Middle Class Healthcare Reform? ...Bend Over

[SHRED]

by Donna Smith
Published on Sunday, May 17, 2009 by CommonDreams.org

~snippet~

And what do we know so far about what middle class Americans can expect from the legislation being privately crafted?

First, no matter what percentage of your take home pay it takes, you will be legally required to buy private health insurance. Second, if all you can afford is a policy that leaves you financially exposed to bankruptcy and foreclosure, then you will still be legally required to purchase that private insurance product. Third, should you fail to buy a policy, you will pay a fine.

Like it so far? Feeling free and protected? Like the choices so far? It gets better.

The private, for-profit insurance industry has made concessions we are asked to celebrate. First, they'll issue every one of us a policy provided every one of us is legally forced to buy coverage. Second, they stop discriminating against women because they have uteruses and child-bearing capacity, provided we all have to buy their product. And third, and this was a real coup according to our leaders, the insurance companies, medical equipment folks and providers will slow the rate of increase in charging for their products to charge just a bit less in terms of percentages of overall costs than they had planned to do and as is predicted. Laughable concessions sold as real compromise.

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2009/05/17-0

---


Are we going to put up with this?


:wtf:

[lostnotforgotten]

1. Obama Massive Fail - Health Care, Torture, War, Economy

eom

[ThomCat]

2. When the whitehouse web site says the goal is to

reduce the rate of cost increase, my reaction is :wtf:

Why can't the goal be to to CUT COSTS?

When our own party will not allow single payer to even be mentioned in the official discussions, again my reaction is :wtf:

Why is every discussion about how to sell insurance? They're not even bothering to address the problems with insurance that people can't afford to use, or insurance that denies coverage. What good does that do?

When even the talks about a public plan talk about outsourcing it to a private insurance company, guaranteeing that insurance companies will make profits no matter what, again my reaction is :wtf:

What is wrong with expanding the Medicaid/Medicare model, or the VA model, or the Military Health Care model? They work better, cheaper and more efficiently than insurance when properly funded and staffed.

It really does look like our out party is screwing us over already, right from the beginning. Do the lobbyists have that tight a hold on our politicians?

[xchrom]

3. +1

[rdobbs2010]

4. Republican Healthcare Lies!

That may seem to be a harsh title, but it is true! Just as Popeye would say "I've stands all I can stands and I can't stands no more!" You would think that Republicans would be on board, especially since they claim to stand for small business, for the debate on Health Care Reform. But once again we see no real effort put forward by the Republicans other than to derail the entire process.

Frankly, I am sick and tired of this and action needs to go forward. We can send billions of dollars to the quagmire called Iraq and Afghanistan but we can't take care of our own people. So let's go at the lies one by one..

No public option/Single Payer!-Well I would imagine then since the Republicans believe America should not have a public option or single payer, then they will be submitting legislation to end Medicare, Medicaid, V.A. system, military hospitals (especially seeing even Republican members of Congress enjoy use of Walter Reed and Betheseda Naval Hospitals), and any State sponsored plans, ie Wisconsin Badger Care and others. Even the Republicans in Congress would not be that suicidal!! Wake up everyone you already have a public option that is utilized by millions in Medicare, Medicaid, VA, and Military hospitals. If it is good enough for our disabled, seniors, and military why isn't that option good enough for all Americans?

Death Panels-This one is beyond belief that Republicans would say this and Americans would believe this, but then seeing Republicans including Senator Demint compare the Democrats and President Obama to Nazis what would we expect. The provision in the bill, which ironically a Republican Congressman had introduced originally, would allow Medicare for the first time to cover patient-doctor consultations about end-of-life planning, including discussions about drawing up a living will or planning hospice treatment. Patients would, of course, seek out such advice on their own but they would not be required to. The provision would limit Medicare coverage to one consultation every five years. This isn't a "death panel", but something many people need to do rather than not have a plan when an end of life issue arrises.

Medicare Will be Cut-Another bold face lie by the Republicans. What the President is going to do is cut the 10-year cost of $177 billion in subsidies paid to insurance companies to allow them to participate in Medicare Advantage. This is wasteful spending that can be eliminated to help Medicare.

Americans Don't Want a Government Ran Healthcare Plan-This is another lie. In a poll conducted by New York Times and CBS,

66% of Americans polled would like to see a government ran option similar to Medicare.

Rationing of Health Care-Another lie plus if you think our health care is not already rationed think again. Every day insurance companies deny coverage for a myriad of reasons. So how could it be any worse, maybe the pre-existing condition removal alone would help us all, and considering a public plan would not be able to cover all procedures, private insurance plans do not either.

Single Payer System Would Give Us Worse Healthcare-If the single payer system is so bad then why do we give to our military veterans and yet members of Congress call the VA system the best care for our veterans. A U.S. newspaper wrote that under the British system Steven Hawking would be allowed to die due to his deteriating condition, but Hawking said, "I wouldn't be here today if it were not for the NHS."

http://www.youtube.com/...

Why can't a rational discussion of healtcare reform occur without being called a communists, socialists, or Nazis. Even the Heritage Foundation has called on Congress to create a system similar to the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program (FEHBP) for Americans which all members of Congress enjoy. However, the health insurance industry is and will do anything to derail any option that will be a benefit to the consumer and affect their bottom line.

Most small business would love to provide health insurance to their employees, but simply can't or the ones who do have very expensive plans with limited coverages. I know this first hand because I am a small business owner. The U.S. health care system is the most expensive in the world on both a per-capita basis and as a percentage of GDP, yet fails to provide Universal coverage.

A study published in 2008 in Annals of Internal Medicine, a leading medical journal, showed 59 percent of physicians "support government legislation to establish national health insurance," while 32 percent oppose it and 9 percent are neutral.

Here is the proposal from Physicians for a National Health Program key features:

"Key Features of Single-Payer

Universal, Comprehensive Coverage

Only such coverage ensures access, avoids a two-class system, and minimizes expense

No out-of-pocket payments

Co-payments and deductibles are barriers to access, administratively unwieldy, and unnecessary for cost containment

A single insurance plan in each region, administered by a public or quasi-public agency

A fragmentary payment system that entrusts private firms with administration ensures the waste of billions of dollars on useless paper pushing and profits. Private insurance duplicating public coverage fosters two-class care and drives up costs; such duplication should be prohibited

Global operating budgets for hospitals, nursing homes, allowed group and staff model HMOs and other providers with separate allocation of capital funds

Billing on a per-patient basis creates unnecessary administrative complexity and expense. A budget separate from operating expenses will be allowed for capital improvements

Free Choice of Providers

Patients should be free to seek care from any licensed health care provider, without financial incentives or penalties

Public Accountability, Not Corporate Dictates

The public has an absolute right to democratically set overall health policies and priorities, but medical decisions must be made by patients and providers rather than dictated from afar. Market mechanisms principally empower employers and insurance bureaucrats pursuing narrow financial interests

Ban on For-Profit Health Care Providers

Profit seeking inevitably distorts care and diverts resources from patients to investors

Protection of the rights of health care and insurance workers

A single-payer national health program would eliminate the jobs of hundreds of thousands of people who currently perform billing, advertising, eligibility determination, and other superfluous tasks.

These workers must be guaranteed retraining and placement in meaningful jobs.

from the American Journal of Public Health January 2003, Vol 93, No.1"

http://www.electdobbs.com