23 Comments Add a Comment
linkicon reporticon emailicon
govtguy says:
We have researched this almost to death. We know who the culprits are (lobbyists, pharmaceuticals, insurance corporations, and others). Why can't we just put them all in a large room with no food or water, no restrooms, and no chairs, and give them 24 hrs to come up with an agreed upon program. No one goes home until a viable program is up and running! We are spending too much effort not making a decision!
reply
jon2012-2009 replies:
linkicon reporticon emailicon
We can do this now or we can wait again, like we did back during the time of Clinton when there were 33 million uninsured which today has grown to 46 mllion, even back to the days of FDR. We are the only industrialized country without universal health insurance because our health care is in the hands of an industry that is operated for profit: which means they can exclude unprofitable individuals, for one.

But every year the health care costs take a bigger slice of our GDP, more families drop out of coverage, more people experience bankruptcy from medical bills. These are problems you don't see in Canada, or France, or UK, or .... any developed country. And yeah McConnell is worried we'll end up rationing health care. We have that already. But our problems are even bigger.

Doing nothing now puts us in the hole deeper. When we have to act, it's not gonna be pretty.
linkicon reporticon emailicon
radicalc-2009 says:
Look at Rasmussen if you want to find out what the people are thinking about health care reform. Who the hect is Kaiser and how far did you have to dig to get that polling data?
reply
jsd330 replies:
linkicon reporticon emailicon
Kaiser is a nationwide HMO.
linkicon reporticon emailicon
radicalc-2009 says:
We don't care what the adminstration says about the great aminities of their health care reform, that's not what people are confused about. It's questions like; "Can I keep my doctor and my current coverage?", "What is this going to cost?", "How can we afford this with the current deficit and out of control spending?", "Will health care be rationed?" And the answer to all these and more are the wrong answer for most Americans. Get to the meat of the issue!
reply
linkicon reporticon emailicon
radicalc-2009 says:
From the Kaiser web site...

"A leader in health policy and communications, the Kaiser Family Foundation is a non-profit, private operating foundation focusing on the major health care issues facing the U.S., as well as the U.S. role in global health policy. Unlike grant-making foundations, Kaiser develops and runs its own research and communications programs, sometimes in partnership with other non-profit research organizations or major media companies."

Notice that they are involved with the "US role in global health policy". They work with "major media companies". So they have no agenda and are unbiased?
reply
jon2012-2009 replies:
linkicon reporticon emailicon
Before we argue about agenda and bias, what's wrong with Kaiser? What are they doing that makes them part of the problem instead of finding ways to lower costs and improve access and outcomes? Once you can answer this question, whatever maybe Kaiser's agenda or bias is their business. See, everybody's got their own.
CitizenMikeM replies:
linkicon reporticon emailicon
I don't see Kaiser having an agenda but the McConnell/Boehmer quotes on The Lewin Group disturbs me. McConnell keeps throwing them out there as the definitive source of misinformation because they ARE affilliated with the United HealthCare Group (private health insurer).
linkicon reporticon emailicon
quidam56 says:
Mitch McConnell says he's worried the best health care system in the world will begin to ration health care. That's what we already have. They're worried about people having to get in long lines just to get health care. We already have that too. http://www.wisecountyissues.com My father died and rationed care played a part.
reply
jon2012-2009 replies:
linkicon reporticon emailicon
The flexibility of health insurance companies to exclude unprofitable individuals outright or upon renewal of policy--those with preexisting conditions, those who fall ill and require expensive treatments--appointments that need to be made several weeks in advance, denial of service and so-called "mix-ups" that result in insured patients being on the hook to pay for their care, the soaring costs of premiums that are increasingly a burden some people just choose to do without, the 20% of people with insurance who delay going to their doctors because of concerns about their out-of-pocket costs: these have the effect of rationing health care. Like any resource, health care is best rationed and it is rationed in any economy.
jon2012-2009 replies:
linkicon reporticon emailicon
In spite of McConnell's stature in American politics, his arguments sound like he is functioning intellectually on the level of a high school idiot. At his age and given his exposure to all kinds of domestic issues, you can't say he lacks, or has failed to acquire, innate awareness or that he doesn't have access to the best sources of information. Is this real, he is really worried Obama's effort at reform will end up rationing health care, as if rationing health care was an ideal that actually exists in the real world? And what's this nonsense about the best health care system? We don't even rank among the top 30 in the world, we have the worst life expectancy and infant mortality of any industrialized country, we have the worst case of medical errors that result in death, pathetic outcomes for breast and cervical cancer, asthma, etc., etc.

I suppose I should see some silver lining in the fact that we have the lowest average life expectancy in the developed world. Folks like McConnnell wouldn't be long with us to do more harm than good.
CitizenMikeM replies:
linkicon reporticon emailicon
I find it hard to believe that Mitch McConnell is worried about anything to do with healthcare with the exception that the Democrats, if successful, will have a leg up on the Republicans. He has not been too worried the last 8 years when the Republicans had the power to do something. He's confusing worrying about party popularity versus public good.
2/2