All I want for Christmas is a single payer plan!

[CaLLaCoDe]

It's pretty hard to rebut anything this congressman says. He makes an argument for the right as well as for the left. I only wish we didn't have such a need to preserve the health insurance industry at our own health expense:

[Onekidneynurse]

I think some have not bothered to listen to the argument from Senator Wiener that I posted at the beginning of this thread, how the single payer plan would end up saving us money by reducing the administrative costs inherent in our current system. How the current system is a drain on the citizens and does not guarantee adequate coverage; the insurance companies dictate the care not the doctors. Please look at all of the arguments in favor of single payer, how it would contain costs which are spiraling out of control and NOT reduce the quality of health services.

That is totally hilarious. Medicare had $60 Billion of fraud and then they fixed it and now they have $47 Billion and it's all due to poor administration of Medicare. Have you ever had to do pre-authorization for meds? We send in a form every 3 months for meds patient's have been on for years and get a denial from Medicare every time. Sometimes more than once. In some instances Medicare's administrative costs are higher than commercial insurance.

When will we get adequate housing in this country. And when will Americans not go to bed hungry. Why is health care more important than food and housing? And even with mandatory purchase of insurance will not guarantee that most won't have large medical bills.

[Onekidneynurse]

That is totally hilarious. Medicare had $60 Billion of fraud and then they fixed it and now they have $47 Billion and it's all due to poor administration of Medicare. Have you ever had to do pre-authorization for meds? We send in a form every 3 months for meds patient's have been on for years and get a denial from Medicare every time. Sometimes more than once. In some instances Medicare's administrative costs are higher than commercial insurance.

When will we get adequate housing in this country. And when will Americans not go to bed hungry. Why is health care more important than food and housing? And even with mandatory purchase of insurance will not guarantee that most won't have large medical bills.

http://www.heritage.org/research/healthcare/wm2505.cfm

[GCTMT]

When I read all this crap going on and on about the virtues of the free market and how it will solve everything, I hear

in my head and laugh.

Sometimes I think it's a better use of time talking to brick walls.

[Onekidneynurse]

When I read all this crap going on and on about the virtues of the free market and how it will solve everything, I hear

in my head and laugh.

Sometimes I think it's a better use of time talking to brick walls.

So how far should the government go to tell people what they can and can't do? How far should they go to give us everything we think we need. What about food and shelter. Do you disagree that there isn't hunger in this country or homelessness? Shouldn't people have enough food to eat? Shouldn't they have warm houses. How much should the government do for people. We might be in another "WAR" by the end of the month. But that's a government decision so it must be "good" for us. Correct?

[EnigmaticRN]

Ya know, I really can't get over how every one thinks government intervention is the answer to everything.

Medicare is what got the ball rolling in the wrong direction to begin with. What makes ANYBODY think they can make things better by getting more involved?

I am 51. I have a cardiac condition that is treated by medication. I cannot go without my medication. I am uninsured (by choice) and I pay for my meds out of pocket ($12/mo). I do not go to the ER unless it's for an emergency (there really are very few emergencies, you know). I do not expect others to pick up my tab.

People need to get a grip. There are so many people up in arms over this health care debate. I don't understand it! If you cannot pay for a service, you cannot have that service! Healthcare is not a right! ACCESS to healthcare is a right, but you have to PAY for that access!

You better pray that the health care bill DOESN'T pass...

Kevin

[GCTMT]

Hurray! If you can't afford to pay for the commodity of health care in the USA then

Some of you people are really cracking me up.

[EnigmaticRN]

Hurray! If you can't afford to pay for the commodity of health care in the USA then

Some of you people are really cracking me up.

No, MOVE...

[RN4MERCY]

[quote name='RN

Yes, and the best way to ensure the care will continue to be there when you need it is to make sure it's available for everyone. ER care is expensive. We need to provide early access to prenatal care and wellness/prevention/restorative care for all. I've seen many babies born too soon to live or who exist with developmental delays because their moms had manageable complications of pregnancy--with moms who've had strokes, seizures and heart attacks from untreated high blood pressure and diabetes or bleeding problems and anemia.

We need to restore the public health infrastructure and the only publicly accountable, cost-effective and affordable way to do that is for us to establish a single payer national health plan. Our government, under the influence of corporate- controlled politicians, has been trying to balance the budget on the backs of the poor for too long and we've paid a high price for that. A study in the American Journal of Public Health states there are 45,000 deaths per year from preventable causes because of a lack of health care. Our emergency rooms are obviously not the fail-safe system of care we should be relying on.

The study, conducted at Harvard Medical School and Cambridge Health Alliance, found that uninsured, working-age Americans have a 40 percent higher risk of death than their privately insured counterparts, up from a 25 percent excess death rate found in 1993.

"The uninsured have a higher risk of death when compared to the privately insured, even after taking into account socioeconomics, health behaviors, and baseline health," said lead author Andrew Wilper, M.D., who currently teaches at the University of Washington School of Medicine. "We doctors have many new ways to prevent deaths from hypertension, diabetes, and heart disease-but only if patients can get into our offices and afford their medications."

[RN4MERCY]

Easy?

Keeping costs down? Reign in malpractice lawsuits.

Premiums/coverage/preexisting conditions/etc....Take the government out of it once and for all. Turn insurance over to the free market, not to the government or any chosen corporations.

I say not so fast with the "tort reform" argument. There isn't any evidence to support the claim that taking away or limiting a victims' right to sue for damages when they or their loved ones suffer from preventable complications or death at the hands of negligent practitioners, hospitals, and clinics will lower the costs of health care. The government has a responsibility to protect people. Personal injury laws with teeth in them, meaning the threat of substantial financial penalty for wrongdoers is, unfortunately, the only real deterrent we have to putting those who would profit at the expense of sick people out of business.

Malpractice suits are one of the few ways in which the medical system can be disciplined economically for taking shortcuts that hurt the quality of care. Furthermore, the people who will be hurt by a cap of $250,000 are not those who have filed frivolous lawsuits. By definition, they are people who have proved that they are victims of malpractice, and who have been so badly harmed that a jury has determined they should be significantly compensated.

If Congress and the state Legislature pass pending bills to cap malpractice settlements, they would turn the most serious victims of our medical system into victims yet again. Medical malpractice costs are a tiny percentage of overall health care expenditures. Medical malpractice insurance and claims costs represent, at most, only 2 percent of overall health care spending in this country, according to both the Congressional Budget Office and the General Accounting Office.

It has been proven repeatedly that "caps" and other "tort reforms" do not work. States that have enacted so-called "tort reform" have only seen their insurance rates continue to shoot up after passing severe liability limits. A study by Dartmouth College researchers suggests that huge jury awards and financial settlements for injured patients have not caused the explosive increase in doctors' insurance premiums. Researchers said a more likely explanation for the escalation is that malpractice insurance companies have raised doctors' premiums to compensate for falling investment returns. If they're making less money from the investment side of things, it's going to cause [insurance companies] to raise rates.

Health care in this country should be provided as a social service, a human right, not a commodity. Our budget priorities need to reflect our espoused values of equal opportunity and justice for all--not just the wealthy. Insurance companies raise rates to protect their profits, not to provide care. They don't exist to provide care at all. Once people wake up to that fact we can better organize to eliminate these parasytic middle-men and implement a more socially just, publicly accountable single payer "Medicare for All" national health plan.

[Onekidneynurse]

Yes, and the best way to ensure the care will continue to be there when you need it is to make sure it's available for everyone. ER care is expensive. We need to provide early access to prenatal care and wellness/prevention/restorative care for all. I've seen many babies born too soon to live or who exist with developmental delays because their moms had manageable complications of pregnancy--with moms who've had strokes, seizures and heart attacks from untreated high blood pressure and diabetes or bleeding problems and anemia.

We need to restore the public health infrastructure and the only publicly accountable, cost-effective and affordable way to do that is for us to establish a single payer national health plan. Our government, under the influence of corporate- controlled politicians, has been trying to balance the budget on the backs of the poor for too long and we've paid a high price for that. A study in the American Journal of Public Health states there are 45,000 deaths per year from preventable causes because of a lack of health care. Our emergency rooms are obviously not the fail-safe system of care we should be relying on.

So what do the insured die of? Having insurance?

[Onekidneynurse]

I say not so fast with the "tort reform" argument. There isn't any evidence to support the claim that taking away or limiting a victims' right to sue for damages when they or their loved ones suffer from preventable complications or death at the hands of negligent practitioners, hospitals, and clinics will lower the costs of health care. The government has a responsibility to protect people. Personal injury laws with teeth in them, meaning the threat of substantial financial penalty for wrongdoers is, unfortunately, the only real deterrent we have to putting those who would profit at the expense of sick people out of business.

Malpractice suits are one of the few ways in which the medical system can be disciplined economically for taking shortcuts that hurt the quality of care. Furthermore, the people who will be hurt by a cap of $250,000 are not those who have filed frivolous lawsuits. By definition, they are people who have proved that they are victims of malpractice, and who have been so badly harmed that a jury has determined they should be significantly compensated.

If Congress and the state Legislature pass pending bills to cap malpractice settlements, they would turn the most serious victims of our medical system into victims yet again. Medical malpractice costs are a tiny percentage of overall health care expenditures. Medical malpractice insurance and claims costs represent, at most, only 2 percent of overall health care spending in this country, according to both the Congressional Budget Office and the General Accounting Office.

It has been proven repeatedly that "caps" and other "tort reforms" do not work. States that have enacted so-called "tort reform" have only seen their insurance rates continue to shoot up after passing severe liability limits. A study by Dartmouth College researchers suggests that huge jury awards and financial settlements for injured patients have not caused the explosive increase in doctors' insurance premiums. Researchers said a more likely explanation for the escalation is that malpractice insurance companies have raised doctors' premiums to compensate for falling investment returns. If they're making less money from the investment side of things, it's going to cause [insurance companies] to raise rates.

Health care in this country should be provided as a social service, a human right, not a commodity. Our budget priorities need to reflect our espoused values of equal opportunity and justice for all--not just the wealthy. Insurance companies raise rates to protect their profits, not to provide care. They don't exist to provide care at all. Once people wake up to that fact we can better organize to eliminate these parasytic middle-men and implement a more socially just, publicly accountable single payer "Medicare for All" national health plan.

It's almost impossible to sue the government. They don't have to limit tort with any new laws. It will be limited as soon as the government takes over.

Many people don't realize that laws don't always do what they are intended to do. Seat belt laws were instituted to save money, among other things. But in the long run they don't save money at all. All those MVA's end up living to use more government entitlements.

[Onekidneynurse]

Hurray! If you can't afford to pay for the commodity of health care in the USA then

Some of you people are really cracking me up.

Can you point me to someone lying in the street dying without healthcare cuz I can point out many lying in the street hungry and without shelter. Shouldn't we subsdize hunger and homelessness?

Should we make people buy food or homes? Should we give them money to buy those things?