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Item 1:
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A guest post from James Fidlerten.
___
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Today we learn...
The 19-year-old suspect in the Boston Marathon bombings has told interrogators that the American wars in Iraq and Afghanistan motivated him and his brother to carry out the ...
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Whether you agree with his politics or not, he is hilarious!!
I’m not sure what is so hard to understand. The majority of Americans just don’t want the “Reforms” that are before Congress now. That’s pretty simple. And while you guys want to characterize those of us who don’t favor the current plans as being (in my best, bass Announcer’s voice) AGAINST HELPING THE POOR PEOPLE WITH NO COVERAGE, that’s really just not quite true. Is it?
We want reform. I would like to see my rates go down. I would like to see my son not have to maintain a job that actually exacerbates his condition to be certain he can maintain his coverage. I would like to see coverage afforded to those who have pre-existing conditions or just simply and TRULY cannot afford coverage.
But not at the expense of destroying the quality and availability of what most of us enjoy now. They are trying to rush into a series of ill conceived and not well thought out actions. If there is to be real reform in this country, there needs to be a real exchange of ideas and discussion and address the real issues out there and try to do it in such a manner that it does not bankrupt the nation.
My son has to take some very expensive medicine on a regular basis. And yes, the insurance company balks at first request. But we have always been able to go back to them and get the medication approved.
What would he do? To whom would he turn if the final say of “No” is some semi-literate, entry level government employee? To whom else does he turn at that point? And if he appeals, will he die before his request works its way through the typical Government Bureaucratic maze of inefficiencies?
You guys laugh and say, “Oh that’s the Conservative Talking Point.” But where is the error in asking, “Do you want an organization with the efficiency of the Postal Service and the compassion of the IRS handling your Health Care?”
Because that is exactly what people like my son will be left with. When they are forced onto the public option or whatever it is they eventually end up cramming down our throats, he’ll have some semi-literate, unengaged and unconcerned, entry level government employee telling him no.
After they return from one of their 8 breaks for the day.
TN…I followed your argument for awhile, right up to the point where you reached the climax of “semi-literate government employee”. The various agencies of the federal government have people working for them that are without compassion or common sense, just as any human enterprise does. I find the notion containing criticism of the Postal Service fascinating. This is a government agency that has set the standard for operations in this field for the world. How often have you or anyone you know failed to receive your mail. And they have done it, generally, at neutral cost to taxpayers. The efficiency of the Postal Service is the anchor to a competitive industry where anything less than perfection is punished. It is an interesting contrast to the argument that a government run anything would put a private firm out of business. You specifically state that the American people are against the reforms in the bill; this is demonstrably false. please visit http://www.pollster.com and click on the health care polls. You will find that every poll that asks secondary questions regarding the SPECIFIC elements of the bills under consideration finds majorities in favor of those provisions. Even questions that specifically ask “Would you support a government-run insurance plan to compete with private insurance” is continually supported. It is clear that Americans do not support the brand heath care reform that insurance companies have created. I am glad that your son is able to get the medicine he needs, and it reflects the reality that insurance companies have good people working in them. But the statistics on this matter are stark and irrefutable; the American system does not work well. Many good discussions did happen, and at least one bipartisan bill was proposed (Wyden/Bennett), but the Republicans who came out in favor of the bill (Robert Bennett and Lamar Alexander) withdrew their support before it went to committee. TN, the thing that irritates me is that so many people are arguing against provisions that don’t exist in any of the proposals out of committee. Even you reference going to a government bureaucrat. It was called a public OPTION! Nobody ever had to take it. The substantive reforms of the effort were constructed to create market pressures on price and quality delivery, pressures that don’t exist in the colluded and top-heavy system we have today. Think about the reality; we have the best people in the world spending 16% of our budget on care that is below average on the whole. Americans tried once again to fix a problem and were told that it was unpatriotic to say there was a problem. That TN, is a recipe for decline…..Merry Christmas and all the best to you and yours!
“The substantive reforms of the effort were constructed to create market pressures on price and quality delivery, pressures that don’t exist in the colluded and top-heavy system we have today.”
Michael – Allowing health insurance to be sold across states lines would accomplish the same thing. Do you support that?
Part of the problem with the existing health care system is the cost and misuse of over-treatments and scans as well as pharmaceutical companies selling medicine here at a much higher rate than they sell to other countries. Then they make it impossible to import the cheaper medicine.
I like some of the Japanese model of health care. For discussion sake, an MRI in Japan may cost $1,500 because that’s all that can be charged for that procedure, here that same procedure may cost $5,000. Perhaps adopting a uniform cost for certain procedures would lessen private heath care costs and curb the tendency to over treat. Perhaps looking into the Pharmaceutical companies practices would help as well.
This post was mentioned on Twitter by janinewallace: Jon Stewart summarizes health care debate in under 4 minutes. http://twurl.nl/84wiir via @mariopiperni…
Whether you agree with his politics or not, he is hilarious!!
I’m not sure what is so hard to understand. The majority of Americans just don’t want the “Reforms” that are before Congress now. That’s pretty simple. And while you guys want to characterize those of us who don’t favor the current plans as being (in my best, bass Announcer’s voice) AGAINST HELPING THE POOR PEOPLE WITH NO COVERAGE, that’s really just not quite true. Is it?
We want reform. I would like to see my rates go down. I would like to see my son not have to maintain a job that actually exacerbates his condition to be certain he can maintain his coverage. I would like to see coverage afforded to those who have pre-existing conditions or just simply and TRULY cannot afford coverage.
But not at the expense of destroying the quality and availability of what most of us enjoy now. They are trying to rush into a series of ill conceived and not well thought out actions. If there is to be real reform in this country, there needs to be a real exchange of ideas and discussion and address the real issues out there and try to do it in such a manner that it does not bankrupt the nation.
My son has to take some very expensive medicine on a regular basis. And yes, the insurance company balks at first request. But we have always been able to go back to them and get the medication approved.
What would he do? To whom would he turn if the final say of “No” is some semi-literate, entry level government employee? To whom else does he turn at that point? And if he appeals, will he die before his request works its way through the typical Government Bureaucratic maze of inefficiencies?
You guys laugh and say, “Oh that’s the Conservative Talking Point.” But where is the error in asking, “Do you want an organization with the efficiency of the Postal Service and the compassion of the IRS handling your Health Care?”
Because that is exactly what people like my son will be left with. When they are forced onto the public option or whatever it is they eventually end up cramming down our throats, he’ll have some semi-literate, unengaged and unconcerned, entry level government employee telling him no.
After they return from one of their 8 breaks for the day.
TN…I followed your argument for awhile, right up to the point where you reached the climax of “semi-literate government employee”. The various agencies of the federal government have people working for them that are without compassion or common sense, just as any human enterprise does. I find the notion containing criticism of the Postal Service fascinating. This is a government agency that has set the standard for operations in this field for the world. How often have you or anyone you know failed to receive your mail. And they have done it, generally, at neutral cost to taxpayers. The efficiency of the Postal Service is the anchor to a competitive industry where anything less than perfection is punished. It is an interesting contrast to the argument that a government run anything would put a private firm out of business. You specifically state that the American people are against the reforms in the bill; this is demonstrably false. please visit http://www.pollster.com and click on the health care polls. You will find that every poll that asks secondary questions regarding the SPECIFIC elements of the bills under consideration finds majorities in favor of those provisions. Even questions that specifically ask “Would you support a government-run insurance plan to compete with private insurance” is continually supported. It is clear that Americans do not support the brand heath care reform that insurance companies have created. I am glad that your son is able to get the medicine he needs, and it reflects the reality that insurance companies have good people working in them. But the statistics on this matter are stark and irrefutable; the American system does not work well. Many good discussions did happen, and at least one bipartisan bill was proposed (Wyden/Bennett), but the Republicans who came out in favor of the bill (Robert Bennett and Lamar Alexander) withdrew their support before it went to committee. TN, the thing that irritates me is that so many people are arguing against provisions that don’t exist in any of the proposals out of committee. Even you reference going to a government bureaucrat. It was called a public OPTION! Nobody ever had to take it. The substantive reforms of the effort were constructed to create market pressures on price and quality delivery, pressures that don’t exist in the colluded and top-heavy system we have today. Think about the reality; we have the best people in the world spending 16% of our budget on care that is below average on the whole. Americans tried once again to fix a problem and were told that it was unpatriotic to say there was a problem. That TN, is a recipe for decline…..Merry Christmas and all the best to you and yours!
“The substantive reforms of the effort were constructed to create market pressures on price and quality delivery, pressures that don’t exist in the colluded and top-heavy system we have today.”
Michael – Allowing health insurance to be sold across states lines would accomplish the same thing. Do you support that?
Part of the problem with the existing health care system is the cost and misuse of over-treatments and scans as well as pharmaceutical companies selling medicine here at a much higher rate than they sell to other countries. Then they make it impossible to import the cheaper medicine.
I like some of the Japanese model of health care. For discussion sake, an MRI in Japan may cost $1,500 because that’s all that can be charged for that procedure, here that same procedure may cost $5,000. Perhaps adopting a uniform cost for certain procedures would lessen private heath care costs and curb the tendency to over treat. Perhaps looking into the Pharmaceutical companies practices would help as well.