Health Care and the US

[gyrafoam]

The Republican mantra about the proposed costs is laughable.

This is the party that brought us a $TRILLION (and growing) invasion and occupation of Iraq (as if the Iraqis' are ever going to care for us------feel the love?) and turned their backs so the financial (just to mention one) institutions could run amok. There didn't seem to be too much concern for that.

Where were the "Tea Parties" in 2003?
I would say that the "sales" job (based on lies) the Bush administration did to get us into Iraq is proving to have devasted our economy. For what? We already knew the real threat of Al Qaida is in Afghanistan. It is/was really---- all about the oil.

So they can save all their screaming about what the projected costs of health care for OUR citizens is.
This time it is about US!

Imagine how much more productive our workforce could be with more healthy people in the workplace! Enough already, with all the defeatist attitude!

Yes, there will be kinks to work out. However SOMETHING----ANYTHING, is better than nothing at all!!!!!!!

 

[peterh770]

"PeterH- Is your beloved Republican party EVER wrong in your view?"

No, they are frequently wrong. But when you compare which party stands more consistently on the side of smaller government intrusion into your life, more individual responsibility and pro-business, the Republicans are the best thing we have. If you are looking for a nanny state where the government is going to take care of it all for you, if you think freedom means that if you don't have to worry about anything because the government is going to take care of it, then go Democrat. At least they are honest and transparent in letting you know that they want to completely control you to keep them in office.

 

[toggleswitch2]

Thanks for the feedback!

Perhaps both parties need to move more to the center and leave the extremes of left and right.

Personally I say we should cut back all spending outside of this country by 10% each year, (until it is zero) lock our borders and let the rest of the world kill each other over racism, ethno-centrism, political and religious ideologies and other hatreds as they have for centuries.

My view is ridiculous and overly simplistic, but dreaming is free, right?

We have plenty to do here in terms of infrastructure, education, crime and drug eradication. Let's spend our money on ourselves and let the world do what it wants to do.

Yes we should also allow the free-market to reign to some degree, but not completely unregualted as we saw in the last 8 years.

And lastly (since my post is rambling all over the place).... Put a GD photvoltiac solar panel on every roof in the country to generate electricity and stop buying foreign oil. Why give money to those who hate us and bomb us? You will never ever change their mentality. So work with it (meaning knowing it will never change) not against it.

Rant over!

 

[sudsman]

RIGHT ON TOGGLES

TOGGLES FOR PRESIDENT!!!

 

[toggleswitch2]

HELL NO!

As I gave someone rather point-blank stern advice in another thread--(sorry i was raggin' that day)can't do that until I take my own advice and learn to watch my mouth, make my thoughts more fluid and flexible and manage WELL my own life.

But thanks for your vote! LOL

 

[toggleswitch2]

*LOL* After Bush and BO, ANYONE can get in. Trust me on that!

 

[58limited]

"Unless I'm totally daft, one of the most effective ways to limit healthcare costs is to limit wages and salaries. Herein lies the fears of reduced quality of helthcare, and the tremendous resistance (by those receiving those salaries) to do so. "

Toggles, I have to disagree with you here. I have worked in the medical field, both human and animal, for over 22 years. I have no problem with doctors, nurses, and other health care personnel being well compensated. Just as I don't mind engineers, architects, and other professionals making big salaries. They went to school, often for many years, to get their expertise. If they are good at what they do, then they have the potential to earn a large salary, and thus will continue to strive for excellence in their chosen field as well as attract other people into that field to carry on in the future. (As an aside, I still think the great thing about America is that you don't have to get a college education to prosper or even "make it big" in business.)

While some doctors, notably specialists, make big salaries, one significant part of the high costs of health care is the result of malpractice insurance and the fear of being sued. Because of malpractice fears, most doctors and hospitals tend to run more diagnostic tests than may be required for a given situation. There have been cases where people have died during routine procedures and even though basic lab work was run, lawsuits have been filed claiming that "if the doctor would have done this test and that test, this patient wouldn't have died." The result is a lot of tests being run that might not be useful or necessary for a certain patient. Lets face it, no matter how simple a procedure is, no matter how much lab work is run, no matter how skilled the medical staff is, someone somewhere is going to die during the procedure due to a hidden condition or for unexplained reasons. Every person's body is different in its sensitivities. The doctor and hospital might be cleared in court (if the case is not settled out of court), but they still have to pay the legal costs for their defense. Or rather, their malpractice insurance has to pay. Malpractice premiums can be outrageous depending on a doctor's specialty.

I know that malpractice issues are only one part of the problem (and my dialogue above is overly simplistic), but it is a significant part. There needs to be quite a bit of reform in this industry, including insurance and legal reforms.

Also, drugs are pretty expensive. It can cost over $500 million to develop a drug and get it approved by the FDA. The FDA has stringent guidelines for proving the safety and efficacy of a drug and it costs a lot of money to research and test a drug to prove that it is safe and efficacious. Drug patents last about 20 years, after that point cheaper generics can become available. I don't have an answer for decreasing the costs associated with drug approval without compromising safety.

 

[petek]

Didja know the major drug companies spend more money on television advertising than they do on research and development of new drugs.

For PeterH.. don't you have to wonder what other lies you're being fed when though when you see ads like the one I talked about way above about the "dying" Canadian woman who had to come to the US to get her tumor removed.

There was more to that ad as well I'd forgotten to mention and that was who paid to have it produced. It was the Koch Industries CEO Charles Koch, a giant US petro-chem industry very tied to the right

http://www.kochind.com/files/PerspectiveJan09Discovery.pdf

 

[toggleswitch2]

.

Good points David!

Only surgical and pharmaceutical medicine is seen as legitimate in this country from the early days of the system of accreditations to separate the quacks from the legit.

Of course the family/entities involved in the accreditation process was/were making tons of money from those two areas of medicine they declared all outside of these ares "quackery"

There are so many areas of medicine that are underexplored and underfunded. Of course as it currenlty stands if there is no potential for huge profits it's not going to occur.

 

[gansky1]

"But when you compare which party stands more consistently on the side of smaller government intrusion into your life, more individual responsibility and pro-business, the Republicans are the best thing we have."

Yeah, New Orleans, Halliburton, Blackwater, record deficit spending and Bristol-Abstinence Only-Palin are the real-life case studies for that failed experiment. We know the R's mantra, fewer and fewer thinking people are believing that line of bullshit all the time.

That political corporation (The RNC) has spent $350 million spreading lies and disinformation about health care finance and it's reform. Are they too stupid to understand the problem or just being contrary no matter the cost in treasure and credibility? I believe it's a combination of both. This political corporation, just like the Democratic Party (we have to cover this again? - not "DEMOCRAT") are neither necessary to the political processes of this Republic nor, from all evidence at hand, beneficial and provide little or no leadership on any issues. Both are ignoring the cold, hard facts that by 2040 the Medicare and Social Security obligations will consume sixty percent of tax revenues annually. Add to that the 30-40 million "personally irresponsible" that don't have any provision for even basic preventative care and you have a perfect storm of entitlement spending that will surely sink the ship. If we don't make some changes to the three-headed monster at the core of our economy (military budgets, Medicare and Social Security) we will be bankrupt with no credit to draw upon long before 2040. The R's are screeching like stuck pigs about the state of the country and it's budget today, but what, if any leadership did they provide in the 12+ years they were at the helm? I think we've covered that in the second paragraph.

It's short-sighted and foolish to think we can fix everything with one health-care finance bill now, but maybe a step toward that end is worth trying. Is there leadership from either of the two major political corporations on the REAL problems of this country? No. Sadly, I don't think there ever will be.

 

[mattl]

Bill Maher got it right on Friday. A Big, big part of the anger over the health plan is racism. The tebaggers and birthers can't stand that we have a black president and the R's play into that with thinly veiled racist statements and as a whole they will oppose ANYTHING he proposes.

I also suggest most everyone, except a few dyed in the wool R's who won't get it, watch this:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/09/12/bill-maher-challenges-oba_n_284314.html

 

[58limited]

This CNN video about an OB-GYN's $170,000 annual malpractice insurance bill illustrates some of the major problems contributing to high healthcare costs: insurance companies and lawyers.

http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/health/2009/09/17/kaye.obgyn.malpractice.fees.cnn

 

[alr2903]

I think the key to the lawsuit issue, is if a mistake is made and caught, and the problem rectified. A lawsuit is not really right. (like a surgical sponge left in a wound). Now if you are truly a victim of malpractice (loss of leg arm) with no way of making it right, you need your day in court.

 

[hunter]

'Racism' icharge s ridiculous.

While I am quite certain there are folks from both major political parties who do not like Mr. Obama due to racism, to say that folks don't want the Obama Healthcare bill because of racism doesn't wash. Since the Republican party has done the following:

1. Appointed the first black male sec of state
2. Appointed the first black female sec of state.
3. Appointed the second black male supreme court justice
4. Appointed the first Chinese American sec of labor.
5. Appointed the first female (white) sec of interior.

I don't think you can claim that they are racist.

The democrats appointed the first black male supreme court justice (Marshall) tho if I were a raving conservative (no thanks) I'd say that since it was Johnson who did that, well, he was an honorary Republican being a southern democrat.

Are there racist people in both parties? Certainly. I have met racist democrats and racist republicans. I have met anti-racist democrats and anti-racist republicans. It's the people, not the party.