I haven’t done too much research into Obama’s health care plan, but it is obvious to just about everyone that many people have strong opinions about it. Most of us can agree that something needs to be done, it just seems that we can’t agree about what should be done.
How Socialized healthcare has worked out for Canada
This video takes a look at the process that Canadians go through in order to get basic healthcare. If you don’t have time to watch the video, basically two guys document their journey to get health care for a minor injury. They encounter hours and hours of waiting, a tremendously inefficient process, and ultimately government workers suggesting that they try the “private” healthcare alternative. I would love it if any Canadian readers can confirm or deny what they see in the video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q2jijuj1ysw
Assuming what it mentioned in the video is true, it is a little frightening to think that we might be headed towards a system like that.
10 myths of healthcare reform
CBS news had an article that sought to dispel 10 of the most common myths about the health care reform bill from both the republicans and democrats. As with all of this stuff you need to take it with a grain of salt, everyone seems to have their own angle on healthcare reform. These are the 10 myths and an abbreviated explanation of each (you can read the whole thing in the original article)…
1. The House Health Care Bill Mandates or Encourages Euthanasia
There is nothing in any health care reform bill before Congress that would require people to “decide how they wish to die.” Conservative talking points from activists and legislators, however, would suggest otherwise.
2. Americans Will Lose Their Private InsuranceThe legislation in both the House and the Senate, however, would actually prohibit many people with employer-based insurance from switching to the public option, even if they wanted to.
3. You Will Be Able to Keep Your PlanOn the flip side, Mr. Obama has made a strong commitment to let people keep the plans they have. “Here’s a guarantee that I’ve made,” the president said at the AARP tele-town hall conference. “If you have insurance that you like, then you will be able to keep that insurance.”
4. The Blue Dogs Are Primarily Interested in Cutting Government Costs in Health Care Reform
5. The Health Care Legislation Mandates Taxpayer Dollars Pay for AbortionsMr. Obama told CBS Evening News anchor Katie Couric in July that “I’m pro-choice, but I think we also have the tradition in this town, historically, of not financing abortions as part of government-funded health care.”
6. Health Care Reform Will Be Paid For
“Health insurance reform cannot add to our deficit over the next decade, and I mean it,” Mr. Obama has said on numerous occasions. In a setback for Mr. Obama, however, the CBO subsequently said that creating such a commission would produce only about $2 billion in savings over 10 years — a relatively small figure for a reform plan expected to cost around $1 trillion.
7. Cuts to Medicare?Republicans have blasted Democrats for planning cuts to Medicare, a program that benefits millions of seniors. President Obama has insisted that there will be no reductions to benefits. Technically, Republicans are right that health care reform plans include cuts to Medicare’s projected budget; however, Mr. Obama has given specific examples of how cuts can be made by rooting out waste from the program.
8. Americans Don’t Want a Government-Run Health Care PlanA CBS/ New York Times poll from late July shows that, even though doubts have grown in recent months about Mr. Obama’s health care proposals, 66 percent of Americans still want the government to provide a health insurance plan like Medicare to compete with private health insurers.
Americans will not face “rationing” in health care any more than they do now. While a public plan would not be able to cover all procedures, private insurance plans do not either.
10. A Health Care Bill Will Bring Quick Changes“Most of these changes would be phased in over several years,” he said. “So it’s not as if you’re going to wake up tomorrow and suddenly the health care system is all changed completely. We are going to phase this in, in an intelligent, deliberate way.”
Understanding the health care problems to find the solution
As I spent a couple hours wading through all the information out there, I must say it is VERY difficult to find anything that is even remotely unbiased. It seems every article you read, or video you watch has a spin on it and most of them are extreme. To make things more difficult, the whole healthcare crisis is so complicated that is really is difficult to see what’s really going on.
Personally, I tend to lean towards the side of minimizing government involvement, but I also realize that we have a mess on our hands. It’s affecting patients who need health care, businesses who can’t afford to provide insurance for their employees, insurance companies trying to make a profit, and doctors who want to give their patients the best possible care.
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One of the better treatments on the issue. Good word. I struggle with the bias and hate mongering I hear all of over the place.
http://biggovhealth.org/
We can all talk a good game about healthcare, but there are two elephants in the room that no one wants to discuss…
Rationing of treatment. Everyone wants the best treatment, with no limits, which is understandable, but how can costs be controlled in that environment? They can’t, not in the current system and not under any reform packages. A reform package will have the same cost issues as the current system.
Tort reform. Either set up strict limitations on what a provider can be sued for, or low limits on settlements. Congress won’t go for it, and the public doesn’t want to give up the right to sue or to have a limit on settlements.
Until these core issues can be dealt with, reform is akin to rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic.
I don’t think this or any healthcare proposal can be understood clearly by most people (any more than a health insurance contract can!) because the issue is too complex, and has too many pet doctrines.
Until we start talking about what we’re prepared to GIVE UP for better healthcare covering more people, these efforts at reform are mostly about politics.
Thank you for bringing this up! You are right, there is SO much misinformation out there and BOTH sides are using scare tactics to try to persuade the American public. I say, “shame on both of them”! We need facts, not myths. We need clear, concise facts too. My biggest concern about this and other proposals is that Congress has done nothing about tort reform. Much of our high health care costs are due to medical malpractice lawsuits that have gone out of control. Absolutely, a person should be given a chance to get a wrong made right but not for millions of dollars! In CA, there is a $350,000 limit (used to be – not sure now) on “pain & suffering” in medical malpractice judgments. Tort reform must go hand in hand with any kind health care reform, in my opinion. Also, there is nothing that puts any kind of reform on bad medicine coming from the drug companies or any kind of support on natural medicine, which can be just as good, if not better, than drugs.
Can I trade my social security and medicare with Obamacare? I don’t want to add another tax into my already deeply cut paycheck.
My first comment on ANY of your posts….I would be nice if some of the “dispelled myths” had anything to back up their statements. I think Kevin covered it nicely that even if this “reform” passes, we are still not covering CORE issues.
As far as the statement from Mr. Obama “I’m pro-choice, but I think we also have the tradition in this town, historically, of not financing abortions as part of government-funded health care.” That does not sound like a decisive statement at all. My understanding of how payment/coverage from abortion will be covered is that that coverage will come from your deductibles, not the government portion. Like they are putting money in two seperate pots!
I have questions, but they are not being answered. I do not have any type of insurance. I also do not have any money to pay for any type of insurance. Mandated health insurance? How am I supposed to pay for something when I have no money? If Socialized health care is so good, why do people from Canada and Great Britain come here for health care when THEY have Socialized health care?
Any government run anything is doomed to mediocrity at best. For anyone to assume this change will be for the best is mistaken. Looking at the “Good Samaritan” in the Bible and comparing it to the welfare-state that we are facing, I can clearly see the issue for what it is.
Where is it? I would like to read it for myself… Yes, we need healthcare reform – No, we don’t need to include abortion. That is ridiculous! Too many people are falling in the gap between the last few years they have to work before retirement. There is no insurance for them. Many have to take lower-paying jobs just to stay in the work force and eat!
I am sorry to ask, but is Obama ’shooting straight’ this time? How many times so far have we discovered he ‘twisted’ it just a little bit. He is a politician!
I don’t care about Canada – This is the U.S. of America! We can do it and do it RIGHT!
In my opinion the problem of health insurance is the insurance itself. Because most people’s health insurance pretty much pays for everything no one shops around for health care. This means there is little to no competition in the health care industry to provide the best care at the lowest price. Add in Medicare and a potential government payer with the Obama plan and it on;y gets worse.
Take a look at this website and see how much it cost to have a baby in 1952: http://www.oftwominds.com/blogjuly09/healthcare07-09.html
The problem is that CBS “dispelling” the misunderstandings is basically the talking points from the administration, and those are all misleading at best, lies at worst.
For example; Obama says the House legislation doesn’t “force” anyone into the government option. Technically true – but, the legislation being proposed DOES say that if anything about your current coverage changes, EVEN THE PREMIUMS, you have to sign up with the public option.
We won’t face rationing of care? How? Every other system that uses this model has resorted to this. It is the only way to control costs in the end. Medicare is bankrupt, this would be Medicare times ten.
No thank you, Mr. Obama, you can keep your “reform”.
Way to go Charles T
I am still trying to find out about this public option. Is there an income level restriction on it. If so people that can aford insurance will not be eligable thus safeguarding the Healthcare Insurance Industry, as these low income people will not be buying insurance form these companies anyway.
Couldn’t stomach watching the entire video, but I can confirm the waiting part (though wait times generally aren’t that long where I live)! I wouldn’t put too much stock in the video — it’s obviously biased and not very well researched. You can’t assume that the service you receive in one place is representative of the healthcare system across the entire country. Health care differs by province. (I can’t comment on Quebec, I don’t live there).
As a Canadian, I’m getting really sick of my country being either the poster-child or villain in this debate. Has it ever occurred to people that we fall somewhere in between? Our system has it’s flaws, and yes, it needs work. But if your system is so perfect, why is there such an outcry for change?
I don’t know if universalized health care is right for the U.S. or not. (Our population is one-tenth of the size, and we’re a very different country.) I think it’s a topic that should be debated and examined because it will be a huge undertaking.
Just leave us out of your propaganda, please!
Oh dear. Didn’t mean for that to come across as a rant! Sorry about that
I think people are smart to try and understand health reform rather than believe everything they hear and read. I think this post does a good job of helping people to be more aware.
Have the Public Option part of the Healthcare Reform Bill by restricted by the ammount of families combined income and singles with a single income.
Famalies that make, lets just say 100,oo.oo or more would not qualify for the Public Option and singles that make 50,000.oo. This would guarantee the safety of the Health Insurance Industry as these income groups cannot afford to purchase insrance from them anyway.
It seems to me that the health care issue is just good ole politecs as usual. Can’t we just take a good look at the plans the rest of the industrialized nations have and come up with a plan that works for us? Why do we think we always have to re-invent the wheel. Let’s knock off the politics and get together to find a solution. Politics , as practiced in this country, will destroy us…sooner than we think.
Richard, you are so right! We have to stay away from political parties and their agendas and find good solutions to our country’s problems that don’t line politicians’ pockets.
I just can’t believe that so many are willing to support a bill that they know nothing about, just because they think we need a change. These days, instead of researching an issue, we just assume that those in power know what’s best. That’s a good way to keep the same people in power forever and minimize the power of the people. I guess many of these are the same people that would elect a president because he’s going to “pay my mortgage”.
Well Mathew You can believe that we are willing to support a bill that offers change, as for now one accident or serious illness will mean financial ruin for most of us. We do research these issues and we do trust those that we have elected to do the right thing, if they do not then we vote them out. As for my mortgage I don’t have one and I don’t ever hearing that our government is going to pay anyones mortgage, as healthcare is the issus you have wandered from the matter at hand.