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DEL.ICIO.USForward march to Hillarycare? Slow this roll
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
America has a choice on health care. It’s either Sicko. Or the private sector.
The latest round in that conflict advanced this week in the U.S. Senate when the Finance Committee agreed 17-4 to a huge expansion of the federal program that subsidizes health insurance for children and some adults in families with incomes too high for Medicaid. It’s the program that provides about 70 percent of the funding for Georgia’s PeachCare.
Over the last five years, PeachCare’s federal funding source, the State Children’s Health Insurance Program, has cost the nation’s taxpayers about $20 billion. The bill that passed committee on Thursday would expand that over the next five years to $60 billion, double what the administration proposed. President Bush promises a veto.
“There is a disconnect between what the American people want and what the House and Senate want,” said U.S. Rep. Tom Price (R-Ga.) Friday. “What the House and Senate want is an incremental movement toward a Washington-run health care system, and this is their next step. If there was ever a doubt in anybody’s mind about what the Left wants to do on health care, it should be completely removed by this bill.”
Supporters of government-sponsored universal health care, having given up on the notion that Americans will suddenly switch, have adopted another strategy. It’s the strategy of incrementalism, the same strategy used to virtually eliminate capital punishment in this country, and the strategy now being employed to make the traditional family just another lifestyle choice for child-rearing. That strategy is to create one more exception and to exaggerate flaws in the system to undermine public confidence in it, while misrepresenting or ignoring inconvenient facts.
On PeachCare, for example, one of the inconvenient facts is that parents who can afford private health insurance drop it in favor of the more generous and less expensive government program. A Congressional Budget Office report in May found that parents of as many as half the children enrolled nationally made the rational dollar choice to switch.
The legislation being debated would include children in families with incomes up to $82,000, said Price, and would make eligible 90 percent of the children now covered by private health insurance. “I don’t believe that the American people desire or want fundamental, personal individual medical choices made by families and patients moved to Washington.”
This is a program that is less than 10 years old and has drawn little analysis at the state level to determine how it’s working and whether it’s serving the intended population.
Even though it’s not an entitlement — federal spending is limited to the sum Congress allocates — it’s following the entitlement pattern. It’s expanded based on anecdote and good intentions, not hard analysis.
The SCHIP program is up for renewal in September. Ideally, the analysis of effectiveness would have come before expansion. But the liberal strategy is to bring the nation along, one group at a time, to Hillarycare. A decade ago the program was created for families with income below 200 percent of the federal poverty level, or $34,340 for a family of three. Several states, including Georgia, took advantage of high-revenue years to expand it. The cap here is 235 percent of poverty, or $40,349 for a family of three, with some earnings and expenses subtracted to determine eligibility.
Some states also expanded eligibility to include adults. The Senate bill would gradually move adults without children out of the program, though it would give states the option of covering them through Medicaid.
The single-payer strategy, as demonstrated in Georgia and elsewhere, is to bring more and more individuals into taxpayer-financed programs until the only group left out are non-poor single men. At that point, of course, Hillarycare is here.
“We are ready to renew our commitment to low-income children today,” said Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt after the finance committee vote, “but we cannot agree to a gradual government takeover of health care.”
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Comments
By WFC
July 21, 2007 9:07 AM | Link to this
A takeover of medical care by the federal government is not a good thing but our current system is not good either. I’ve paid over $200.00 per month for private health insurance through my employer for all my working life (I’m retired now) and I’ve learned one thing: insurance companies are very efficient at collecting premiums all those years when I had no claims. They are equally inefficient now that I’m older, have health issues and make some claims. I didn’t need Michael Moore to teach me this. There must be some “third solution” in between socialized medicine and the bizarre system we have now. Don’t tell me that the court system can sort out disputes. Insurance companies canafford expensive lawyers. I can’t.
By Devastator
July 21, 2007 9:19 AM | Link to this
Jim Wooten’s columns are far to intellectual and detailed for most people. Some people don’t have enough time to decipher all the tax and allocation jargon.
By AmVet
July 21, 2007 9:41 AM | Link to this
The dirty little secret they’ve tried for decades to keep under wraps is out - the “health care” system in this country is broken. Utterly and completely broken. Everybody who cares to look, knows that and now agrees with it.
We lead the world in so many ways and yet in others are seemingly as backwards thinking as the most tyrannical countries on earth.
There was an attempt back in 1994 to fix some of the more agregious problems but the Newt-led neo-cons have a mantra they still use today - let the market forces dictate.
Well ladies and gentlemen, surprise! The responsible, or should I say irresponsible, industries in that market force are NEVER going to fix this mess. Intentionally, they will do everything possible to ensure it doesn’t get fixed. There is simply too much dirty money changing hands between them and their paid off lackeys in Washington to do so.
And American children will keep dying because, to quote, Gordon Gekko, greed is good.
Two quotes from Ralph Nader that illustrate the problem:
This (George W. Bush’s) administration is not sympathetic to corporations, it is indentured to corporations.
The only difference between the Republican and Democratic parties is the velocities with which their knees hit the floor when corporations knock on their door. That’s the only difference.
And to think, we use to have a government of the people, by the people and FOR the people.
By Analchord
July 21, 2007 10:06 AM | Link to this
My wife survived breast cancer. We had BlueCross. They refused to pay the $150K. I called them. They were very polite. I called them again. More politeness.
I was sure there was a mistake, so I didn’t panic, and let a few days pass.
I easily recalled the 1-800 number. I was reassured when I realized how important my call was to them….I learned many thing…like the average hold time is thirty four minutes…………
Still no confirmation that our coverage was in force at the time of the precondition.
Precondition. That means if you’ve ever had a cold, touched poison ivy, or fallen down and scraped your knee, the complications arising from that constitute a precondition for cancer, or diabetes, or any disease with a latin derived name.
It took six weeks of two hour phone calls every other day to finally get our coverage in force, and to resume the treatment that the doctors had withheld until BlueCross realized their mistake.
Their mistake was in not using stricter legalese in the fine print of our Policy.
We’ve got the best Wealthcare System in the world.
Insurance Underwriting Lawyers R People 2.
We’ve got a country to save and a world to convince.
By getalife
July 21, 2007 10:12 AM | Link to this
It is not just health care that is broken, most of the federal government is broken.
Government reform will take liberal leadership not con business as usual.
cheney is President this morning and that coward will pardon himself for all crimes commited.
It is how they roll.
By cranky old man
July 21, 2007 10:15 AM | Link to this
“I don’t believe that the American people desire or want fundamental, personal individual medical choices made by families and patients moved to Washington.”
So, if you or a member of your family have a life-threatening illness that requires expensive treatment (far more than you can raise by selling your house), select who would you rather have making the decision on whether or not it’s covered:
Or:
Neither system is going to be extremely efficient with a population of 300 million citizens. Now the question is which one is going to be less inefficient. According to the Milt Friedman/Walter Williams school of economics, the free market is always more efficient. Does that mean it’s better for the country? Or even for our own businesses?
• Private insurance companies must not only cover all their expenses, but must show a profit. Their executives are also highly compensated. A government run plan would only have to break even.
• Insurance premiums are high, in part, because patients with insurance are subsidizing the costs of indigent care. If indigents had insurance, hospitals wouldn’t be forced to charge extra for those who can pay to make up their losses on those who can’t.
• People without insurance or those with poor insurance tend to delay visits to the doctor until the condition gets so bad they have no choice. The sort of care they require at this point tends to be much more expensive than if they’d gone in earlier. Also, bizarrely enough, most insurance policies don’t seem to cover preventive care and check-ups very well, even though that would seem to be in the insurance company’s best interest.
• Most other industrialized nations have some form of government run healthcare, removing this burden from their businesses, thus making them more competitive. Granted, they and their employees pay higher taxes. But does this really cost them any more than they would pay for insurance premiums? They also reduce their costs by not having to administer the plans and defend themselves in lawsuits over medical care.
By Duh stands for Democrat
July 21, 2007 10:18 AM | Link to this
While you read this, just imagine what would be going on at the AJC if it had been Dick Cheney caught torturing and slaughtering puppy dogs:
I’ve said several times in this space that caution is needed when reporting about the many questionable incidents Vick has been involved in. Vick’s career and the future of the city’s NFL franchise are at stake.-Angela Tuck, Atlanta Journal Constitution
This is the same group of libs that published story after story falsely accusing the Marines at Haditha, the same crew that has made untold numbers of unfounded accusations against the presidency of the United States, that has published fake “massacre” pictures and articles that have provided aid and comfort to our enemies, now here they are telling us that forcing the Atlanta Falcons to get a real quarterback and move their offense into the 21st century is an outrage worth fighting to the death against, no matter how awful Vick’s crimes are.
And what would a scandal in Atlanta be without some race baiting?:
{{{{{“Faith & Values”: Race & Vick case- AJC}}}}}
Disgusting.
It is fun watching the libs finally, finally, throwing PETA under the bus instead of the United States.
By Analchord
July 21, 2007 10:23 AM | Link to this
A much Better open to my last blog: “My wife survived Blue Cross. She had Breast Cancer, (but Blue Cross called it Precondition). My wife apparently had contracted a cold when she was six, not to mention the mumps, and dont forget about that time at summer camp with the poison ivy. This medical history precluded her from coverage of ALL latin-derived names of diseases, especially breastus cancerus.”
By Analchord
July 21, 2007 10:28 AM | Link to this
Vick is football’s first true triple threat quarterback: He can roll-out, roll-over and fetch.
By getalife
July 21, 2007 10:30 AM | Link to this
I have absolutely nothing else to do with my life other than blogging.
SOMEBODY HELP ME PLEEEEEEEEEASE!
By Analchord
July 21, 2007 10:48 AM | Link to this
Snap out of it, kid. (Someone hose him down.)
By catlady
July 21, 2007 10:51 AM | Link to this
One at least one thing I agree with Jim: let’s not pretend about this Peachcare stuff. It is like being “a little” pregnant.
My suggestion: insure all kids under 18. No income cap. Parental income is verfied. Just make the premiums graduated by income. Eliminate the “6 year waiting period” that Peachcare now has—parents should pay premiums from the month of birth, and not wait till the child is six. Each child incurs a premium, not two for the price of one and a half or whatever it is now. Premiums should be deducted from parent paychecks/welfare/tax return/child support checks. You can opt out for your kids if you can prove coverage with your employer. Basic health care coverage is relatively low cost. Additional premiums for “therapy”, dental, and vision. Small copay for each visit, deducted from parent income the next month. Small co-pay for medicines. Large copay deducted from parent income if non-emergency use of the emergency room.
Keep the focus on PARENTAL responsibility.
By getalife
July 21, 2007 10:56 AM | Link to this
Analchord,
Would you like to swab the deck with me honey?
By Hairy Pooter
July 21, 2007 10:56 AM | Link to this
We’ve got the best Wealthcare System in the world. Insurance Underwriting Lawyers R People 2.
And interestingly, lawyers and frivolous lawsuits are one of the main reasons why our health care costs are out of this world. Nobody ever wants to talk about that for some reason. Has anyone talked to any doctors about what their greatest fear is? Did Moore’s Sicko flick talk about frivolous lawsuits that have run amuck? How convenient.
It is not just health care that is broken, most of the federal government is broken. Government reform will take liberal leadership not con business as usual.
There is proof that liberals do not live in reality. What kind of fool would actually believe that liberalizing the government, whatever that means, would solve government problems? That’s hilarious! FEMA? HA! That’s a monstrosity of bureaucracy joke under any administration. The USPS was so liberalized with government bureaucracy and incompetence that UPS was formed to fill a void of incompetence in overnight and second day package delivery. Yes, we need more of that in charge of our very lives. Puh-leeeeeze.
It’s a beautiful day. Get out and enjoy it liberal goons. You can’t change the world on a blog, but you can sure waste your life on one.
By Analchord
July 21, 2007 10:58 AM | Link to this
Vick is football’s first triple threat quarterback: He can run, pass, and hump the ref’s leg?
By another
July 21, 2007 11:01 AM | Link to this
Yes, parental responsibility. Like, have kids if you can afford them - don’t expect others to take care of your expenses even if you can (i.e., what Wooten indicated above, plenty of people opt for peachcare when they can afford and have access to other coverage).
By @@
July 21, 2007 11:04 AM | Link to this
So what we’ve got with the SCHIP experiment are wild donkeys who have proven themselves to be almost successful? They can afford private healthcare?
Well Farmer “D” can’t have that. Rein ‘em in…bring ‘em back to the corral to feed. Can’t risk giving them their head. Damn critters might bolt and run. Farmer “D” needs the mules to plow his fields.
Farmer “R” next door wants to encourage them to enjoy the greener grass of the open range. Farmer “R” plows his fields with a tractor.
And Hillary wants to ride roughshod over America’s free-spirited cowboys?
I guess “Wild Bill” done ticked Hillary off and you fellas is gonna pay for his indiscretions.
Giddyup boys, Hillary is sportin’ leather chaps and a quip.
I’ll be pour’n on the house in Red’s Saloon. We’ll be singin’ “I shot the Sheriff, but I did not shoot the deputy”…Come on over and join us. We’ve got “Fatso” Moore emptying the spitoons.
By Analchord
July 21, 2007 11:09 AM | Link to this
Vick is football’s first triple threat: he can run, pass, and fetch.
By time for the truth
July 21, 2007 11:17 AM | Link to this
The scum at Kaiser are barefaced liars, they NEVER ever tell you the truth about costs of procedures. Even after being repeatedly asked!! I recently had a first ever routine colonoscopy done - happily the results were 100% normal, not the merest hint of anything abnormal. But the Kaiser scum and their ‘partners’ after fleecing one before the procedure waited well over two months before demanding several hundred more dollars. Why these grasping bastards simply cannot be open and honest is beyond me. There are set fees for most procedures - so the actual cost (to within a few dollars at least) is known before you even arrive.
At Kaiser they treat you like something to be swiftly processed with the least amount of cost and quack contact. Palming you off with Physicians Assistants whenever possible. About six years ago I had some moronic black quack doctor from Detroit - obviously a make up the numbers racist quotas appointee - literally tell me I now had asthma. All I asked this prick for was some cough mixture to suppress a rather aggressive lingering cough after a flu like virus had gone. This dickhead actually insisted I needed to use the steroid inhaler he prescribed. Needless to say I went to a white doctor the following day - got my cough mixture, the cough rapidly dissipated and the inhaler gathered dust in my bathroom cabinet. Absolutely pathetic!!! I knew I didn’t have asthma, even without any medical training.
The exorbitant HMO protection racket needs to be swiftly confronted. Kaiser coverage is unbelievably expensive and it massively increases every year. I rarely ever go to their facilities, so my membership costs them almost nothing - but one has to have the coverage just in case. The notion that they are ‘not for profit’ is a sick joke.
My wife had what could have been a very serious complications run with some equally incompetent non white types at the Cumberland after hours facility a few years ago. There really does in our experience seem (not every time though) to be a big difference when you get black and white medical staff at Kaiser. Its NOT racism - its simply how it is in the real world!!! At least three different black nurses have botched manually taking my blood pressure in the vital signs processing before you even see a quack. The exact same medicine and same quantity varies at different Kaiser pharmacies by 50%. Christ knows why!!??
The wait for routine medical (outside) procedure screenings at Kaiser is often several months. Not as long as the NHS - but still unacceptable.
Sadly now one is stuck with Kaiser and changing is not possible. Blue Cross and Aetna etc are about the same cost wise. There is NO real ‘competition’, no attempt to hold costs down.
Grasping ambulance chasing liberal scum like J Edwards have made medical insurance with their puffy trial lawyer snouts in the trough shakedowns so prohibitively expensive that in some areas of the US seeing a quack outside of an ER is all but impossible for ordinary Americans. The 20 million or so illegal leeches are defrauding many state run medical programmes - further massively driving up costs for actual Americans and legal residents. Abuse of ER care for colds and minor matters by illegals is beyond a joke.
Where I live its pushing $1000 for an ambulance to come get you and cart you away to hospital. NO charge though if they don’t actually transport you.
Paying for one’s care and treatment is fair enough - but getting fleeced and then getting p1SS poor care is outrageous.
Whilst universal coverage seems like a great idea the reality is that somewhere some bureaucrat is running the whole thing. Sucking up huge amounts of funding for just being a bureaucrat - as in the NHS with huge layers/tiers of worthless, unnecessary hospital management. IN the UK the entire GDP could be spent on providing health care free on demand and still not satisfy all actual needs and whims, Like sex changes for queer sickos, plastic surgery, liposuction, counselling services etc. So someone somewhere has to decide on who gets what … and how quickly and for how long - and who gets the new very expensive drugs etc. In the UK urgently needed cancer treatment can be a postcode lottery.
By getalife
July 21, 2007 11:20 AM | Link to this
Geez, PF and @@ are having the last idiot standing contest.
By Analchord
July 21, 2007 11:34 AM | Link to this
Vick is football’s first true triple threat quarterback: He can shed, scratch, and pant.
By AmVet
July 21, 2007 11:46 AM | Link to this
And interestingly, lawyers and frivolous lawsuits are one of the main reasons why our health care costs are out of this world.
I hear this argument from time to time, but am not quite sure what to make of it. It reminds me of the claim that the unions are the main reason that the US auto industry is failing. (Not terrible designs, outrageous executive pay and packages or a myriad of other reasons).
Do you have any evidence or information regarding this claim, Hairy?
And though I am not discounting it, I’d very much like to see to what degree this is one of the main reasons for the debacle called US health care.
By @@
July 21, 2007 11:54 AM | Link to this
Damn Getalife. Did you get up on the wrong side of the bed this morning?
Let me guess…it’s because Sheriff “DeadEye” Dick is in town today, and you’ve been demoted from Deputy to??????
You’ve got a long row to hoe pardner when your hero is the “town-idiot” Fatso Moore.
Maker’s “Mark”…bellyup to the bar Chubby.
By Analchord
July 21, 2007 12:10 PM | Link to this
Vick is the first triple threat: he can run, pass, and catch a frisbee with his teeth.
By Analchord
July 21, 2007 12:14 PM | Link to this
It’s a shame Mr. Blank didn’t keep a tighter leash on Vick.
By Lexophine
July 21, 2007 12:35 PM | Link to this
That extremely weird @@ seems completely fascinated with cowboy culture and sure keeps bringing up Michael Moore a lot.
A thousand dollars says she hasn’t seen Sicko. And ten thousand that she hasn’t watched ANY of his movies.
Why, when it is so easy to ape Bill O’Reilly and Sean Hannity. And so very easy to be intellectually lazy and dishonest.
Educate yourselves people! And then start thinking for yourselves.
By getalife
July 21, 2007 12:55 PM | Link to this
PF needs new material so I will vote for @@ on the last idiot standing.
Hannity called for Vitter’s resignation so give the devil his due.
I doubt any wingnuts will see Sicko because they think it is about them.
Health care insurance will reach the costs of house payments but cons want business as usual.
Other countries have set the example with a proven health care system much cheaper than ours and it works.
Our politicians get the best socialized health care so why not the people.
Are they better than the people that elect them?
I think not.
By @@
July 21, 2007 1:01 PM | Link to this
Lexophile:
I did see Moore’s “Roger & Me” where he confronted GM’s Roger Smith about his massive downsizing and how it hurt the American auto-worker.
Hell, Michael Moore protesting massive downsizing makes sense? When he practices what he preaches, I’ll give him a looksee. Until then I’ll watch his blue face “blow-up” on CNN while his mouth gets smaller and smaller in comparison to his big fat head.
Santa’s helpers are subordinate Clauses.
I’m out to cut the grass. Getalife can just light his up.
By time to go back to Blokelahoma.
July 21, 2007 1:02 PM | Link to this
tftt, go stick your putrid head in the toilet, cracker. That is where it belongs you moronic racist bigoted homophobic slimy limey illegal alien.
If you had any, you filthy little worm, I’d like to see some gay black nurse kick you square in your hairless balls.
And you’re married. Must be to your sister, the fat old disgusting cockney wh0re. Nobody else would lie down with such a piece of english filth as you.
Please tell us you don’t have any retarded kids you can teach your depravity to.
Get out. Go back to blokelahoma today. And don’t ever return to America, you filthy scumbag. We already have enough mindless white trash here.
By the light
July 21, 2007 1:03 PM | Link to this
11:46 AmVet -
Here are two leads that may help peel the wool back from your eyes.
One.
Two.
By Lexophine
July 21, 2007 1:14 PM | Link to this
Fortunately, I just finished cutting my grass.
Hell, Michael Moore protesting massive downsizing makes sense? When he practices what he preaches, I’ll give him a looksee.
Cute, @@, but you just prove my point.
That’s fine; close you eyes and pretend everything you want so badly to believe is correct. It is my experience that most Americans operate in this ludicrous fashion.
And life is easier that way. You know blissful ignorance and all that.
I read and watch lots of stuff I don’t necessarily agree with. It is more valuable to me than reading about the things I already favor.
Educate yourselves people! And then start thinking for yourselves.
By cranky old man
July 21, 2007 1:17 PM | Link to this
Frivoulous lawsuits are certainly a component of today’s high health care costs, but I doubt they are they “main” reason. For doctors in private practice, it is one of their biggest expenses. It is driving new doctors to specialize in fields where the risk of malpractice is low, which will eventually leave us with a critical shortage of specialists in some fields. But, on a macro-economic level, it’s not the primary culprit.
If you look at the history of medicine over the past century or so, the most likely cause of out-of-control costs can be traced back to the introduction of the very insurance we’ve all come to know and love/hate. If you got sick 80-10 years ago, chances are you’d go visit (or get visited by)your doctor, and just pay his fee out of your own pocket. The cost was probably equivalent to a meal at a restaurant, or, if it was something serious, about the same cost as a brake job on your car. Or maybe you doctor would accept a couple of chickens and an apple pie as payment.
By the 1950’s, however, there was a dramatic increase in the number of people covered by employer funded insurance. When employers assumed this obligation, they were apparently planning on medical costs remaining roughly at the same level they had been in the past. Inadvertently, however, they were tampering with the market. Medical and pharmaceutical researchers suddenly discovered extra funding available from private investors, lured by the emergence of deep pockets in which to dip their hands. No longer was research tied exclusively to the (relatively) anemic budgets of universities relying on government grants and alumni donations. As a result, there was an explosion in medical knowledge and the introduction of revolutionary new drugs and treatments.
Inevitably, however, this system was doomed by its own success. New and ever more expensive treatments were now paid for by someone other than the patient. The success of these treatments increased life expectancy, which created a new class of patient. People who, in an earlier era would have died of cancer, diabetes, or heart disease in their 40’s or 50’s, were now living into their ‘80’s, and becoming Alzheimers patients.
Economically, this has become untenable. Medically and socially, however, does anyone really want to turn back the clock? Government funded insurance would certainly have problems, but, compared to what we have now…
By jbmlaw
July 21, 2007 1:33 PM | Link to this
Dear Cranky Old Man @ 1:17, I intended to offer similar arguments in response to AmVet’s inquiry, but you said it better than I would.
I will add a word on the role of litigation in increasing medical costs: litigation expenses are the smallest part of the problem introduced by malpractice attorneys. The more significant expenses attributable to legal are those “defensive” actions, tests with marginal value. While COM is undoubtedly correct about the absence of “demand controls” as the biggest goose to medical costs, don’t discount the ripple effects of litigation.
And of course I have to add my “Dennis-like” tag line on the subject, the death rate remains 100%, and it is morally wrong for us to demand that government burn all of our seed corn for this generation’s health care. Let’s leave that money in the pockets of our citizens.
By jm
July 21, 2007 1:43 PM | Link to this
a “frivilous” lawsuit is usually thrown out by a judge. If the lawsuit makes it to trial there is generally some merit. What might reduce some of the lawsuits being brought is to make publically available “all” of the records whenever “any” doctor is the defendent in a lawsuit. No more of this “settled out of court with the records sealed” nonsense. Of course, what this might lead to is some doctors being forced out of business.
As for “Hillarycare”, there is a large portion of america that has “no care”. I wonder if Rep. Tom Price is willing to offer all americans the same health care plan he and other members of congress enjoy (at the same price).
By getalife
July 21, 2007 1:58 PM | Link to this
This is just so freaking pathetic
By @@
July 21, 2007 1:58 PM | Link to this
Lexophile:
Cute, @@, but you just prove my point.
You liked that one did you?
You are as rigid in your support of socialist policies as you accuse me of being to the other extreme.
Who are you trying to fool? You don’t think. You want the government to do that for you.
Grumpy Old Man:
You may find the following article interesting.
Better and Better: The Myth of Inevitable Progress
Damn, look at ^^^ that. In spite of what Lexophine may want us all to believe, I do go on “reading” adventures.
I think it’s safe to say that Lexophine is a “neo-malt”…shaken, not stirred by any stretch of the imagination. Just a Democrat’s “swizzle stick”. Round and around it goes in an attempt to introduce voluminous amounts of air into our drinks.
“You feel stuck with your debt if you can’t budge it.” Yes Lexophile?
By Lexophine
July 21, 2007 2:48 PM | Link to this
I tried. I should have known better than to try engage such an uninformed and pompous extremist.
@@ illustrates the old adage. Better to be thought a food than to open your mouth and remove all doubt.
Educate yourselves people! And then start thinking for yourselves.
By getalife
July 21, 2007 2:48 PM | Link to this
“K-Lo from the NRO:
Readers are really into Cheney being president for awhile. Suggestions for Acting President Cheney include
Bomb Iran. Commute the sentences of those border agents. Fire Mike Chertoff. Tell Harry Reid to … well, you know… Pardon Scooter.
Wingnut Welfare at its finest. This is the base of the current Republican party. Heaven help us.”
Geez.
By Analchord
July 21, 2007 2:49 PM | Link to this
Dogfighting is a felony. The dogs get injured and maimed.
And there’s no healthcare system for dogs. (or humans)
Human fighting is legal, and dogs wager their hard earned scooby snacks on a winner.
By Fall Line
July 21, 2007 2:54 PM | Link to this
I have no problems with my health insurance, and I wouldn’t give it up for anything in the world. But then I held a steady job until I retired; I’ve been with the same insurance company for 30 years; and I saved a portion of my bi-weekly salary for 31 years. I have no debts; car and house paid for. It’s amazing how comfortable fiscal responsibility can be.
By Steve
July 21, 2007 3:12 PM | Link to this
Speaking of healthcare —
The conventional wisdom keeps insisting that Republican filibusters are just giving Dems a taste of their own medicine. When they were in the minority, Dems blocked legislative progress as often as they could, the argument goes, so they have no right to complain now that the GOP is doing the same thing.
But this just isn’t so.
“Seven months into the current two-year term, the Senate has held 42 “cloture” votes aimed at shutting off extended debate — filibusters, or sometimes only the threat of one — and moving to up-or-down votes on contested legislation…
Nearly 1 in 6 roll-call votes in the Senate this year have been cloture votes. If this pace of blocking legislation continues, this 110th Congress will be on track to roughly triple the previous record number of cloture votes — 58 each in the two Congresses from 1999-2002, according to the Senate Historical Office.
The Republican minority has created a de facto 60-vote minimum to do anything of substance in the Senate. They’ll allow routine up-or-down votes on renaming post offices, or those rare bills that enjoy near-unanimous support, but otherwise, it’s filibuster time on the Senate floor. And while the number of filibusters has been going up pretty consistently for 20 years, these Republicans appear to be in a league of their own.
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/homepage/story/18218.html
By cranky old man
July 21, 2007 3:16 PM | Link to this
@@,
Thanks for the link. That was an interesting article. The author seems to have a reasonable economic outlook, at least to my way of thinking: free markets are the best way to go for most activities most of the time, but some situations don’t lend themselves to a pure and completely unfettered free-for-all.
jbmlaw,
I agree the ripple effects of malpractice lawsuits are wide ranging and hard to measure accurately. I suppose we need some sort of sword of Damocles to dangle over the heads of doctors who inhabit the less dedicated end of the spectrum, but the malpractice industry seems to have gotten out of hand. The potential of winning the personal injury lottery tends to currupt the system.
By Fall Line is Misinformed
July 21, 2007 3:31 PM | Link to this
Fall Line doesn’t seem to understand that there are millions who work hard, save, take care of themselves and maintain health insurance, but through no fault of their own, needed medical attention and either had appropriate treatment denied by the insurance company (even though it was covered) or needed treament that exceeded the $2 - $5 million dollar policy limits and, essentially, ran out of insurance. It can happen to any one of us or our loved ones.
Fall Line is under the impression that only lazy, irresponsible people suffer physically, financially and emotionally from our profit-driven health care system. He’s seriously mistaken.
By Amber
July 21, 2007 4:02 PM | Link to this
In his essay today, Wooten applies the tactics of demonization (i.e. “HillaryCare”) and misrepresentation (i.e. “…the American people [don’t] desire or want…medical choices made by families and patients moved to Washington”) to persuade.
Neither Medicare nor PeachCare moves medical choices made by families and patients to Washington. Families and patients can still see the same doctors they saw with private insurers. On the other hand, Medicare, for example, does move reimbursement decisions out of the hands of profit-driven insurance companies, whose incentives to keep costs down contradict the patient’s incentive to receive the best treatment available.
In this regard, if you think Washington can’t do a good job, think again. Beneficiaries of Medicare and PeachCare are happier with their insurance than most that have had to navigate the claims process with private insurance companies.
Since insurance companies must, by law, try to attain the highest profits possible for their shareholders, then they cannot and will not provide insurance to those who need it most (i.e. pre-existing conditions) or pay claims when it’s cheaper to deny them. Every other industrialized country has demonstrated that a single-payer health care system, such as Medicare, is the only reasonable long-term solution.
There’s a bill in the House, H.R. 676, that would expand Medicare so that all of us have access to quality health care for life without worrying about losing it if we get laid-off or decide to start our own business. I wrote my Congressman and Senators asking them to support this bill.
By Analchord
July 21, 2007 5:05 PM | Link to this
Well written, Amber. You are a writer!
I think that national healthcare for all is too expensive and unrealistic. How can we provide for all americans when we are bound by moral servitude to provide healthcare for all Iraqi-ans? No, the american people aren’t as important to our government as Iraqi Peoples. I understand, and I totally accept this demotion. Those rocket tubes convinced me then, and that poison mushroom cloud as the smoking gun still haunts me.
What if Saddam had thermonuclear ICBMs? He could have annihilated us, to death, and then we’d all have been keeled, (to death).
No, bush was right. Al Queda in afghanistan, who we once had completely surrounded, only knocked down two of our buildings, and only attacked one wing of our pentagon.
Saddam, on the other hand, could have keeled us all with his ICBM swarm for which there ist nein defensivesen!
Ve vill rulen der verld!!!!!!
Zeig….HEIL!
ZEIG…..HEIL!!!!
ZEIG…..HEIL!!!!!
By @@
July 21, 2007 5:06 PM | Link to this
Oh my Lexophile….
By Lexophine July 21, 2007 2:48 PM
I tried. I should have known better than to try engage such an uninformed and pompous extremist.
@@ illustrates the old adage. Better to be thought a food than to open your mouth and remove all doubt.
I know this will probably get your panties all “naughty”, but how’s that ^^^ big ol’ knockwurst tastin’?
Educate yourselves people!*
F-O-O-L….You’re welcome.
By BS Aplenty
July 21, 2007 5:12 PM | Link to this
Re: Fall Line
Let me second that motion, brother.
Take care of your health, always pay the savings account and educate yourself and you’ll be healthy, wealthy and wise !!
By Analchord
July 21, 2007 5:17 PM | Link to this
I would like to welcome Benjamin Franklin to this blog.
Welcome, sir. Thank you for the lightning rod. I used it to taser my wife many times.
You are our greatest founding father, no doubt, it’s too bad we hated the French so much you got taken down with them after they went broke helping us win the war of 1776!!!
The more I study your thoughts, the more I admire you. Ben Franklin, you are a genius!!!
By BS Aplenty
July 21, 2007 5:28 PM | Link to this
Glad to know you’re a reader Analchord. There’s hope for you, yet.
By Curious Observer
July 21, 2007 5:41 PM | Link to this
So Dr. Tom Price is against universal or even government-sponsored health care. Gee, I wonder why a multi-millionaire physician would be against that? Could it be that a government-sponsored medical plan would set a limit on what he is entitled to charge for an office visit?
I can hardly wait for that complacent idiot who’s so satisfied with his employer-sponsored retiree insurance plan hits 65 and learns that his insurer will start dumping most of its costs onto Medicare while retaining the same premium level. All those insurers and their boosters hate government-sponsored health care until its existence starts benefiting them.
I never learned what a real health care plan was until I went to my first Medicare B visit to my physician three months ago. No bill, no hassle, no quibbling with a “claims specialist” from an insurance company, and no subsequent bill for “my share.” And when I went to my pharmacy to get prescriptions filled on my Medicare D plan, there was no bill, no judgment of some cubicle-bound insurance company nurse as to what portion I should pay, and no follow-up billing.
Bring on government-sponsored universal health care. Believe me, if my wife weren’t a couple of years younger than I and in need of continued coverage, I would photocopy my middle finger and send my employer’s insurance company an extra-large copy, along with my notice of cancellation. The only people who benefit from the current mess are insurers, drug companies, the Tom Prices of this world, and the fat cats like jbmlaw and Van, who are interested only in pocketing as much income as possible, the uninsured and the poor be damned.
By GA
July 21, 2007 5:42 PM | Link to this
Dear time to go back to Blokelahoma, Your response to comments you don’t like are very mature. If Time for the Truth is wrong then provide some facts, statistics or logic to show he is wrong instead of attacking him with junior high type comments. In my experience people who use personal attacks against people who say things they don’t like usually get frustrated because they know deep, deep down that the statements they don’t like contain a certain degree of truth. Have a nice day.
By Analchord
July 21, 2007 5:45 PM | Link to this
Mike Vick’s fate will be known soon?
My Guess?
He’s the NFL franchise. We’ve nevah seen anyone like vick. He’ll pay a fine, do community service, and start on friday. (and that’s the bad news)
The good news is that he’ll come out as a spokesman for the ASPCA, and do 20-second spots on tv that might go something like this…..”Hi. I’m Mike Vick. I play football, But I want to tell you about dogs. They need your help. SOme of them dont know no better than to go on rampages and eat small children, cats, and entire aquariums of fish. We have to counsel these dogs and it aint cheap. Send your contributions to, “Mike Bites, PO BARKS 1234, Dogville, Alabama.”
By Liberal Drive-by
July 21, 2007 5:47 PM | Link to this
Jimmy said, “Over the last five years, PeachCare’s federal funding source, the State Children’s Health Insurance Program, has cost the nation’s taxpayers about $20 billion. The bill that passed committee on Thursday would expand that over the next five years to $60 billion, double what the administration proposed. President Bush promises a veto.”
Bill for Iraq and Afganistan: $12B per month!
Which one is a waste of taxpayer dollars?
By Analchord
July 21, 2007 5:55 PM | Link to this
Curious, do you realize what could happen if you ever do actually fax a finger to the healthcare industry? they could so get even with all of us, because of your one idiotic little moment. They could adulterate our Jewish and Arab American citizen’s yearly flu shots with batches of swine flu vaccine. Do you know how much of God’s wrath we would incur if THAT happened?
Please, sir. Take it back. Just say, “I was a dirty bird, our health care system is not grungy, it’s b***’”
(Thanx, man). You’ve just saved the planet.
By Analchord
July 21, 2007 6:02 PM | Link to this
Open mike’s aplenty in atlanta now. Folks, we are going to rock!
remember. Everyone has a unique spin. Dont hack. People will only be entertained if you talk about your OWN life.
Dont mug, either. Bill Cosby is the only one who can get away with it.
Just talk.
remember the mike stand. Practice resetting it to your mouth’s level. Otherwise, it will destroy your act, if you have any trouble at all with it. Do it ten times before the show to make sure you know how to adjust the mike’s level.
Trust me on that one.
ISAIDTRUSTME!!!
By Lexophine
July 21, 2007 6:06 PM | Link to this
Bully for the @@ssclown. He found a typo.
Naughty panties? Either you’re a cross dresser or you really are just a weirdo. And your writing especially reeks. Did they teach that to you at the neo-con school of non-humor?
Educate yourselves people! And then start thinking for yourselves.
Look at @@ for what happens when you don’t.
By @@
July 21, 2007 8:18 PM | Link to this
Well Lexophine, let’s go back up to my original 11:04 where I engaged noone, just left a quick post. Then….
you asked me to marry you, and in the nicest sorta way too…
By Lexophine July 21, 2007 12:35 PM
That extremely weird @@ seems completely fascinated with cowboy culture and sure keeps bringing up Michael Moore a lot.
A thousand dollars says she hasn’t seen Sicko. And ten thousand that she hasn’t watched ANY of his movies.
Why, when it is so easy to ape Bill O’Reilly and Sean Hannity. And so very easy to be intellectually lazy and dishonest.
BTW, you owe me $10,000 because I DID see Roger & Me.
I tried. I should have known better than to try engage such an uninformed and pompous extremist.
So was your 12:35 the best you have to offer to the object of your obsession?
And now I see you’re feeling all rejected at 6:06. Do you ever stop and ask yourself why?
An over-emotional female like yourself doesn’t make for a good match.
You’ll figure it out one day. At least I hope you will.
In the meantime, try to get over me. I’m female and happily married to a guy.
By deegee
July 22, 2007 8:56 AM | Link to this
Wouldn’t it be loverly if universal health care becomes the law of the land, that it is a rousing success and goes down in US history as “Hillarycare”? It could happen.
By Duh stands for Democrat
July 22, 2007 9:25 AM | Link to this
I thought the United States went it alone in Iraq?:
{{{{{{IRAQ DEVELOPMENTS- Atlanta Journal Constitution, Denmark has secretly airlifted about 200 translators and other Iraqi employees and their relatives out of Iraq to protect them from retaliation when it withdraws its forces this summer.}}}}}}
Oh, no, we’re losing Denmark’s army!!!!! What to do, what to do?!?!
(Seriously, Thank You for your service to Freedom, Denmark, we owe you.)
{{{{{{Britain’s army chief, Gen. Richard Dannatt, is warning that commitments in Iraq and Afghanistan have left the British army with no reserves- AJC}}}}}
Let’s add two and two together here, earlier this year the libs were gushing with joy that Britain was withdrawing most of it’s troops from Basra and even after all that “they still have no reserves?” Something tells me this is not an Iraq Development but instead is a *British Development.”
But whatever, if these are the worst things you libs can find in Iraq…….
The military force increase by the United States called “the surge” is only one element in the Iraqi and coalition strategy. The other elements are the political/diplomatic initiatives and economic progress — and the reality is that the strategy is working in spite of the monumental obstacles presented by international terrorists and difficult conditions inside Iraq.
{{{{{To the utter dismay of the global warming lobby, the world does not appear to be getting warmer. According to their own figures (from the UN-linked Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change), the temperature has been static or slightly declining since 1998. The satellite data confirms this. This is clearly awkward. The least one should expect of global warming is that the Earth should be getting warmer.}}}}}
{{{{{Some of the temperature records established in 1993 include (all values in degrees Fahrenheit): Atlanta, GA—7 days of 100 degrees or higher in July. Augusta, GA—47 of 61 days with 95 degrees or higher, including 21 days with 100 or higher.}}}}}}
By Analchord
July 22, 2007 9:29 AM | Link to this
Tammy Faye is a photo op for America’s mascara-and-tear-stained soul. Tammy is a modern icon of irreverence and secular piety, belying our nation’s historical grace which once grew out of the penance and sacrifice of devout traditions.
Tammy invented the McChurch, and inspired our souless acceptance of undivined destiny.
That’s how Bush and Cheney can play warlords and warlocks and still claim the moral high ground about the heretical mission of our own christian soldiers in Iraq.
Pray, America. Not for yourselves, but for your enemies, but then I repeat myself.
amen.
By @@
July 22, 2007 9:31 AM | Link to this
jbmlaw or Cranky Old Man:
I had hoped to see a more in depth discussion between the two of you regarding the cost of liability insurance/medical malpractice.
jbmlaw was correct when he stated that it was the added precautions (i.e. testing and procedures) that doctors undertake to protect themselves.
Recently I went to my dermatologist for a tiny spot on my neck. Upon first glance, they determined it was a (can’t remember the medical name) and nothing to worry about. They could remove it, but insurance would not pay because it would be deemed costmetic.
O.K. I said, what’s the procedure and what will it cost me. The procedure involved local anesthesia, snip…snip and one stitch at best.
What’s it gonna cost me out of pocket?
$35.00. Do it I said.
During the procedure, they said it didn’t appear to be what they thought it was and they wanted to send it off for testing. With that decision, the procedure was now covered by insurance.
When I received the bill, the $35 procedure had gone up in cost. It ended up costing $665 although it was done exactly as they said it would be.
If I were to live my life with the mind of a liberal, always suspiscious that somebody done done me wrong, then who’s the greedy culprit in my circumstance?
The insurance company paid $556 of the total cost. I’m left with the balance of $109.72 for a procedure that should have cost $35 by the doctor’s own admission. I know how I would answer my own question, but I’m hopeful to hear yours.
BTW, the pathology lab was paid separately by insurance, my responsibility for that fee was $26.16
I have a follow-up visit scheduled and I plan to question the doctor about the jacked up cost. I’ve done it before and usually walk away without having to pay the leftover balance.
By @@
July 22, 2007 9:39 AM | Link to this
Oops, make that “costmetic” cosmetic.
By Analchord
July 22, 2007 10:00 AM | Link to this
So what is wrong with McChurch’s? Do you want lies with that?
Every hear the bromide about “nothing ever changes”?
How can anything change? We have a life cycle. Everyone is born. Everyone must egress a natal-goddess.
We have just experienced another collective moment with the apparition of Tammy Faye on Larry King Live. (Her burial seems more compelling than the recently interred N word). America is moved. Counter-cultural resolve, emboldened by fantastical and unique religious confirmations, will inspire garrulous intercourse among strangers on busses and in our streets as they reinforce their own peculiar rennaissance. It will be a retro-call to dis-arm. But just when America gets the resolve it needs to leave Iraq, it will dawn on them that they can never leave, for the cost will simply be too obvious. Iraq. Iraq. Iraq.
Then, the domestic revolution will explode. The McRoves will have to flee. Let them go.
We have a country to save, and a world to convince.
By time for the truth
July 22, 2007 11:26 AM | Link to this
@ the blokahomosexual
that was a mighty fine poisonous hissy fit - one of the best actually for a while that I have effortlessly elicited. but it doesn’t in any way obfuscate just what a sad bigoted inadequate little rancid turd you are. you cannot address any of the reasoned and factual points I made so you just puke up the usual deranged visceral racist bile hiding behind yet another queeralicious cowardly id. freeloading parasitic far left wankers like you need to bugger off back to Cuba!!!
By time for the truth
July 22, 2007 11:46 AM | Link to this
would anal foreskin, also known as aborted foreskin please STFU
the puerile puke its as ever anally and endlessly puking up on here is acutely embarassing - the kind of imbecilic narcissistic trash even a senile semi-literate baboon would think twice about posting.
A cheery cheers to Mrs Oedipus-NAMBLA latterly of the child molestors paradise in VT for NOT polluting the blog this weekend. Obviously its annual trip to rural South Georgia for semi-pro stumpjumping competitions has its undivided attention. We are all grateful for small unexpected mercies.
By Michael H. Smith
July 22, 2007 12:26 PM | Link to this
Presently, entitlements account for 40% of the federal budget. In the years to come this percentage will rise exponentially until the entitlements not only consume the entire budget but will alone create deficits in spending. Truth is we cannot afford socialized medicine.
http://money.cnn.com/2007/02/28/news/economy/bernanke_testimony/index.htm
Businesses cannot afford to continue to furnish healthcare as we Americans would like to have it either; every year from a personal observation I’ve noticed how premiums continue to go up and the services continue to decline. Companies are facing a choice of keeping healthcare for their employees or keeping their employees in a job.
Sick of FREE SickoCare:
There is no such thing as FREE! In that point of fact Michael Moore revealed just how out of touch with reality he truly is, Moore lost it from that point on with me. Moore’s so-called facts are selective, fashioned around the case, his case, as he would have it made. Moore’s satire is certainly not a credible documentary. If you like Mother Goose stories then go see Michaels Moore’s fantasy and don’t stop believing in the tooth fairy. When you get a bill from a doctor, just quote them a nursery rhyme in lieu of payment and tell them their services were FREE!
Not me my friend, not me. Government healthcare - socialized medicine - will prove to be the most expensive form of medicine this country will practice. As so many other nations have discovered socialized medicine can’t deliver the services they expected.
America too, will rue the day HillaryCare, “Michael Moore’s FREE HEALTHCARE” becomes our living nightmare.
A new hybrid model of healthcare must be pursued that returns the power and control over healthcare into the hands of “We the People”, collectively as individuals.
By Joe
July 22, 2007 12:32 PM | Link to this
@@ wrote, “who’s the greedy culprit in my circumstance?”
If I understood @@’s post correctly, the doctor was going to charge $35 for a procedure, but when he determined that he could get the insurance company to approve $665, he jacked up his price.
Who is the greedy culprit? It sounds like the doctors that negotiated a $665 dollar fee with the insurance company for a $35 procedure are the greedy culprits.
Gotta love our profit-driven health care system.
By time to go back to Blokelahoma.
July 22, 2007 12:44 PM | Link to this
Rhetorical question.
Why does this, the greatest nation in the history of humankind, attract and allow in so many of the very worst losers and scumbags like troubled frikkin tiny twits from other countries?
By Jamie
July 22, 2007 12:46 PM | Link to this
“Government healthcare - socialized medicine - will prove to be the most expensive form of medicine this country will practice. As so many other nations have discovered socialized medicine can’t deliver the services they expected.”
This statement is the exact opposite of what the facts tell us. Becuase of underwriting and marketing costs, our profit-driven health care sytem is the most expensive in the world on a per capita basis. Other countries, on the other hand, have shown us that “socialized medicine” (e.g. Medicare/Peachcare) is less expensive than profit-driven insurance.
In addition, overall, surveys have shown that in people in industrialized countries who benefit from “socialized medicine” are happier with their health care systems than Americans are.
Unfortunately, Michael H. Smith is not one to let the facts confuse him or sway his falsehood-based ideology.
By DJ
July 22, 2007 1:12 PM | Link to this
Of course, Jim would prefer the slow social darwinian march to a privatized, elitist, economic/class-based society where the rich are privileged and the poor get scraps and handouts from the “compassionate” christian charities (who use tax dollars, taken from taxpayers at the point of the government’s gun, but that’s fine with republicans as long as we’re taking those tax dollars to prevent homos from marrying and keeping women in the kitchen). Yes indeed - the republican version of health care is simple - it’s only available to 60-70% of citizens. That’s real foresight. That’s really thinking ahead, and being pragmatic, not to mention fiscally responsible. Because we all know how fiscally responsible republicans are. Oh wait - they’re not. They spend more then democrats. they raise taxes (via tax gimmics that the kool-aid drinking right wing apologists are too “home schooled” to understand). They increase the size and bureaucracy of the federal government (and the cost) while at the same time making it less and less competent and more corrupt. Oh yeah - the slow march to the republican dream. Thank god it’s slow, because that’s one dream that’s going to destroy the country. Go republicans, go!!! Yeay Team!!!
By Jim is a sychophant
July 22, 2007 1:19 PM | Link to this
Just like a republican to lay out an issue as only having two options - an essential pre-requisite to all “wedge issue” stratagies. You republicans sure are creative thinkers. Boy - who would have known that there are only two possible solutions to the health care problem. Is that really what passes for “thinking” or “analytical reasoning” in republican land? no wonder you all just parrot the same talking points without any hint of irony. Here’s an idea - TRY THINKING FOR A CHANGE instead of just repeating what rush and neal and sean and all the other intellectually challenged reductionists drool all over their microphones. Jim doesn’t even rank there - he’s more of a third tier echo-chamber repeater. Hell - all he really has to do is just run old columns - it’s the same shallow spin over over again.
By Michael H. Smith
July 22, 2007 1:52 PM | Link to this
Well, Jamie Whoever, why do Canadians come to America for medical treatment? Why do the French take out supplemental healthcare insurance? Why is the Netherlands struggling with economic dilemmas from socialized medicine? I’m sure with your arrogant knowledge of the facts you can educate hopeless drifters from the socialist fold like me back into the Big Government faith?
By the way Jamie I don’t agree with the Democrat’s or with the Republican’s healthcare plans for this nation. I simply disagree more with the Democrats. When I said new hybrid model of healthcare I really did mean NEW. The ultimate idea would have very little for profit as you would know it involvement; unless of course, someone desired to opt for private sector for profit insurance or services.
But for now go ahead an entertain me on the facts as to just how well our government manages money and how our government knows better than me what is best for me.
By getalife
July 22, 2007 2:09 PM | Link to this
If you think the gop will change health care you are delusional.
The gop will obstruct and w will veto.
We need to address the elephant in the room.
Inherit contempt on hearings and subpoenas, gop united to obstruct legislation and 60 votes needed to pass, veto, trashing the Constitution and not enforcing or following the rule of law is the gop position.
The choice is clear. If you want change, uphold the Constitution, believe in the rule of law and nobody is above the law, vote Dem.
Stay the course and continue the destruction of this country, vote gop.
By Jordan
July 22, 2007 2:10 PM | Link to this
P/E for healthcare industry standards hovers around 16 to 18. That’s not the extravagant profits that you librul idiots claim they’re making. The 16 to 18 is about standard for the overall market, NASDAQ, DJI, SP500.
There’s no way I would directly invest my money in healthcare stocks. The risk is too great. That’s why they call it a risk management business. If you’re a consumer who can’t afford to stick your necks out you want the industry to stick their out without making a profit?
Nothing in life is free but competition at least offers quality and choices. The porkers in D.C. have never delivered anything unless it was overpriced, ineffecient, and a lousy return on your investment.
Say no to government funded healthcare.
By GaLiberal
July 22, 2007 2:11 PM | Link to this
Moron Jim says: That strategy is to create one more exception and to exaggerate flaws in the system to undermine public confidence in it, while misrepresenting or ignoring inconvenient facts.
What Moron Jim doesn’t tell you is that Republicans get lots of money from medical political groups to keep the system exactly the way it is today. That’s so they can protect their income. And continue to buy their expensive cars and big houses and have a monopoly on how you receive your healtcare. The drug companies gave millions to Republicans first to defeat universal health coverage during Clinton and then to make sure the drug bill passed during Bush 2 so the government would buy their drugs at inflated prices. Moron Jim thinks that just fine. For the Big Pharma to line Republican politicials who then make Big Pharam richer by getting taxpayers to pay for overpriced drugs. Hell with them stupid taxpayers.
Another thing Moron Jim doesn’t tell you is that there are lots of people that don’t have insurance and don’t qualify for state aide. These people are hard working parents who sometimes have to work 2 or 3 jobs to pay for the necessities. Since they can’t afford insurance they use ERs for their healtcare. They can’t pay so hospitals have to make up the loss by charging eveyone else higher prices. His buddy, Tom Price, is a doctor and he likes things just the way they are. He’s really rich and wants to make sure he and his doctor friends stay rich. But’s that’s ok to Moron Jim and Tom Price. Moron Jim probably has good insurance from his employer. Tom Price gets good insurance as a Congressman. Hell with them people if they don’t work hard enough to have insurance.
Why does Moron Jim