Obama Administration Spent $4.5 Billion on State Healthcare Websites

reply to post by beezzer


like the little girl and the lung transplants.
someone other than you and your doctor has your life in their hands.

beezzer
reply to post by tothetenthpower

 

America is just not structured to accept single-payer.

My freedom to opt out is no longer an option.
HIPAA has been thrown out the window with bureaucrats now determining care options.
Taxes will ultimately have to be raised to pay for this.

My health is no longer my responsibility. My health is now under the control of the state. So the state can make determinations as to my salt intake, my smoking, my drinking, my diet.

All because the state now will be paying for it.

You can imagine the justification towards healthcare rationing and quality of life issues that will now be raised because the state will be footing the bill.

This has fundamentally transformed America.

That is simply untrue. The insurance companies are the ones that make that decision. It's the people that own the stock and sit in the boardroom who are making the decisions and those decisions are based on profit and profit alone. I think Obama care is awful but don't believe that people need to spread outright lies in order to make that point. The people starring you are either as ignorant or deceitful as yourself. just saying...and people wonder why nothing can ever get done?

I think we should have a single payer non-profit system. Participation optional. Compensation up to industry standards with bonuses for positive health outcomes. Only people who would lose are the ones raping the system through the profit machine. The actual providers (nurses, doctors, etc.) would do just as well and likely be in an improved work environment. There could also be a private system that stands along side it for those who want profit to determine the course of their care. I think the vast majority would choose the single payer system. Of course if you choose not to participate, then you can expect to pay much higher rates if you ever decide you need it. That would go with both private and single payer. Eliminate the bankruptcy option for medical bills for those who want to play the I don't need health insurance game. You will need care at some point, don't expect it for free or to be available if you can't pay for it. I expect as more people make the choice you do, there will be little incentive for people to train as doctors so good luck getting one when you need one.

Perhaps you are talking about Medicaid instead of Obamacare? Even so, it is also administered by insurance companies as is Medicaire. Plenty of doctors stand in line to accept these programs. The whole "I'm going to leave the business' line has been so overblown. Time after time is proves to be a talking point and nothing else.

reply to post by xuenchen


....and again, nobody has been given the authority to round high office criminals up and put them behind bars....

On ATS I read posts over and over again by people preaching the virtues of absolute freedom, free enterprise, self-reliance, blah, blah, blah... People go on and on about the evil government, stifling regulations, those damned entitlement programs, and the free ride the sick and undeserving elderly are getting. “Why should I have to pay any portion of my taxes to anything I’m not directly deriving benefit from now”? and “I wish the government would just leave me alone...”

I imagine that mindset would go over well with someone like Ted Kaczynski (the Unabomber). He distrusted anything and everything to do with the government, society and it’s institutions. He did so even though taking full advantage of the system from the time he was born, through the time he received his PhD in Mathematics at the ripe old age of 24, and then becoming an assistant professor at UC Berkley by the time he was 25. Scholarships, grants, fellowships, etc. made it possible for him to realize his potential. That’s right, “FREE” money. But, he saw the light and resigned at the age of 26 years.

Kaczynski despised industrialism, modern technology and the political left. He felt that Big Brother was robbing him of his God given freedoms. Something I read a lot here at ATS. He hated it all so much that he quit his membership in the system, and society as a whole. He packed up and moved into a tiny log cabin he built himself, with no electricity or running water, somewhere in the sticks in Montana. He became a total recluse and self-sufficient. He was now a “FREE” man.

His anger at government, the bureaucracy, and the lazy, freeloading takers of the world finally got to him, though, and the killing began. the rest is history.

If I was born in the woods and raised by a pack of wolves I might halfway go along with him. But, I wasn’t. I was born in a technologically advanced, highly populated, civilized society (at least it was back then...). I know this is an unpopular idea around here, but I’ll take a chance and throw it out there anyway. Getting 300M people to live together in a confined space, without them killing each other, requires a few things that some of us consider vile and unacceptable, like rules, regulations, procedures, protocols, etc, etc, etc. In other words, I’m sorry, government. And for this to work, I’m afraid that sometimes what is in the best interest of the whole will necessarily outweigh the desires of the individual. In other words, it’s a give and take, and I might have to give up some of my precious freedom in the best interest of the whole. It’s just part of the price of living in a society. Also, to live in a society I must pay my dues (taxes). Even if large portions of it go to things I don’t personally support; like the war in Iraq, or subsidies to big oil, or social security (which I don’t benefit from right now, but sure will be glad it’s there when I retire), etc.

Like everything else, living in a civilized society is not free. It’s a privilege we must pay for. I’m fortunate enough to be in a rather high tax bracket, and have worked my butt off to be there. But, you know what? It doesn’t bother me one bit that some of my hard earned money may be helping to provide healthcare for someone less fortunate than myself. You see, I’d rather live in a healthy, productive society than in some log cabin in the middle of Nowhere, Montana. It’s worth the price...

PS: The above are my personal opinions. You, of course, may totally disagree. Regardless, I’m not going to go on and on about it with anyone and mindlessly debate the issues. It’s my 2 cents and I’m sticking with it...