I figure either one of two things will happen. Either the US will go to a single payer system, i.e., national health care covering all through federal taxes and cost control by the government, or therre will be an implosion of the private system in x number of years with something different emerging from the ashes.
With the exhorbitant cost of health insurance, mandating coverage is not an answer. Anything can be mandated. The question is how does one pay for it?Massachusetts mandated individual coverage, and already has had to exclude 20% due to the cost of a policy, anywhere from $1,200 to $1,400 a month for family coverage. Employers cannot afford to cover employees either due to the cost of health insurance. The current system? Well, insurance companies can charge $3,000 a month for a health insurance policy, health care providers can charge $800,000 for a 3-day hospital stay, etc. In the end no one, businesses or otherwise, will be able to keep "feeding the beast" and the current system will implode.
I think the proposal of being able to buy into Medicare is a noble one, but president Clinton pushed that years ago, and with much opposition and to no avail at that time.
I don't mean to sound so pessiimistic. Actually I'm not. There are 300 million people in this country, they have the ability to change anything, and hopefully they will take the initial steps to do that in November.
Health insurance
I'm not sure about that specific point, but in her plan if you don't purchase medical insurance your wages will be garnished. How's that for communism?
With health insurance, though
we are all driving basically the same model and we are insuring it for what could possibly happen, not what will or actually does.
Way back in the 1960s when I first started working, my company's health insurance did not cover single women for most 'female' issues, especially birth control and/or pregnancy-related issues, which has since been deemed discriminatory. Now you must cover everyone equally for every contingency.
The only way to individually ajust coverage costs would to be to exclude coverage based on genetic testing and/or family history, or maybe lifestyle issues such as alcohol or tobacco use or risky behavior like sky diving, which consumers have been fighting for years. This would probably also be deemed discriminatory.
MANDATORY HEALTH INSURANCE
You said it so well! It will bring everyone down too. What about more sliding scale clinics? We have one where I live and the care is quite good. They have patients from all income levels. Maybe we should give more tax breaks to those sliding scale clinics and encourage people with good insurance and lots of money to attend those clinics more often in order that others with less can afford decent care. I wish the Clintons would quit trying to force their health care ideas down our throats. Maybe they want us all to be socialists? By the way in case you have not guessed by now I am a Lifelong Republican, soon to be a right wing independent unless Fred or Duncan Hunter win. No one should be "forced" to get health insurance, especially one of the "crap" varieties that you mention in your post.
You view of the dem health insurance is way..sm
too simplistic. The idea is to have people pay what they can afford on a sliding scale for private health insurance. You have your private doctor and everything you have with your insurance now, much like people who have been in Medicaid. The only difference is that Medicaid is for the poorest and is free. The Obama insurance would cost what is a reasonable price based on what you can afford. I am not a know it all about this subject, but this is basically what I understand about it. It would not be run like the VA. I think we should bag the VA from the horrors I have heard about them. For shame treating our veterans like that!
$300 for health insurance is a deal.
cost $1,000 or more a month?
Health insurance premiums, plus their refusal to insure people with preexisting conditions, are becoming prohibitive costwise for many (millions of Americans) to afford.
Though the example you gave may be true for some younger folks, I believe that's the exception and not the rule.
There is a huge crisis in healthcare in this country today. Good for you that you can afford it and just blame everyone else who can't. Maybe someday soon you'll be in the same boat with the 50-odd million Americans who simply can't afford it. Who will you blame then?
indiana has insurance for children
Hoosier Healthwise is a health insurance program for Indiana children, pregnant women, and low-income families. Health care is provided at little or no cost to Indiana families enrolled in the program. The enrolled member chooses a doctor to get regular checkups and health care for illnesses. Other health needs such as prescriptions, dental care, vision care, family planning services, and mental health services are also available as part of the Hoosier Healthwise program.
Health insurance is my number 1 issue
I agree with some of what you said about the state representatives being held accountable. I did vote for Senate candidates in the last election based on their stances on healthcare. One of them has been working tirelessly (with many others) to expand CHIP health insurance to kids to more middle-income children in the state, and he was successful! Now that the income bracket was raised, my 6-year-old has healthcare again, and I am so grateful! (Bush is threatening to veto the legislation that expanded CHIP to more families, though, so I'm praying he does not do that).
I am relatively young (26) and so many of my friends do not vote. I am always encouraging them to do just that (whether they vote Democrat or Republican), and I think if Senate recall (I think that's what you called it) was in place, more of them might vote. For now, we just have to hope they keep their campaign promises in hopes of being re-elected.
I know Congress needs to pass the bills on health insurance, and I know many of the Congressmen (on both sides of the aisle) have been bought and paid for by the insurance companies, and that is very disturbing to me. That's one of the reasons I like Obama so much - I think he is a good man who has not been "bought and paid for" by any big corporations.
I think America needs to cover all medical costs for our children and our elderly, and I hope more Republicans candidates will address that issue. We need to take better care of our most helpless citizens.
That's fine you don't care about the fact that many families are working their fingers to the bone just to pay for necessities, including health insurance, but I do. I care very much and am very sad that so many people in this country only seem to care about children that come from upper middle class and rich families. I guess they deserve better health care than the middle-class kids. I don't know how people that feel that way can go to bed with a clear conscience.
People in Congress that we took the time to elect put a lot of effort into negotiating this bill to make both parties relatively happy. YOU ARE NOT SUPPOSED TO BE TAXED FOR IT. THE CIGARETTE TAX WOULD HAVE GONE UP. Keep telling yourself what you need to tell yourself to sleep at night, but the fact is kids with diabetes from a lower-middle-class income family have less of a chance of surviving than a child from an upper class income family. That is a sad, sad, fact.
• McCain's health care plan will increase taxes on employer-based insurance, and kick 20 million people off the rolls.
• McCain's plan will throw you into the individual market, where the same plan your employer offered will cost $2,000 more, and you can be refused care because you were sick 10 years ago.
• McCain's plan will shift costs onto the sick.
OBAMA:
• Obama's plan will cover tens of millions of Americans and reform the insurance industry such that everyone gets a fair deal and no one can be discriminated against because they were once sick or unlucky.
• It will create a group market that businesses can buy their employees into so that a small business that paints homes doesn't have to run a tiny insurance company on the side and an entrepreneur can pursue his idea without having to learn about health coverage regulations.
• It will cover all children. And Christ almighty, isn't it time we did at least that?
Once i took a full-time 3rd shift job for the health insurance - sm
I have some relatives who don't have health insurance - not provided by their jobs because their husbands are self-employed and they don't buy it themselves. They also think they are too good to work the job I used to for health insurance even though they would be quite capable of it. Therefore, I think I am too good to participate in a handout so they can have it.
I have heard Obama say that every American will have health insurance
and while that is a lovely thought, it is not a realistic one. Look what happened with children in Hawaii. People began dropping their own private insurance in favor of the public insurance and caused the system to fail. Unfortunately, health care is expensive and cannot be guaranteed by the government without a price. I think that it is a nice plan, but will ultimately fail because we have a lot of lazy people who think that Obama is going to be their goose that laid the golden eggs. It's as if some people here (and it is the deep south) believe that if they vote for Obama, he is going to ensure that everyone drives a Cadillac and eats lobster. It is silly and unfortunate. These people are still living in FEMA trailers. Did you know some people actually steal them? Now--don't get me wrong, I am sure that there are some hard luck stories of people with health problems and such that cannot get out of their FEMA trailers, but the vast majority of them are just lazy. It has been three years.. but I digress. I think that radical government change happens very slowly and Obama is ushering it in. My opinion. Feel free to disagree, but I feel that these programs are stepping stones. Oh--and TriCare is the military plan.
Here is what Hillary told people about her health insurance plan. sm
She actually came out and said that they would try to garnish your wages to make you take the gov't sponsored health insurance. Fortunately, it never got any further than that.
You keep saying I don't want affordable health care for children...
I have said the opposite. What I don't want is expansion of a program that is already NOT working. WHY ARE YOU PEOPLE NOT WILLING TO WAIT SIX MONTHS FOR A BETTER PROGRAM? WHY DOES IT HAVE TO BE EVERYTHING RIGHT NOW?? See, we could yell at each other over this from now on, and never agree. I would like the waste to stop. Yes, I would. I would like to see Social Security fixed. Yes I would. The war in Iraq is going on, and until our troops are home, I don't want funding pulled from there, that is right, I don't. I would like for goverment to be in my pocket less, yes. I would like to see a push toward individual responsibility again, yes I would. I don't think the government should provide health care for adults, and yes, it scares me to make the government responsible for kids health care. Look how they managed Medicare...Medicaid...good grief!! Why not try to get this program RIGHT? Why just throw more money at the waste? Basically what you are talking about is socialism, and that is more scary to me than anything else we have discussed here. And, frankly, as far as common sense goes...I think you are not thinking in the long run of where government run health care leads. It leads to lines, it leads to substandard care...I hate to say it, but look at the VA system. Tell me THAT government-run health care is working?? We know it DOESN'T. Veterans have to wait very, very long lengths of time for care, for appointments...what makes you think government run health care for children would be any better?? It is better to leave it in the private sector where there is competition and the care is better? Let's reward responsibility and give those $80K families tax relief. Make it mandatory for parents to cover their kids like it is mandatory that they ride in car seats and wear seat belts. Let's reward responsibility and keep level of care where it is. Please, please let's not go down the socialized medicine road just to get free health care....I honestly, as God is my witness, do not think it will benefit kids in the long run if they are all in some kind of government health plan.
As to Bush, I could care less what the headlines are. All I am saying is that the Dems in Congress are using this as an election sound bite and the Republicans who voted with them are doing the same. Misguided, all of them, in my opinion. While I do not agree with Bush on a multitude of things, I do agree with him on keeping health care in the private sector and the government OUT of it.
Senate passes Children's Health Plan
WASHINGTON, Sept. 27 — The Senate gave final approval on Thursday to a health insurance bill for 10 million children, clearing the measure for President Bush, who said he would veto it.
The 67-29 vote followed a series of speeches by Republican senators supporting the bill and urging Mr. Bush to reconsider his veto threat.
Senator Pat Roberts of Kansas, one of 18 Republicans who voted for the bill, said the White House had shown “little if any willingness to come to the negotiating table.”
Republican opponents of the bill, like Senators Judd Gregg of New Hampshire and John Cornyn of Texas, said it would be a big step toward socialized medicine, would shift people from private insurance to a public program and would allow coverage for illegal immigrants and children in high-income families.
Senator Charles E. Grassley, Republican of Iowa, said it was “intellectually dishonest” to make such “outlandish accusations.”
Mr. Bush has said the bill would move toward “government-run health care for every American.”
Senator Bob Corker, Republican of Tennessee, said those fears were unfounded.
“What will move our country toward socialized medicine is not this bill, which focuses on poor children, but the lack of action to allow people in need to have access to private affordable health care,” Mr. Corker said.
The bill would expand the State Children’s Health Insurance Program to cover nearly four million uninsured children, in addition to the 6.6 million already enrolled. It would provide $60 billion over the next five years, $35 billion more than the current spending and $30 billion more than the president proposed.
Mr. Bush has not shown a willingness to compromise. But he may come under pressure so from Republican lawmakers who do not like being portrayed as hostile to children’s interests.
Democrats have selected Graeme Frost, 12, of Baltimore, to deliver their Saturday radio address. He will appeal to the president to sign the bill.
On Monday, the Service Employees International Union will rally outside the White House, and children will deliver petitions urging approval of the bill.
The child health program was born in 1997 from collaboration between Senators Edward M. Kennedy, Democrat of Massachusetts, and Orrin G. Hatch, Republican of Utah.
On Thursday, Mr. Hatch said that “it pains me” that Mr. Bush has not worked with Congress to renew the program. Some people in the administration “have been slow to recognize the realities of the new Congress,” where Democrats have a majority, Mr. Hatch said.
The bill has support from AARP, the big lobby for older Americans; the American Medical Association; America’s Health Insurance Plans, the lobby for insurers; and governors from both parties.
In the House, the bill was approved on Tuesday, 265 to 159, with support from 45 Republicans. The House Republican whip, Roy Blunt of Missouri, said he was confident that the veto would be upheld. A two-thirds majority in both chambers would be needed to override the veto.
The bill would increase tobacco taxes, with the levy on cigarettes increasing to $1 a pack from the current 39 cents. It would require states to cover dental services for children and would increase coverage of mental health services in many states.
The Senate Republican leader, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, said: “Our Democratic colleagues have taken Schip hostage, and what they want in exchange is Republican support for government-run health care., courtesy of Washington .”
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President George W. Bush on Wednesday vetoed a bill expanding a popular children's health-care program for a second time, angering Democrats who are locked in a fight with the administration over the budget and spending.
Pushed by the Democratic-led Congress but also supported by many Republicans, the bill was aimed at providing health insurance to about 10 million children in low- and moderate-income families. Taxes on cigarettes and other tobacco products would have been increased to pay for the aid.
Bush vetoed an earlier version of the bill in October but Congress quickly passed another one that included some changes but not enough to satisfy the White House concerns.
"Because the Congress has chosen to send me an essentially identical bill that has the same problems as the flawed bill I previously vetoed, I must veto this legislation too," Bush wrote in a message to the House of Representatives.
The fight between Congress and the White House over the health bill is one in a series of clashes over spending that have arisen this year.
Bush has said the funding level sought by the Democrats for the health program would have expanded it beyond its original intent of covering poor children and marked a step toward government-run health care.
Democrats say the additional money is needed to help families who cannot afford to buy private health insurance but who earn too much to qualify for the Medicaid health care program for the poor.
"This is indeed a sad action for him to take, because so many children in our country need access to quality health care," House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a California Democrat, told reporters.
The bill would have provided $60 billion in funding for the children's health program over five years, compared with the current $25 billion five-year funding level.
The tobacco tax increase would raise the levy on cigarettes by 61 cents to $1 per pack.
House Democratic leaders said they will not try to override the veto right away and would vote on a bill to ensure the more than six million kids now in the program can stay enrolled.
(Editing by Todd Eastham)
(Additional reporting by Donna Smith and Richard Cowan)
President is going after overblown insurance charges, crooked insurance plans, .....sm
crooked hospital systems that have become quite prosperous "businesses" on the backs of the elderly, but he is NOT AGAINST the eldery getting good solid care, that is political hogwash and propaganda, you wise up and read up, and I don't mean from Fox or Coulter of Limbaugh or one of the Pub sources......
http://www.barackobama.com/issues/healthcare/
Insurance companies.
I agree the insurance companies need a very, very major overhaul, but do you think the insurance companies are going to do that??? If they would there would be no need for a government run system, but the insurance companies will do absolutely zilch, and things cannot contine the way that they have been going.
I'd like to see the insurance companies You're right about the mtg. insurance
It also irks me that somehow we are being asked for $700 billion to help these companies when $700 billion would go a long way toward ensuring Americans have health insurance - what about that Mr. Bush?
mccain - insurance The Truth about the McCain-Palin Health Care Plan
Barack Obama And Joe Biden Have Consistently Lied To Americans About John McCain's Plan. Their claims have failed every fact-check - from CBS to the Washington Post. John McCain is not going to raise taxes on middle class families. Barack Obama and Joe Biden are the only ones in this race that plan to raise taxes.
OBAMA FICTION John McCain Will Tax Health Care Benefits For The First Time And Will Be the Largest Middle Class Tax Increase In History.
THE FACTS This Obama charge is a blatant mischaracterization of the McCain Health Plan. It only focuses on the fact that the value of the employer provided insurance will now show up as additional income for the employees – what he fails to mention – is that John McCain’s generous refundable tax credit ($5,000 for families and $2,500 for individuals) will not only shield millions of families from a tax increase but will actually give them MORE dollars to invest in their health care needs.
The McCain Plan DOES NOT tax:
Premiums paid by families and individuals
Employers for providing health care coverage
Medical expenses like the cost of a procedure or medication
Insurance claims
Approach Supported By Obama’s Own Advisor: This is an approach supported by Barack Obama's own Senior Economic Advisor Jason Furman who wrote that "we could scrap the current deduction altogether and replace it with progressive tax credits that, together with other changes, would ensure that every American has affordable health insurance."
Better Than "Members of Congress": Under the McCain Plan, your employer can provide you with health insurance as good as a "Member of Congress" (approximately $12,000), and you would pay no more in taxes – regardless of your tax bracket. In fact, you would have additional money left over from the McCain tax credit to put in a health savings account.
Income Tax Liability
McCain-Palin Tax Credit
Total Tax Savings
10% Bracket (Up to $15,000)
$1,200 ($12,000 x 10%)
$5,000
+$3,800
15% Bracket($15,650 - $63,700)
$1,800 ($12,000 x 15%)
$5,000
+$3,200
25% Bracket($63,700 - $128,500)
$3,000 ($12,000 x 25%)
$5,000
+$2,000
28% Bracket ($128,500 - $195,850)
$3,360 ($12,000 x 28%)
$5,000
+$1,640
33% Bracket ($195,850 - $349,700)
$3,960 ($12,000 x 33%)
$5,000
+$1,040
35% Bracket ($349,700 and Over)
$4,200 ($12,000 x 35%)
$5,000
+$800
Where Is The Middle-Class "Tax Increase"? If you or your family is in the 28% bracket, with an income of $180,000, you could receive employer provided health insurance even better than a Member of Congress, with a cost of almost $18,000, with no increase in taxes. Even the liberal leaning Tax Policy Center, agrees that the McCain proposals will result in a "net tax benefit" of more than $1,200 for an average tax payer. A recent Lewin Group study estimated savings of more than $1,400 per American family – almost three times the savings as under the Obama plan.O says that he will force insurance
companies to insure preexisting conditions. That sounds like something that will put them out of business to me. No need to buy insurance until you need it. Think of all the lost jobs.
He is not going to mandate that you have insurance -
he is only going to make sure that it is available to everyone whether they have an employer-based program or not.
if you already have insurance you don't have to change - nm
x
Nobody said free insurance -
where did you get that? He said he would make insurance available at an affordable rate for everybody...
But what if you didn't have any insurance...sm
at all? Wouldn't they let you die then because they won't treat you?
But insurance companies already tell us no
What's the difference who says no? Some insurance companies pretty much say no to everything but wellness visits - and that's simply so they can find out if you develop a condition, so they can drop your coverage on a threabare excuse, or jack your rates to the moon so you'll have to drop it. Then no other company has to cover you due to it being preexisting. I don't want to pay for insurance that only covers me if I'm not sick!
At least if there was universal healthcare, even with a wait, they'd have to treat you eventually instead of NEVER. And do it for free.
I feel for you, but a pre-existing condition is NOT uninsurable if you have had insurance for 30 days prior to the illness.
Case in point: We had private health insurance paid for out of our own pockets for 6 years. DH had open heart surgery. In the meantime I got a job with a company, signed up for insurance and they stated a 1 year before they would insure him. Yet, it was less than 30 days since I signed up. All I needed was a Certificate of Insurance from our private carrier, and then no waiting period. I got that, and he is now totally insured under the company plan.
If you did not cancel your insurance until after your problem, you have a way out. Just ask the former insurance company for a certificate of insurance and no one can turn you down.
I'm not trying to be mean or whatever you want to call it, I'm trying to help, so don't take it the wrong way. Best of luck and hopefully, things will turn around for you.
Doesn't anybody in DC have a conscience? The system as it stands now is disgusting. They are literally making billions by killing of thousands upon thousands (maybe millions?) of Americans. Anyone with half a brain should recognize profit-driven health insurance only serves the best interest of the CEOs of the insurance companies - not healthcare recipients! This needs to change NOW!
I saw my first AMA commercial last night urging people to vote with the millions of uninsured Americans in mind. I loved it! It is at least a step in the right direction. Vote with the healthcare crisis in mind people!
I just came across these stats in an article I was reading. How can there possibly any doubt that lobbying has single handedly taken over Washington? Especially in light of the fact that the healthcare plans on the table are pushing for more insured rather than single payer system? If we don't shove out the insurance companies, how are the prices for our healthcare ever expected to go down, or even stay at the current level for any length of time? 87% in 10 years? Absolutely ridiculous. We are not reaping any benefit from it whatsoever.
"As premiums have ballooned by 87 percent in the past decade, insurance-industry profits have climbed from $20.8 billion in 2002 to $57.5 billion in 2006. During that same period, health-care interests spent $2.2 billion on federal lobbying, more than did any other sector, and as of last month, had flooded the presidential candidates with over $11 million in campaign contributions to keep the present system intact."
Rush has good insurance.
Nice to see Rush has good insurance. I bet he is up to at least 8 OxyContin a day. On H & C tonight, he was higher than usual. He says, "I protect children under 12 years old and "seasoned citizens". How do you season a citizen? Salt? Pepper? Garlic Salt? Then fast forward and he says, all the "womens" will vote for Hilliary, he corrected himself and said "women". It really, really scares me to think people actually listen to him. By the way, Pakistan is ablaze tonight.
Insurance companies cont...sm
You made reference to the fact that you already are paying through the nose for insurance premiums and don't want to end up paying even more to cover the uninsured.
I think the general gist of reform is to guarantee access to all, and at the same time, lower the costs for people such as yourself.
Whatever direction health care reform takes it will take government intervention, either in terms of mandating what insurance companies can charge for policies for all people, likely putting caps on prohibitive prescription drugs and windfall profits made by health care providers and hospitals, etc.
What the US spends on health care is far, far above what every other country pays for health care, and that is not because the US has superior care in many cases. It's a profit driven business that has become extremely out of control. It cannot continue in its current business as usual form, as it is no longer working to the benefit of most.
This public insurance is not free -
it will still have premiums attached to it - it will just be made available to more people.
whose insurance does not pay for birth control?
Mine sure as heck does. It is much cheaper to prevent births than pay for them. It makes fiscal sense.
Private insurance and SCHIPS not the same.
SCHIPS is for CHILDREN, not parents. Federal mandates that seek to raise the age of allowable coverage for natural children of parents with PRIVATE insurance makes perfect sense. Parents (not the govt) pay premium on young adults who would otherwise not be able to afford insurance. What's the problem here?
Hello. They are referring to PRIVATE insurance.
Do you have kids? Would you like to see them go to college? Graduate school? Law school? Medical school? Would you or would you not like to have the option to carry YOUR OWN CHILDREN on your insurance beyond age 17? I think that parents who want to cover their kids (and other members of their family, for that matter, like parents, in-laws, sisters, brothers, etc) should have that choice under a group rate that would be cheaper than individual policies that some of them otherwise would not be able to afford. It's called medical care reform and the aim is to INSURE people, not exclude them. got it?
I agree....cost and insurance practices DO...
need overhaul. And McCain has good ideas to take care of that, called competition. Making all insurance available in all parts of the country is a start...so no monopolies in certain parts of the country. Now there are some really great plans, trouble is, not available everywhere in the country. McCain thinks if you offer a policy, you offer it everywhere, if you are a national company. Insurance companies, if they toe the line, can help control costs, just like they do in certain parts of the country where physicians will take whatever the insurane company is willing to pay. If they are made to compete nationally prices will have to come down. That is what competitive market does. And rather than having the government muck around in it, McCain is just going to give a tax credit $2500 individual and $5000 family to help pay premiums. That is pretty significant, and no strings attached. You still make your own health care decisions. And that works for me.
OK, I'll bite. What insurance companies and when?
Insurance companies have ALWAYS been a for profit idea. So they need to collect premiums from people who ARE NOT sick to cover the thousands they pay out for someone else who IS sick. So how is this going to work? Like I said, if this becomes a reality, I for one am going to immediately drop my coverage until such time as I need it. Unless their other healthy customers are stupid, they are going to do the same. So then the only people who will be paying insurance premiums are the ones who are also using their policies to fund their heart transplants, chemotherapy, whatever. Take a guess what their premiums are going to be.
originated, I believe, during FDR's New Deal. When wages were capped, employers found a way to circumvent this by providing ''sickness insurance'' for their employees, thus giving them a raise without violating the wage caps.
Another example of government meddling. Had they not imposed wage caps, employers would have been able to keep paying their employees and give raises to enable them to afford their own healthcare. But instead, we grew the employer-provided healthcare system we have now and people experience ''job lock,'' unable to move to another employer because of pre-existing conditions which may not be covered by a new company's insurance plan.
Of course it's income, always has been. Same as use of a company car, or executive housing provided by a company (both of which are taxable to the extent they are used outside of actual business activities.) I'm amazed nobody until now has taxed insurance.
Does this constitute a new tax on people earning under $250 thousand (or $235 thousand, or whatever the new number is?)
Have you priced medical insurance recently?
The $1000 may be a little exaggerated, but 6 years ago when I wanted to get a policy that covered merely 1 daughter and I, the quoted rate was $700/month. Even through work, a family policy runs around $600/month just for the medical, probably another $50 combined for the dental/vision. Between copays and prescriptions (even generic), you can add a little bit more to that. So while I agree that $1000 might be high, $700 would likely be a low conservative estimate. And, as noted, I'm basing my numbers on 5 years ago; since it's regularly on the news that the cost of policies has gone up, the $1000 may not be too far off.
They need to inject competition into the insurance marketplace....
by making it portable. If Aetna offers a low-cost plan in Tallahassee, make sure they also have to make it available to people in Podunk City, Oklahoma (I live in OK, not taking a shot at the state, just using that as a small town rural state reference)....right now they don't and that limits competition. If a company is going to market a policy it should be available to anyone in the United States who wants it. We do NOT need to have the government insinuating itself into this. There are government programs for those who truly cannot afford health insurance for themselves. This is NO WAY we need to subsidize a family of 4 making $100,000 a year for health insurance. They just need to make different choices...one less car or a little bit smaller house...or maybe just a flat screen and not a home theater...and you KNOW that happens. People who could afford health insurance but made other choices about what to do with that money. Why should ALL of us have to pay for that??
employer based-programs subsidize insurance...
not just make it available--and therein lies my problem.
Ummm. Hello. Anybody home? SCHIPS is not private insurance.
since the bill has not gone through the Senate or signed into law, state guidelines have not changed either.
Obama's plan is just to ensure insurance availability for all - not universal healthcare - you na
x
health plan
I have an idea, why doesnt Bush stop waging immoral wars and use our tax dollars for something constructive and life saving, like health coverage for those who die each year without it? You know why I would love a universal health plan? Because I care about my brother and sister and I care about making every Americans life better. Of course, you conservatives care about no one but yourselves. You make a few bucks, buy a home in a gated community, take the other streets so you dont pass the ghetto..and yet you claim you are christian..that is the most hypocritical statement of all. Do you not realize if Jesus walked this earth today, he would be a liberal democrat, helping the poor, the starving, the sick, the homeless, accepting all. Im so glad Im a liberal democrat. I dont think I could look at myself in the mirror or get a good nights sleep knowing my ideology is actually harming America, not helping it one bit.
Health care
Nope, he didn't say anything as extreme as HRC about health care, but if he's going to enact any type of government funded health care, how is he going to pay for it? Not to mention all the other changes he has in mind. You think the economy is bad now, you haven't seen anything yet. I believe in helping out when people need the help, but there are already too many entitlement programs that people have been on for generations and now there should be another? So that now I not only have to pay for my own (which I do, by the way) but I have to pay for others as well? Does that really seem fair to you? And no, I don't like the war, but realistically, what else can we do at this point? We can't pull out because then things would be worse than they were. I think too many people forget what happened to our country in 2001 (and the many episodes before that) - you don't hear anyone from WWII forgetting about Pearl Harbor. McCain is going to change a lot - don't be fooled into thinking he's just continuing Bush's presidency - it's not even close. Regardless of who wins, I certainly don't envy them the huge responsibilities they're going to face. I do hope that whoever wins doesn't screw it up! Not sure this country can take much more of that.
Not only that, she is a HEALTH reporter and
you could tell that Joe Biden really did think she was joking because the question was so ridiculous, about Obama being a Marxist. No wonder these things get so inflated by the right-wing media. Ridiculous questions don't deserve to be acknowledged. What a waste of time. Someone needs to ask SP why her own home newspaper in Anchorage is supporting Obama, because she is considered too risky to be in a position a heartbeat away from the Oval Office, and the McCain campaign aides have referred to her a rogue diva. Ouch, that must have hurt! Now there are some FACTS for you!!
marks the location of current message within thread!["](http://statse.webtrendslive.com/dcsncwimc10000kzgoor3wv9x_3f2v/dcs.gif?dcsdat=472064181&dcssip=www.reuters.com&dcsuri=/sphereModules&WT.ti=SphereModule&ContentChannel=topNews&ContentType=SphereRelatedNews&rChannel=Sphere&rCountry=US&VirtualEvent=1&WT.cg_n=Sphere%20-%20Impression%20Related%20News"){kind=small}
![Sphere](http://www.reuters.com/resources/images/iconSphere.gif")
Sphere
!["](http://www.johnmccain.com/Images/ml4/hc/hc_main.jpg")
![Get](http://www.johnmccain.com/Images/ml4/hc/HCFACTS_LEARNMORE.jpg")
![](http://images.johnmccain.com/Images/ml4/hc2/hc_1.jpg")
