Being, myself, a health care professional, I find it odd that so many people disagree with the way health care is being mapped out by President Obama. I%26#039;m not a huge fan of him right now but I must admit we are stumbling, sort of speak, in the right direction. Under our current system, doctors do receive bonuses for saving insurance and health care providers money through diagnosis or retention of treatment. Also signing on with certain drug companies to prescribe only name brand/designer drugs. Then there%26#039;s pre-existing conditions situation. For-profit companies run our current health care system.
The public health plan is written as an %26quot;option%26quot; to be added on to the rest of the options of coverage available. Insurance companies that would have to lower rates to compete say its pushing them out of business when all its doing is taking money out of their pockets and putting it in yours. If you have insurance, keep it! If you don%26#039;t pick up the public plan which is separate from CMS. Small businesses aren%26#039;t forced to put you on their coverage, they just have to show the government that they offered the option. There%26#039;s gonna%26#039; be gym vouchers to promote health awareness along with other minor yet major innovations. Open the pre-existing condition situation. Create a records library for better diagnosis. Creating better food standards in schools and in the public domain to discourage poor eating habits. Giving businesses %26quot;health bonuses%26quot; for having and actively promoting the health of their employees. Creating better consumer protections and more. Also, IF you have a living will or advanced directives we, as Doctors and health care professionals, have to adhere to it and if we don%26#039;t we get penalized (quality rating). It can be changed at ANYTIME, however, after the FIRST signing of said advanced will, you have to pay for it (within a 5yr window). Not the government because they pay for the FIRST signing and every signing 5yrs from that date. We are not required to make you get one though we do have to note that we gave you the option and have to have you sign off observing so.
We spend the most money on health care in the world and get the least for it. We are at the for-front of the future right now. We have to take the big steps. We are the ones who have to make the small and sometimes big sacrifices to ensure a better future. Like during slavery, during the World Wars, during the depression and so on. Some many other countries have implemented and discovered the benefit of public health care without turning into communist.
In closing, what%26#039;s so great about our system right now that it shouldn%26#039;t change? If you have coverage, why shouldn%26#039;t someone else have the opportunity to have coverage as well if it means you won%26#039;t lose yours? I see hyperbole and assumption made out to be truth but I keep an open mind. What do you see, how and why?|||What in the hell makes you think people should just have everything simply because they were born?
I want a big-screen TV and a 5th-wheel camper, but I can%26#039;t afford them right now. Does that mean I should just have them anyway?
It has been the human condition since human life began. It sucks, nobody said it was fair and if your mama told you life was fair, she LIED TO YOU.
I%26#039;m not here to argue whether it sucks or not. I%26#039;m here to make the argument that I am not into the idea of giving up what little money I make so complete strangers can have %26quot;health care%26quot; on my back or anybody else%26#039;s back, and moreover, I DON%26#039;T WANT TO HAVE HEALTH CARE I CAN%26#039;T AFFORD AT THE EXPENSE OF SOMEONE ELSE%26#039;S FINANCES AND HARD WORK.
Seriously, why in the hell is this simple concept so impossible for some people%26#039;s brains to comprehend?|||Wow, did you copy and paste all that?|||I dont see how any of this is going to change with Big Pharma and the Ins. Companies still allowed to lobby in DC.
Why not abolish lobbying, and let the free market make up the difference? Ya know, follow the law (the Constitution).
This government option is a government mandate. Just a little heads up, there is nothing mandated in a free society..remember that,.|||public option, removal of pre existing conditions, tort reform, co-ops,|||Being American and having experience health care in many different countries, I have to admit, the complaints I hear about Obama%26#039;s plan are just silly.
Yes, there are problems. Big problems - but not the ones you keep hearing about.
I really think that socialized medicine is the way to go. There are things that the government should run (say, the military), and there are things that the government shouldn%26#039;t run (the Post Office is quickly turning into that).
As time goes on, which things end up in which category change as society and technology changes.
As every other industrialized nation has shown, socialized medicine is a better way of doing health care than private insurance. We spent so much time in the cold war vilifying Communism and Socialism (without even really knowing what they are) that anything that smells of leftist policy scares NeoCons etc.
Thing is, in the long run, pure socialism doesn%26#039;t work (isn%26#039;t stable because it doesn%26#039;t provide incentive) and pure capitalism doesn%26#039;t work (its cruel, eventually the have-nots throw out the haves). We%26#039;re going to be somewhere in between.
By looking at others, we know that at least with THIS issue, we%26#039;re too far right.
The vast vast majority of people who are screaming about the current health care plan have never experienced health care anywhere else and are simply taking the word of Fox News and friends.
And our infant mortality rates increase ... and more and more of our citizens can%26#039;t afford any health care and ...
Its sad to watch a super power continually shoot itself in the foot. If it continues to not look around and see what others do, what is successful, what is not, it will eventually not be a super power any more ...|||Step 1) Outlaw health insurers.
Step 2) Cease all government interference in matters of personal health.
Step 3) Allow doctors, nurses, hospitals, clinics, and medical equipment manufacturers to compete for the public%26#039;s business.
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The health insurance %26quot;industry%26quot; is a rigged game. Why should they compete when they have an endless supply of new, guaranteed clients.
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ps: Big government dumb, doctors smart.
~|||No offense too many Americans are just too stupid to realize positive changes when they see it. Obama%26#039;s plan is to stop sending money to china because that is what we are doing when we take on dept due to health care.|||First of all, gone_drifting, if you really are a doctor of some sort. I solute you. Any doctor who is willing to take a pay cut to insure his clients and patients have more options is a good person. (I read one of your comments from an earlier topic).
Anyone who says government shouldn%26#039;t be involved at all in health care is totally illogical. We are so unhealthy in this country. If they leave it to the free market, we will be in a worse boat because the for-profit companies would just buy out other companies and create a monopoly. That%26#039;s what any business man would do given to opportunity. Also, it would further separate the classes as you would have the people with the ability to afford our rising cost insured and the ones who can%26#039;t but are still working hard would be left out to dry and in some cases, die. The government doesn%26#039;t know whats best for the people but it seems we don%26#039;t either. What we all know (I hope we all know this) is that our system needs a drastic change. There isn%26#039;t much that%26#039;s great about our current system but people are so complacent today that we are afraid to change the life of another by making minor changes to our own lives.
