| Obama's Health-Care Plan: Doctors debate pros and cons |
Our universal health-care debate is the most popular article on our Web site—and there’s quite a continuing debate in the comments section. Now that Barack Obama is looking to implement universal health care, we contacted our debaters for a follow-up. This time, we asked, assuming a universal plan will happen, is President Obama headed in the right direction? According to Obama's Web site, as accessed in March 2009, some of the things his plan includes are:
The costs, says the site, will come from “rolling back the Bush tax cuts for Americans earning more than $250,000 per year and retaining the estate tax at its 2009 level.” In response to Obama’s first State of the Union speech, Louisiana's governor Bobby Jindal said: Republicans … stand for universal access to affordable health-care coverage. What we oppose is universal government-run health care. Health-care decisions should be made by doctors and patients, not by government bureaucrats. We believe Americans can do anything, and if we put aside partisan politics and work together, we can make our system of private medicine affordable and accessible for every one of our citizens. Our debaters wrote their arguments in early March. Details, such as Gov. Sebelius’s status (which Dr. Whelan mentions) may have changed by the time you read this. So what's the answer? We asked two experts: Assuming a universal plan will happen, is President Obama’s headed in the right direction? Here's their take. You can get in on the debate here .
Yes
The Obama health-care plan is headed in a positive direction by all historic indicators. It began with February’s expansion of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program after years of failure, providing insurance to millions of additional vulnerable children. Then, the passage of the economic stimulus bill helped states maintain current levels of care for their poorest citizens. Now, a new secretary, Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, with a dedicated commitment to the common good has been nominated. The administration has undertaken a summit at the White House to explore all the possibilities, with four particularly key objectives. The first is finding ways to insure every American. At a time of foreclosures and job losses, the last worry anyone needs is whether they can get thoughtful care with appropriate follow-up if an emergency befalls them. Current law provides for continued insurance under COBRA if a job is lost, but this is incredibly expensive for families—particularly if someone has no job. But SCHIP expansion aside, more than 40 million people still have no insurance. A second objective has been transparency, so the remarkably expensive enterprise of medical care doesn’t become a new pork barrel of inefficiency. This leads to the third goal: cost efficiency. Tremendous efficiencies are possible because they are currently being achieved by our economic competitors around the world. Increased health-care efficiencies were probably the leading engine for the economic expansion during the 1990s. The United States currently has the developed world’s most inefficient system, costing more than twice as much as other systems while performing poorly on many health indices. Thus, a fourth goal is heightened quality, like that supported by the significantly expanded medical research in the stimulus bill. Better health, after all, is a goal shared by everyone, and Obama has moved us a giant step closer by forcefully articulating these four objectives.
No
President Barack Obama’s health-care plan at best is not reform at all, and at worst will expand the poorest performing segments of our health-care system and further erode what little choice currently exists at the individual patient and provider level. “Universal health-care coverage,” according to the president’s plan, would be largely driven by enrollment in public programs, such as Medicaid and SCHIP, in which the government sets benefit levels and provider reimbursement rates. Being nominally “covered” in a public health insurance program is of little value if prohibitively low reimbursement rates and administrative hassles prevent physicians from accepting you as a patient. Although the patient is the central figure and the key decision maker in the health-care system, the president’s plan unfortunately appears to continue the paternalistic view that government, not the individual patient, should decide the value of health-care services. Individual patients, regardless of income level, are capable of making appropriate decisions about their own health care, given the proper incentives. Giving patients ownership of their health-care resources and choice over how those resources will be spent will also increase the demand for transparency about the cost and quality of services.
Ultimately, the goal of real reform should be for the government to stop trying to design and operate public health-insurance plans and instead focus on providing disadvantaged individuals with the necessary funds to buy into the same system that everyone else uses.
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Last updated and/or approved: December 2009.
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Comments (63)
  written by Hannah , February 25, 2010 Putting the responsibilties in the government's hands are insanely stupid and dangerous. The people should choose wheather or not they want health insurance. And also, people who are desperate and doesn't care about other people's needs will highly take advantage of this. The waits for seeing the doctor would increase and we'd have to have the doctor's get paid more obviously. If they are doing twice as much work as they used to, what's the point of keeping the same salary? People need to start thinking. Get out of here. report abuse
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 written by CAH , February 24, 2010 It sounds like you are just settling with the first idea that comes across the board, if it is not what the people want then why should we pass it. You don't make sense. Yes something does need to happen, but not this and we should never settle for what seems okay, think of what we are doing to our country. report abuse
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 written by tom , January 31, 2010 I am going to be 70 years of age. My father used to say that the doctors make too much money! Then he started having big problems. He started to see doctors and as he got better & better, his attitude toward them changed to "They earn every god-damned penny they make and then some!! Personally speaking, I would rather have a doctor operate on me than a professional athlete, unless he is a professional doctor also. report abuse
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 written by JackT , January 03, 2010 First of all whoever said canadian health care is good is obviously wrong, and if you do believe that then stay in YOUR COUNTRY. Don't come to America to get worked on. Because we have better doctors, medicine....... and a lot more. Maybe you think your health care is so great and wonderful but seriously its not. Free health care is so dificult meaning yes its cheap obviously but YOUR DOCTORS SUCK. So in the long run you either have cheap and crappy care or... great doctors who have been educated properly. I went to Canada for a skiing trip and i broke my hand and DO YOU KNOW WHAT THEY SAID : "its very hard to tell which bone is broken" but THEY GAVE ME A FULL CAST. Its more like wtf who are you ? A doctor seriously. Well to move on Obama opened a door so we can dicuss it but for my life I would not pass the 1200 page crap for anything. So thank you Obama for doing that, but thats it :). Why I wouldnt pass it because the Government doesn't make up this country. The PEOPLE DO. But apparently Obama doesnt recognize the other 3 billion people in this country , because if he did he wouldnt want to become a communist country. Because that is exactly what he wants in his health care plan. Meaning he wants the government to tell you what you should get in terms of health. That has always been a peoples decision but obviously its not anymore. report abuse
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 written by JJ , January 01, 2010 There have been great points put across by many people. Up until now I have been completely against Obama's plan and now I stand on neutral ground. Here is why... Do I think that we need to insure all AMERICANS... YES!!! Do I think that Obama's plan was the direction we should take...Not really, but something needed to happen and up to this point, he is the only one that has made something happen. Everyone complains about how this is not the direction we should be going with health care, problem is that NO ONE ELSE has given a better option or any other option at that. I personally think that the problem lies with Insurance companies and ridiculous amounts of money gotten through lawsuits (can anyone say tort reform!). Do I think that doctors should be sued.. NO, (although there may be the occasional need due to negligence) they are still HUMAN and prone to HUMAN ERROR. I don't think that one person should get rich off another person's mistake. Another point to think about... I have talked to many older experienced doctors in the field of medicine and inquired about their salaries over the last 10 years, they all said it is been cut in half and continues to drop... That's funny doctors are charging more but getting paid less??????? Where is the money going? Insurance companies (malpractice), hospital charges (CEO's need there 500,000 bonuses at Christmas right), drug and equipment reps (some Orthopedic Reps are pulling in 7 figures... more than most doctors... that's strange). There are many other people who are taking the money that the doctors are charging. So in defense of Doctors, of which I am aspiring to become, they are far from the problem, they are just mixed in the middle of it and are the easiest targets. Do I support Obama's bill, if it will get our out of control health care system into check.... Absolutely! report abuse
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 written by Smarter than Manu , December 14, 2009 Dude, you need to work on your spelling. I don't trust anyone who can't spell "loser" and all the other misspelled words you typed. I also seriously doubt you read the whole bill as well. report abuse
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 written by Manu , November 08, 2009 Some of you people are straight up IDIOTS!!! You don't even read the full bill/plan that Obama wants to put in practice and you are willing to sigh your life on it! First of all Obama is the biggest idiot i've ever seen and he doesn't have a clue about conducting a country like ours! He hasn't done anything use full since he has set foot in that office and he wants to pass this health care plan that will ruin America just to get his name out there, that he accomplished something! WOW!! what a looser!.... and many of you guys out there are even worse than him! You have to be the stupidest fool in the universe to agree with "Obama's" health care before you acctually read and understand the full 1200 pages of the bill!!! Well, with that being said im not worried for now because i know for sure the bill will not pass! Nobody wants it exept for the low class people that are too lazy and dumb to get their own insurance!...I know it will not pass since most of the people in congress and in the senate disagree and a lot of those people are democrats! At least they have a tiny piece of brain left! report abuse
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 written by Julia , November 04, 2009 some of you need to think about the 45000 people who die from no health insurance including the 13 from 9/11 who weren't covered either and stop praising the doctors! they know the challenges! remember their not dumb! report abuse
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 written by Paulo , September 30, 2009 In response to Obama’s first State of the Union speech, Louisiana's governor Bobby Jindal said: "Republicans … stand for universal access to affordable health-care coverage. What we oppose is universal government-run health care. Health-care decisions should be made by doctors and patients, not by government bureaucrats. We believe Americans can do anything, and if we put aside partisan politics and work together, we can make our system of private medicine affordable and accessible for every one of our citizens." Well, that's a well 'phrased' statement, but the reality is that Doctors and Patients currently do not make their own decisions when it comes to health care, but the Health care Insurance Company makes the decision for the Doctor and the Patient... Obama's Health care Reform is a great idea and should be followed, I have been in Health care for 14 years and it has been getting worse, to put it in layman terms, the Doctor prescribes one thing(IE, a soft Knee Brace, walker) and the insurance company states they will only cover this other thing(IE: a hard knee brace, crutch), they constantly pay for something lesser then what the doctor prescribed or they do not cover what the Doctor prescribed, so hopefully this would put the insurance companies back in check. If you are concerned about the 'wait' times at hospitals and doctors, just switch doctors or hospitals, currently, without this reform it is just as bad or worse, there are month wait times for serious procedures, example, I pay privately now for my services since I decided it is cheaper then paying for insurance, my wife was pregnant, in order to be seen by the local hospital for the first prenatal visit they wanted her to see them in 4 months... .. .. .. what the hell is that? So what did I do? I called every single hospital/Prenatal Doctor around the area until one could see her within the month and I found it. The pregnancy costs me $25k out of pocket, which in the long run is cheaper then paying for insurance(considering the premiums, copays, deductibles, wait times, etc). There is always going to be wait times, with or without health care, it's just a matter of Hospital, Doctors, Clinics, etc to take more responsibility to prioritize. IE: Who should I see first the person with the stuffy nose, or the person who is laying dying in the waiting room, hmm I think a hospital recently made the mistake of picking the person with the runny nose recently right? Well that's a different subject and I just wish people would be logical in their thinking and see that Health care Reform is what this country needs, and it is not fair to compare it to Universal Health care in other countries. It's sort of like you take two people, give them each $1000, one makes that $1000 into $4000 the other one comes back to ask for more because they 'lost' their $1000. You do not know if something or someone will be successful unless giving it the proper chance. We already tried with our current health care system and it does not work, it is not working, it is crippling. So, I say Obama's Health care Reform is a WIN WIN. report abuse
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 written by Dr. Streiland , September 23, 2009 Current health insurance and medical bill costs are ludicrous. I have been needing to go to the doctor for some serious medical issues for some time now, but am unable to afford it. To say health care reform is needed would be a gross understatement. But government run health care is NOT THE ANSWER !! Change is most definitely needed, but this isn't it. Time to go back to the drawing board and do what our tax dollars pay you to do. Whatever happened to 'Keep your laws off my body'? Read.... Educate yourself on all the facts... and for the love of God.... Think people. report abuse
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 written by CkELLY , September 23, 2009 I think it is awesome that everyone belives this! Something to think about as we circle the drain of socialism is this: Most other "developed nations" do not have public media. Thats right folks! Our friendly neighbor to the north doesnt even have it! All information leaving those nations is gvmt censored. So do you really believe those statistics? report abuse
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 written by MS , September 22, 2009 I am still wading through the myriad "facts", but I have yet to hear a winning argument. I think part of the problem here is that everyone wants this to be a yes or no, right or wrong, black or white issue. Its just not that simple. Some doctors are overpaid, some are not. Some doctors put patients first, some don't. Some insurance companies can be pretty shady, some are on the up and up. History suggests that this nation has the ability to be extremely innovative. We need to call upon that ingenuity now. What is being missed is that Obama has opened a door that until now has been locked and sealed. It just might prove to be benficial for us to slow down, put the politics aside and really explore this thing. Perhaps its too early to take this to the Senate. There are many universal health care programs in the world now, and if we, dare I say it, research and educate ourselves on what has worked and not worked in those programs, we might be able to come up with something that benefits as many as possible. I don't think anything should be forced down anyones throat either, but the fact is Washington has ignored the people's cries for real change in area of health care for so long that shoving a plan down the throats of the people has started to sound like a good idea to many. I believe most American's can agree that a change needs to happen, and Lord knows that we as a nation screw up from timt to time. Let's stop being afraid to fail, abandon the all or nothing menatality and start moving in a new, hopefully possitive direction. report abuse
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 written by JamesD , September 22, 2009 Screw the doctors and the insurance companies, all they seem to have is thier profits in thier best interest, does anybody look at thier medical bills? i got seen by an er doctor last year, the emergency room cost was 150 bucks, and the physicians cost was over 400 dollars, FOR 2 MINUTES OF HER TIME?!?!?!? It's ridiculous, there needs to be caps on what physicians and surgeons can charge for different procedures, if a doctor or surgeon works at a hospital then they hospital pays them a SALARY. This is what the cleveland clinic does and that is why they are able to offer world renounced care at the same cost regular hospitals charge. The reform needs to start with the hospitals and the insurance companies, they have been over charging us for medical care for way too long. You don't become a doctor to get rich, you become a doctor to help people. I agree they deserve a nice salary but what they charge for certain things is absolutely ridiculous, and they get away with it because they charge the ins. comapany, which in turn jacks up our rates to unaffordable levels. QUIT BEING SO F****** GREEDY!!!! Some of you doctors out there literally MAKE me sick just thinking about you. ---- Editor's note: Comment edited for language (stars added). Please see our comment policy: http://familydoctormag.com/comment-policy.html . Thank you for commenting. We understand this is a heated debate. report abuse
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 written by Anonymous , September 21, 2009 Physicians go to school for OVER 30 years - More than 1/3rd thier entire life just so they can get paid THAT salary. Not many people are that intelligent, dedicated and devoted. Now just because some imbecile dropped out of high school or college doesn't mean the PHYSICIANS have to take the blow for it. This is garbage, if you don't want to pay the health bill, DON'T GET SICK, or move to another country. I might sound heartless, but such is life. It is not the physicians fault that your bad genes made your son have a congenital birth defect. That being said if YOU had the dedication and intelligence they have, why aren't YOU in a career field that can pay the bills? Look at it from the doctors point of view - 1/3rd of their life, gone. report abuse
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 written by Randy Savage , September 21, 2009 Barack i love your stuff, But beyonce's was the best ever. report abuse
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 written by TALENA , September 21, 2009 yes to everyone having health care!i loss my job and don't have it nor does my kids .HOW CAN I TELL MY TEN YEAR OLD SON THAT HE MAY DIE BECAUSE HE CAN'T GO TO THE DOCTOR BECAUSE OF HIS BAD HEART??? PLEASE TELL ME HOW!!! report abuse
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 written by Jason MBA, CFA, CRPC, APA, P.A , September 02, 2009 I have noticed that a lot of the issues surrounding this topic are cost, and what’s in it for me. I realize that it is truly not fair that I, a hard working citizen, that took out loans for college and bought a home with my own money, and pay my taxes on time, should not be punished by added taxation. However, I feel those of us that make above 250k and have PPO and see the best Doctors almost always forget where we came from. Do you believe that one person you knew should have died because he/she couldn’t pay or afford health insurance? I agree that Doctors are over worked and under paid, but some, seem not to remember the Oath that was taken that day they decided to become a life saver. We speak of immigrants as if all of us are not, just because I am white of native Irish and Spanish decent does not make it right. So I guess my immigrant family should not be allowed to get health care. Folks lets wake up and be a little more educated about the items we cover. Forensic science has taught us we are all connected. Let’s not bring the immigrant card up because everyone deserves to live. Unless, you are a native born American Indian you yes you, you little blue eye tan skin or dark skinned black eyed friend are an immigrant. Must we cover the basics? Obama’s reform will eventually get these worthless insurance companies out and create a more positive experience for all. It’s no secret that these insurance companies are worried and dumping millions into private party’s hands in order for there to be a revolution against. Gosh it’s ridiculous. Well that means I have to pay more in taxes to save a life that made a mistake, let’s do it! Its funny to call yourself a Christian Right Wing Conservative when there is absolutely no practice of the Christian side. Thanks report abuse
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 written by DJ , September 02, 2009 The fact that people want to have healthcare is great but we already have medical and medicare that is not being funded enough already for people that do deserve not illegal immigrants if people deserve the health care and actually need the help that is fine but our government should not be putting regulations on our health care making us pay more taxes, we believe in this country that everyone has the opportunity to rise to the top of making money should they be punished for someone who has not worked as hard as another citizen if i was that person i wouldn't want to be them barely making over 250k having to pay more taxes for someone who decided not to go to college and this talk that doctors do not get paid enough is ridiculous think about what doctors have to go through to become a doctor many years of school and then the training they going through your body to help you become healthier because you decided to pay for this to make you live, if anything they are not getting paid enough for all the things they do and the way they discover cures for diseases, it is ignorant to say they get paid way to much Obama's healthcare plan will do some good things and will do some bad things but ask the canadians why they come to the U.S. for surgeries because they are denied in Canada for being an elder which is the worst thing to deny someone of the health because of their age, it is fine to deny someone if they have a smoking addiction or drinking problem because they will probably just go back to drinking and smoking after there surgery anyways The only way to be healthier is just living a healthier life instead of being another part of the overweight statistic or obese, if you work on staying in shape you wont be wasting your money on the doctors office but if you stay in shape anyways and keep your body in shape your still going to pay for you healthcare and tax's on other citizens healthcare which is wrong. Think about if your in good shape and do everything write and this other person isn't, why should you be forking over your money to them to get better when there just going to be going back to the habits of not eating well if its liposuction or if its smoking or drinking they go back to it most of the time. I do not think it is worth wasting are money on, to help people who are not going to change and go back to there old ways. report abuse
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 written by jj , August 25, 2009 I haven't had money for insurance for several years. I make just over the minimum amount for medicaid and just last year I had a heart attack and had to go to the hospital. After my heart attack my health bill was over 10,000 and the hospital would NOT work out any sort of payment arrangements with me. I had no option but to file bankruptcy. Free healthcare is the smartest option out there and many of the people who disagree only do so because they already have health coverage and don't have anything at all to worry about. Money is very hard to come by these days and everyone has the right to live. No one should die simply because they don't make enough to afford the expensive doctors who have become less concerned with their patients and more concerned with their fat paychecks. report abuse
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 written by Charles w , August 14, 2009 One big ? everyone is so aganst it but fact is health care cost right now is out the ruff my father died cause his health care plan from his job of 20yrs did cover him and he paid over 400 monthly 20% of his monthly income, where was all u nay sayers hmm i cant hear ya speak up, now u have someone that wants to either lower cost or give us option and the best u can do is say well it will put us in debut hello folks we was in debut since this country was founded and the was did a good job of that. come on folks open yo eyes and put the hate away.. report abuse
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 written by Theresa , August 10, 2009 First of all, the health insurance carriers are running everything in the medical world. People who pay monthly premiums continually see the premiums raised and the benefits decreased. Compare what you pay yearly for premiums, copays and deductibles to the amount you would spend with a "self pay" discount. Is it worth it? The only reason I continue to pay is for the catastrophic emergency! Health Insurance Carriers make contract deals with health care providers to get higher discounts for the supposed "how many people" will be going to their facility due to being a "network provider". We wonder why the hosptials are always in the red! It's the Blue Cross, United and every other health insurance making the profits, not the health care providers. And we're being robbed. Funny that (Cecilia's quote)"Congress has exempted themselves and all federal employees from the plan they are developing for us. They should be required to use the plan so that their own interest is tied to our interests." What's good for the people should be good for the GOVERNMENT and if it's not good for government then its not good for the people. We are supposed to be the voice for the government. report abuse
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 written by L. E. Lago , August 10, 2009 Mr. Williamson With all your respect I disagree with you on one thing and agree with you on the rest. You seem to know a lot about illegal people, just because you don’t like illegal people does not mean they are not people. This nation is a nation of people who came here illegally and took possession of the land by force. This nation is a nation of immigrants. I was once an illegal immigrant, now I am a person who helps this nation by taking criminals out of the streets, and founder of a church and rehabilitation center in California (Legally). Illegal people pay taxes and do not get them back, they spend money and purchase cars, homes, and start their own business in this country to try to make a living without healthcare. Some of them work with fake identifications and can not get their tax money back. They make this nation stronger by providing low cost labor. The health care issue is not coming from illegal people. The health care issue is like you said from the government not putting a cap on the prices, and not having laws that allow preconditions to be accepted. report abuse
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 written by Anne , August 09, 2009 Why is it people are so afraid of change? Our system of medicine is not working. It is getting more and more expensive and something needs to be done. President Obama has not said we'd have health care like Canada, but too many people aren't listening. They continue to believe in fear tactics. There's an old expression, "There but for the grace of God go you and I." At any time, any one of us may be out of work. At any time, any one of us might find ourselves needing expensive health care. Something needs to be done so we don't lose all of our assets to pay for the health care. Please live with an open mind and inform yourselves. report abuse
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 written by alan , August 08, 2009 either have universal health care or don't. people went to the u.s. to escape poverty (my ancestors too !). perhaps once people get rich there is an unconcious fear of loosing that back to the 'poor'. from here the u.s.psyche seems to fear(hate) the 'poor'. somehow, they 'deserve it', 'have not worked hard enough', 'are lazy','want to take our wealth from us', etc. etc. lets remember that laissez faire capitalism is alive, greedy, and as paranoid as ever. most of the prime european countries have good health care systems and do not bankrupt those on good incomes. its time to stop being naive- good social policies aid a people, not lessen them. oh yeh, kay is right, leave off the doctors wages, they earm them, however most doctors over here will earn much more than $100,000 p.a.- working for the state !! report abuse
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 written by carlos , August 05, 2009 it's not the doctor's or the families who make the dissions now it's the insurance company's that make them for us even thou we pay there premum we still don't get the covrage and we get dropped or they increase the prem. i was once covered but they did not cover me. report abuse
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 written by Kay , July 31, 2009 This is a ridiculous statement. DO you realize what type of schooling and training and a doctor endures to realize his/her career goal? Do you realize the debt they incur? Do you realize anything? Doctors get paid far less than successful business people, and much much less than celebrities (who do nothing but entertain). Many of whom spent a quarter of the time and less than 1/2 the money on education. The average family practice physician is paid just over $100,000 a year. The average general surgeon is paid just over twice that. These people are helping to SAVE your life! They are doing a service that is highly demanding, stressful and they are in constant threat of a lawsuit. They also pay hundreds of thousands of dollars for malpractice insurance and are going to be taxed heavily for the new OBAMA plan. Don't make such lofty judgments on what physicians should be paid. It is going to be a SCARY place when we have a shortage of good doctors bc they won't be paid what they are worth and they won't want to deal with such an ungrateful patient base! What a silly, ignorant comment. report abuse
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 written by Cecilia , July 29, 2009 Congress has exempted themselves and all federal employees from the plan they are developing for us. They should be required to use the plan so that their own interest is tied to our interests. I would like to see what they develop in that case! report abuse
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 written by S C Williamson , July 24, 2009 I'm so sick of this. All this is going to do is make it so that 12 mil illegals will get free health care, oh wait they get that already! Raise the tax's or cut tax benefits on those who make over 250k a year (last I checked making below 500k a year isn't rich!) which will in turn cause us to pay more out of pocket for those products and services they provide because they have to make up the money some where. And make it possible for those who live off wellfare because they don't want to make an effort in life to continure to do so! We already have state sponsored health insurance for children and the elderly, so its not like they can't get health care for FREE!!! The problem is the parents of those children or even adults who aren't parents. And I'm sorry but that doesn't make up 50 mil people, unless you are considering the illegals in that. If you want to make it so that people can't be turned away for pre-existing conditions then pass a law or something that keepst he insurance companies from doing so. If the problem is that it is too high, then put a cap on it, like they should do for baseball!! Yes there are benefits to socialistic health care, minor ones mind you. But what are willing to loose in its place? Yeah I'd LOVE to not being paying $160 every two weeks for my health insurance, especially when it goes up ever year by at least $10 and benefits seem to not change or go down. But who's fault is that? Governments for not regulating? Illegals who are driving up the cost of medical care? I mean really, there are ways of fixing the problems without the government owning one more thing in our lives! They will bankrupt the insurance companies doing this as well! Well, I've ranted long enough I guess, I just can't believe so many are falling for this type of "change"!!! report abuse
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 written by Jack , July 21, 2009 Canada's health care is bad! Europe's health care is bad! Money is good! Illegals are bad! Government is bad! Fire the democrats! Long live Conservative Republicans! Republicans are dumb! Obama is awesome! Health care is free! Don't believe the lies! Won't someone care for the children?! Government is awesome! Long live the Liberal Democrats! If you think you have the best health care provider there is, you're absolutely blind. If you think it can't get a whole lot worse, you're also drinking the kool-aid. Yes, our health care can get a lot worse. Yes, our health care can get a lot better. The real problem, it's about to do both, and no one wants to pay for any of it. You don't want higher taxes, but you're okay with mediocre care. You have no care, and you want everyone else to pay for it. Basically, one option screws over anyone but you, and the other option makes you invest into something you want no part in because you have no faith in its potential to work. Once people get it in their heads that everything is interconnected, they'll realize the bigger picture. Health care is so expensive because we are a fatty fat nation. When people have (on average) more self-induced injuries (malnourishment, cancer, stress, car-accidents, marrying cousins) than any other nation, yes, your health care will be expensive. What needs to happen? Be less greedy, be more physically active, take charge of your own life, and have a job that pays well. All of these things will help health care go down, be less expensive/more affordable and cover more people. All of that pushed aside, doctors get paid WAAAY too much, drug companies are sucking the life-blood out of too many Americans, and politicians are in the pockets of big business. Don't believe me? Look at campaign contributions. That'll show you all the figures you need to know. Just because America's health care is better doesn't make it respectable. It's just better. However, it's only better for those wealthy enough to afford it. And sorry, conservative republicans, we're all not a part of white America. And sorry, liberal democrats - no one cares if you want health care. Conclusion? Live a healthier life and you'll pay less. Period. report abuse
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 written by Laura R. , June 15, 2009 I lived in Canada for 12 years and still have family living there. Universal health care is fine if you have a stuffy nose, but if you have something more serious, you are out of luck. My cousin went to the emergency room and her next appointment after it was ONE MONTH LATER. She makes appointments to see doctors and has to wait 8 months. All the while, she suffers in pain. Another example, my mother told me of her friend, who's father had cataracts and needed surgery. He had to wait 9 months before being admitted, all the while not able to drive or do anything. As far as CAT scans and other imaging, these are extra money. If you want those, the patient must pay extra - $ 600.00 extra. This is on top of all the VAT 20% taxes you already pay for for every single thing you purchase in Canada. If Universal health care is enacted, Americans who live healthy lives will wind up with worse coverage, worse service and worse benefits, and will have to pay higher taxes and pick up the bill for those who don't take care of themselves. Infact, government intervention of what Americans can and can not eat, how much they exercise, etc. would be right around the corner. They already deny benefits in Britain for people who leasd unhealthy lives. Take a look at this link. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1576704/Dont-treat-the-old-and-unhealthy-say-doctors.html Obama has already discussed reducing medicare and medicaid payments by $200 billion (over 10 years) to the already financially ailing hospitals. He also wants to reduce the number of CAT scans and imaging machines used by doctors when these tests save lives! What else is next? I don't want the government making decisions regarding my health. report abuse
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 written by Anna , June 15, 2009 Yes our health care system needs major work, but not by our government. Talk to people from Canada who thought this was a good idea. Like Marilyn stated, "The Canadians come here for operations." Actually they come here for far more health care than just operations. Where will we go if our government does that to us? report abuse
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 written by Allen McQuarrie , June 07, 2009 Market forces have increased the cost and lowered the quality of healthcare in the United States. Managed care promised benefits have not been fulfilled. On the contrary, every criticism of government sponsored healthcare is true of private insurance. It is difficult to see your doctor. Doctor's authorization and designation of healthcare is either preempted or mitigated by insurance company practices. Gatekeepers wield criteria that trump valid justifications for treatment to the detriment of patients. By almost every indicator, other industrial nations outperform the United States. False information is fed to the public arguing otherwise ignoring independent research. The insurance industry has had sufficient time to lower costs and increased quality and access but has not done so. report abuse
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 written by marilyn , May 11, 2009 Want the government to take care of your health care. Some of the biggest crooks are in the government. They dip into everything. When you finally get approval to have a operation 2 or 3 months later, they will say there's no money, like social security , it went bankrupt. Guess where the money went. There has to be a alternative. How would you feel if a illegal got a operation before you. Think about it. There is 72 milliom that is missing from the last bill that was passed. Say no to universal health care. The Canadians come here for operations. report abuse
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