clark005

I like that you have started the engines of change. My advice is to focus on regulation and by God almighty, not the creation of another government agency.

kmalef

until you seat a single payer health representative at the discussion table, I will not donate another penny.

lhodges1062

More Obama CRAP!! I hope the majority of the populace awakens in fime for the 2010 elections so we can begin the cleansing of the Socialists.

mbeychok

756% INCREASED COST IN 3 YEARS !!!! I am an 86 year old WWII veteran (100th Infantry Division). In January 2006, my wife and I signed up for the basic Medicare Prescription Drug Insurance from Humana (one of the providers of that insurance) at a cost of $5.41 per month per person. By January 2009, the monthly cost has risen to $41.90 per person. That is a 756 percent increase in 3 years!! That is not "free market capitalism" ... it is outright "highway robbery" !! We seniors are being abused by such despicable bait-and-switch tactics.

fawls13

Whatever the plan ends up being, one absolute should be included. The legislatures and Executive branch should fall under the same plan as the rest of the people. That might be a good initial requirement to put in place before any tinkering begins. My bet is that they will write themselves out of the plan and create a separate one for themselves.

dgschus

Obama wants to lower costs but will hurt the very providers that deliver care. The cost of medical school is astronomical. The average doctor is well into their 30's by the time they complete residency and have huge loans of up to $250,000. Obama's loan reimbursement assistance asks them to give back even MORE time to public service, which means they will have to forestall their lives in private practice until age 40. And the reimbursement is only partial at that. Starting a practice requires money as well. In the meantime, they have their own bills to pay and kids to raise on a meager salary. Don't forget, too, that doctors incomes have dropped significantly in the past 20 years due to managed care. By accepting insurance, they need to work on volume because the insurance reimbursements are so low. Patients then complain about the lack of time and attention & the government wants care delivered expediently to lower costs. Additionally, Obama's plan will add extra start up costs, if not costs of up to $25,000 to make all records electronic. Who is supposed to absorb those costs? The doctor who already are strapped? Medicine is a business. There is overhead that includes absurd malpractice premiums, employee salaries, costs of their own & employees healthcare coverage, rent, etc. It is a known fact that the country is losing primary care doctors in high percentages because young people know they will not make an adequate living after their investment of time & money if they choose an area will the least payback. You can give universal healthcare to all, but there won't be enough doctors around in the future to provide the care. And if there are, you can be certain the quality will suffer because the best & the brightest will find alternatives to make a living. Doctors are not priests. They have families to support, mortgages to pay and college to save for. If you expect them to give their lives away without adequate compensation to pay back med school loans, start up costs, and malpractice, they will leave as they have already begun to do. Nowadays, there isn't a physician family around who has not deterred their kids from entering the profession. So if you think Obama's plan will provide what you have been accustomed to, think again. Get ready for a two tier system of public healthcare and private out of pocket care. Because the only true good healthcare left will be the one that you will pay for in cash.

fawls13

It always strikes me how the healthcare companies talk about the savings they bring and how the industry is so competitive. At the same time, we are now all aware (if we weren't before) of the complete lack of automation of medical record tracking and maintenance. What competitive industry has not turned to automation as quickly as possible to cut costs and improve efficiency? How many competitive industries have a limited number of players available in any geographic area? How many companies in a competitive environment survive ('survival' also includes merging with other companies or a profitable takeover)? Look at the software industry. How many companies rose and fell in that industry? Look at the innovations wrought by the trucking industry, an incredibly competitive one which has brought breakthroughs in technology from an urgent need for efficiency and cost savings (ironically, many of their costs derive from government taxes and fees...perhaps more lobbyists would be a better investment...). It is an amazing feat that healthcare companies have simultaneously managed to generate profits and pass themselves off as a battered industry. Amazing too, that it has become such a 'complicated' issue that it is now a national debate. Generally when analyzing an issue it is a good idea to trace the problem back to it's cause. That would be a great approach in this case. When did health care costs begin to explode? What was going on in the industry at that time? Were medical staff costs skyrocketing, or were healthcare companies evolving? The true causes of the 'healthcare crisis', the true causes, would be an interesting argument to bring into the discussion.

thelastword

As I sit here pondering how I am going to pay $10,000 for my Kidney operation Jan 7, 2009, Knowing that this is just the beginning., Dialyses is going to cost about $8,000 to $12,000 a week, prescriptions another $1,000 or more I probably won't be able to work my current job much longer. So to me health care cost is of significant importance. I need help, I need affordable health care, and I need common sense fair and balanced fees for my medical expenses. The cost they present to me to stay alive and vibrant to provide for my family and pay just my utilities is almost unbearable leaving me no room for self pity or procrastination. As I sit here and ponder my fate, it almost makes a person contemplate doing something crazy just to survive. Especially when you see drug dealers and corrupt officials living high on the hog... What's an honest man to do? Honestly!

thelastword

As I sit here pondering how I am going to pay $10,00 for my Kidney operation Jan 7, 2009, Knowing that this is just the beginning., Dialyses is going to cost about $8,000 to $12,000 a week, prescriptions another $1,000 or more I probably won't be able to work my current job much longer. So to me health care cost is of significant importance. I need help, I need affordable health care, and I need common sense fair and balanced fees for my medical expenses. The cost they present to me to stay alive and vibrant to provide for my family and pay just my utilities is almost unbearable leaving me no room for self pity or procrastination. As I sit here and ponder my fate, it almost makes a person contemplate doing something crazy just to survive. Especially when you see drug dealers and corrupt officials living high on the hog... What's an honest man to do? Honestly!

cslafavor4553

How do I find out about the committee Obama is setting to discuss healthcare

SirCaresAlot

While national health care is not a simple matter, it is a matter that sometimes can solve simple problems, before they become tragic mistakes. Healthcare always involves people helping people and in that sense its one of the most sensitive areas in the consumer chain of exchange (so to speak), so much so it might need to be considered in quite a different light from other types of services for sale. For instance quality of health care should be considered in terms of the necessary sensitivity and appropriate service in the matter not... the expense, because the end goal is restoration of the person (ie. the end goal, nature, and cause for the effort are exactly the same every time, said restoration/wholeness). There are many other fields where this applies, for instance the educational system where the end goal is the exactly the same for every student (ie. appropriate knowledge), even if they decide in the end the best schooling is none. Historical opportunity costs prove that for some there may have been a benefit from no schooling, but not necessarily for everyone (Even so this is something that results from a persons free will, not neglect.). Because of the number of factors, a one size fits all approach is not always possible or necessary (whether for the personal touch of interaction, or prescription required). However in healthcare for healthcare sake if we detach the need of the individual from the goal of a healthy general public, we find that we are all better off when all of us are treated equally. For instance because a tenant in your building has proper hygiene and has a general community who cares about her/him, there is less of a chance that your mutually shared building will suffer from lice, bed bugs, and cockroaches. I think it is kind of the same with healthcare, the more people that can be helped the better for all. The argument does break down in the case that most things regarding health require a healthy community, and in the exceptional cases which are of aesthetic concern for instance plastic surgery etc. However I think we can agree that community is a shared playing field in most civilizations today (ie. free of cost). Or do you only say please and thank you so that others say please and thank you back? Interesting... I think I would have to agree with Treborrn, in health care bureaucracy is the last thing you need. Precision is penultimate. You would think the scales would tip towards precision, and honor. Of course all are touchy subjects, all subjective, so it is not surprising how easily they get left behind if left only to politicians to conjure (ie. the place where bureaucracy has its defining moments).

Credit Repair

To be able to cope with the economic problems, a strong leadership is one of the things that we should consider in our country. Both in the rumor mill and in press reports, an outline of a strong Obama administration has begun to emerge. Obama wants to know all about you if you plan to work in his cabinet or staff. Makes sense, doesn’t it? If a person is going to fill a high-responsibility position in America’s federal government, it is in the best interests of the nation and its people that the applicant meets all the requirements and qualifications and will not pose a threat in any form. It should be preferable to the position, and absolutely have all the qualities needed. With all the information Obama asks in his seven-page, 63-question application, you would think the administration would have enough to perform credit repair for everyone who applies. CNN reveals a copy of the questionnaire, which requires all applicants to not only thoroughly elucidate everything they’ve done in the last 10 years or more, but also do the same for their spouse. I hope applicants do indeed get the free credit repair as part of the deal. So remember, if you plan on taking part in the Obama-Biden “Change” Administration, you’ve better get to stepping.

TreborRN

I'm a Democrat and an Obama supporter. I'm also a nurse. I'm tired of the garbage, red tape, etc., that costs so much in delivering health care to my patients every day. Medical costs are soaring because there is so much upper management that is necessary to keep up with all of the rules that government lays on us in trying to help the problem without seeing it from our side at all, just making us the enemy. Health Care Professional are made out to be the enemy every time and we are forever having to overcome that with each admission before the patient and family will let us deliver care, time wasted. The only real, humane way to cut health care costs is the shorten stays. NOT pay for shorter stays but actually shorten the stay. Right now, government keeps shortening the days it allows for each illness but expects more to get done, in less time, safer. Get real, and the families can feel that they are getting pushed out. Also, dead people have to be allowed to die. SOMEHOW the health care system needs support from a relief package that allows us to stop pumping life, time, money, and other resources into corpses, literally festering bubbles of jelly who's 7 daughters and 3 sons can't agree on allowing to die humanely so we spend dialysis, blood, wound care, specialty consultants, etc. on, to the tune of $10,000 a day, per person for as long as 20 additional days, prolonging death. It's absolutely preposterous what I do every day because the families aren't told the truth. This is absolutely the rule, it is not the exception. I am not saying to give up on recovering anyone but there is a time when it is obviously time, every day after that raises the cost of care unnecessarily and is inhumane. Lets fix the real problem.

lexxxi

How is the "National Health Insurance Exchange" different than the nationalized medical plans of Castro and Chavez?