that is not acceptable. I don't see how they will be run out of business unless everybody switches to the public option and is satisfied with it. If that happened, what would that say about all of the years of premiums, rejected claims, rejected insurance coverage due to pre existing conditions and the gouging that ensued? That maybe they needed to be subdued or whatever else fate has in store for them. Sorry, butI I have no pity for these companies.
First of all...health insurance and healthcare are separate enitities. The public option will not dictate which doctors you can see, just as Medicare doesn't. Thus far Medicare and The VA Hospitals seems to be satisfying people that utilize either of these. It is the private sector that is incresing cost for Medicare thru Medciare Advantage. I posted a link about this yesterday and I will find it and post it here. Right now the health insurance companies have a monopoly and that is not acceptable. I don't see how they will be run out of business unless everybody switches to the public option and is satisfied with it. If that happened, what would that say about all of the years of premiums, rejected claims, rejected insurance coverage due to pre existing conditions and the gouging that ensued? That maybe they needed to be subdued or whatever else fate has in store for them. Sorry, butI I have no pity for these companies.
1. The VA is not satisfying people who use this because I'm a physician who sees patients in the VA so I have direct experience with this and the VA rations cares and veterans are not happy with that. The VA is limited to certain medications and there are unnecessary bureacratic protocols that must be followed to get procedures done. Patients have to satisfy certain requirements to get studies that private insurance doesn't impose. Medicaid and the Indian Health Clinic are also a govt run system that provides rationed care. Medicare is a system that people are generally content with but even with Medicare, people buy supplemental insurance. Medicare is also limited to a certain percent of the population. I'm not sure how it would function if it covered everyone.
2. I agree completely that Insurance companies have a monopoly. I also agree that insurance companies have abused the system. But I also think that a public option will cause most insurance companies to go out of business because the govt. can dictate price and policy with no recourse from anyone. As physicians we see this. Medicare continue to lower reimbursement for physicians over the long term. Sure, some years it may increase it but overall, it's been a steady decline in reimbursement. Our costs continue to increase yet our reimbursement continues to fall. There is no recourse by physicians.
3. If we could create a Public Option that could be kept in check so that it doesn't abuse its resources and undercuts private insurance to the degree that they can't compete, I'm all for it. I don't mind a cheaper option being available. I just don't trust it and think it will ultimatley lead to a single payer system.
I'm a Republican and I agree this is a duplicitous political move by our party. It is a hypocritical stance from the previous year.
However, how is this any better than Obama's Presidential campaign on health care reform. Last year, Obama claimed health care would be paid for exclusively by mandating that all employers provide health insurance for its employees or else provide a fine that would be placed in a general fund that would subsidize health insurance for those without coverage. Obama never mentioned a government sponsored option during his campaign. After he won the Presidency, he waited until the Spring to announce his new govt sponsored option plan and desire to adopt a European style health care sytem to which he was quoted. That was also a cheap move by the Democrats.
I think the real problem is that nobody has a common sense approach that will work for everyone. This should not be a Democratic vs. Republican problem to solve.
All Americans need health insurance and everyone should be able to have it, even those that can't afford to pay much. I don't believe the answer should be for employers to solve, especially not at the risk of them having to cut jobs in order to possibly pay for the health care premiums that are being increased yearly by insurance companies. Another problem that relates to health insurance is pharmaceutical companies with obscene profits. I believe in companies making profits but when I'm being asked to pay $12 per pill for a "new" medication that is being sold in pill form for the first time despite having been around for decades, there's nothing else to call it but theft by deception. The pharmaceutical company says because it's new they have to charge so much money to make up for production costs and research. But this medication required less than two months of research and study prior to its introduction in pill form after its initial proposal. I'd require 90 per month at a minimum. You do the math. Still, I consider myself fortunate because I still have the ability to pay for everything out of pocket although I had to go with a different, less effective, less expensive medication but at least it still works.
What about the people whose medication means the difference between life and death? Or, if not death, continuing harm to their health when going without their medicine? I've seen people when I worked in the medical field who used to take their medication only half the time they needed it because they couldn't afford to buy a full month's supply. Many times it was critical cardiac related medication. These aren't sob stories. This is reality and it should be a cause for concern for everyone because you never know when it might be you. When the senate and house members have the nerve to vote against healthcare while they have no concerns regarding their own as they have excellent coverage, that should be a concern for everyone. If you have a health problem and are currently covered by group coverage, you should be worried. If you should lose your job, your rates could go sky high or you could be dropped after 18 months of Cobra simply because you have a pre-existing condition.
Some type of healthcare reform needs to be passed and it needs to contain a low cost program for those who need it based on ability to pay. We need to rein in the insurance companies, not take away their profit completely, but when insurance executives make $12 million dollars a year and their companies refuse 1 out of 5 procedures based on nothing but a way to reduce costs, how can anyone say nothing needs to be done?
When I see high paid TV pundits who say the health insurance reform is unnecessary yet they make millions a year, why would anyone even think about listening to them? Yet, they do and worse, they believe a lot of their misinformation about health care reform.
We have people with little or no medical knowledge deciding whether or not someone can have surgery based on criteria listed on a computer. If the public really knew the realities about their insurance, they'd be horrified.
Write to your representatives and tell them if they allow the insurance companies to dictate who gets care and who doesn't, they'll no longer be your representative. Maybe if we took away the benefits of some of the reps who vote no for healthcare for everyone and let them go find their own, especially those with hypertension or cardiac disease, I'm sure the former is rampant in DC, they'd rethink their ideas about healthcare reform. I find it reprehensible that in this country where we have so many things to be grateful for, healthcare for everyone is not considered a necessity.
For those of you who are 45 or older, do you remember what long distance used to cost before the telephone monopoly was abolished? How about $5 for a ten minute call from one state to another in the daytime? Now, it's pennies per minute if not free with some plans. Insurance companies need the competition and caps on premium increases along with abolishing pre-existing condition clauses. It effects all of us whether you realize it or not.
Not only are Republicans supporting these measures but some
Democrats are as well
:thinking a long time:
ok... though its the Republicans I favor but I must put
America first. My inspiration droops if there is no Republicans
supporting this because people think we are not capable of
ideas right now and favor Independents.
I wanted to prove inspite of lobbyist pushing everybody around,
my party can work with the circumstances given them and excel.
Maybe thats too childish... not sure.
ok... how would I go about finding out more or getting a list of
Senators both Republicans and Democrats that support these
views...
Maybe my mid-term research paper can be about this issue.
Thank you so much for responding to my concerns.
p.s. I am learning so much from this thread and I
appreciate it!
Health care for people is communism and socialism. Medicare and medicaid and social security is Satans way of trying to entice us to the dard side. We as christians need to suffer and see people die. This way we can come closer to god. Sacrafice to keep those producers wealthy is gods will. The rich became rich because they worked hard for it. God rewards the rich because they have sewn the love seeds to gods work.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
