Obama IN HIS OWN WORDS saying His Health Care Plan will ELIMINATE private insurance, page 3

reply to post by whaaa

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The GOP has introduced Health care reform legislation.

Health care like the VA? Talk to many of the vets that have to deal with the VA and see how they feel about it. Not to mention the VA is notoriously under funded and the buildings are way out dated.

Sure the insurance companies are only in it for a profit, but why can't they just legislate insurance reform? Why do they have to have the government take it over?

The answer is this legislation is nothing more than the government takeover of the health care industry.

Originally posted by Aggie Man
You know, I was also thinking...about private health care....and I'm not saying that public health care would be any different...BUT:

We know for a fact that private health care only fights the illness, not the cause...IF private health care paid for preventative medicine (i.e., vitamins, health club memberships, etc.) then I might think of them as somewhat noble.

Funny, but Excellus has introduced something like this.

Excellus Healthy Rewards

With HealthyRewards you can earn up to $1,000 per family* each year for doing healthy stuff that fits into your day. Like going out for a run, working around the yard, even taking the stairs.

Track your progress online as you earn dividends for doing simple activities such as eating better, exercising more and getting routine check-ups. (1 dividend = 1 dollar) Then cash in your dividends as you earn them and get paid anytime - throughout the year. Getting started is easy.

Furthermore, I have worked for more than one company that actually reimbursed you for healthy activities like gym memberships, buying running shoes, buying a bike, even buying golf clubs.

I'm sorry if your experiences have not been so fortunate; but there are companies out there making positive attempts now.

You also said:

But aside from that, I don't think someones livelihood should come with co-pays and premiums....and denial notices! Therefore, I would rather place my livelihood in the hands of the government....nothing wrong with that, right? Just ask our troops!

This, article, from none other than the Washington Post, would indicate otherwise. Yes, this is anecdotal; but so are the pro-nationalized healthcare sob stories you hear during political campaigns.

Military Health Care

He worried about the wounded who were entering the world of military health care, which he knew all too well. His own VA hospital in Livermore was a mess. The gown he wore was torn. The wheelchairs were old and broken.

One reason for higher costs in private insurance is the neverending lawsuits. Malpractice insurance is sky-high. Doctors pass that on to patients in the form of higher medical fees. I never see anyone complaining how much lawyers make in malpractice lawsuits. Maybe tort reform would be a more valiant fight than trying to kill private insurers.

It's easy to pick on the elephant in the room because it's a clever and brilliant distraction from the real issues.

Out of curiousity I spent two minutes googling and found quite a few contradictions to your assertion that noone is trying to tackle the underlying causes of illness and disease.

Aetna
Excellus Healthy Rewards
Cigna
Lots of info, oops

Edit to add:
stars to the following for their contrarian opinions:

hastobemoretolife
MysterE
grapesofraft
jjkenobi
mhc_70

[edit on 8/4/2009 by titian]

reply to post by ProfEmeritus

Good morning Professor! And good to run across you again as well. You always seem to have intuitive insight into this type of issue.

insurance companies make money.

Such a simple statement, but so profound as well. How can adding another pocket to fill save anything? But most people never think about this simple principle.

Las Vegas thrives in understanding this aspect of human behavior. The casinos make huge sums of money every hour, based on more people losing than winning. And yet, how many people down on their luck flock to that glittering oasis with the fervent belief that the casino is a way to get rich overnight?

Insurance is a gamble, just as much as craps or slot machines or roulette is a gamble. The one running the game always wins. So why, oh why, do we keep playing (and now demanding that everyone play)?

This should be called what it really is: Forced Gambling via Government-Run Games. Not Health Care Reform.

(Of course, if they don't, the government is always there to give them a bailout.)

Oh, don't get me started. We did such a great job with bailing out AIG, they were able to throw a lavish party for the very people who caused their problems before they came back for seconds.

Oh, well, I can take a lesson from humanity and think about myself first... I fired AIG between bailouts, as soon as my policy came up for renewal.

TheRedneck

reply to post by Picao84

Thats true.. Insurance is the problem..
BUT.. you cant avoid insurance.. Health is not something you can predict.. You can get sick anytime and need health care.. What will you do if you cant pay the bills? Its the same logic as car insurance, home insurance, etc..

See, there's the rub. Of course health care is unpredictable. But so is home repair, yet many people have their homes repaired every day without benefit of insurance. So is auto repair. And yet, every day people have their car repaired, without benefit of an insurance policy. So is pet care unpredictable, but every day veterinarians around the country care for sick pets and are paid without benefit of insurance.

The only difference is cost, and that difference has only existed in the last few decades. Why are we not looking at why health care costs are rising so fast? It would seem to me that the way to fix a problem is to first determine what exactly the problem is and why it exists, but when it comes to health care we are just 'fixing' whatever seems easiest and most profitable at the time.

Imagine for a moment that you walked out to your car and turned the switch. Nothing happened. Would you decide it is easy to change a tire, so you'll try that? Or would you immediately buy 5 batteries without even knowing if the battery you have is bad? That is exactly what government does: they take easy 'solutions' that have no real chance of producing the desired results, and they do it with massive amounts of overkill which compound any new problems the 'solutions' create.

Remember that at one time, people were paying for their health care as they went along, just as they do now with home repairs, car repairs, pets, etc. If health care worked well then, shouldn't we be moving back toward that system, instead of farther away from it?

TheRedneck

reply to post by titian

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One reason for higher costs in private insurance is the neverending lawsuits. Malpractice insurance is sky-high. Doctors pass that on to patients in the form of higher medical fees. I never see anyone complaining how much lawyers make in malpractice lawsuits. Maybe tort reform would be a more valiant fight than trying to kill private insurers.

Very true. Torte reform is sorely needed. Unfortunately, the trial lawyers OWN the democrats, so don't expect any significant torte reform any time soon.

www.opensecrets.org...
Here is the financial data on recent contributions to the 2 major parties by trial lawyers:

TOTAL Contributions: $30,733,929
Contributions to Democrats: $27,796,008
Contributions to Republicans: $2,846,721
% of total to Dems: 90%
% of total to Reps: 9%

That says it all. There will be no torte reform under Democratic rule.

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