Hot Topic (7/23): Obama's Health Care Plan

[Cafe GroupAdmin]

 From the NYTimes.com:

Experts Dispute Some Points in Health Care Talk

 

By ROBERT PEAR and PETER BAKER

 

WASHINGTON — President Obama showed great fluency in the intricate details of health policy at his news conference on Wednesday night, but experts said some of his points were debatable.

Mr. Obama said doctors, nurses, hospitals, drug companies and AARP had supported efforts to overhaul health care.

While it is true the American Medical Association has endorsed a bill drafted by House Democratic leaders, a half-dozen state medical societies have sharply criticized provisions that would establish a new government-run health insurance plan.

Likewise, Mr. Obama said Medicare could save large amounts of money by creating “an independent group of doctors and medical experts who are empowered to eliminate waste and inefficiency” and hold down the annual increases in payments to health care providers.

Far from supporting this proposal, the American Hospital Association is urging hospital executives to lobby against it.

Of the proposed new cost-control agency, Mr. Obama said: “It’s not going to reduce Medicare benefits. What it’s going to do is to change how those benefits are delivered so that they’re more efficient.”

Hospitals say the cuts could indeed cut services in some rural areas and from teaching hospitals, which receive extra payments because of higher costs.

In seeking to portray health legislation as bipartisan, Mr. Obama said that 160 Republican amendments were adopted in a bill approved last week by the Senate health committee. Republicans said many of the amendments involved technical provisions and did not alter the fundamental features of the bill.

The president said that health insurance companies were making “record profits.” America’s Health Insurance Plans, the main lobby for insurers, contends that “for every $1 spent on health care in America, approximately one penny goes to health plans’ profits.”

Mr. Obama said he was not proposing to ration care, but just wanted to coordinate it better. For example, he said, he wants to eliminate repetitious tests ordered by different doctors for the same patient.

Electronic medical records and health information technology, championed by Mr. Obama, could reduce such duplication. But, under his plan, it is not clear who would take responsibility for patients and coordinate care in traditional fee-for-service medicine.

The president continued to take credit for deficit reduction by making a claim that has been challenged by many experts.

“If we had done nothing, if you had the same old budget as opposed to the changes we made,” the deficit over the next 10 years would be $2.2 trillion greater, the president said.

In fact, $1.5 trillion of those “savings” are mainly based on an assumption that the United States would have had as many troops in Iraq in 10 years as it did when Mr. Obama took office. But before leaving office, President George W. Bush signed an agreement with Baghdad mandating the withdrawal of all American forces within three years.

So Mr. Obama is claiming credit for not spending money that, under the policy he inherited from Mr. Bush, would never have been spent in the first place.

* * *

How do you feel about Obama's proposed health care legislation?

What would you like to see happen? 

[cowgirlsr2]

I listened to most of Obama's speech tonight and all it did was piss me off Mandatory health care . This is his way of getting rid of the extremly sick and governing  Americans and anyone who can not see this is not paying attention.He means to make this Mandatory   secondly they will govern who gets what and I promise you if you are bad off on life support with little hope I hate that for you on his plan.He seems to think that no matter what all families can afford insurance some how some way I can not afford 1 more bill and many famlilies can not either.I see this as another socialistic move and I am not on board.Health care reform I can handle Government healthcare hell no.Mndate healthcare make some rules and policies to excisting healthcare but don't try to take it over like he has just about everything else.

[mamadixon]

What about the people who use natural remedies and would honestly rather die than use modern medicine? Health insurance made available..maybe.Health insurance made mandatory..not now, not ever.

[witch_e_woman]

He's got to fix this countries mess.
He came into a mess, now he's trying to clean it up(thanks Bush).

These insurance companies are the ones that are dictating who lives & who dies.

If we can get rid of the pharmacutical strong hold on these insurance companies then things would be a hell of a lot better for the people here.

But becouse we have settled into this freakish state of mind that change is impossible than whatever Bill President Obama comes up with to help this situation will be chastized.

He's fighting for the People to get what they NEED to stay alive.

Thank heavens he's NOT fighting to give the insurance companies the right to deleate you as a human being becouse they claim you dont need special medical treatment to stay alive right??? OOOOhhh. ..wait..thats already happening.

Or how about President Obama allows the pharmacutical companies to hike up their prices on certain medications you need to stay alive??? OOOOOhhhh wait..thats happening Too!!!

[carolyntx]

all obama does lately is piss me off period... but as for this bill i say no way. the govt shouldnt be allowed to impose a mandatory healthcare bill. r

not to mention that for all of the citizens out there who have healthcare through their employers will lose that healthcare and have to go to the govt healthcare due to the fact that if the bill is passed employers will stop offering coverage in order to save money

[resamerie]

My DH and I have no health ins. My DD is on Medicaid because the bar is lowered for children That she's taken care of is my main concern. We are self-employed and the cost of healthcare out of pocket is outrageous. We have both paid into the medicaid system for a combined total of over 40 years so I have no qualms about receiving aid for her.

 With that being said, I'd rather go without than buy into Obama's BS. The only thing I can see good about him trying to pass this nonsense is that maybe ins. companies will re-think and start to offer competitive prices. Medicaid, which is the closest thing we have now to gov. healthcare, does not even pay for my DD's prescription cough syrup. What's next? No antibiotics?

 When people in other countries such as Canada are running to the US for treatment beacuse they have govt. run healthcare, that should tell us something.

 Also, and I loved (sarcasm) when Obama said last night that none of this affected him because he is the President and has a physician following him around all the time, that spoke volumes. Members of congress won't be affected either.

 So far all the bills he's been in favor of ,stimulus, cap & trade have a hidden agenda buried in thousands of pages. What's hidden in this one? Because, last I heard, there are 3 different versions of this nonsense floating around.

[athenax3]

I think that the suggested reform is flawed- as frankly I would expect it to be- what it is is simply a step in a long drawn out clusterfuck of a process- BUT in order to address the healthcare issues in our nation, we absolutely MUST take some initiative- whether it is initiative I like or not isn't even at this point relevant it's the process of putting the issue front and center and saying "let's do something with this"- and for the first time in a very long time it seems that is what the current administration has done so for that at least I applaud them. Rather than simply say this issue is too irrelevant, too removed from our rich cronies, too mundane or too insignificant to deal with, they have acknowledged it, and engaged us all in it- that is good. Is this proposal great? Nope. Did anyone expect our first run at any problem given our governments structure and our divisions as a nation to be wildly successful? Not unless they're an idiot.

[morningdove831]

I disagree with Obama's plan.  Healthcare needs to be reformed - the current system is broken.  However, it could be fixed by putting caps on how much doctors and hospitals can charge for procedures, like surgery, x-rays, etc.  It can also be fixed by putting caps on how much profits insurance companies can rake in every year.  I'm all for regulating things like that. 

But I DO NOT want this government - or any other - owning my health care.  EVER.

[athenax3]

Quoting morningdove831:

I disagree with Obama's plan.  Healthcare needs to be reformed - the current system is broken.  However, it could be fixed by putting caps on how much doctors and hospitals can charge for procedures, like surgery, x-rays, etc.  It can also be fixed by putting caps on how much profits insurance companies can rake in every year.  I'm all for regulating things like that. 

But I DO NOT want this government - or any other - owning my health care.  EVER.

That won't work, capping income or profits would interfere with our basic capitalistic foundation- people would absolutely flip out if he capped the things you suggested.

[vonfish]

Okay I'm going to get on my soap box now. I think Obama is the most frightening politician this country has encountered yet. He has duped the masses! Part of this legislation states that small business owners 97% of businesses in America will be required to pay a penalty for not insuring all of it's employees. Right now the law is for 15 or more employees- most of you are thinking right now "That sounds just" . The next portion states that businesses that fail to do so will be fined. It will become cheaper to pay the fines and throw everyone into government run health care. Those fines go directly to YOU GUESSED IT- The federal government. I am exhausted of living a responsable life so that others  can sit on their butt and collect welfare!! My husband is a public school employee and I am a Hairstylist. We don't make over $150,000 a year. We pay over $400 a month to insure ourselves and our 3 kids. That insurance cost is so high for alot of reasons but the one I resent the most is paying for illegal aliens to come into our country plug up the ER's and forceeveryone else to foot the bill. If we threw out every illegal alien in this country it would almost fix all the health care issues we have. Just because we are Americans we are not required to solve the worlds problems. I know plenty of foreign born people who go through the proper channels to either acquire citizenship or are resident aliens and pay taxes. I also don't want to hear the excuse "We inherited this mess"  even house democrats are rolling their eyes at this one. I really didn't trust Bush nor did I like him before Obama took office you could have described me as a "Moderate" democrat. But for god sake Obama GROW UP he reminds me of a kid in a school yard pointing the finger at a play mate so that the teacher doesn't see what he's done wrong. This guy is abandoning our soldiers, cutting funding for their health care and taking away funding that buys equipment to keep them alive. You may not agree with this war but must you punish soldiers for doing their duty. God bless their sacrifice and their families sacrifice. The only good that has come from this man's presidency is I feel racial tensions have almost disappeared. Thank god for that. Off my soap box now.

[sappharie]

Quoting witch_e_woman:

He's got to fix this countries mess.
He came into a mess, now he's trying to clean it up(thanks Bush).

These insurance companies are the ones that are dictating who lives & who dies.

If we can get rid of the pharmacutical strong hold on these insurance companies then things would be a hell of a lot better for the people here.

But becouse we have settled into this freakish state of mind that change is impossible than whatever Bill President Obama comes up with to help this situation will be chastized.

He's fighting for the People to get what they NEED to stay alive.

Thank heavens he's NOT fighting to give the insurance companies the right to deleate you as a human being becouse they claim you dont need special medical treatment to stay alive right??? OOOOhhh. ..wait..thats already happening.

Or how about President Obama allows the pharmacutical companies to hike up their prices on certain medications you need to stay alive??? OOOOOhhhh wait..thats happening Too!!!