Ok, I was explaining this to my chinese co-worker the other day and it dawned on me how few people realize the sham this whole insurance thing is.

There is a lot of talk about the "public option". I know there's more to the "reform" than that, but that's the bigger of the items. I am surprised and a little concerned about how many people think that the "public option" is the free version. They think that as long as they pay their taxes, they would get free insurance with the public option, completely ignoring the fact that in every incarnation thus far, there has always been a premium attached.

I call shenanigans on the MSM and lawmakers for not making this clear to people. Basically you would (ok, in the original 1000 pg behemoth) be automatically enrolled into a plan that you then MUST pay a premium on. Then if you opted out, you get fined, unles you find another plan to pay premiums on..

Wouldn't this be a whole lot simpler if we just said that the private hospitals can turn away anyone who doesn't have insurance or proof of capacity to pay and then we leave the public hospitals open for people who can't afford insurance? Then the private hospitals get richer, the insurance companies get richer, and the public hospital just shoulder the brunt of all of the people who can't afford insurance until the counties can no longer afford them and start closing doors. Then the sick poor people would just die and the rich people can stop having to worry about them.


Ok, sorry, fell into sarcasm a bit there at the end.. I am in a bit of a mood today.

I am sounding like a stuck record now, but what people doesn't seem to understand is that the Public option is not an option in the bill that is in congress right now and ready to be voted next week.

In other words what is been passed have clauses to increased the Medicare and Medicaid qualifications, the rest of the tax payer and workers will be stuck with private insurance premiums mandatory as the government can easily track anybody that works to make sure they are getting insurance.

I am a Dependant on government health care as my husband is a retire marine with benefits, our government health care is Tricare humana, they are not free but the cost are a lot better than other private insurance.

My husband just found out last week by E-mail that they Obama administration wants to get rid of the government funded health care and make us now pay for private insurance with the health care reform, so we already knew since last week what the private insurance is talking about.

Is nothing but deceptions people, is not such thing as free health care as Medicare and Medicaid is pay by the tax payer and work force in the nation.

People were fighting for the wrong things and now next week we will be forced into taking private health care and pay the prices because is mandatory.

So what I see here is the private health care making sure that when the bill is passed and people are stuck with private coverage by mandate we are aware that the premiums will not save us any money at all and they will be raising the cost due to the demand that will increase because people will be forced to take their insurances

I think they are doing us a favor making the rest of those that had no clue what is going on aware of what is coming.

Sad.

Just on a very simple level, I never have understood how eliminating pre-existing conditions and eliminating lifetime benefit thresholds were ever going to reduce insurance costs. Common sense would tell you that getting rid of those two things alone would make costs go up, not down.

Ever wonder why hospitals, drug companies and the like, were for this plan? They stand to make out big time.

All I have to add is:

DUH!

Of course the rates are going to sky rocket. You've got a forced buy situation should this go through. They can charge whatever they want, and you still have to buy it. Or face an even bigger cost in the way of a fine.

Where the heck did anyone think the money was coming from????

Go back to the original threads on healthcare and you will see where all of us "nay-sayers" said exactly the same thing.

To me it sounds like the insurance companies by saying and doing this are doing one thing.

They are telling the American people, this happens and we will screw you big time (like they don't already) sounds nothing more than Blackmail to me , it really does, if health reforms as some have said is because the insurance companies are are secretly pushing for it, why then are they running scared about what it will do to them?

And before you say it has nothing to do with me, I have a right to have a say because these same companies took everything I had when I lived in the States, and wanted more.

What they are doing is trying to pass on any losses to the People, does that sound like they have your welfare and well being at heart? really?

Originally posted by lpowell0627
All I have to add is:

DUH!

Of course the rates are going to sky rocket. You've got a forced buy situation should this go through. They can charge whatever they want, and you still have to buy it. Or face an even bigger cost in the way of a fine.

Where the heck did anyone think the money was coming from????

Go back to the original threads on healthcare and you will see where all of us "nay-sayers" said exactly the same thing.

Good point here. Will this be regulated like the Auto Insurance industry is on a state level? Will they setup pricing schedules and open markets? I haven't heard anythin about that, although I admit, I haven't been tracking this issue lately.

Or then there is that slim liklihood that the insurance comapnies simply DON'T want any kind of reform and this is their way of scaring people into opposing it. Think about it. Why in the world would they WARN everyone if there was legislation pending that would amount to a winfall for them? They wouldn't. They'd be doing everything in their power to ensure that the legislation passed.

But instead they are lobbying hard and fast against it. Why? Because they so love us that they want to prevent us from having to pay more? Yea right. They want to be left alone so they can 'regulate themselves' as they have been for the last forever. Health insurance costs have risen between 88% and 145% over the last 10yrs. They're going to make damned sure they do whatever it takes to keep that gravy-train rolling. And the first thing they need to do is get the government off their back. No better way to do that then get the mob riled-up.

Originally posted by jtma508
Or then there is that slim liklihood that the insurance comapnies simply DON'T want any kind of reform and this is their way of scaring people into opposing it. Think about it. Why in the world would they WARN everyone if there was legislation pending that would amount to a winfall for them? They wouldn't. They'd be doing everything in their power to ensure that the legislation passed.

But instead they are lobbying hard and fast against it. Why? ...

because any small health insurer will have to ramp up their secretarial & clerk & processor pools of human resources....
then have major expendatures in computers & the thousands of servers needed to expedite the +100,000 newly added clients/members. [out of a potential 40 million member 'uninsured' base which will require coverage almost immediately]

On the plus side (which didn't excape the Obama administration think-tankers) all these new administrative assistants that the health insurance industry will need to hire, can be found at the unemployment lines !

Also, on the plus side...all these newly hired paper pushers will be 'officed' in many of the recession created empty office buildings and office spaces in vacant strip malls all over the land !

As for the infrastructure needed to process this health insurance industry the communications companies and service enterprises will get a much needed shot-in-the-arm.


All in All, the Obama model will invigorate the economy, put millions to work (albiet in a service capacity), refocus the economy from manufacturing to informayion processing & communication interchange & transfer (once the digital health record operation is finalized)

Paradigm shift anyone?

[edit on 12-10-2009 by St Udio]