Comments on: Poll: Most Back Public Health Care Option

CBS News/New York Times Survey Shows Most Americans Approve Of Government Intervention In Health Care Coverage

[lorinkundert]

Poll or no poll, the fact remains that the Federal Government lacks jurisdiction to interfere or in anyway directly affect us, the Constitution does not create that power. They can try to pass any law they like but I will as others with any real intelligence do, opt out of any unconstitutional scheme the socialists dream up.

[blueheron17]

Continued: By the way, years ago when our hospital couldn't find enough nursing staff...they "enticed" many Canadian nurses (male & female) to come down to NC and work.

They were all very nice and professional and fun! However, I will take an oath that every single Canadian nurse (approx. 25-30) said that their country's healthcare system was so much better, so much more advanced than ours! They didn't have to go
bankrupt to have a procedure done. And they just laughed at our hard-line/rt.wing nurses who fussed about "socialized medicine", "waiting lines" and such.
They really couldn't believe how archaic our system was
down here in the USA...

I've done alot of research, too. Anyone who says the Canadian system is not much better than ours is lyinng. They aren't perfect, but Canadians are healthier and happier than us. I think the US ranks somthing like 27th on the list of "good healthcare:quality of life for citizens" in industrialized nations. Way, Way behind Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Germany, Canada, The Netherlands, France, Ireland, even the UK! Why should the USA be
behind ANYONE!!?

This is NOT acceptable. We need a President like Walter Cronkite! God bless him...he embodied what was best about America, but seems to be lost or fading away now~~~

[blueheron17]

America is still the richest nation on earth... Healthcare is a human right, not a privilege for the wealthy! Why do our Senators and Congressmen & women not want American citizens (who gave them their jobs!)to have the same quality of healthcare that they and their families have?! Aren't our children and grandparents as important as theirs?

And I don't think that it's news that their healthcare plans are "government-run"...the best in the Country!
Medicare is a "socialist" and "government-run" plan. None of this should be new or frightening. Only from the point of view of the private Insurance Co's that want more & more of your money; whose lobbyists run Capitol Hill and basically "own" most government officials; who deny coverage daily to thousands on the false basis of "pre-existing conditions" aka "lies"; and whose greed and corruption have destroyed America's
healthcare system and providers.

Our system is past crisis-mode, it is completely broken/deceased. Our National HealthCare Plan now is:
"Don't Get Sick!!!"

I've seen it all as a charge RN,BSN on a 40-bed Med.-Surg. Unit for 16 years; as a daughter watching my mother die; as a grandaughter; and as a mom of a 9 yr. old. Never mind me or my husband...we just pray to stay alive and somewhat healthy until our son is old enough to look after himself. I would have said "until our son can go to college", but it looks like that American dream is going down the toilet...

For the rich...the status-quo or "Cheney-Care" is fine and they will fight like coyotes to keep it! So will the Insurance Co's - they might lose billions (or the best option, become extinct T-Rex's!). For working and middle-class (what's left of them) families, affordable healthcare for all is the only option. Preventing illness is so much more humane and cost-effective than treating a painful and expensive condition when it's too late.

You think there's a nursing/family physician shortage now? Just wait...I've had enough of this "money-oriented" hc system, because I truly care about my patients. They are not "customers" or "dollar-signs" to me! I have left my nursing job, and I'm not going back until this chaotic,inhumane mess is fixed! In our town, we've also lost our very finest surgeons and physicians...frivolous lawsuits, of course.

If Congress doesn't really act and take on the "BigWigs" of Insurance Co's and Republicans who don't have a clue (or have forgotten) what it's like to enter the maze of healthcare in America...who are sitting pretty while other people's children do without dental care and much more...

Then "I pity the fools!", because the Boomers are coming...not the Russians this time! And this nurse and many, many others is going to become a teacher~~~
Just maybe, maybe I can make a difference there.

Moderate Republican RN (endangered species)
(part of the silent majority!...)

Peace & Love~~~

[starleo146]

Can you imagine if the Democrats pass a health care bill and it is a decent one, no do-nut holes in it as the republicans prescription drug plan was. For that reason ALONE is why they will fight tooth and nail to make sure they do not pass a HEALTH CARE BILL

[sjc_1]

The donut holes were put there by the Republicans that ran both houses during that time. It was a botched micromanaged mess meant to be a windfall give away to the drug companies. They made sure the Medicare could NOT negotiate prices. Now there is your first clue as to intent.

[karenbe111]

Yes, Americans are sick and tired of being ripped off by the so-called health industry, and this is an idea whose time has come. We'll soon see if the country actually has the democracy it claims!

[starleo146]

DOES EVERYONE AGREE OR DISAGREE WE NEED A HEALTH CARE CHANGE IN THIS COUNTRY. Well I think the answer is yes, what I see is the Insurance Lobby in full force and wetting the republicans palm to make sure we do not get it .Every time we try to do this it is shot down by the lobbyists mouthpieces. I just want to see what democrat and there will be several I am sure goes to the republicans side scared of the lobbyists and no campaign money. We can scream as to what and why we need change, the reason we do not get a better health care is because of all the lobbyist fighting against it. When will the Republicans and Democrats going to do what is right for the people and not themselves and their personal well being,until you let your representatives know just that and flood their offices with mail to that condition in Wash.D.C. they need to work as hard as Obama and stay off TV trying to sway our minds, sick of them.

[rednomo]

FierceHealthcare reports the following top 10 a for-profit insurance company CEO salaries for 2008.

* Ron Williams - Aetna - Total Compensation: $24,300,112.
* H. Edward Hanway - CIGNA - Total Compensation: $12,236,740.
* Angela Braly - WellPoint - Total Compensation: $9,844,212.
* Dale Wolf - Coventry Health Care - Total Compensation: $9,047,469.
* Michael Neidorff - Centene - Total Compensation: $8,774,483.
* James Carlson - AMERIGROUP - Total Compensation: $5,292,546.
* Michael McCallister - Humana - Total Compensation: $4,764,309.
* Jay Gellert - Health Net - Total Compensation: $4,425,355.
* Richard Barasch - Universal American - Total Compensation: $3,503,702.
* Stephen Hemsley - UnitedHealth Group - Total Compensation: $3,241,042.

When American patients trust their health to a for-profit insurance company, they?re doing nothing less than gambling with their lives in a game where the odds are stacked in favor of the insurance company.

These are salaries reminiscent of the AIGs, the Goldman Sachs, the Merrill Lynch?s, and other Wall Street CEOs who also pillaged from the American taxpayer and turned around and gave themselves and their executives multi-million dollars bonuses.

The Single payer, health care option initially proposed by President Obama on his campaign trail is merely health coverage, like Medicare, but it is for anyone who wants it. Single payer eliminates insurance companies as pricey middlemen. The government pays care providers directly. It?s a system that polls consistently have shown the American people favoring by as much as two-to-one. Of course, it is this option that these CEOs and Congress are fighting against because it means less profit for health care companies who favor their bottom line over quality, more affordable health care coverage.

The existing health care option proposed by Congress, the GOP and Sen. John McCain falls short, (and they know it) because:

* Many Americans, especially American families, cannot afford the insurance premiums offered by employers. As cost of housing, fuel, education, food, insurance continues to rise; salaries across the board have been stagnant or declined.

* Health insurance continues to increase, and rise without question and Americans who lose a job, or self-employed, work part-time, retire or divorce are cut off by employer health care coverage, if they even had it.

* No American can actually afford COBRA insurance, the premiums are cost prohibitive and employers know it.

* The Republican, GOP plan to force Americans to buy health coverage and giving them a small tax break means these same families who cannot afford to buy health insurance now, certainly cannot afford to buy the more expensive insurance under their plan.

[rednomo]

76% of Americans want a public plan, why?

Insurers Tell Congress: Hell Yes! If You're Sick, We're Pulling Your Insurance Coverage

By Susie Madrak Wednesday Jun 17, 2009

This is what happens when you don't allow real competition into the picture. It's also what happens when you have a for-profit healthcare system:

Executives of three of the nation's largest health insurers told federal lawmakers in Washington on Tuesday that they would continue canceling medical coverage for some sick policyholders, despite withering criticism from Republican and Democratic members of Congress who decried the practice as unfair and abusive.

The hearing on the controversial action known as rescission, which has left thousands of Americans burdened with costly medical bills despite paying insurance premiums, began a day after President Obama outlined his proposals for revamping the nation's healthcare system.

An investigation by the House Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations showed that health insurers WellPoint Inc., UnitedHealth Group and Assurant Inc. canceled the coverage of more than 20,000 people, allowing the companies to avoid paying more than $300 million in medical claims over a five-year period.

It also found that policyholders with breast cancer, lymphoma and more than 1,000 other conditions were targeted for rescission and that employees were praised in performance reviews for terminating the policies of customers with expensive illnesses.

Number of Americans without health insurance:

2000 = 42.6 million

2009 = 82 million

The Impact of Rising Health Care Costs

* A recent study by Harvard University researchers found that the average out-of-pocket medical debt for those who filed for bankruptcy was $12,000. The study found that 50 percent of all bankruptcy filings were partly the result of medical expenses. Every 30 seconds in the United States someone files for bankruptcy in the aftermath of a serious health problem.

* A new survey shows that more than 25 percent said that housing problems resulted from medical debt, including the inability to make rent or mortgage payments and the development of bad credit ratings.

* About 1.5 million families lose their homes to foreclosure every year due to unaffordable medical costs.

* A survey of consumers found that in order to cope with rising health insurance costs, 86 percent said they had cut back on how much they could save, and 44 percent said that they have cut back on food and heating expenses.

* Retiring elderly couples will need $250,000 in savings just to pay for the most basic medical coverage. Many experts believe that this figure is conservative and that $300,000 may be a more realistic number.

* According to a recent report, the United States has $480 billion in excess spending each year in comparison to Western European nations that have universal health insurance coverage. The costs are mainly associated with excess administrative costs and poorer quality of care.

* The United States spends six times more per capita on the administration of the health care system than its peer Western European nations.

Source: The National Coalition on Health Care

www.nchc.org/facts/cost.shtml


For all those that parrot the far right, insurance companies and big pharm talking point that we don't need universal health care...

As Bill Maher so gracefully put it, 'With the system we have now the doctors are not making the calls, the patients cannot make the calls because the insurance companies make all the calls. It's called 'hospital gown coverage' whatever condition you currently have, chances are your @ss ain't covered.'

[rednomo]

Graham Open To Dem's Health Care Compromise, But Not Public Plan

Senator Lindsey Graham became the latest Republican and most conservative Senator yet to express a willingness to consider a compromise approach to health care reform based around co-ops providing insurance coverage.

The South Carolina Republican, appearing on ABC's "This Week," set a firm line in the sand when discussing the creation of a public option for insurance, insisting that such a proposal would not pass the United States Senate.

"The reason you are not going to have a government-run health care pass the Senate is because it will be devastating for this country," he said. "The last thing in the world I think that Democrats and Republicans will do at the end of the day is create a government-run health care system."

Go figure:

76% of Americans want a public plan, why?

Insurers Tell Congress: Hell Yes! If You're Sick, We're Pulling Your Insurance Coverage

By Susie Madrak Wednesday Jun 17, 2009

This is what happens when you don't allow real competition into the picture. It's also what happens when you have a for-profit healthcare system:

Executives of three of the nation's largest health insurers told federal lawmakers in Washington on Tuesday that they would continue canceling medical coverage for some sick policyholders, despite withering criticism from Republican and Democratic members of Congress who decried the practice as unfair and abusive.

The hearing on the controversial action known as rescission, which has left thousands of Americans burdened with costly medical bills despite paying insurance premiums, began a day after President Obama outlined his proposals for revamping the nation's healthcare system.

An investigation by the House Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations showed that health insurers WellPoint Inc., UnitedHealth Group and Assurant Inc. canceled the coverage of more than 20,000 people, allowing the companies to avoid paying more than $300 million in medical claims over a five-year period.

It also found that policyholders with breast cancer, lymphoma and more than 1,000 other conditions were targeted for rescission and that employees were praised in performance reviews for terminating the policies of customers with expensive illnesses.

Number of Americans without health insurance:

2000 = 42.6 million

2009 = 82 million

The Impact of Rising Health Care Costs

* A recent study by Harvard University researchers found that the average out-of-pocket medical debt for those who filed for bankruptcy was $12,000. The study found that 50 percent of all bankruptcy filings were partly the result of medical expenses. Every 30 seconds in the United States someone files for bankruptcy in the aftermath of a serious health problem.

* A new survey shows that more than 25 percent said that housing problems resulted from medical debt, including the inability to make rent or mortgage payments and the development of bad credit ratings.

* About 1.5 million families lose their homes to foreclosure every year due to unaffordable medical costs.

* A survey of consumers found that in order to cope with rising health insurance costs, 86 percent said they had cut back on how much they could save, and 44 percent said that they have cut back on food and heating expenses.

* Retiring elderly couples will need $250,000 in savings just to pay for the most basic medical coverage. Many experts believe that this figure is conservative and that $300,000 may be a more realistic number.

* According to a recent report, the United States has $480 billion in excess spending each year in comparison to Western European nations that have universal health insurance coverage. The costs are mainly associated with excess administrative costs and poorer quality of care.

* The United States spends six times more per capita on the administration of the health care system than its peer Western European nations.

Source: The National Coalition on Health Care

www.nchc.org/facts/cost.shtml


For all those that parrot the far right, insurance companies and big pharm talking point that we don't need universal health care...

As Bill Maher so gracefully put it, 'With the system we have now the doctors are not making the calls, the patients cannot make the calls because the insurance companies make all the calls. It's called 'hospital gown coverage' whatever condition you currently have, chances are your @ss ain't covered.'

[ken1dall]

Fortunately people don't always get what they want. I'd support socialized medicine when Big Macs, Double Whoppers, KFC, ALL soft drinks, high fructose corn syrup, left-wing politics and hard liquor are banned.

[cydygitt1]

Seems it would be much easier to just have "open season" on the remaining 18 percenters still calling themselves republican'ts!

[erasmus111]

A doctor should be paid for the care they give. When we phone for an appointment, we are asked what we are coming for. When we go, that is what the doctor addresses. Nothing else. If you go because you are getting headaches, then that is what the doctor addresses and that is what he/she gets paid for.

[erasmus111]

by prohb June 21, 2009 10:47 AM PDT

3) Make preventive care another top priority.


Here, in British Columbia that is what is being done.

My doctor's office even has a nutritionist working there.

[fujimoh]

You are ABSOLUTELY right! I have no idea where they get their figures. Drudge just posted Less support for rebuilding health care system than during Clinton... I have not met a single person who support this bill. CBS and butt-kissing Couric are one of the media-mouthpieces for Obama ... look what he is doing with ABC. I hear Obamavision just like what Chavez has done.

[joeybergas]

what is the appropriate salary for a doctor?

[erasmus111]

by joeybergas June 21, 2009 12:21 PM PDT
do you guys think in the plan yall want that doctors should be able to lose money on a patient?

I wouldn't look at it as them losing money. They shouldn't have been payed that much money to begin with. They have been OVER paid. In other words your doctors, along with your insurance companies have been taking you for the ride of your life.

[erasmus111]

by erasmus111 June 21, 2009 11:48 AM PDT

Excuse this post. I s-c-r-e-wed it up.

And something needs to be done about that "submit" button being right below that arrow. I missed the arrow and clicked on it instead.

[joeybergas]

i have a better question........what do you guys think an appropriate salary for a doctor should be......after taxes?

[joeybergas]

do you guys think in the plan yall want that doctors should be able to lose money on a patient?

[joeybergas]

healthcare is not a right... what did people do 1000 yrs ago before there were doctors?

[erasmus111]

by montani42 June 20, 2009 6:03 PM PDT
You need to hang out in the city hospitals in the USA bordering Canada and meet all the people coming to this country for treatment. They do that because they can't get treatment as good or as quickly as they can here. I do not believe you have experienced the socialized medical system in England or you would know how bad it is. I have. Even a member of Parliment recently appearing on a U.S. TV interview verified that. He stated that Americans should never want the system his country has.


Obviously you haven't hung out in any of those hospitals, because if you had, you would realize that there are actually very few Canadians that go there. And the ones that do are the RICH. They can't wait a few days for nothin'. Also they aren't coming because your care is better, because it isn't. The few that come are not only RICH, but BRAINDEAD. Why would they pay hundreds or even thousands of dollars more for something they already have paid for? No, it isn't because of any waits, it's because the rich have a tendency to think that if they pay WAAAAY more for something, then it must be better. Which of course isn't true. It just means they are getting ripped off. When you have doctors being ruled by the insurance companies about what they can do or can't do, then you have to know that you are not getting the best care. Impossible.

Any doctor that is allowing the insurance company to dictate what they can do for their patient, isn't a good doctor. Any doctor that puts money before the patient, isn't a good doctor. If you had any good doctors there, they would have left by now. They would have gone somewhere where they could put the best interest of the patient first.