~~By InsightAnalytical-GRL
…And that may be Democratic Congress Critters and THE ONE?
Whither True Health Care Reform?
Let’s see…this morning on NPR I heard about Massachusetts “Walmart” of health plans…where, in a half hour, you could compare loads of health care plans and enroll…VOILA! Just like that!! (Assuming you have the cash…)
Of course, the Federal version being debated in conference would provide so much more, looking more like what’s up on the Medicare site…the one that is so full of wonderful plans for medical and prescription insurance that you can’t compare any of it easily and which leaves you unsure of what the differing costs will actually be! The current idea being dealt with in conference will be much better than that in Massachusetts because you’ll be able to plug in your scenario (Example used: “Hey, I think I might get breast cancer”) and shop for a plan specific to your worries…although, when you DO get cancer, who know what will happen!! Of course, the debate is over this provision’s “mandate-iness”–let’s see, if it’s left up to the states and you’re in a Republican state, the odds are YOU WON’T HAVE ACCESS TO THIS catalog of health care plans!!
(This was part of a bigger story about how union leaders don’t want their “negotiated for pay cuts/freezes” “Cadillac health plans” taxed…and they marched over to the White House to inform THE ONE that they couldn’t guarantee union votes during the midterms…Reality bites!)
Of course, the single payer option is gone already…
Now, I’m seeing reports that the EMPLOYER MANDATE for large companies to insure their workers may be gone, too?**
Now, what does that leave???
Not a helluva lot, as far as I can see! The same Swiss cheese non-system we’ve got, only more expensive, most likely, especially, if the expert I heard is right, not having a nationwide availability of the “shopping mall” for health care will definitely NOT help drive down costs…and, of course, health care shoppers will be left to the political winds even though there will be some vague business in the provision about the the Feds will be able to step in if the states don’t do things right…which, probably wouldn’t happen, from what I gather, as the Feds are apparently shy of doing such things.
Disgusting. A majority in both Houses, frittered away for WHAT????????
Foreign visitors to this blog must be wondering what the hell gives with health care in the U.S. Well, let me inform you, that it’s just a political football whose prime requirement involves making a buck for companies that lobby. In other words, it’s not for people!!
**This headline and a pic of Nancy Pelosi and a couple of others appeared on the Comcast.net front page about 5 pm MT…when I went back to grab it…it was GONE!
UPDATE: The story is not on the front page, but is showing up at the bottom of the email section. It’s an AP story, which means linking to it is forbidden.
Link to the NPR story:
To Critics, Cadillac Tax Looks Like a Yugo
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tagged: Barack Obama, Cadillac health plans, Congress, Democratic majority in Congress, Democrats, health care employer mandates for large companies, health care reform, Massachusetts health care plan, Medicare, Nancy Pelosi, single payer system, Walmart, workers' unions |
InsightAnalytical -- Watching Our World 
There is so much wrong with this “health care” bill — that it would take a book to just skim the high (low) points.
http://blogs.ngm.com/.a/6a00e0098226918833012876a6070f970c-800wi
needs to go on every blog.
The US is number 1 — well rah rah NOT.
$7290 — is what is spent on health care per year per person (and 43 million don’t even have health care insurance).
Mexico spends $823 per person and not everyone has Health Care Insurance. The Life expectancy of the US and Mexico is not that far apart — US — about 78 and Mexico 75 years.
The UK had the Average — with 2,$992 spent on Health care per person and a life expectancy at birth of 79.2 years.
My friends from the UK tell me that their health care is just fine — that they can get into see the doctor without a long wait. They can purchase insurance in case they want to cover their bases and get faster care — but generally this insurance is more peace of mind than necessary.
Canada health care coverage cost $3,895 per person per year. Their life expectancy is about 80.6 years (compared to 78 in the US).
The gap between Switzerland ($4,417) and the US ($7,290) is a whopping $2872.
In the US we know that some people are paying for their Health Insurance out of their own pockets.
The huge gap between the US and the next closest country is so damned huge and it shows us that something is terribly wrong — and it will NOT get better under the 0bamacare B.S. In fact if I were to bet that the gap between Switzerland and the US would get bigger — after 0bamacare is passed — no one would take my bet.
The subject of our lack of health care in the US (few doctor visits — from 0 to 3 on average in the US) fits so nicely with the topic above — namely the plan to encourage people to shift their 401K etc. into annuities — at a time when the interest rate is zero.
It would seem that the plan is to with hold medical care or force people to forgo medical care — so that anyone on Medicare will die of “natural causes” much sooner. I’m expecting that the life expectancy of Americans will decrease rapidly in the next few years, perhaps sink to the life expectancy on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation.
Even if you have insurance, as I do have, it costs a bundle out of your own pocket if you are hit with a serious illness. A long term illness is devastating even with insurance.
I have no faith in any plan that the government comes up with – especially while they are playing footsie with the administration.
Congress is so well covered that they don’t care whether we are or not. It’s the same old same old. I’ve got mine, you can worry about yours.
Neither party is listening to the voters.
Even people who have the high value “health care” insurance often don’t make use of it — because of all the co-pays etc.
From what I’ve been reading if a high tax on the “high value” health care — the expensive health care plans is how the stupids plan to pay for — whatever the hell they are trying to do — then that means that the middle class who have been caught with pre-conditions will be picking up the bill for this mess.
Also it seems to me that there is a deliberate — divide and conquer — as you said — the folks who think they have great health care don’t want to lose their health care. However IF the middle class ends up paying the tax on their health care then the divide between the haves and the have nots will be greater.
Right now there is so much stress and tension — I see people hitting out at the illegal immigrants as the reason for the high cost of health care. The conservatives have found their “other” to hate and to blame. Unfortunately conservatives are being used — I suspect that this hate campaign is being run out of the office of a Health Insurance lobbyist.
What most people don’t realize is that the tax (whatever that ends on taxing) will start right away — but the plans don’t start for a few years — and we don’t know exactly when these “plans” will kick in.
Right now I don’t trust a single politician — not a one. D or R — none of them.