What are your feelings about the US Health Care Bill?

[KateH1]

What are your feelings about the US Health Care Bill?

Excellent points! Sheep! Something to consider is that Insurance companies should be non-profit!

[chrysa]

What are your feelings about the US Health Care Bill?

Cindi,
You can read a summary in yesterday's NY Times online. Most of the Senate bill focuses on cost overruns & regulating that. In fact the only real tangible value of this bill in my opinion is cost containment.

Universal healthcare for all is a different issue. That is NOT happening; not even close, which is why I am not thrilled. My premium, if I coudl afford one, will not go down much, because even though I am out of work my income is too high. The best benefit of the bill will be covering pre-existing conditions such as "children" with severe illnesses. I support that ! & cost-reduction.

One of the problems is that we do not read what is in the proposed bills, just listen to the BS.

[chrysa]

What are your feelings about the US Health Care Bill?

kateh1,
I so agree....health insurance companies shoudl be non-profit -- not investment insurance firms. I was very very excited that I might be able to "buy" into Medicare!! (PS Medicare will get hit with a lot of good cost reform) . But no --- nothing for the middle class. Thx to you know who -- Repubs, but mostly turncoat Joe Lieberman.

How is this for "feelings" more2? Thread now sounds more like "reasonable discussion" to me.

[chrysa]

What are your feelings about the US Health Care Bill?

ruby..I so agree, this is not the ultimate solution....it is only a start.

If this one does not pass with a Democratic Pres & congress, we will NEVER see another healthcare reform bill "in our lifetime". Look at who is against this & has fought it hard for over 50 years!!! -- the rich, the insurance industry, the Repubs, and the incredible Repub propaganda machine that influences all the people in this country who do not read or think...just listen to it & believe.

This is only a meager start that hopefully the country will build on.

[Cinders]

What are your feelings about the US Health Care Bill?

Chrysa,

I read the NY Times article and have listened to CNN, MSNBC, and Fox about it. Even NPR. :-)

Controlling cost overruns in no way addresses the exhorbitant costs associated with health care.

There are so many areas we need to address before we can even begin to think about universal health coverage.

Cindi

ps You will note I seldom weigh in on the political stuff. This time, I am. I am following it and watching it closely. Why? Because this bill could make or break this country. It really can. Done well, we would end up with better health care for many more people. Done poorly, the staggering cost could hurt the whole country financially and take us back into a huge economic slide.

[chrysa]

What are your feelings about the US Health Care Bill?

Cinders,
I appreciate your comments very much. I will do more reading re: costs. Thank you.

The senate budget or fiannce or some commitee says we will not be adding to the deficit long term. Yes we will need taxes. I vote for a tax on the very very few wealthy rather than a tax on the super good health care plans.

Jeanne

[brittzak]

What are your feelings about the US Health Care Bill?

I am more concerned that people can't afford food anymore!!!! We have thousands of people annually that come in the ER so that they can have a bed and food. There is nothing truly wrong with them physically other than malnutrition. The TRULY sad thing is these people are getting younger and younger....families living in the streets. Having healthcare is a DREAM to them.

[more2life]

What are your feelings about the US Health Care Bill?

I agree Britt. The focus should be on creating more jobs. More and more people are without homes, or food. Healthcare does need to be fixed, but I think more people are concerned with putting food on their table.

I disagree with the way this health care bill came about. It has SLEAZE factor written all over it. If they are going to create a bill that impacts every american, then by golly they should get it right. Not pass something, just to stroke their egos.

[KateH1]

What are your feelings about the US Health Care Bill?

The thing is, there are so many issues in the US right now. Jobs, housing, education, healthcare, care for the elderly, just to name a few. It would be great to be able to focus on just one issue, but that is just not possible. Healthcare has been in serious trouble for over 20 years.....and it continues to escalate. But, as long as Americans want cheap products produced overseas, manufacturing will continue to decline. The US is no longer the industrial power it once was,far from it! As for education, the US has one of the highest drop out rates of all developed nations, with a 30% high school drop out rate.......this is shameful. It is easy to blame teachers an the system, but the fact is that parenting has much to do with this. Or should I say the lack of parenting, again, shameful!

Many older folks who had moved into consulting and small business or retired have been forced to go back to work in order to get health insurance. Had the healthcare bill contained the medicare at 55 option, this would have freed up many hundreds of thousands of jobs and created more jobs. Their are no easy options.....These problems were not created by the current administration and there are no quick fixes. Rather than complaining, it would be a great idea to come up with true workable solutions and exercise patience and teamwork, in working these solutions through.

[nancy]

What are your feelings about the US Health Care Bill?

maybe this is one political issue people can talk about. all of you raise great points. though when it comes to cost, the price tag on a bill is not the same thing as the price paid. insurance companies get a discount off the list price and people without insurance negotiate the price down.

what a mess. Brittzak brings up some good points about some more basic needs than health insurance. kateh1 brings some great points up about expanding Medicare which I only really started to think about lately. it's been pitched by detractors as a way to have a slippery slope into a single payer health system. but it would free up jobs if people in that plus 55 age group could afford to retire. and you are right kate about this being a problem that's been around for decades so that's an argument for reform.

i think the bill could be a step in the right direction. i believe in universal insurance and our country needs a private solution out because a public solution does not have enough support. a lot depends on how much the premiums will cost. imagine everyone is now required to buy this product. in other countries that's the norm but not here. how can they guarantee that premiums will be kept down and will we face a people's revolt (misguided or not) once americans realize this amounts in the short term to a significant extra cost out of their incomes?

[lenaleed]

What are your feelings about the US Health Care Bill?

This issue affects every one of us here on a deeply personal level: We all have a pre-existing condition. Insurance companies can and do deny coverage to -- or drop -- those with alcohol issues in their record. That is exactly why I order from River. I learned from what some who post here learned the hard way. Some are able to get around this by asking for an rx for a another condition: Topa for migraines, e.g. From what I've read, the highest recommended dosage for the on-label uses of Baclofen is 80mg, so it might be tough to disguise a Baclofen rx for alcohol problems. There really is no use for naltrexone other than the treatment of addiction (other than very-low-dose therapy for autoimmune disorders), so you've pretty much got a red flag on your medical history if you've gotten an rx for it. One thing certain to result from the bill's enactment is a ban on dropping/denial for pre-existing conditions. That alone makes it worth supporting to me.

[IAD]

What are your feelings about the US Health Care Bill?

As I have stated before, the Health Care System does need to be reformed; but the speed of the bill that is being passed through Congress is ridicuious ! Most of our Congress People ( House/Senate) don't even know what the hell is in it ! When we manage to fiquire out what is in the bill...It stinks from high heaven of partisan pork !! (Oboma said that the way Washington does it 's work would change under his ADMIN) Let's slow this whole mess down and pound out a reasonable Bill !! IAD

[KateH1]

What are your feelings about the US Health Care Bill?

IAD...yes....there are answers and systems in place in other countries that are working.....it is high time that these elected officials get down to the business for which they have been elected to do, take care of protecting the American people! I would begin with getting rid of Lieberman.....what a useless idiot!!!

[lucky 2.0]

What are your feelings about the US Health Care Bill?

We have had 9 yrs to get our air space safe and we have failed.

Why does anyone think we can get health care reform correct?

[chrysa]

What are your feelings about the US Health Care Bill?

Wow. I am just glad that everyone is so involved and there is dialogue. That is Change we can believe in.

dear duck...the answer to your question is: Obama, Change, America