I'm for it if Obama makes sure Pete O will be able to get his head examined for free.

The last thing we need is for the government to get their paws wrapped around heath care more than it already is. I'm so tired of politicians on both sides trying to decide what's best for us without any visible signs of common sense. They get an idea in their head and run with it whether it makes a lick of sense or not. I could go on and on but this would just turn into another political debate.

I think government should get out of the business of building and maintaining roads. This is clearly a socialist plan. You can see the outline of it in the Communist Manfesto, the Karl Marx playbook ("drivers of the world unite"): so first they take over the roads, then the sidewalks, then the doorsteps, then the tile floor in my bathroom. My solution: Sell each road and street to the highest bidder, and then let each road owner charge what the market will bear. Potholes damage your vehicle? Take a different road, get a sturdier vehicle, build your own road! Can't afford to pay the tolls to get from your home to Tops? Well, friend, take some personal responsibility - walk, if you must. When you own your own road, you make the rules - none of this government oversight - so you can institute left on red, drive on the left, stop signs and stop lights optional, speed limits unnecessary, and pedestrians cross at your own risk! Finally, to guard against toll crashers, we'll organize voluntary armed militias at every major intersection.

James, if this were written by Peter, I'd think you were serious!

I wonder if those who are opposed to this realize that they are one bad day at work away from not having health coverage.

I wonder if those who support it know about care rationing, especially those over the age of 40

It don't matter the working man will pay big in the end no matter what happens.

Does anybody really know how much this whole health care for all is going to cost..It not free..There are people out there now who don't want health care coverage even though their employer offers it..What is the plan..who gets taxed,is it manadatory that you have health coverage..What i don't get is Obama says this won't cost us,makes it sound like it's free..But then we hear it will cost over a Trillion dollars..Look at how much just giving drug coverage to seniors cost us..

No one knows because its not finalized yet. Thankfully the senate is going to take months before it is ready to vote on it.

According to what Obama said in his address on television, 2/3 of the money is going to be re allocated from what is now medicaid and medicare. The wasteful spending in these programs need to be addressed anyways. Also, the health care premiums insurance companies charge employers needs to be looked into as well. The drug companies are starting to come around on this issue which is another plus. I can tell you that anyone on medicare, especially seniors PAY for coverage and cant afford the high cost of their prescriptions so they dont take all of them, get sick, and go into the hospital which medicaid takes over coverage. The system needs to be fixed.

Posted by Charlie Mallow on July 24, 2009 - 10:54am
I wonder if those who are opposed to this realize that they are one bad day at work away from not having health coverage.

Are there no charities? Are there no families to take care of their needs?
A catastrophic disease will wipe out the savings and assets of even the most well insured. Without insurance (if a job is lost) they might just as well lie down and die and decrease the surplus population.

I do not like this plan. I am not in favor of it and I am tired of hearing our officials use Canada as a model! The Canadian Minister of Health said that Obama should not use Canada as his model. She stated that the flaws they have created are too difficult to correct. Yes, all citizens have healthcare, but their waiting lists for procedures are amazing! By the way, Canada is a country of 30 million! We are a nation of 300 million! I know that there are ratios in play here, but my God! Do we not think that the same things won't happen here?

Can the system improve? Yes it can. One of the things that can improve it is the very thing that they are using to fund this new way. Why is it that we can recognize the billions in waste, fraud and abuse, but only re-allocate into another program! Whay is that the only answer? Innstead of just returning the money to the people, so they can afford healthcare! Isn't that just a little backwards to anyone else?

My plan:

You have three groups:

Group A. For those people who have their own health insurance, they have to pay some % less to medicare/medicaid or taxes

Grouip B: For those who have insurance through an employer, they have to pay a little more than Group A into medicare/medicaid or taxes

Group C: Those who are uninsured or who have children under 18 uninsured, they have to pay the largest amount into medicaid/medicare or taxes. BUT! if/when they supply their own or their employer supplies their health care, they get some sort of tax relief at tax time.

There should also be more flexibility in the system, and price increases (or whatever they call them) for health insurance should happen only once a year and be limited in the amount they can increase.

Chelsea - I don't understand the difference between A and B. What's the difference between those people who have their own health insurance and those who have insurance?

Sorry, it's fixed now, I was interrupted mid-thought :)

Just a thought..one of the biggest contributions to the health care industry would be to not run HMO's as a "for profit" entity. How about HMO's take on the attitude that they exist for the health and benefit of the people that belong to them. The more healthy that people are, the lower the costs to the HMO would be and subscriber premiums would be lower.

I see so many people with bad teeth and in this day in age, that's simply a lack of personal hygiene in most cases. Health care should include dental care. The first and one of the most important building blocks to good health is having healthy teeth and gums. People with bad teeth tend to have poor nutrition and the plaque bacteria causes heart disease, arthritis and a host of other diseases including many cancers. Chronic disease is what drives higher, long term medical costs.

Take personal responsibility to lower costs of your own health care.

I was on blood pressure pills for a good 8 years untill about a month ago and without anything they would cost a little over $200.00 for 60 pills so if the health care system gets fixed would they cost $20.00


LOL
YA right

Somebody got that money and there going to keep wanting it!

I feel that most people that dont have a serious health condition or lack of coverage really dont understand the long term effect of NOT doing anything about our healthcare system and how much money is being wasted. All you fat cats out there will see how hard it is when you lose your jobs or if you get sick and your insurance company tells ya to take a hike !

Chelsea - I don't really understand your plan. You say:

Group C: Those who are uninsured or who have children under 18 uninsured, they have to pay the largest amount into medicaid/medicare or taxes. BUT! if/when they supply their own or their employer supplies their health care, they get some sort of tax relief at tax time.

Where are these uninsured people, many of whom are unemployed or working at minimum wage jobs, going to get the money to pay the largest amount into medicaid/medicare or taxes?

It's incentive, there are private options to provide health insurance, and if more people were "taxed" on not having it, the market for insurance would demand lower prices/premiums/etc. The Group C population also generally "cost" the most to treat, due to using emergency rooms and primary care, etc.

There is also the population that have jobs but do not receive insurance benefits due to choice, price, or them not being offered (I'm one of the ones that fits into this category). By offering incentives to take on health insurance more people would be insured which would lead to general costs being lowered for all.

We absolutely need healthcare reform, just not the kind being proposed by our government. The plan fails to address two of the foundational reasons our healthcare system is out of control. First is tort reform. Until we clamp down on frivalous lawsuits and outrageous and unlimited payouts, Drs and hospitals will continue to pass those costs(by virtue of skyrocketing premiums) back down to the consumer. Secondly, Medicaid and Medicare consistently pay 1/3 or less of customary charges, forcing Drs. and hospitals to again pass those losses to the end user by increasing costs elsewhere.
Setting aside prescription drugs and alternative healing, how many people leave this country to seek healthcare in other countries?