Obamacare and Nursing.. what do you think?

silentRN · Jul 26, 2012

i really don't see how any of this will be paid for...how do we expect to enroll some what, 30 million americans on medicaid, when state by state the healthcare systems are already broke and vanishing. in az, there are no new enrollments allowed for childless adults into medicaid, and even if you do have a child, they can only fall under one of the four categories for the adult to receive medicaid benefits. if we expect that everything will be federalized and are duped into believing that the federal government will pay for this mess, then think again. we are so broke as a nation that we can't continue to deficit spend to keep these programs afloat and sustain for much longer. as poverty rises in the us year by year, more people become reliant on some form of government benefit. as of this year, there are 100 million americans that are considered living in the poverty level. when obama took office, there were 32 million americans on food stamps, that number has risen to 45 million. i believe as of right now 1 in 4 or 1 in 5 americans are on medicaid. let's be realistic. we all work in the healthcare system, and we all see how bad it really is. just to pass a bill for the sake of passing a bill isn't a good way to run a nation, especially a nation who is engulfed in debt.

what is the solution? i'm not sure if there really is a solution anymore. it's like when someone buys a house, and they are so far behind in mortgage payments that they just can't get ahead. they use one credit card to pay off the next, while at the same adding more debt to the credit card. this is the kind of rut that this nation is in, and it wouldn't make sense to take out another loan to make additions to the house would it? at this point, i believe we as a nation have crossed the thin red line and there is no going back from here, until one day it just finally comes down us.

Mindful, RN · Jul 26, 2012

Have you ever read about the Industrial/Miltary complex that the pigs have created ?

sweetgeorgia · Jul 26, 2012

Honestly, I'd be more concerned with all the hidden things that passed in that bill. Like increasing the death tax over 55% and mandating wills and assets greater than a certain amount be given to the government instead of the family and children of those who have passed away. Little by little the government is trying to reduce the debt, but doing it at the time of death is dirty and downright disgusting. I would love for us to live in an ideal world where we are all equally "entitled" to quality healthcare and have the ability to live the best life we possible can... the thing is there are lots of people who take advantage of the fact that someone will give them free money of free prescription drugs. If only we were all honest, all the time and not so greedy and wasteful then maybe, just maybe it could work. I have serious doubts though but we'll see how it goes in good time.

silentRN · Jul 26, 2012

It was our 34th President, dwight d eisenhower, that had warned us of the Military Industrial complex

Mindful, RN · Jul 26, 2012

You better stop listening to Faux News for your source ...

silentRN · Jul 27, 2012

You better just stop listening to mainstream media all together if you want real news. It's naive to believe that mainstream media portrays any truth whatsoever. It's also naive to believe that this country isn't in some serious trouble with finance...

tewdles, RN · Jul 27, 2012

death tax....LOL

Cold Stethoscope · Sep 2, 2012

death tax....LOL

Everyone seems to think that they're millionaires, and will be affected by estate taxes.

Americans are nothing if not wishful thinkers.

Estate Tax and the Founding Fathers (Economist, Lexington's Notebook, 2010)

Not_A_Hat_Person, RN · Sep 2, 2012

Obamacare isn't perfect, but it's something. Medicare was instituted in 1 year, and has been revised several times since. I don't remember all this outrage over Medicare Part D, which forbids Medicare from negotiating drug prices. Buying meds from Canada isn't a solution. Canadian meds are cheaper because the Canadian government regulates drug prices. It's not the Canadian government's job to provide cheap meds for Americans.

Separating health insurance from employment is a step in the right direction. Right now, when companies drop their health insurance coverage, employees have no options except COBRA, which is very expensive and only good for 18 months. If they can buy into Medicare or some other single-payer system, they will have other options besides waiting until they're eligible for Medicare.

I hope Obamacare leads to national ratios for inpatient and outpatient care, especially LTC. Hospital-level patients need hospital-level staffing and resources.

8mpg · Sep 5, 2012

People dont seem to see any of the large problems with the whole notion of the "Affordable Care Act". The true problem is the government is trying to rule the private market. Without a Federal based healthcare insurance policy for the people, we can NEVER have a system that will work (this is not something I want).

We are using private "for profit" companies to fund the healthcare system. If we look back at Romneycare and the effects it had we can see that private for profit companies cannot make a profit under the system. BCBS I believe went non-profit in their state to find out they would lose money all together. They tried to stop selling insurance in the state when the state sued them to force them to sell insurance.

The government has offered a solution of forcing people to enter into a contract between a person and a private company or pay a tax. These companies are here to make a profit. Many people have NO understanding of "pre-existing conditions" and until they do, they will never understand what is going on. The law under I believe HIPAA states an insurance company may deny coverage for a pre-existing condition up to I believe 18 months for every month of coverage they did not have prior to acceptance into a new program after a lapse of 62 days without credible coverage. So let me give a better example as this happened to my fiance:

My fiance is diabetic type 1 and depends on insulin. When changing jobs, she had a lapse of coverage of 1 month. Since she had a lapse of less than 62 days, she was not denied any coverage for her pre-existing condition (she was forced to show a letter of credible coverage). Had she had a lapse of coverage for 62 days or more, then new company could have denied her short term. So if her lapse of coverage was 62 days, they can deny covering her medications for 62 days. If she had a lapse of one year, they can deny her coverage for insulin and appointments for 1 year. I believe the cap is 18 months on denial of coverage.

This makes perfect sense. I would not be fair for someone to not have coverage for 5 years, get diagnosed with cancer and jump on a plan. The plan could deny him for up to 18 months of coverage for the cancer treatment. If they did not do this, all insurance companies would go bankrupt. It is very simple math. A single person can easily wipe out the monthly premiums received from a whole office of people.

Also, until we see the reality of pharmaceutical companies, we will never get it. Have you seen the drug shortages lately? There is not enough profit to make some of these generic medicines such as morphine, versed, etc. By increasing taxes on pharm companies this will reduce the incentive for companies to make these medicines even more. But we will do what we always do and subsidize certain companies and medications. The government already has a hard time getting companies to research and develop vaccines. Great idea, lets tax them too. Technological advancement slows when you reduce incentive to produce and thrive. A pharm company totally deserves the money they make on a medication. If you do not believe they do, why dont you start your own company? Many people do not see the MILLIONS of dollars invested into medications that are not passed by the FDA or are passed and later taken off the market. Then you have people who sue to issues related to the medications for decades after the drug was pulled. They have lots of risk with a hope of coming up with a new revolutionary medication. With risk comes reward...when you take away part of this reward, people risk less.

This goes on and on. The true problem is ignorant people with ideals that are in the clouds.

CA ER Nurse · Sep 23, 2012

The Health Care Reform in my opinion seems great for those that are struggling to make ends meet and suffering from true health conditions. But yet it will become detrimental for health payers that are great at preventing diseases. Health Care Reform will enable everyone to get insurance (and force tax-payers to pay regardless if one sees a doctor or follows through with the prescribed regimen).

As a county ER nurse in California there are countless of abusers of the health care system such as homeless people calling for an ambulance ride for no real problem (request food and want a warm place to stay and sleep) and ultimately end up leaving, narcotic drug seekers or what ever the case may be. These individuals most likely don't even pay for their own medical bills or even have any form of insurance. How is the Health Care Reform fixing this chronic problem?

County hospitals are probably one of the first acute care facilities where resources are removed. Working in a busy trauma ER facility, seldom do we have CNA's or ER nurse techs creating an enormous problem for nurses. We are still required to take our load of patients but how are we able to adequately treat and manage our patients. Then administration demands that we work faster and see more patients to get the wait times down. I strongly feel that administrators and legislators should take the time to go to a facility for at least a day and see first hand what nurses have to deal with. Perhaps this will open their eyes to what really needs to change and where the money should be going.

mariebailey, MSN, RN · Sep 24, 2012

I know that I am possibly opening up a can of ugly worms. I hope that in spite of differing opinions, that this thread can remain friendly and a simple exchange of ideas and opinions.
I grew up in a country with a socialistic government, which also includes healthcare for everyone. I have seen how the hospitals are understaffed, and you are lucky if you get to spend 5 minutes with your physician, and you are not in control over which healthcare facility you can go to. I know that the new bill isn't necessarily socialistic, but there are socialistic principles in it.
How do you think that Obamacare is going to affect how care is delivered?
By the way, this is NOT a homework assignment of any kind. I am merely looking for for a friendly exchange of ideas and opinions.

There are many models of socialized medicine, & I think it varies from country to country the overall quality of care that can be expected. This documentary provides a great overview: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/sickaroundtheworld/

It is my hope that, by providing more access to preventive services, we will eventually see a healthier nation. It is also my hope that health disparities and unequal access to care are diminished.