Thread: Vote on Senate Healthcare Bill

Km great post. Screw nerds, I'll take a simpleton who can eloquently give me a high level overview on it's cost structure on a single piece of paper.



Re: profits for insurance companies.... They are dwarfed by waste in Medicare / in obama's own words (and Medicare is smaller than the insurance industry as a whole)



simple, pragmatic, effective steps which garner immediate results is what was needed

[quote name='kmiller1610' date='08 January 2010 - 03:48 AM' timestamp='1262944106' post='94836']

I voted no because I don't think the government can efficiently run a nationalized health care program.



If they want to do this, fix Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security first.



Yesterday I heard some reform advocate warning us that some percentage of every insurance premium dollar goes to profits and how bad this was.



Considering that EVERY dollar we pay in Social Security goes to the general fund and that the only guarantee we have we will ever see SS retirement money is the guarantee that they will keep printing money FOREVER... the advocate had some nerve.



I'd like to invite everyone to vote for nerds in the next 6 election cycles. We need people who understand and respect balance sheets.

[/quote]

Good point on fixing other programs before spending tons of money on this health care program.



I voted no because I don't think the government can run this type of a program. I'm afraid that the government might make the health care problems worse. We also have a large enough debt as it is... Why are we about to spend a ton of money on a program when we have no money?



I also think it is unconstitutional. Question: Why can't we try a program like this at the state level first before we go to the federal level?

[quote name='Conservative15' date='08 January 2010 - 09:15 AM' timestamp='1262960145' post='94868']

Good point on fixing other programs before spending tons of money on this health care program.



I voted no because I don't think the government can run this type of a program. I'm afraid that the government might make the health care problems worse. We also have a large enough debt as it is... Why are we about to spend a ton of money on a program when we have no money?



I also think it is unconstitutional. Question: Why can't we try a program like this at the state level first before we go to the federal level?

[/quote]

They have tried similar plans in States and it's failed miserably. In Massachusetts, as Mitt predicted, it became a dumping bucket for every Entitlement Program. Costs have spun out of control.



But it's better than the Federal example, the government has proven in every practible instance that it can not complete in quality and service with the private sector. Take, for example, Obama's own words. Medicare fraud equals the profits of all the insurance companies, while only representing a (relatively) small portion of all healthcare spending. That's not counting all the lobbyist money, etc.

I voted no because I don't like the fact that it doesn't address the way providers make money. The more procedures and tests, the more they make. That's fucked. There are alternatives that would deal with the reality that healthcare costs across the board are skyrocketing. Until that is dealt with, it doesn't matter how you pay for it; eventually, healthcare is going to break us. People are forced to go along with procedures they don't even need, because walking out AMA on an unnecessary MRI will cause your insurance company to screw you over. The system literally has you by the throat and you're in until they're done wringing money out of your ass. Great article on the state of affairs in the Economist a while back. The fee-for-service model is one of the things they really lay into. I very much enjoyed reading it.

The people who are actually voting on the bill have absolutely no interest in what you want and have no interest in your finding out before you vote what you're going to get. That Democratic attitude tends to decrease interest.

[quote name='patrickt' date='08 January 2010 - 12:27 PM' timestamp='1262982459' post='95012']

The people who are actually voting on the bill have absolutely no interest in what you want and have no interest in your finding out before you vote what you're going to get. That Democratic attitude tends to decrease interest.

[/quote]



I'm pretty much convinced people in Washington believe they just know better than

"ordinary" people, the only thing that does concern them is voters reactions to things

they might not understand. I'm sure people like Obama and Pelosi think this way.