Health-Care Myths

[Common Sense Al]

No Al, I'm a realist. I have never claimed to want utopia, because it is not possible. Your la la land is what is creating the deficit.

Hey, I'm a realist too. I never claimed to want utopia either. You statement was really silly, so I followed up in kind.

Why don't we all work, give the money to the government, and they let them distribute it equally. Of course everyone will try their hardest despite the fact that their reward will be the same as the slackers (Al - that is sarcasm). It's against human nature. Eventually most slack off. Without the possible (not guaranteed) reward of getting ahead, progress stifles. Do we need to be compasionate? Yes, but not create a whole system that is not sustainable.

Sounds like you've been listening to too much talk radio.

If you like the idea of getting ahead with hard work, then you should be for this bill. It lets entrepreneurs and their families go out on their own without worrying about being discriminated against on health insurance... and it lets small businesses get health insurance on a level-playing field as big corps. That's a big incentive to go out on your own and create something. No more being tied to your employer just for the needed health insurance. People will be able to move around more freely... and that means more freedom for the individual to work hard & succeed on their own.

[Pipeline]

I once heard if you put a bajillian monkeys in a building, with typewriters, one would sooner or later write the Declaration of Independence. Keep posting Al, you might make common sense one day, by luck, and not just post drivel. Keep typing.

Not a personal attack, sort of not.

[Common Sense Al]

I once heard if you put a bajillian monkeys in a building, with typewriters, one would sooner or later write the Declaration of Independence. Keep posting Al, you might make common sense one day, by luck, and not just post drivel. Keep typing.

To those who lack common sense, common sense always seems like drivel.

Not a personal attack, sort of not.

[FM7]

Al,
Whatever you want to call it - you want equal 'burden' on all and you want equal results. To repeat myself, that may be what we 'want', but as a system it does not work. It drives everybody down. It's been done and failed. It's happening now front and center in Europe and we will be next if we follow the same path.

[Common Sense Al]

Whatever you want to call it - you want equal 'burden' on all and you want equal results. To repeat myself, that may be what we 'want', but as a system it does not work.

Works better than what we have now... just look at all the countries that do it now & get much more value for their dollar while covering everyone. Given the two options, I'll take the better system. And it's not like the 'status quo' in healthcare was working either. It wasn't.

It's happening now front and center in Europe and we will be next if we follow the same path.

The problem in Europe is the same problem we have here - DEBT & OVER SPENDING. You can blame it on healthcare all you want, but the problem is overspending, regardless of what it's spent on. The US gov't was overspending long before the ACA. The problem is the broken political system, greed, corruption, society's "I want it now and don't want to pay for it" attitude, etc.

[FM7]

Obamacare is not the only thing to blame, but is expected to cost over a trillion and increase the deficit.

[Common Sense Al]

Obamacare is not the only thing to blame, but is expected to cost over a trillion and increase the deficit.

Not according to the CBO... in fact, the opposite. Don't listen to GOP propaganda.

[JKTex]

Still waiting for all those examples of great systems in other countries.......and don't start with Canada, I've heard, first hand how great that is.

[Common Sense Al]

Still waiting for all those examples of great systems in other countries.......and don't start with Canada, I've heard, first hand how great that is.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Heal ... th_systems

Why Switzerland Has the World's Best Health Care System

The performance of Switzerland is even more impressive when you consider how fiscally stable it is. The Swiss system, called Santésuisse, is striking in its differences to ours. Government spending on health care in Switzerland is only 2.7 percent of GDP, by far the lowest in the developed world. By contrast, in 2008, U.S. government spending on health care was 7.4 percent of GDP. If the U.S. could move its state health spending to Swiss levels, it would save more than $700 billion a year.

Despite this apparent stinginess, the Swiss have achieved universal coverage for all its citizens. The Swiss have access to the latest technology, just as Americans do, and with comparably low wait times for appointments and procedures. And the Swiss are among the healthiest people on earth: while life expectancy is not the ideal proxy for overall health, nor of a health care system’s performance, life expectancy for a Swiss citizen on his 65th birthday is second only to that of Japan’s.

Plenty more if you take the time to do a Google search... but I assume it will all be a waste of time for me to try to repeat it here (I'm sure it will go in one eye and out the other).

[skiing1974]

interesting to notice who gets the biggest bang for the buck and who gets the smallest!

[Common Sense Al]

Congrats Texas! Congrats Texas politicians! Congrats opponents of healthcare reform and opponents of expanding coverage!

Texas health-care quality is worst in the nation, according to federal study

Texas’ health care quality was rated the worst in the nation in the federal government’s annual nationwide health-care report card based on data collected by the federal Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

The recently released study is based on 155 quality measures, including success of preventative care measures, disparities in treatment among different ethnic groups and the effectiveness and cost of care for patients with chronic or terminal conditions such as diabetes and cancer.

Texas’ rating, which was influenced in part by the fact that the state has the highest rate of uninsured people in the country, should be a call for improvement.

[FM7]

Not according to the CBO... in fact, the opposite. Don't listen to GOP propaganda.

What am I missing? This is from the CBO. 1.5 trillion increase in costs partially offset by 0.4 trillion in penalties and taxes for a 1.1 trillion net cost. How that decreases the deficit I don't know.

http://www.cbo.gov/sites/default/files/ ... imates.pdf

[Common Sense Al]

What am I missing? This is from the CBO. 1.5 trillion increase in costs partially offset by 0.4 trillion in penalties and taxes for a 1.1 trillion net cost. How that decreases the deficit I don't know.

http://www.cbo.gov/sites/default/files/ ... imates.pdf

You're missing the full truth.

You must have missed this part:

CBO and JCT have previously estimated that the ACA will, on net, reduce budget deficits over the 2012–2021 period; that estimate of the overall budgetary impact of the ACA has not been updated.

Also see: Health Care Costs Didn’t Double

Once everything is factored in, CBO has estimated that the law would reduce the federal deficit by $210 billion over the 2012-2021 period (see Table 1, page 2).

Reducing budget deficits (on net) while insuring millions more and providing lots of consumer protections sounds pretty good to me... much better than stuff the GOP offers (mostly tax cuts for the wealthy and more spending, but on stuff they want to spend money on instead of stuff Dems want to spend money on). Don't forget the GOP is no more fiscally responsible than the Dems, even though they go around claiming it constantly. Saying it doesn't change their record.

[Common Sense Al]

Wow... Perry really is nuts...

Perry: Texas will not expand Medicaid or set up a state run exchange

I think it's all about defeating Obama to him, and his own personal problem with PRIDE... who cares that Texas is #1 in uninsured and that these exchanges are a place that fosters COMPETITION and helps MORE PEOPLE GET INSURED?

I guess the feds will have to come in and run the exchange.

[FM7]

Increases government spending but will reduce the deficit. I can also read Al, but they don't explain how that happens....