What's the big deal on Health Care Reform?

[|Thrax|]

Opinions?

Should we have a public option?

I personally have health coverage paid for by my employer, but I have a small deduction from my paycheck. (It's a plan with Kaiser by the way...) I am just single..
so, small co-pay's.. little to no hospital visits, health 28yrold.

Personally, I think this is a waste, and we are pushing too fast tackling obstacles..

Families, I can see, with no healthcare, or having health problems..
who benefits the most?

Raise your hand if you're sure!

[FM]

Re: What's the big deal on Health Care Reform?

The state I'm in (Massachusetts) requires you to have it or lose your personal exemption filing for your state taxes (which may or may not kill you depending on how the #'s work out).

I have mine through the state...actually the cheapest method around! And the care/coverage is just as good as others.

I almost would tend to believe a public/national system would work just as bad as the private side bureaucracy-wise...either way it's one of those hot topic debates that'll eat up media coverage and/or distract from something else, like I don't know, say the recession we're in?

[chuckc]

Re: What's the big deal on Health Care Reform?

Opinions?

Should we have a public option?

I personally have health coverage paid for by my employer, but I have a small deduction from my paycheck. (It's a plan with Kaiser by the way...) I am just single..
so, small co-pay's.. little to no hospital visits, health 28yrold.

Personally, I think this is a waste, and we are pushing too fast tackling obstacles..

Families, I can see, with no healthcare, or having health problems..
who benefits the most?

Raise your hand if you're sure!

http://www.mercuryserver.com/forums/showthread.php?t=74034&page=11

[toasty]

Re: What's the big deal on Health Care Reform?

My thought is this -- although there might be an exception to this rule that I'm not thinking of right now, more competition in the marketplace (provided it is fair competition) is always a good thing for consumers, and requires businesses to push themselves to become more efficient, deliver better customer service, and otherwise be better corporate citizens. Indeed, free and fair competition is an integral part of capitalism.

If the government thinks it can do a cheaper, better, and more efficient job than the private sector as a market competitor, then by all means, it ought to be entitled to give it a try (provided it isn't just throwing money after a boondoggle). I would think that a market competitor that large could take advantage of some real economies of scale and be a force to contend with, however, so I don't view it as a lost cause. In fact, one of the primary arguments against reform seems to be that it will be too effective, squeezing private insurers out of the marketplace. That will almost certainly happen to those that fail to adapt to the new market conditions, but private insurers have to answer to investors, so I have a feeling that most will figure out a way to streamline their business, do away with some of the inefficiencies, and compete -- and that will be good for all of us, not just those that opt to go with the government plan.

[unrecogniseduser]

Re: What's the big deal on Health Care Reform?

Healthcare is the single biggest cause of personal bankruptcy in the country. Almost 50 million people have no coverage at all. How this has been allowed to go on for so long is beyond me. It is absolutely criminal.

[Shpira]

Re: What's the big deal on Health Care Reform?

better health care than defense...thats for sure

[runningman]

Re: What's the big deal on Health Care Reform?

It doesn't matter the dems are going to push this through. There is nothing that anybody can do to stop it. It won't be cheaper.

[Lorn]

Re: What's the big deal on Health Care Reform?

If the government thinks it can do a cheaper, better, and more efficient job than the private sector as a market competitor, then by all means, it ought to be entitled to give it a try (provided it isn't just throwing money after a boondoggle).

Are you serious about this statement? I whole heartily agree with your assessment on competition benefiting the consumer. However, the government is in no way entitled to "give it a try" in my book. Your statement of "fair competition" is where the government should be involved.

[|Thrax|]

Re: What's the big deal on Health Care Reform?

That Whole foods guy really pissed people off.
Health care is a privledge, not a right..

Take care of yourself, work hard, prosper..

Hospitals charge people out the nose...and you better have a good one if you can't smell what Obamacare is cookin.

Thanks for some insightful comments, but I think healthcare is a waste of money.

[Miroslav]

Re: What's the big deal on Health Care Reform?

Health care is a privledge, not a right..

Really? Great. When you have a heart attack in 30 years or get in a high-speed car accident, we'll have people first check to see if you qualify for that "privilege" before they maybe call for an ambulance.

[toasty]

Re: What's the big deal on Health Care Reform?

Are you serious about this statement? I whole heartily agree with your assessment on competition benefiting the consumer. However, the government is in no way entitled to "give it a try" in my book. Your statement of "fair competition" is where the government should be involved.

Absolutely. The US government competes with the private section with regard to shipping (US Post Office), state governments compete with the private section with regard to higher education, and I've got no problem with that at all.

[Lorn]

Re: What's the big deal on Health Care Reform?

^^Its too bad I can't use Fedex or UPS to deliver a letter to someone's post box.

[toasty]

Re: What's the big deal on Health Care Reform?

^^Its too bad I can't use Fedex or UPS to deliver a letter to someone's post box.

Good point. So I guess we should, uh, shut down the post office?

[|Thrax|]

Re: What's the big deal on Health Care Reform?

Really? Great. When you have a heart attack in 30 years or get in a high-speed car accident, we'll have people first check to see if you qualify for that "privilege" before they maybe call for an ambulance.

that should have been a "quote"
referring to this:

http://joemygod.blogspot.com/2009/08/whole-foods-ceo-people-have-no.html

"Whole Foods CEO: People Have No Intrinsic Right To Health Care"

Emergency Health Care v.s. Doctors visits, immunizations, checkups are not one in the same to me.

[toasty]

Re: What's the big deal on Health Care Reform?

Are you serious about this statement? I whole heartily agree with your assessment on competition benefiting the consumer. However, the government is in no way entitled to "give it a try" in my book. Your statement of "fair competition" is where the government should be involved.

What exactly is the downside of having a government-funded competitor in the marketplace, by the way? Serious question. Seems to me that if the government is able to offer health insurance coverage -- and note that I'm talking about coverage, not care -- at a cost that is less than what the market is offering, why should it be prohibited from jumping into the fray? This is particularly true where the government is also one of the largest consumers of health care (or at least health care bills, in the form of Medicare), and it can leverage its position as a market participant to drive down the costs that it pays as a third party payor.

The only argument against it that I could see is if one were concerned that the government was using taxpayer dollars to invest in an unwise business venture. As to the "public option" component of the health care reform, though, the cost should be (and needs to be, IMO) offset by the premiums it collects, like any other insurance company. If doing this would result in the government taking a bath, then we're having a different discussion, but as to a government-run health plan that is breaking even, it seems like a win-win to me. I don't plan on switching my insurance and I would expect that any employer worth its salt would want to continue to offer exceptional health benefits to attract the best and brightest employees, but I can see a lot of benefits to having a force in the market driving down prices AND helping more people get insurance.

I heard somewhere recently that the top 10-20 health insurers paid their CEOs an average of $11 million a year, and that's just the top execs, to say nothing of other execs, dividends paid to shareholders/investors, etc. I've got to think that a health insurance company whose primary goal was to break even, not make a profit, could really pass some savings along.

Pardon the stream of consciousness.