Bush Talks Health Accounts in Conn. Stop

[Rose Siding]

BRIDGEPORT, Conn. Apr 5, 2006 (AP)— President Bush, speaking in a state where the GOP faces two tough midterm races, rallied support on Wednesday for expanding health savings accounts an idea that congressional Republicans rebuffed last month.
....
"I'm looking forward to continuing to have a consumer-driven system to be the heart of American health care," he said.
....
Bush spoke in the home district of Rep. Christopher Shays, who is being opposed by Democrat Diane Farrell in a tight race being monitored by both national parties.

"He is an independent fellow, who speaks his mind, but he does so in a way that gets people to listen to him," Bush said of Shays, who accompanied the president here aboard Air Force One. "I'm looking forward to hearing your lecture on the way back to Washington," he said.
....
On the way to the health care event, Bush's motorcade passed about 150 noisy protesters holding signs that read: "Bush and Shays, the war is wrong," "Fire the Liar" and "Bring the troops home now."

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory?id=1808843&page=2

http://www.majorityreportradio.com.nyud.net:8090/weblog/archives/54a280aac7364c4c1175865f85a2b068-2405.jpg

[WI_DEM]

1. Did he endorse Joe while he was there?

[bunkerbuster1]

2. band-aids on a gunshot wound.

That's what Health Savings Accounts are.

[grytpype]

3. HSAs = pay for your own damn health care

What a joke.

[EC]

4. Too bad, American's are fed up with being the worst in

healthcare for the most money...."I'm looking forward to continuing to have a consumer-driven system to be the heart of American health care," he said.

[MissMillie]

5. "an independent fellow"

So Bush is actually promoting a distance between himself and those in his party....

Now that's desperate.

[Supersedeas]

9. that's what is sounds like -- He's not with me, vote for him.

[pinto]

6. Bush & Health Savings Accounts. Lame Duck, Lame Proposal

Some things don't change.

"Consumer-driven health care" in practice means abandoning a broad based government commitment to the nation's health and welfare for a delivery system based on a private sector middle man - insurance companies - driven by the bottom line. Beware the "get government out of your health care" straw man and watch the fine print the insurance companies would bring to this proposal...

(ed for comment)

[Coastie for Truth]

7. Had an HSA/High Deductible/High Co-Pay plan for 5 years

Sucks.

It does NOT make you a better health care shopper.

It does make you a better POSTPONER and a better SELF-DIAGNOSER AND MEDICATOR - which are, to use a medical term "ADVERSE OUTCOMES."

[Arkansas Granny]

8. These HSA's do nothing to help those Americans who are

currently uninsured. In order to start a HSA you must have a High Deductible Health Plan (HDHP) already in place with a minimum deductible of $1,050.00 for individual or $2,100.00 for family. When you consider the premium for the HDHP insurance, the deduction for a HSA plus the deductible amount to be paid before your coverage starts paying on medical expenses, I don't know very many people who could afford this.

[wakfs]

10. Not only that....

...but that idiot is totally screwing up traffic around here today.

Hey Bush, GET LOST.

[caligirl]

11. s1955 is a form of this coming to a vote on the senate

floor May 1-5. When * couldn't get it through the first time he tried another way. Enzi bill is that. And it is devasting to medical coverage nationwide. Junk policys that cover very little at the expense of millions of diabetics, newborn babies and cancer screenings. By removing state imposed mandates insurance companies have had to offer coverage for various things like those. The bill removes the states ability to look out for its own citizens, insurance companies, not small businesses will dictate the policies. Which will cost way more than now and cover very little. It devastates the lives of diabetics whose coverage for necessary testing supplies will be eliminated by this bill. Those supplies amount to .006% of the totalk cost to insurance companies in a study done in Louisiana. Yet diabetics have had to fight insurance companies in multiple state legislatures to protect that coverage. Loosing it means a death sentence to many diabetics. Business associations are heavily lobbying congress to get this, without telling their workers the true nature of the junk plans. They want a peice of the $$ this will create.


http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x2547169

another thread started with lots of details.


Sherrod Brown has been educating the public about this.http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x2202794