New health care bill..

Kashia, ASN, LVN · Mar 24, 2010

Educate yourself.

Check http://www.commondreams.org for some thoughtful articles on bill.

The Thomas Library of Congress carries the full version of the bill. Of all bills pending and passed fyi.

In the find print I read...we are screwed. and a few are helped. and insurance company helped the most.

mammac5 · Mar 24, 2010

Once the Federal Gov't mandates that we either buy insurance or pay fines (progressively scaled for the small business owners) AND they relax the financial guidelines/limits for those who qualify for Medicaid, the individual states are in trouble.

Medicaid is a federally-mandated program, which means each state must operate and administer a Medicaid program for the poor. Although the feds force the states to do this, they do not fully fund it. Basically they tell the states they have to do to it, no matter the cost, and then the feds pitch in some money toward it. States, unlike the federal gov't, must operate under balanced budgets. Once the guidelines are relaxed and the doors are opened to thousands and thousands of add'l Medicaid recipients, the states are going to be forced to raise taxes on their citizens and reduce reimbursements to providers. This is one reason why several states are preparing suits against the new bill, stating that it violates basic states' rights as guaranteed in the Constitution.

UVA Grad Nursing · Mar 24, 2010

There will be more attention (and money) on preventative care and primary care. So those who are working in primary setting will likely see a great increase in work (and likely salaries). Most graduate nursing programs in the country are seeing an increase in applications for Family, Pediatric, Adult, Womens Health, and Geriatric NP programs. Last week was 'Match Day' when graduating MD students learned about their residencies --- and there was a large increase in requests (and placements) from medical students to go into internal medicine/ general practice positions as well rather than to specialty/subspecialty.

elkpark · Mar 24, 2010

As I posted in another thread, my previous employer paid the FULL premium for each employee's health coverage. They also offered a $1000 buyout to anyone who didn't want or need insurance.

Just to clarify, there's no such thing as the employer paying for the insurance -- regardless of how large or small a deduction does or doesn't show up on your paycheck stub, the cost of the insurance is income that you earned but never see. It's not like companies take the money out of their profits to pay for the employee benefits ... The cost of the health insurance (as well as all other benefits you get) is part of the employee's total compensation package (what you are getting paid for the work you do). You just never see that part of your income because it's taken "off the top" and given to the insurance company (the same as premiums for life insurance or disability insurance that your employer "gives" you). The employer sets it up legally that, on paper, the employer is "paying" for the insurance because that enables the company to take the tax deduction for the cost of the health insurance instead of you getting that deduction.

imintrouble, BSN, RN · Mar 24, 2010

So what is your suggestion then? That we should save the insurance industry and tell the people with pre-existing illnesses they should just drop dead? LOL...
If we bankrupt the insurance companies, GOOD! Then we could take every dime that would have gone into profit, dividends, corporate salaries, lobbyists and scary TV ads, and put it all back into patient care instead. With the size of the participant pool, we would be able to get lower costs from suppliers. And guess what that's called? Socialized medicine. Which is what we needed all along. Canada and the UK get along fine with it. People in those countries with the extra money can pay to get more if they want, but everyone has at least a basic service. It's by no means perfect, but it's a lot better than what we have with over 30 million uninsured.
This is sort of like socialized education; the government gives your kids free basic education (k-12). If you want them to have more, then you can pay for it, ie. college or private schools. But everyone has a basic education. We have another similar socialized system that pays for retirement (social security) so why not for health care too. The younger pays in, so that those that went before them can retire. When their turn comes, their children will finance their social security. It's not perfect, but that is the plan. The point is, when we live in a society, and want our society to be functional and productive, we can't conduct ourselves with the law of the jungle, where only the most fit (education, financial, physical) can survive.
Why has this become so hard for so many Americans to follow? I'll tell you why; the insurance companies have gotten so rich and because of the money, they don't want to give any of it back. After they successfully derailed Clinton's attempt with dire images of people having to choose between health care or scraps of food, they're trying to do the same again. Now that they've lost, they're still working hard to try to derail it from being implemented with back door legal maneuvers and challenges. Maybe if they had spent their money on patients instead of lobbyists and paying off congressmen, we wouldn't have found ourselves at this juncture after nearly 20 years of their HMOs, in the first place.
[/quote
I reread my post and nowhere did I find a positive or a negative tilt, I just reported what I had heard. Nowhere did I suggest, pre-existing conditions should not be treated. I just said they would, without a thumbs up or thumbs down. I thought we were just sharing info here, which is what I did. If you read anything else in my post, it was because you wanted to.

belgarion · Mar 24, 2010

Just to clarify, there's no such thing as the employer paying for the insurance -- regardless of how large or small a deduction does or doesn't show up on your paycheck stub, the cost of the insurance is income that you earned but never see. It's not like companies take the money out of their profits to pay for the employee benefits ... The cost of the health insurance (as well as all other benefits you get) is part of the employee's total compensation package (what you are getting paid for the work you do). You just never see that part of your income because it's taken "off the top" and given to the insurance company (the same as premiums for life insurance or disability insurance that your employer "gives" you). The employer sets it up legally that, on paper, the employer is "paying" for the insurance because that enables the company to take the tax deduction for the cost of the health insurance instead of you getting that deduction.

What some people can't refute they try to nitpick to peices in an effort to cast doubt on the qualifications of the person making the point.

Having been intimately involved with annual budgeting with regards to employee benefits I am very well aware of the fact that company shares of insurance premiums show up under the compensation column on the balance sheet. I think I remember something about that from my classes in graduate school as well. I saw no point in going into that kind of detail. I was simply pointing out that a lot of people will look the cost of a fine vs. the cost of insurance and decide that the fine is a better deal. I was also showing that to many people, a $1000 check was more important than some intangible compensation that they may or may not get a benefit from.

elkpark · Mar 25, 2010

What some people can't refute they try to nitpick to peices in an effort to cast doubt on the qualifications of the person making the point.
Having been intimately involved with annual budgeting with regards to employee benefits I am very well aware of the fact that company shares of insurance premiums show up under the compensation column on the balance sheet. I think I remember something about that from my classes in graduate school as well. I saw no point in going into that kind of detail. I was simply pointing out that a lot of people will look the cost of a fine vs. the cost of insurance and decide that the fine is a better deal. I was also showing that to many people, a $1000 check was more important than some intangible compensation that they may or may not get a benefit from.

I wasn't trying to "refute" anything you said or nitpick, and I didn't mean to sound like I was -- I've just noticed that we have a lot of posters here not as knowledgeable and experienced as you who believe that their employer-provided health insurance doesn't cost them anything because their employer "pays" for it, or who actually believe that their insurance only costs $50 a month because that's what shows up on their paycheck stub. This has come up a lot in the discussions here of the various healthcare reform proposals, so I often post a further explanation for people who are just figuring out how the workplace works. I apologize for any misunderstanding or hard feelings.

Home Health Columnist / Guide · Mar 25, 2010

Merged threads

Ginger's Mom, MSN, RN · Mar 25, 2010

Just to clarify, there's no such thing as the employer paying for the insurance -- regardless of how large or small a deduction does or doesn't show up on your paycheck stub, the cost of the insurance is income that you earned but never see. It's not like companies take the money out of their profits to pay for the employee benefits ... The cost of the health insurance (as well as all other benefits you get) is part of the employee's total compensation package (what you are getting paid for the work you do). You just never see that part of your income because it's taken "off the top" and given to the insurance company (the same as premiums for life insurance or disability insurance that your employer "gives" you). The employer sets it up legally that, on paper, the employer is "paying" for the insurance because that enables the company to take the tax deduction for the cost of the health insurance instead of you getting that deduction.

That is very interesting, I get the insurance in my family, my husband's fortune 500 company does not consider this part of his compensation- and won't give him a credit since he doesn't get insurance.

Ginger's Mom, MSN, RN · Mar 25, 2010

Cannot wait to see how it will change healthcare workers & pts care! Keep on posting!

I live in MA where we have universal care, ER visits have not decreased. Nurse's salaries have gone down, patient census is down. Hospitals are in the red, insurance rates are skyrocketing and going higher. 98-99 % of all people are covered.

Doctors are leaving the state and waits to see docs has increased.

Ginger's Mom, MSN, RN · Mar 25, 2010

Wait..I'm confused. What govt ran insurance...? I know there is still going to medicare/medicaid but as far as I knew there was still going to be private healthcare, just the gov't was going to offer subsidies to those who couldn't afford it.
I could be wrong, just wanted clarifying that's all.

Since universal care there are now only 4 insurance companies, their rates are skyrocketing leaving people to join the "state" system which has large deductibles.

RN1982 · Mar 25, 2010

You know, I've heard the argument "Well, you don't mind paying for two wars, do you. So why don't you mind paying for healthcare so everyone has it?". The money we pay is to keep our troops alive. No, I don't mind that we are paying that money. We have to because they are still there because despite what Obama has said, he still has not had the balls to pull us out. Until then, we pay.