Senate passes health care bill

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So as of yesterday the Senate passed Obama's healthcare bill; what does this mean for nurses and future nurses? I know there are other threads on this but they are older so I'm just wondering what will change

This bill will help nurses find jobs, but do you think there will be any incentive to become a doctor with this bill? Will it create a shortage of doctors? Do you think that this will give incentives for companies to create new medical devices that can improve and/or save lives? Under the new plan you can keep your insurance through your employer, but what if your employer will choose the government option (which is likely to be cheaper) and reduce the quality of care that you receive?

What on earth makes you think that a government option would "reduce the quality of care you receive"?? People on Medicare now are on a "government option" and they are much more pleased with their Medicare coverage than the general public is with their private insurance (according to the polling/research that is done) and they get the exact same care as everyone else.

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Specializes in PMHNP.

I'm just saying that for people who receive high quality insurance from their employer will probably not have it, because their employer will stop buying that insurance plan and opt for the cheaper government option. If they do this then the people will receive less quality healthcare compared to what they were receiving.

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Specializes in ICU, psych, corrections.

Hmmm....how about providing those who are doing the care-giving (i.e. CNA's, LPN's, and RN's) with free healthcare? :D Subsidized by the government, of course.

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wow, thank you everyone for your responses! they all shed light on a subject i know little about. i guess one of my bottom line questions is, how will this effect nurses' salaries and job availability/security? i am not yet a nursing student but will be in the near future (and then eventually a nurse!), so i am curious as to how this will effect my future, that is if there is any way to know at this point. thanks again everyone!

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I currently am friends with several nurses practicing in canada who absolutely hate the system of national healthcare. In fact, the wait times are so long to get care that around 50% of canadians come to the US for their care. The average wait for a doctors visit in canada is 6-8 weeks.

Also, I do not think it is fair for my paycheck to be smaller so that others can receive free healthcare. Sure it's nice to have it, but I don't want to be the one paying for everyone else's healthcare through additional tax, on top of having to pay for my own healthcare. Did you all know that in the healthcare bill, there is a stipulation that requires all americans to obtain a set minimum healthcare plan? This is the first time in the history of our great country that our government has forced us to purchase something from a private company.

For the people above, the bill does not contain a government option.

As far as nursing salary's go, I believe that this bill will eventually lower the pay that nurses receive. This is because the bill will lower insurance costs, which will in turn have the insurance companies paying out less per claim and all the way down to the dr.'s and nurses.

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Specializes in L&D/Maternity nursing.

Sometimes I have to wait 6-8 weeks to see my physician myself, and I have good coverage under my husband's employer. Those wait times are not exclusive to those countries with universal coverage. Just wanted to point that out.

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Specializes in ER, Med/Surg.

the point that i'm making is that many people argue against health care reform because they want to believe that their are 40 million lazy people out there who deserve to be uncovered because they're not working hard enough. we all know deep down that this is not the case. its frustrating and nerve racking to imagine that we're going to pay even more for our health care. you quoted the statistic of only 56.6% of the 304 million americans are currently contributing to the system. health care reform will boost our work force by creating additional jobs that will serve the additional 40 million in the health care system. it will also provide preventative care that can decrease the likelihood of someone leaving the workforce due to disability from years of not having any health care. the bill creates more checks and balances for insurance companies too; as regulates some of the ridiculous rules that prevent coverage of pre-existing conditions and limit coverage to people with certain conditions.

no, i know that there are 40+ million lazy americans out there. i see a small portion of them every day i work in the er.

preventative care? surely you jest! these are the same 40+ million people who can get a free glucometer and strips but "just don't check their blood sugars...." come on in to the er. i see this as making 40+ million people to come in to my er that don't have to pay for their insurance. (i mean at least maybe the hospital will get some reimbursement from them now...)

this all goes back to dumbing down the public and putting forth the "let the government take care of you" ideology. when people quit taking care of each other and their families and letting "the man" take care of everything. the pattern laid out for us was that the rich should make it easier for the poor, give them a chance, but not completely carry the poor. but that is what our government is doing.

pat

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Okay. Today, Thursday Dec. 24th, the Senate has officially passed the health care reform bill. x-mas eve. Now this thread is official. :D

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Specializes in Home Care.

Now the question will be what is the cost of the premiums for those with pre-existing conditions and how much are the premiums for healthy people going to rise.

Also consider how many different plans there are going to be and what these plans will cover. What would be the point of someone with a heart condition having insurance coverage if his plan only covers $10k a year in medical expenses?

This new legislation is only a small step towards real health reform.

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It's still not DONE -- this is just another step in the process. Now the separate Senate and House bills go to conference committee to be reconciled into one single, final bill which both the House and Senate will have to pass in order for it to go the President to be signed. Then, it will be officially law and we'll be able to realistically discuss what's in "the bill."

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It's still not DONE -- this is just another step in the process. Now the separate Senate and House bills go to conference committee to be reconciled into one single, final bill which both the House and Senate will have to pass in order for it to go the President to be signed. Then, it will be officially law and we'll be able to realistically discuss what's in "the bill."

True. But this specific thread was about the senate passing their health care bill. So it can and certainly has been discussed up to this point.

Much more discussion and bribery and power moves and back stabbing and threats to go before anything ever happens.

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True. But this specific thread was about the senate passing their health care bill. So it can and certainly has been discussed up to this point.

I didn't mean my comment to be any criticism of this thread or anyone participating in it. However, many, many people on many threads on this site have been making v. definitive statements about what's "in the bill" long before there was "a bill" to discuss. Now, we're finally getting to that point.

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