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5 Freedoms You'd Lose in Health Care Reform
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leighdvm
My golden boys!
Member since 3/06 4419 total posts
Name:
Michele
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Re: 5 Freedoms You'd Lose in Health Care Reform
Posted by DaniRella
My Congressman is Tim Bishop (God help me) and I'm sure a lot of you have the same... So, instead of having to search here is his information for contacting him...
You can also contact me or one of my hardworking staff at the following offices. Normal office hours are 9 to 6, Monday through Friday.
Coram Office:
3680 Route 112, Suite C
Coram, NY 11727
(631) 696-6500
(631) 696-4520 (fax)
Southampton Office
137 Hampton Road
Southampton, NY 11968
(631) 259-8450
(631) 259-8451 (fax)
Washington Office:
306 Cannon H.O.B.
Washington, DC 20515
(202) 225-3826
(202) 225-3143 (fax)
Link if you want to EMAIL him
It is absolutely HORRIBLE how the veterans are treated.....absolutely disgusting......
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Posted 7/29/09 10:14 AM  |
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Long Island Weddings
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mrsej
The cutest!
Member since 1/07 2495 total posts
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Mommy
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Re: 5 Freedoms You'd Lose in Health Care Reform
Posted by jellybean1420
Posted by ave1024
Posted by cjik
But it is a problem to have your insurance tied together with your job. And while I am happy with my insurance now, if my husband's employer decided to change plans, we are pretty well stuck with it. That happened to me with one employer in the past.
But you see you do have a choice. You can change jobs.
When I consider working for a company, the pay and quality of life at the job aren't the only two things I consider. The benefits are high on the list as well.
Something my parents always stressed to me was going into a field and getting a job with GREAT health insurance b/c it is as important as your salary.
My parents both worked for Verizon and went on many of strikes, sometimes for months, to fight for their health insurance. Now if Obama's plan goes through, they can lose their coverage b/c a big company like Verizon will go to a gov't plan in a heartbeat to save a few bucks. My dad is a bad diabetic and requires alot of medical care including laser eye surgery every few months to keep his eye sight. His fear is the gov't won't allow his eye surgery's or cover his eye surgery's as his current plan does.
ITA - I picked my job for the benefits - i could have made significantly more at another job, but I need good health insurance. LIke your father, I am diabetic and this proposed health plan scares the crap out of me. I get great diabetic supplies/products that cost a ton of money and most insurance companies won't cover. It just so happens that my insurance is one of a few that cover it. I know health care needs to be reformed, but just don't reform it for the sake of reform - do it right.
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| Posted 7/29/09 10:17 AM |
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Peainapod
Peanuts are here!
Member since 1/09 13591 total posts
Name:
Diana
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Re: 5 Freedoms You'd Lose in Health Care Reform
this whole thing is confusing the crap out of me. but i think what is scaring pple that even if they can keep what they have, the middle class will especially be taxed hard to pay for it.
its got to be paid for somehow and i've read #'s as high as 50% federal income tax to pay for this healthcare.
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| Posted 7/29/09 10:21 AM |
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Cpt2007
A new love!
Member since 1/08 5946 total posts
Name:
Liz
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Re: 5 Freedoms You'd Lose in Health Care Reform
Here is an article in today's Washington Post about the Senate Finance Committee Bill that is still being worked on:
Link
Senators Close to Health Accord
Panel May Vote On Bipartisan Bill Before Recess
By Shailagh Murray and Paul Kane
Washington Post Staff Writers
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
An emerging consensus among a bipartisan group of senators is poised to shift the dynamic in the congressional debate over health-care reform and could lead to a final product that sheds many of the priorities that President Obama has emphasized and that have drawn GOP attacks.
Three Democrats and three Republicans on the Senate Finance Committee are expected to wrap up their arduous multi-week talks in the coming days, and Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) said he expects a panel vote before the Senate recess, which will begin Aug. 7.
Assuming the fragile committee coalition holds, the legislation it produces would scramble the reform landscape by introducing policy ideas that have their origins in the political center. The bill is bound to disappoint liberals. But with prominent GOP backing, it also could prove more difficult for Republicans to reject out of hand -- the approach they have taken to the House bill and a second Senate version, written by the health committee.
The finance panel's legislation is expected to include incentives for employers to provide health insurance for their workers, rather than a more punitive coverage mandate. The committee is also likely to endorse narrowly targeted tax increases, rejecting a controversial tax surcharge on wealthy households that the House adopted and limits on deductions for upper-income taxpayers that Obama is seeking.
GOP negotiators rejected from the outset the kind of government-run insurance plan that Obama and most Democrats are pushing for in an attempt to inject the health-insurance market with pricing competition. Instead, the committee would create coverage cooperatives modeled after rural electricity providers.
As House negotiators continued to work late Tuesday evening on breaking an impasse on their version of the bill, the bipartisan Finance Committee negotiators emerged from another meeting insisting that no final decisions had been made about the contents of the legislation. But as details trickled out, none of the components appeared ready-made for GOP opposition. Negotiators are scrubbing every provision for unintended consequences that could negatively affect small businesses or middle-class families, both of which Republicans say could be harmed by the other bills moving through Congress.
"What we do obviously would be important to our Republican conference," said Sen. Olympia J. Snowe (Maine), a member of the GOP team, along with Sens. Charles E. Grassley (Iowa), the ranking Republican on the finance panel, and Mike Enzi (Wyo.), the senior Republican on the health committee. Snowe said the primary goal of the negotiations is a bill that can draw Republican votes.
"I think it might resonate, frankly, with our colleagues," Snowe said of the emerging compromise measure. "We want the basis for a bipartisan agreement, and I think that could be the launching pad for that resolution."
Reid told reporters Tuesday that he might be willing to compromise on points of policy if it meant getting the 60 votes needed to turn back GOP procedural objections. The Senate Democratic caucus now stands at 60 members, but two members -- Robert C. Byrd (W.Va.) and Edward M. Kennedy (Mass.) -- have battled serious illness, requiring Reid to win support from at least two Republicans to make up for their absence.
"I have a responsibility to get a bill on the Senate floor that will get 60 votes," Reid said. "That's my number one responsibility, and there are times when I have to set aside my personal preferences for the good of the Senate and I think the country."
But the Finance Committee has taken weeks longer than expected to hash out its deal, and in the House, reform legislation has stalled as Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) struggles to quell an uprising by conservative Democrats.
Obama has encouraged the finance panel's effort, praising it as the potential foundation for the bipartisan outcome he is seeking. But he flashed his discontent with the process during a question-and-answer session sponsored by AARP. "Sometimes I get a little frustrated, because this is one of those situations where it's so obvious that the system we have isn't working well for too many people, and that we could be doing better," Obama said Tuesday.
On the House side, White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel huddled with chamber leaders and a group of conservative Democrats who are the key stumbling block to getting a bill out of the Energy and Commerce Committee.
After more than six hours of meetings Tuesday, lawmakers emerged from Pelosi's office pledging to continue talking Wednesday morning to try to push for an agreement that could pave the way for the committee to finish the legislation by week's end.
"We're making progress. We're still working," Pelosi, her voice hoarse, said after the marathon negotiating session.
The holdouts, members of the Blue Dog Coalition, remain concerned about reimbursement rates for Medicare services to health-care providers and the surtax on wealthy households. They are eagerly awaiting the Finance Committee's list of tax increases, expecting that the provisions may be more politically palatable.
Senate Republican leaders are taking a wary approach to the bipartisan negotiations, and unless pressed by reporters, rarely note they are taking place. They continue to lambaste the two Democratic bills as job-killers that would inflate health-care costs.
At a news conference Tuesday, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) took pains to note that GOP negotiators brief him daily. But he sidestepped questions about whether he embraces their work. "There's not a plan that I've seen that people can support on a bipartisan basis," he said.
Sen. John Thune (S.D.), a member of the GOP leadership, said he is pleased that the finance panel's bill will not include a mandate that employers provide coverage, although the legislation is expected to require individuals to carry insurance. But Thune said he worries that the co-op idea is not that much different from the public plan that both Democratic bills include.
"Without knowing what's in it, I don't think anybody's going to get that far out there," Thune said.
GOP aides say the three negotiators have been told that they should not support a bill that much of the Republican caucus opposes, and according to the aides, the trio has assured Republican leaders that they do not want to operate as outliers. The negotiators have not made such a pledge publicly, however.
To the contrary, Grassley and Snowe have repeatedly asserted their desire to cut a deal. But Enzi, a low-key certified public accountant with a solid conservative voting record, rarely speaks in public about his role. Senior Democrats say they are most skeptical about his commitment to the finance panel's bill.
As Enzi has delved into bipartisan talks, his junior colleague from Wyoming, Sen. John Barrasso (R), has emerged as one of his party's leading critics of Democratic reform efforts, highlighting his past work as an orthopedic surgeon in a Web video program he films each week with Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.), the chamber's other physician.
Barrasso said he expects nothing but tough negotiating tactics from Enzi, who once chaired the health committee and is now its ranking Republican. "He's very solid," he said. "As we say in Wyoming, we're not going to be stampeded into anything. And Mike Enzi is not going to be stampeded into anything."
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| Posted 7/29/09 10:31 AM |
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Ophelia
she's baaccckkkk ;)
Member since 5/06 23378 total posts
Name:
remember, when Gulliver traveled....
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Re: 5 Freedoms You'd Lose in Health Care Reform
thank you thank you thank you.
READ WHAT THE BILL SAYS.
and by BILL, I don't mean Bill O'Reilly.
Message edited 7/29/2009 10:46:45 AM.
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| Posted 7/29/09 10:44 AM |
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DaniJude
You're My Home <3
Member since 11/06 14815 total posts
Name:
Danielle
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Re: 5 Freedoms You'd Lose in Health Care Reform
Maybe Obama should read the bill.
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| Posted 7/29/09 11:05 AM |
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Ophelia
she's baaccckkkk ;)
Member since 5/06 23378 total posts
Name:
remember, when Gulliver traveled....
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Re: 5 Freedoms You'd Lose in Health Care Reform
Posted by DaniRella
Maybe Obama should read the bill.
Dani, honestly this is unfair.
Obama is the president, but every single one of our elected officials has a hand in this.
and so do those that lobby them. those that "contribute" to their campaigns.
it is insidious...in ALL parties.
we the people have allowed this to happen. for the needs/desires of big business be more influential to our elected officials than the needs/desires of their constituents.
yes, healthcare reform is something Obama feels strongly about...but he is taxing YOUR Congress to figure it out and come up with something.
we ALL need to read this bill. we ALL need to be more involved.
we ALL need to big behind what the media dishes out...liberal, conservative.."in the middle" whatever. I trust none of them to tell me without bias, the real deal.
I am praying that those 6 people on the finance committee can figure this all out.
I am hoping that the house bill is completely squashed, and that Nancy Pelosi loses her seat when next up for re-election.
there ARE ways this can be done to the benefit of ALL the people.
I hope they come to those conclusions...but I fear that they won't.
and I blame big business for that. and I blame their pull in our govt for that. and I blame MYSELF and all of US for that.
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| Posted 7/29/09 11:17 AM |
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Janice
Sweet Jessie Quinn
Member since 5/05 27567 total posts
Name:
Janice
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Re: 5 Freedoms You'd Lose in Health Care Reform
Posted by Ophelia
thank you thank you thank you.
READ WHAT THE BILL SAYS.
and by BILL, I don't mean Bill O'Reilly.
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| Posted 7/29/09 11:34 AM |
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DaniJude
You're My Home <3
Member since 11/06 14815 total posts
Name:
Danielle
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Re: 5 Freedoms You'd Lose in Health Care Reform
Posted by DaniRella
Maybe Obama should read the bill.
I don't mean to be unfair -- I think it is unfair that he stated, on camera, that he didn't read the bill yet. Someone asked a question about it and he said he didn't read it -- I hope, since then, he has read it but I would have liked to think he would have read it BEFORE handing it down! I guess I expect too much of him??
He said the same thing with the stimulus package bill -- one of the press members asked a question and he said he wasn't sure - that he still had yet to read it.  I just think maybe we should slow down a minute, READ the bill, and then decide to say "OK, I support this". If that's unfair then I just give up.
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| Posted 7/29/09 11:35 AM |
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Ophelia
she's baaccckkkk ;)
Member since 5/06 23378 total posts
Name:
remember, when Gulliver traveled....
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Re: 5 Freedoms You'd Lose in Health Care Reform
Posted by DaniRella
Posted by DaniRella
Maybe Obama should read the bill.
I don't mean to be unfair -- I think it is unfair that he stated, on camera, that he didn't read the bill yet. Someone asked a question about it and he said he didn't read it -- I hope, since then, he has read it but I would have liked to think he would have read it BEFORE handing it down! I guess I expect too much of him??
He said the same thing with the stimulus package bill -- one of the press members asked a question and he said he wasn't sure - that he still had yet to read it. I just think maybe we should slow down a minute, READ the bill, and then decide to say "OK, I support this". If that's unfair then I just give up.
I don't understand what you mean by "handing it down"
he doesn't write the bill and then give it to congress.
congress writes the bills and then it goes to the president to be read/signed off on/vetoed.
it makes sense he hasn't read something that isn't finalized/created yet.
the senate hasn't read it yet, b/c only a small part of the senate is involved in the writing of it. then it goes to the floor and they hash it out (correct me Liz, where I am wrong here)
so don't get to down on him for it. it's totally normal for ANY president.
Message edited 7/29/2009 11:42:30 AM.
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| Posted 7/29/09 11:41 AM |
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mommy2Alex
3 babies for me :)
Member since 5/05 6683 total posts
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Re: 5 Freedoms You'd Lose in Health Care Reform
Posted by donegal419
yep... this reform is pretty damn scary. i am for reform and someway to help the millions that are uninsured or under-insured, but this plan is not it. i feel they are completely rushing it and it's not being well thought out.
ETA: and i love how he keeps saying you will get to keep your private insurance if you want it. let's be real here... if this passes, every company and corporation in america is going to drop their plans for their employees and tell them to go on the government plan because it will be cheaper for them. that's CHOICE? i don't think so...
Well said. ITA agree, this plan is going to destroy our healthcare. I really hope Americans call their congress people and tell them NO to this health care bill. I have already put my calls in.
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| Posted 7/29/09 12:15 PM |
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Cpt2007
A new love!
Member since 1/08 5946 total posts
Name:
Liz
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Re: 5 Freedoms You'd Lose in Health Care Reform
Posted by Ophelia
Posted by DaniRella
Posted by DaniRella
You're correct on all of it. The president didn't write this bill, nor did his staff. Congress, through it's staff and committees wrote this thing. It's actually a compilation of a number of health related bills that have been floating out there for more than a decade and are now coming together under one umbrella package, similar to how No Child Left Behind was put together.
And believe me, most of these bills have been in the works for YEARS long before anyone had ever heard of Barack Obama. He just happens to be the "lucky" guy to be president when they try to push it through.
Here's what happens with bills, step by step:
A member of congress (could be a senator or a rep, since the process is essentially the same), and their staff write a bill. Often, the bill gets its start with an interest group (citizen, grassroots, or lobbyist). The MOC (member of congress), gets the bill language worked out on the legal end by the respective body's Office of Legislative Counsel. Leg Counsel helps the MOC work out the Titles, the Sections and the legal language that is so confusing to all of us.
MOC gets the bill back from Leg Counsel and "introduces" or "drops" the bill on the Floor of the body. The bill is then "read" on the floor, meaning that it is announced to the entire legislative body that it exists, and is then referred to the appropriate committee to look at it.
Once in committee, the members of the committee (aka their staff) get a chance to look at it, and decide if they like it, hate it, or want to change it. They will hold hearings on the topic for additional input, get input from outside sources, etc. If the committee chair and ranking member (the chair is from the majority party, so right now a Democrat, the ranking member is from the minority party, so right now a Republican) decide that they want to go through with this bill and bring it into law, they will schedule what is called a "Mark Up." A Mark Up is a committee business session where each member of the committee has an opportunity to bring their own amendments to the base bill (also called the "Mark"), and strike provisions that they don't like. There is a deadline before the Mark Up where members who intend to amend the Mark must submit their amendments beforehand so that all members have a chance to see them. During the Mark Up, the committee members will debate each one, and then vote on whether or not to attach the amendment to the Mark. At the end of this amendment process, after they've voted in committee on each one, the full committee will vote on whether or not to approve the newly revised bill, a process referred to "voting out of committee."
If a bill makes it out of committee, it then goes back to the floor of the body that originated it. The bill will be assigned "managers," typically either the author of the original bill or the committee chair and ranking member (if there is bipartisan support in committee for it). The managers will work out with the leadership of the body how much time the body will have to debate the bill, how much time will be allocated to each MOC wishing to speak for the bill, etc. Each member will be given a copy of the bill that came out of committee.
During the debate process, the leadership and bill managers will usually say that the bill is open to "germane" amendments. So, if a MOC that was not on the originating committee wants to change something in the bill they can. There are different kinds of amendments and they are classified by "degree." So let's say someone wants to tack on something to the original bill. That's called a 1st degree amendment. If someone wants to tack on an amendment to the 1st degree amendment, the new amendment is called a 2nd degree amendment, and so on and so forth. Each of those amendments (regardless of the degree) has to be voted on by the full body. Most only need a simple majority to pass.
To bring a bill to a final vote, meaning that the body as a whole is ready to dispense with it and move it into the Conference process (which I wrote a bit about earlier on this thread), they first have to close debate on it. This process is called " invoking cloture." A MOC must make a motion to invoke cloture, which starts its own clock for a vote on the motion to invoke cloture. In the Senate, it takes a 3/5 majority, or 60 votes to get cloture. In the house, you just need a majority. If the body votes to invoke cloture, debate has ended and a vote will be taken on the bill as amended (with any and all agreed to 1st, 2nd, or 3rd degree amendments).
If the amended bill passes, it will then be referred to a Conference Committee. A Conference Committee is made up of selected members from each body (usually members of the originating committees) to negotiate and reconcile the two versions of the bill (each body, House and Senate, will have it's own version of a bill). Once the Conference Committee comes to an agreement and has reconciled the two bills into one, the new bill, the Conference Report, is sent back to both bodies for a vote. If each body accepts and passes the same version of the Conference Report, the agreed to bill goes to the President for either signature into law, or a veto. A veto can be an outright veto (sent back to Congress, that if Congress so chooses, can try to over-ride) or he can pocket veto it, meaning, do nothing with it and let it die.
That's the process in a nutshell.
I wrote all that not just so you can all see the complexity of how a bill becomes a law, but b/c this really is a LONG and drawn out process. There are ample points and opportunities along the way for citizens to make their views heard to their representatives in a constructive way and have an impact on the debate. Seriously, if enough constituents told an MOC that they would not vote for them or actively support an opponent if they voted a particular way on a bill, they'd stop dead in their tracks.
Hope this helps to clarify the process a bit more. If you've gotten this far to the end, you get a gold star. 
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| Posted 7/29/09 12:21 PM |
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leighdvm
My golden boys!
Member since 3/06 4419 total posts
Name:
Michele
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Re: 5 Freedoms You'd Lose in Health Care Reform
Wasn't there a School House Rock cartoon -- "I'm just a bill"? I can still remember some of the lyrics!!
Your post broke it down nicely, Liz....I had forgotten the process....
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| Posted 7/29/09 12:39 PM |
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Blu-ize
Plan B is Now Plan A
Member since 7/05 32475 total posts
Name:
Susan
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Re: 5 Freedoms You'd Lose in Health Care Reform
Posted by SweetestOfPeas
Posted by anonttcer
I feel like this is being forced upon us too..,. how is this democracy? (that is what scares me most- the govt telling us what to do like this.)
Will we have any choice?
I have a job- my husband has a job- we get top notch health care and we are WILLING AND ABLE to pay for it.
Why should sub par healthcare be forced on us?????
THANK YOU!!!
all we hear about is the 46 million who are not insured
what about the 250 million that ARE??? MANY of us are VERY happy with what we have right now and DO NOT WANT A CHANGE!!!!!
Well of course we would like to keep what we have but I don't think that will change when it all comes down to it.
I also know that I cannot in good conscience say to the other 46 million people, tough sh!t.
Let's fix it and try to make it reasonable for all. (if that's a possibility)
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| Posted 7/29/09 12:42 PM |
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Blu-ize
Plan B is Now Plan A
Member since 7/05 32475 total posts
Name:
Susan
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Re: 5 Freedoms You'd Lose in Health Care Reform
Posted by mommy2Alex
Posted by donegal419
yep... this reform is pretty damn scary. i am for reform and someway to help the millions that are uninsured or under-insured, but this plan is not it. i feel they are completely rushing it and it's not being well thought out.
ETA: and i love how he keeps saying you will get to keep your private insurance if you want it. let's be real here... if this passes, every company and corporation in america is going to drop their plans for their employees and tell them to go on the government plan because it will be cheaper for them. that's CHOICE? i don't think so...
Well said. ITA agree, this plan is going to destroy our healthcare. I really hope Americans call their congress people and tell them NO to this health care bill. I have already put my calls in.
I don't agree with that at all. In order to attract talent, they will have to offer benefits. It will be the difference between someone going to one company or another.
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| Posted 7/29/09 12:52 PM |
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Janice
Sweet Jessie Quinn
Member since 5/05 27567 total posts
Name:
Janice
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Re: 5 Freedoms You'd Lose in Health Care Reform
Posted by SweetestOfPeas
Posted by anonttcer
I feel like this is being forced upon us too..,. how is this democracy? (that is what scares me most- the govt telling us what to do like this.)
Will we have any choice?
I have a job- my husband has a job- we get top notch health care and we are WILLING AND ABLE to pay for it.
Why should sub par healthcare be forced on us?????
THANK YOU!!!
all we hear about is the 46 million who are not insured
what about the 250 million that ARE??? MANY of us are VERY happy with what we have right now and DO NOT WANT A CHANGE!!!!!
who are you people?
46 million. are willing to pay. deserve the right to healthcare. are you seriously going to deny people, your fellow Americans the right?
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| Posted 7/29/09 12:56 PM |
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Janice
Sweet Jessie Quinn
Member since 5/05 27567 total posts
Name:
Janice
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Re: 5 Freedoms You'd Lose in Health Care Reform
liz- thanks for that info
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| Posted 7/29/09 12:58 PM |
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ave1024
I Took The Wrong Road
Member since 12/07 6153 total posts
Name:
That Led To The Wrong Tendencies
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Re: 5 Freedoms You'd Lose in Health Care Reform
Posted by Janice
who are you people?
46 million. are willing to pay. deserve the right to healthcare. are you seriously going to deny people, your fellow Americans the right?
There are plenty of ways those people can pay for healthcare under the current system.
Yes it may not be cheap... but if you are willing to pay... there are options available.
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| Posted 7/29/09 1:04 PM |
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Cpt2007
A new love!
Member since 1/08 5946 total posts
Name:
Liz
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Re: 5 Freedoms You'd Lose in Health Care Reform
Posted by ave1024
Posted by Janice
who are you people?
46 million. are willing to pay. deserve the right to healthcare. are you seriously going to deny people, your fellow Americans the right?
There are plenty of ways those people can pay for healthcare under the current system.
Yes it may not be cheap... but if you are willing to pay... there are options available.
what about those who are willing but can't b/c they don't make enough but make too much that they are inelligible for medicaid?
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| Posted 7/29/09 1:07 PM |
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DRMom
Two in Blue
Member since 5/05 20223 total posts
Name:
Melissa
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Re: 5 Freedoms You'd Lose in Health Care Reform
Posted by Cpt2007
Posted by ave1024
Posted by Janice
who are you people?
46 million. are willing to pay. deserve the right to healthcare. are you seriously going to deny people, your fellow Americans the right?
There are plenty of ways those people can pay for healthcare under the current system.
Yes it may not be cheap... but if you are willing to pay... there are options available.
what about those who are willing but can't b/c they don't make enough but make too much that they are inelligible for medicaid?
You took the words right out of my mouth. I have looked into slef-pay insurance. Upwards of $800 a months. I don't have $800 extra dollars
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| Posted 7/29/09 1:25 PM |
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JessInCA
live laugh love
Member since 8/06 5082 total posts
Name:
Jess
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Re: 5 Freedoms You'd Lose in Health Care Reform
Posted by fuego
Is the VA system socialist? No.. it's a standardized government system aimed at providing service to everyone.
No, it's a standardized government system aimed at providing service to VETERANS, who are only a portion of the entire population of this country. Not socialist, but hardly a basis for comparison with a national healthcare plan either. And many veterans who've dealt with the VA system, my DH included, find it to be one problem after another. It's a bureaucratic mess.
Posted by DaniRella
I urge you to take a drive over to the VA hospital in Northport -- it is right near my house. See the kind of care that these people are receiving and the environment they are receiving it in... then tell me if you'd like to send your children there... or yourself... or your husband. I'm not trying to be snarky - I'm just saying from experience and when it comes to my health and the health of my loved ones I take it very seriously. 
To be fair, my grandfather spent the last year of his life at the VA hospital in Northport, and it may not be the prettiest hospital in the world, but we found the staff to be professional and kind, and the services he received to be excellent. Maybe it's because of the type of care he needed that my personal experience with them was different than yours, but I would have no hesitation about sending another member of my family there for care. But the red tape involved in getting him in there in the first place? Another story entirely.
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| Posted 7/29/09 1:29 PM |
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Ophelia
she's baaccckkkk ;)
Member since 5/06 23378 total posts
Name:
remember, when Gulliver traveled....
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Re: 5 Freedoms You'd Lose in Health Care Reform
how about the "other" federally run insurance, Medicare.
funding problems notwithstanding, I have never known a doctor to not accept Medicare.
even docs that don't accept any other insurance accept medicare.
why?
b/c old people get sick. and the bills get PAID. from a billing standpoint Medicare is probably one of the easiest to deal with. private insurance is like pulling teeth.
the main problem we are having with medicare right now is not the way it operates, but how costly it is.
but anyway, people who are in Medicare (and not those administered by HMO's...i am talking the straight up plan) can choose their own doctors, have a copay and a deductible, and are able to be involved in their care like people with private insurance enjoy.
they are not sheparded into clinics. they are not left to rot.their insurance card is good and accepted at the best hospitals and treatment facilities there are.
if we could channel that and figure out a way to expand those benefits to everyone, we'd be in fairly good shape.
that, combined with TORT REFORM, and from there lower med mal insurance costs would REALLY serve to help our country get out of this mess.
I am not saying we should all be on Medicare. I am just saying Medicare is not such a bad deal.
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| Posted 7/29/09 1:42 PM |
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cjik
Welcome 2010!
Member since 2/06 8879 total posts
Name:
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Re: 5 Freedoms You'd Lose in Health Care Reform
Posted by ave1024
Posted by cjik
But it is a problem to have your insurance tied together with your job. And while I am happy with my insurance now, if my husband's employer decided to change plans, we are pretty well stuck with it. That happened to me with one employer in the past.
But you see you do have a choice. You can change jobs.
When I consider working for a company, the pay and quality of life at the job aren't the only two things I consider. The benefits are high on the list as well.
I think this Obama health plan reeks of uglyness.
I sure hope all the people that were pro-Obama in November are happy with their choice.
I saw this coming a mile away.
Many people do not have the luxury of this choice. Tell this to the unemployed, or to people like DH and myself who both have pre-existing conditions. If DH changes jobs, we lose our coverage, which pretty well means he cannot change jobs. We also need to keep our fingers crossed that he doesn't lose his job, or his employer doesn't change coverage in which case, we could be dropped. So changing your job is not always an option.
It almost sounds as if you want no health care reform, or you want Obama to fail. Whether you like the man and his ideas or not, you must see there are serious problems with our healthcare system.
Message edited 7/29/2009 1:47:43 PM.
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| Posted 7/29/09 1:42 PM |
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HeathKernandez
Our Ron is an awesome Ron
Member since 4/07 9091 total posts
Name:
baby fish mouth
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Re: 5 Freedoms You'd Lose in Health Care Reform
Posted by Janice
Posted by SweetestOfPeas
Posted by anonttcer
I feel like this is being forced upon us too..,. how is this democracy? (that is what scares me most- the govt telling us what to do like this.)
Will we have any choice?
I have a job- my husband has a job- we get top notch health care and we are WILLING AND ABLE to pay for it.
Why should sub par healthcare be forced on us?????
THANK YOU!!!
all we hear about is the 46 million who are not insured
what about the 250 million that ARE??? MANY of us are VERY happy with what we have right now and DO NOT WANT A CHANGE!!!!!
who are you people?
46 million. are willing to pay. deserve the right to healthcare. are you seriously going to deny people, your fellow Americans the right?
 thank you. I think the problem here is the majority of us are insured privately... I'm sure we'd be tooting a different tune if we were part of the country WITHOUT insurance...
of COURSE you do not want a CHANGE... that wouldn't benefit YOU, would it? We're a country of selfish people. ME ME ME...
There are serious problems with our health care and it needs to be changed...
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| Posted 7/29/09 1:51 PM |
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Janice
Sweet Jessie Quinn
Member since 5/05 27567 total posts
Name:
Janice
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Re: 5 Freedoms You'd Lose in Health Care Reform
Posted by HeathKernandez
Posted by Janice
Posted by SweetestOfPeas
Posted by anonttcer
I feel like this is being forced upon us too..,. how is this democracy? (that is what scares me most- the govt telling us what to do like this.)
Will we have any choice?
I have a job- my husband has a job- we get top notch health care and we are WILLING AND ABLE to pay for it.
Why should sub par healthcare be forced on us?????
THANK YOU!!!
all we hear about is the 46 million who are not insured
what about the 250 million that ARE??? MANY of us are VERY happy with what we have right now and DO NOT WANT A CHANGE!!!!!
who are you people?
46 million. are willing to pay. deserve the right to healthcare. are you seriously going to deny people, your fellow Americans the right?
thank you. I think the problem here is the majority of us are insured privately... I'm sure we'd be tooting a different tune if we were part of the country WITHOUT insurance...
of COURSE you do not want a CHANGE... that wouldn't benefit YOU, would it? We're a country of selfish people. ME ME ME...
There are serious problems with our health care and it needs to be changed...
that's just it. people can't put themselves in other people's shoes.
I have insurance. Next year I won't even have to pay a premium, DH's co will be paying it for us. Would I trade that benefit to help 46 million without insurance? of course! without a doubt!
that's what you do. that's the correct way to live your life. that's what is going to bring you happiness.
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| Posted 7/29/09 2:00 PM |
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