DU Health Care Reform Bill

[FLyellowdog]

What do we as DUers really want to see in the final bill?

[FLyellowdog]

1. Banning of restrictions for Prior Conditions.

[mdmc]

2. affordable access to medical treatment

don't really care how they do it - I just want to be able to receive the medical treatment my doctors prescribe for me..

[zipplewrath]

3. Bingo

Health CARE reform would be nice. Avoid fee for service and go to "health" care. You're sick, go see someone, don't worry about the bill, it's been "pre-paid". Regular screenings. Streamlined records keeping so that MRI's and other tests can always be recovered and referenced in the future.

[Oregone]

4. One problem with this idea...

(although I agree on the basic premise)

Is that things can be "affordable" by passing costs around in a shell game (which doesn't make them disappear or go down). In America, they could make it affordable for everyone by subsidizing all private, for-profit plans with monies from a punitive business tax. But don't think your wages wouldn't reflect it, nor the products you buy.

The complete structure needs to be re-examined so that costs cannot grow and can even be reigned in while doing this. And by costs, I mean per capita health care costs (the big picture). America is paying almost double now, and getting less. This effects industrial competitiveness, jobs and the American standard of living.

So even 100% actuarial plans with full subsidization may miss the mark if every middle to lower class person in America has to forever surrender away social mobility and become indentured servants with no disposable income