Shrill liberal rhetoric on Health Care from

[Winnie]

I am copying and pasting my reply from fisher's more recent thread starter below re: health care reform:

I do not pretend to know all there is to know about the various proposed health care reform bills. However, I do know this: the insurance companies essentially rake in 30% of what is spent on health care in this country, acting as a middlemen. Why is one of the top ten businesses in the USA set up to profit from people being sick or preventing themselves from getting that way?

Although it appears to be much maligned, a single payer option would cut health care costs by that 30%.

My husband and I have been under-employed for three years now as independent contractors, paying high out-of-pocket costs for minimal health care (read: $3000 deductible, so really just to prevent us from going bankrupt should a catastrophic event occur). Year-to-year my premium just went up 27%. I am not overweight, don't smoke, exercise, eat well, and have had no health issues. In the last three years, the premium has more than doubled.

And, without insurance, one typically pays rate-card, not insurance company-negotiated rates. So my root canal and crown just cost me $3500 out-of-pocket since I had no dental insurance. I'm sure the 'reasonable and customary" rate I'd pay through a dental plan would have been less.

We already have a government option in the form of medicare and medicaid, and they seem to work rather well.

I think it is easy to disregard the real and true health care crisis in this country if you have the means to pay on your own or at least have an employer-funded health plan.

With 10% of the workforce unemployed - and the real number is more like 16% or higher - we have many people making tough choices in this country - health insurance or the power bill, etc.

As for myself, I am not asking anyone to pay my insurance for me; I'm only asking that I be given the same "deal" that others have access to.

If that means getting my insurance through Uncle Sam (and saving 30%), then I am fine with that.

I think what we all need is a dose of empathy.

Would you cite your source for 30% being raked in by insurance companies please?

Even if accurate, how would the Federal government be able to provide the same service for less money? Federal employees, on average, make over twice what private sector employees make. Federal Pay Continues Rapid Ascent | Cato @ Liberty

I am all for reform. Smart reform. I am adamantly opposed to the single payer system for our country.

 

[ellen]

Would you cite your source for 30% being raked in by insurance companies please?

Even if accurate, how would the Federal government be able to provide the same service for less money? Federal employees, on average, make over twice what private sector employees make. Federal Pay Continues Rapid Ascent | Cato @ Liberty

I am all for reform. Smart reform. I am adamantly opposed to the single payer system for our country.

Congressman Weiner - NY's 9th district:

Anthony Weiner - New York's 9th District

I think the key here is a single payer option, not a single payer system.

One of the biggest issues is those not covered by any plan, not private sector v. govt. At least those who are employed have good options. There are many who don't have any health care at all, and our country needs to figure out a way to provide it. Otherwise, the uninsured wait until they are very ill to go to an emergency room when early and preventative care would have been much less costly to the system.

It may not be a constitutional right, but it is the right thing to do.

 

[Bobby J]

My concern is big insurance is already in bed with the Government so how is the government going to resolve the problem they created?
I want to state again I am trying to learn more about this issue and stand right smack in the middle.

 

[30ashopper]

AMEN! Your point that you are reminded that you are healthy and make a decent living is absolutely essential for us to think about. I haven't been sick in AGES. I'll be 51 on Halloween and all my vitals are in top shape, despite a terrible family history. BUT BUT BUT I have become afflicted with a frozen shoulder and for months I have put off going to a doctor because I have such a huge deductible. I did pay for some massage therapy and acupuncture but alas, I am still living with an arm that won't budge!! I should be able, I've paid my dues (insurance premiums I have NEVER used, taxes) to march into a doctor's office without concern about paying and find out what is best treatment. Do I need to rest it, exercise it, etc... Imagine the person who has no insurance, has kids to support, works 2 part time jobs and can't make ends meet. Awful.

Why are you wasting money on stuff like this when you could be spending it on a doctor's visit? A bad shoulder should be looked at by a professional. (Where is Skunky!)

 

[30ashopper]

Yeah. I have to remind myself it is a business. That is the troubling part for me. I do not like the thought of government intruding in private business but feel this issue is a little more dynamic then just those people who have chose to be without insurance.

Why do you feel health care will be better with the Government out of it? It has not proven to be the case so far. We do not have the best system in the world as many like to proclaim.

What country would you prefer to get your coverage in?

 

[30ashopper]

I am copying and pasting my reply from fisher's more recent thread starter below re: health care reform:

I do not pretend to know all there is to know about the various proposed health care reform bills. However, I do know this: the insurance companies essentially rake in 30% of what is spent on health care in this country, acting as a middlemen. Why is one of the top ten businesses in the USA set up to profit from people being sick or preventing themselves from getting that way?

Although it appears to be much maligned, a single payer option would cut health care costs by that 30%.

This is commonly thrown around number, but there's very little data to back it up. We have a government system in place now for 40 million elderly with costs skyrocketing out of control. There is no guarantee government run systems will do what politicians claim they will do.

My husband and I have been under-employed for three years now as independent contractors, paying high out-of-pocket costs for minimal health care (read: $3000 deductible, so really just to prevent us from going bankrupt should a catastrophic event occur). Year-to-year my premium just went up 27%. I am not overweight, don't smoke, exercise, eat well, and have had no health issues. In the last three years, the premium has more than doubled.

And, without insurance, one typically pays rate-card, not insurance company-negotiated rates. So my root canal and crown just cost me $3500 out-of-pocket since I had no dental insurance. I'm sure the 'reasonable and customary" rate I'd pay through a dental plan would have been less.

Additional regulation can solve some of these problems, but there's nothing in here that dictates a federal program, AFAICT.

We already have a government option in the form of medicare and medicaid, and they seem to work rather well.

"March 23, 2005 - A key government report released Wednesday paints a bleak picture of Medicare's long-term finances and warns that the program is likely to become insolvent more quickly than previously thought.

It also cautions that Medicare is in worse financial condition than Social Security. President Bush has made Social Security reform the marquee feature of his second term's domestic agenda.

Analysts have long predicted that Medicare's costs would begin to increase sharply as the baby boom generation begins to retire later this decade. But Wednesday's analysis concludes that the program's new prescription drug benefit and an increasing reliance on expensive new medical technologies will now drive spending far higher than projected five years ago."

Medicare Heading for Financial Crisis

Does this sound like a government program that is "working well"?

I think it is easy to disregard the real and true health care crisis in this country if you have the means to pay on your own or at least have an employer-funded health plan.

With 10% of the workforce unemployed - and the real number is more like 16% or higher - we have many people making tough choices in this country - health insurance or the power bill, etc.

Medicaid, schip, unemployment, welfare, etc.. We have "safety net" programs in place to help people during hard economic times.

As for myself, I am not asking anyone to pay my insurance for me; I'm only asking that I be given the same "deal" that others have access to.

Yes you are, see below...

If that means getting my insurance through Uncle Sam (and saving 30%), then I am fine with that.

I think what we all need is a dose of empathy.

I think what we need is a good dose of financial responsibility.

 

[Bobby J]

What country would you prefer to get your coverage in?

Once again for me and probably you by your post this system works well for us. I am in excellent health and have a good job so I like it.

"To go on chanting the mantra that we have the best health care system in the world" and any proposal to have a national health system must be some kind of a Marxist plot is getting ridiculous. It is another example of a Republican "we-don't-have-a-pro blem-because-this-is-the-great est-country-in-the-world" attitude that has pretty much lost credibility amongst intelligent thinking people."

Above quote from a friend...

It is just as crazy for the Dems(liberals) to think this will not be costly. Nothing is free.

 

[Bobby J]

I think what we need is a good dose of financial responsibility.

In some ways you are correct. I wonder how many reading this have a car payment that would equate to what their family policy would be but choose the fancy car over good coverage?

 

[LuciferSam]

Once again for me and probably you by your post this system works well for us. I am in excellent health and have a good job so I like it.

"To go on chanting the mantra that we have the best health care system in the world" and any proposal to have a national health system must be some kind of a Marxist plot is getting ridiculous. It is another example of a Republican "we-don't-have-a-pro blem-because-this-is-the-great est-country-in-the-world" attitude that has pretty much lost credibility amongst intelligent thinking people."

Above quote from a friend...

It is just as crazy for the Dems(liberals) to think this will not be costly. Nothing is free.

I haven't commented much on where I stand specifically on the issue of healthcare reform. That pretty much sums up the way I feel.

 

[Miss Kitty]

Why are you wasting money on stuff like this when you could be spending it on a doctor's visit? A bad shoulder should be looked at by a professional. (Where is Skunky!)

I have to agree with this. Save your money and go to a doctor! You may be doing more harm than good!