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2009-05-19 Home Front: Politix

America requires a dose of healthcare reality

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Posted by GolfBravoUSMC 2009-05-19 03:33|| E-Mail|| Front Page|| [11133 views ] Top

#1 And after we have national health insurance, I want national car insurance, and then national homeowners insurance, national dental insurance and national insurance insurance.

Posted by crosspatch 2009-05-19 04:11|| 2009-05-19 04:11|| Front Page Top

#2 Hell, cancel em all, and have national self-esteem insurance.

Posted by no mo uro 2009-05-19 06:05|| 2009-05-19 06:05|| Front Page Top

#3 They wanted to eliminate, or at least cap, the income tax exemption for employer-provided health insurance.

Now - I don't get employer-provided. I use my military retiree health benefits, which I pay about $40 a month for. It's an incredible deal - but 1) will I lose them if we go national, and 2)even if I don't, will I have to pay tax on it?

Mike

Posted by Mike Kozlowski 2009-05-19 06:08|| 2009-05-19 06:08|| Front Page Top

#4 If Medicare is going to run out of dollars in the next 10 years with its current, um, clients... how much faster will it go T.U. with all 300 million of us taking part?

Posted by eLarson 2009-05-19 07:09|| 2009-05-19 07:09|| Front Page Top

#5 But hey - it'll make everyone feel better knowing that the person down the street who spends his money on a new plasma TV rather than their own healthcare doesn't have to go without.

Funny how when they mention the 'millions of uninsured' they fail to mention that the majority of them do so by their own free will.

Posted by CrazyFool 2009-05-19 08:33|| 2009-05-19 08:33|| Front Page Top

#6 the "need" for universal healthcare is just another loony lefty big-gov't manufactured crisis in order to assert even more control in people's day-to-day lives. 90% of lose in order to help less than 10%.

Posted by Andy Ulusoque aka Broadhead6 2009-05-19 09:27|| 2009-05-19 09:27|| Front Page Top

#7 More than $1 billion of the stimulus is dedicated to government-sponsored research into the "comparative effectiveness" of various medical treatments. In theory, such research could provide doctors with important information. But because the research is government-funded, it will likely be used to justify cuts in government health spending.

That's what's done in Britain. The British comparative-effectiveness agency routinely denies cutting-edge medicine because of cost. And the Obama administration has begun creating comparative-effectiveness institutions that parallel those across the Atlantic.

Posted by Beavis 2009-05-19 09:43|| 2009-05-19 09:43|| Front Page Top

#8 Socialism should be voluntary. The system should allow those worried about the paucity of their ration of state healthcare to opt-out of paying for and then letting bureaucrats decide how little your quality of life is.

Posted by Bright Pebbles the pedantic 2009-05-19 11:32|| 2009-05-19 11:32|| Front Page Top

#9 Medical costs are too high to be sustained as the population ages, regardless of whether the costs are paid by employers, government (taxes), insurance or individuals. Most plans I have seen (US or foreign) address the problem by regulating costs and rationing treatments. I suggest de-regulating supply and taking the thumbs off the scales (malpractice, for one).

Posted by Glenmore 2009-05-19 13:23|| 2009-05-19 13:23|| Front Page Top

#10 Well the largest medical costs seem to come from non-medical sources such as lawyers!

Posted by Bright Pebbles the pedantic 2009-05-19 19:18|| 2009-05-19 19:18|| Front Page Top

#11 How do you expect John Edwards to support his wife and his mistress.

Posted by GolfBravoUSMC 2009-05-19 19:32|| 2009-05-19 19:32|| Front Page Top

#12 Good point. I wonder how many procedures are unnecessary but are done simply as protection from shysters like Edwards and company? Any medical procedure (or treatment) involves a certain amount of risk. Edwards and slimey lawyers like him (and there _are_ good lawyers out there) excel at exploiting even the smallest perceived mistake - even if they have to channel dead unborn babies to do it.

Posted by CrazyFool 2009-05-19 21:19|| 2009-05-19 21:19|| Front Page Top

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