President Obama's health care--

[spence]

Originally Posted by justplugit

What's the rush.

The rush is that unless Obama can do this this year it probably won't get done. Considering it's going to take a decade to roll out, he can declare success moving forward simply because something has been done about the situation.

I agree with the above that this should be a bi-partisan bill simply because of how important it is. While I think a lot of what I'm hearing about the plan from the usual pundits is a lot of fear mongering, there does appear to be a lot in it that's not very desireable.

I don't think tort reform is the magic bullet, but it's a necessary component. There has been some constructive talk in the Senate about working towards rewarding doctors on the quality of care rather than the quantity of care. This is a good model that they should play out.

If Obama is smart he'll put Pelosi in a box on this one and look towards the Senate to find common ground with the GOP. He's already stretched with independent voters on the stim bill and this has the possibility to just kill the Dems in the 2010 cycle as I've mentioned before.

-spence

[justplugit]

Originally Posted by spence

The rush is that unless Obama can do this this year it probably won't get done.

-spence

Your probably right, what he wants may not get done, but when it is properly
thought out, debated with both parties on board it will be a better plan for the American people.
Tort is one of the few things that can be done to save $ immediately imho.

[fishbones]

Health care reform was one of the "big 3" issues Obama said he was going to address right off the bat. He's trying to push it through because he made such a big deal about it and he doesn't want it to come back and bite his rear end.

If you want to read something very interesting about health care costs and have a lot of time, check out this article from the New Yorker. It's legnthy but interesting in revealing one of the many reasons for the sky high costs of health care today. The article focuses on one extreme case, but you could probably find a trend if you looked at other towns in the US.

http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2...urrentPage=all

[scottw]

As The New York Post has aptly pointed out, ObamaCare is a sick joke. Here are some facts that refuse to be ignored...

By 52 percent to 40 percent, voters are opposed to the healthcare bill introduced on July 14 to the House of Representatives.

Independents now oppose ObamaCare by a ratio of almost 2:1.

The World Health Organization ranked the United States No. 1 out of 191 countries for being responsive to patients' needs, including providing timely treatments and a choice of doctors. Among those currently insured, 84% are satisfied with their healthcare. But if you're happy, don't get too comfortable: ObamaCare will force people to change their insurance.

Americans recognize now that the Kenyan Kommunist is a left wing radical...I truly enjoy his childish rants and condescension when he fails to get his way, many democrats are backing away but the dem. leadership are committed radicals as well, this is not what many (the hypnotized) voted for and the ONE is slipping into Jimmy Carter territory where he belongs... when your entire foundation and career has been built on little more than hype...it's just a matter of time, enjoy the slide Obama...you can join Carter as a another whiny, failed, angry, bitter, Marxist, dictator hugging ex-President...

[Raven]

Originally Posted by scottw

The World Health Organization ranked the United States No. 1 out of 191 countries for being responsive to patients' needs, including providing timely treatments and
"a choice of doctors".

i have to dispute that statement because your health insurance provider dictates to you which Doctors you may choose from.

Then, you have to determine whether or not they are accepting
new patients ESPECIALLY when seeking a new primary care physician....

the worst thing about health care as i see it...

is the referral system which is left entirely up to the patient to follow up on to make sure they received it or you are billed IN FULL by the specialist's services. It's almost completely worth it to wait for a written referral letter and give the specialist's staff a copy to avoid this billing issue.

[fishbones]

Originally Posted by Raven

i have to dispute that statement because your health insurance provider dictates to you which Doctors you may choose from.

Then, you have to determine whether or not they are accepting
new patients ESPECIALLY when seeking a new primary care physician....

the worst thing about health care as i see it...

is the referral system which is left entirely up to the patient to follow up on to make sure they received it or you are billed IN FULL by the specialist's services. It's almost completely worth it to wait for a written referral letter and give the specialist's staff a copy to avoid this billing issue.

Raven, he's using a statement from W.H.O. that compares health care in the US to other countries. Do you really think you would have more choices of physicians in another country? I haven't looked into it, but I'd be willing to bet my plug collection that there are more doctors to choose from with major health insurance companies here than there are in other countries.

[scottw]

and in a free country you may change healthcare providers if you don't like the doctors in their particular network, would prefer to have the government and it's bureaucrats determining who, when and for what treatments you may seek medical care...DO ANY OF YOU ACTUALLY READ WHAT IS HAPPENING IN OTHER COUNTRIES WITH GOVERNMENT ADMINISTERED SYSTEMS....or do you simply trust Obama's brilliance..OBAMA IS A LIAR....he has to constantly hold these "press conferences" to continually reinforce his lies...it's tough work...

[Raven]

yes it's a free country.... but in our case it is not really our choice.

the company my wife works for makes the decision for us
and recently switched from Tufts to Blue cross...

so, you basically follow what they provide you.