Health Care Bill

airborneinf82, BSN · Mar 22, 2010

It has everything to do with healthcare legislation. If you want to know how we're going to pay for healthcare, end the war.

No it doesnt. The country made a choice. At the time of the start of the invasion, the majority of the country was behind the decision. You, I, everyone in the country, made the majority decision to send our men and women in to harms way. Now you want to pull everyone out and say screw those who died. Typical of someone who has not served. I did. I did my time. I helped make the Iraq war a success. If it were up to people like you, my friends who have died over there would have been for nothing. At least now we are leaving with honor for those who died or are permanently disabled because of the majority decision that we as America made. As if that isn't enough, we are already drawing down. The war is ending. You can thank Bush for that. It wasn't going to be an endless expense that keeps getting larger and more expensive, like this health care reform will do. You are comparing apples and oranges. They are two separate issues. Don't try and link the two.

You are misunderstood what I wrote. First, 17% of the insurance market is small when compared to the rest of the insurance market. Second, it doesn't matter because this 17% has unfair insurance policies that are worthless if they get sick. Third, if you are PRIVATELY insured you will be dropped if you get sick. That is not misinformation. You misread.

Oh so its small when compared to the rest. I see that makes it small. You are still trying to argue the fact that increasing premiums for 26.9 million people is nothing. Like I said, it is all because you are not a part of that group. Just like with the "tax the rich" mantra. Those who aren't rich are ALL for it.

And lastly, you are a flat out liar. Private insurance companies WILL NOT drop you simply because you get sick. If this was the norm then no one would carry insurance. It would be pointless. 200 million people are not blind to this so called fact of yours. Please cite examples of this. The fact is, it is an extremely uncommon occurance. Stop distorting the truth to make your case.

airborneinf82, BSN · Mar 22, 2010

Mandating everyone to have health insurance is no different from mandating that everyone has auto insurance. Of course there will be some who go uninsured and hit our car one day then who get's hurt? Those of us who are paying for auto insurance, get their premiums raised. So why not bring everyone into the health system to pay equally, we are already covering uninsured who turn up in hospitals and by law we cannot turn anyone away. More people in the health system equal more patients to take care of. Insurance companies will still be making money, business as usual, only this time they cannot cherry pick and decide not to take care of patient's with preexisting conditions or refuse to pay for a stroke patient to transfer to LTAC facility because they class her as unable to be rehabilitated.

Almost no one argues that health care needs reform. But please explain how simply mandating coverage for everyone and eliminating pre-existing condition exemptions cost $900+ billion dollars.

Oh, yeah, everyone doesn't have to have auto insurance. If you don't have a car, you dont. There is no such clause here. If you are alive, you must have it. This is unconstitutional and it will be struck down in the Supreme Court. Give it time. It just passed yesterday. Honestly I think they should have a mandate stating that "if you wish to not be turned away at the hospital then you will have insurance"

leslie :-D · Mar 22, 2010

This is unconstitutional and it will be struck down in the Supreme Court.

i seriously doubt it.

for one, no one can get on board on what is constitutional.

and that is mainly r/t everyone's interpretations being so different.

those suing, are battling with weakened, unstable contentions.

personally, i do believe the sc will uphold the bill, on the premises that all have the same right and access to hc.

leslie

calliesue · Mar 22, 2010

CFitzRN One of the things I love about living in the United States is that I as well as you, both have a right to our own opinions and voice.I am a little saddened that your tone is so hostile. It seems a little over the top, but again that is your right.

phoenixfire · Mar 22, 2010

Uligonzalez My fear of health care reform in our country is that it won't go far enough to help everyone as socialized medicine would.
It seems like penalizing people for not having health care is counter- productive. If you are already having trouble paying rent and feeding your kids health care is not going to be your priority.
Too bad we couldn't just bite the bullet and go socialized all the way.

Amen!! The money we could save in preventatives alone with socialized medicine would be sufficient to pay for it, and then some. I know too many people who waited until they couldn't wait anymore to see a doctor, and what happens is instead of spending $100 on a doctor's visit, they end up owing thousands to a hospital for an ER visit, heart cath, and ICU stay. Just one example. There will always be people who do things like that, but the majority of those that I see every day do it because they don't have the cash to see a doctor the way things are now. I've read a lot of complaints about this bill, but honestly, don't we have to do something? The definition of insanity is doing things over and over the same way and expecting a different result. What we are doing is obviously not working, so its time to change something. Change is uncomfortable for a lot of people, but as we all know, just because something has been done a certain way for a long time does not mean its the right way to do things. If it were, there are a whole bunch of us that would not be nurses right now!

billythekid, CRNA · Mar 22, 2010

I am not sure if anybody knows what the 1000+ page bill will do to health care, especially from the nurses point of view. I doubt if most of the people who voted in favor of it even know what it contains.
-mandate everyone to purchase heath insurance
-cut Medicare
-add to Medicaid
-prevent insurance companies from dropping you for exceeding cost limits
-raise taxes on the rich (200K+ year)
-cut physicians reimbursements for Medicare/Medicaid
It will be years before everything comes to light, but I think it will hurt nurses/physicians working conditions and compensation because there will be more regulation/paperwork and less money going to the actual health care providers.
I would love to see a bullet point break down of the bill if anyone has that info, there just seems to a lack of actual information out there.

I wouldn't say 200k income is anywhere near 'rich' in many parts of the country... mortgage, taxes, daycare.. not even close! Unfortunately, a number of nurses and their families will fall into this too 'rich' catergory. To a multi-millionaire, and extra $10k might not make a difference, but to a couple making $300k, an additional $8000 tax liability is quite significant.

Blackheartednurse · Mar 22, 2010

I'm all for it, I think anyone who lives in United States should have an access to a decent medical care..I am so tired of people playing social classes and the survival of the fittest..My biggest concern would be will the quality of medical care decrease? (happend in Canada),will we have an access to all these expensive meds that can potentially save critical patient?? There is no straightforward answer here,and I dont agree that Canada has the best healthcare system...there have been many complaints that proves otherwise

jlwerley · Mar 22, 2010

http://factcheck.org/2010/03/a-final-weekend-of-whoppers/

this website seems to clear up many of the confusing topics about healthcare and the healthcare bill. helped clear some things up for me, including the fact that since there is no government option, insurance will remain private and dissimilar to healthcare in places like the UK or canada

Meraki · Mar 22, 2010

as far as the other countries having such great health care systems, like as mentioned, canada, please explain why they all come HERE to receive care? if their systems are so good, why go elsewhere? no one EVER answers this question and i doubt i will get one here. also, what major medical advancments and drug developments have come from these countries?

As a Canadian the HCR doesn't impact me but this paragraph made me laugh - I have no idea where you get your misinformation that you proclaim here...

1. "please explain why they all come HERE to receive care"

Ummm - we don't. In actual fact less than 0.5% of Canadians obtain health care services in the US and of those only a quarter (.11%) state they went to the US for the sole purpose of health care. (Katz) Not sure how .11% of the population can be generalized as all.

2. "if their systems are so good, why go elsewhere?"

Remember, Canada has one tenth the population of the US. The USA has over 815,000 licensed physicians, Canada has about 70,000. There is no possible way we can have the same breadth of specialization with 1/10th the population. That doesn't mean the level of expertise or the quality of the expertise in Canada is any less - just the quantity is reduced. Therefore if someone needs a very specialized treatment that isn't available in Canada, they may take advantage of the expertise in the US. - Which as per #1 - happens rarely.

Secondly some of our politicians and famous people travel to the US for treatment for privacy reasons. We only have a few major cities and high level of expertise and confidentiality and privacy for public figures can be difficult. Again this happens rarely, although each time it does it receives a great deal of publicity.

Thirdly many (elderly) Canadians live in the US for the winters and receive health care there - they count in the .5% who receive services in the US.

3. "also, what major medical advancments and drug developments have come from these countries?

For its population size, Canada has contributed a great deal to medicine and medical research. http://www.canadianmedicinenews.com/2007/11/canadas-greatest-medical-research.html I think even you might agree that the discovery of insulin by Dr. Banting was a major medical advance!

Comments:

I have a chronic health condition, and am on a large discussion board related to this health condition that is made up of primarily US folks. In the past year I have seen my GP monthly, had multiple medication changes, get bloodwork monthly, and have seen an endocrinologist, internist, immunologist, allergist and neurologist. The longest I have waited for an appointment with any of the specialist is two months and given that I am triaged as a non-urgent case, I consider this a reasonable wait time. I waited 5 weeks for a non urgent MRI. None of this has cost me a penny out of pocket, except I pay the pharmacy filling fee for the meds. My mother and sister both recently had more urgent health issues and were both seen by specialists in less than a week.

The members on the discussion board are for the most part extremely jealous of those us of in Canada as they are often limited in the number of appointments they can schedule, in how often they can have bloodwork and what blood work they can have ordered. Also they can only see certain specialists, and in the case of endocrinologists, more often than not they seem to be very disappointed in the quality of the care they receive, and are limited in who they can go to for second opinions. They often pay out of pocket to get bloodwork done, or for extra visits and there is constant stress for them about co-pays, HMO's, insurance premiums due to chronic conditions, fear of unemployment due to health and losing health care benefits etc.. From the postings they make there is a constant anxiety and worrying about accessing health care and the financial aspect. Also different people on the board get very different services depending on how good their health benefits/ insurance policy is. None of these things are issues in Canada

4. "no one EVER answers this question and i doubt i will get one here."

Well, now you have some answers, and perhaps you will choose to be a little better informed about Canadian health care. The Canadian system is not perfect, no system is, and yes our taxes are higher. However trying to make it out to be something it isn't doesn't actually help your cause.

airborneinf82, BSN · Mar 22, 2010

i seriously doubt it.
for one, no one can get on board on what is constitutional.
and that is mainly r/t everyone's interpretations being so different.
those suing, are battling with weakened, unstable contentions.
personally, i do believe the sc will uphold the bill, on the premises that all have the same right and access to hc.
leslie

The constitution is clear in what the federal government can and cannot due. Anything else is in the control of the states, unless Amended. There is no mention of having the powers to force citizens to purchase a product or service.

RNandRRT · Mar 22, 2010

The best part of all this, besides how there's a lot of people peeing their own pants, is that Rush Limbaugh must now leave the country.

WOOT!

Michaelxy · Mar 22, 2010

I am having a tough time finding out what this bill is really about. I have waded through endless websites with barely adequate information, it sure would be nice to get the real scoop. My concern is that I am a Vet and as such have used the VA when I get sick. I wonder if this new bill will make it harder to use the VA as they might say I should have private Ins. Oh well, guess I will have to adapt.

I did find this interesting little snippet about the bill that may be of interest.

15. INCREASING NUMBER OF PRIMARY CARE DOCTORS-- Provides new investment in training programs to increase the number of primary care doctors, nurses, and public health professionals. Effective beginning in fiscal year 2010.

From this website:

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-20000848-503544.html?tag=contentMain;contentBody

Also look here:

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-20000846-503544.html