WOW REPORTS (7/13-7/17) | 07/12/2009 11:00 pm
wOw Reports: What News Matters to You -- And Why?
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- Dear Margo: When Dad/Gramps Just Ain't Interested
- Could Mammograms Fall Victim to Obamacare? by Liz Peek
- Liz Smith: Sharon Stone, Steve Tyrell, Sarah (You Know Who), Glamour, Lesley Gore – and More!
- Queen Martha, by Cynthia McFadden
- LIZ SMITH FLASH! The Kennedy Conspiracy and the Mafia
- Remember shopping pre-Internet? What era/memory in the evolution of shopping do you think of most fondly?
- The Love Goddess: In Sickness and in Health ... But Hold the Sickness
- Let Down and Felt Up? by E.D. Hill
- Mr. wOw: Falling in Love Again With 'Marlene'
- The World in Vogue (Photos)
- Dear Margo: When Dad/Gramps Just Ain't Interested
- LIZ SMITH FLASH! The Kennedy Conspiracy and the Mafia
- Liz Smith: Sharon Stone, Steve Tyrell, Sarah (You Know Who), Glamour, Lesley Gore – and More!
- Queen Martha, by Cynthia McFadden
- Joan Ganz Cooney Still Shops the Way She Always Has
- Let Down and Felt Up? by E.D. Hill
- The World in Vogue (Photos)
- Announcing the Winner of Our 'Caption This' Contest
- Liz Smith Remembers the 'Good Old Days' of Department Stores
- Could Mammograms Fall Victim to Obamacare? by Liz Peek
- Could Mammograms Fall Victim to Obamacare? by Liz Peek
- Dear Margo: When Dad/Gramps Just Ain't Interested
- Let Down and Felt Up? by E.D. Hill
- Remember shopping pre-Internet? What era/memory in the evolution of shopping do you think of most fondly?
- Mr. wOw: Falling in Love Again With 'Marlene'
- LIZ SMITH FLASH! The Kennedy Conspiracy and the Mafia
- Caption This!
- The Love Goddess: In Sickness and in Health ... But Hold the Sickness
- Queen Martha, by Cynthia McFadden
- Liz Smith: Sharon Stone, Steve Tyrell, Sarah (You Know Who), Glamour, Lesley Gore – and More!
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Caption This!
Dear Margo: When Dad/Gramps Just Ain't Interested
151 Reader Comments (so far…) Sign In or Register to comment
Deber, his article has a ring of sensibility. There are others who have voiced that same plan of action, but I don’t really know that much about Medicare ( except the fraud) although a certain member of my family probably would not be walking around today without it. He always sings the praises of Medicare at every famiy gathering.
At one time, this country’s seniors were the most desolate when it came to health care. Most elderly died at home of " old age" even though they were in their mid-late fifties. ( As a small child, I remember my great grandmother’s body lying for viewing in the front room or the "dying room" of her old house that had been passed down for years before I drew a breath).
Now, with Medicare, the senior group fares far better than the middle aged group with kids or young adults at home. They are paying premiums through the roof that may or may not stand up under a sudden medical crisis. Unlike seniors, they are most likely to lose their life savings and go into debt. It’s bad enough worrying about job security ( does that even exist anymore?) but coupled with spending as much on health care each month as groceries is insane. So, we have a senior population doing alright on the whole ,but the 30-40 year olds in the work force are wondering when the sky will fall. That is not right. It certainly is not right for small business owners either. Without them, this country has not a prayer.
Since the public option at this time does not have any real teeth, incremental Medicare may be worth a look, but first, I would like to hear from the experts in that particular field about the feasibility of such a plan. Yes, if you learn anything.. pro or con.. give a buzz tomorrow. Thank you.
Maggie, you are absolutely correct. CMS pays doctors, hosptials, and all other medical costs incredibly faster than private insurance companies - they hold out until after the deadline allowed for payment deliberatley, ask any hospital auditor. Moreover, no one here will get a hip replaced in an accident if they are not 62 years of age - private insurers don’t cover hip replacements (that’s why we have hundreds of citizens flying to India for surgery each week!!!).
If Medicare (CMS) was instituted for all in America, the next day the money would be there, and far less costs for tragic illnesses gone untreated, far fewer deaths, far less suicides, on and on. Jobs? All the for-profit slots would still need filling in a non-profit setting, CMS should purchase all DME directly from manufacturers (now it’s rented at 10% total cost of the high tech equipment/month (!!!!!!) forever, and the DME shipped directly to a Level One Regional medical center, or patient’s home, and the appropriate medical professional sent out to install/train/examine … etc.
I’ve been reading about Cohn. First of all, he has excellent credentials. Secondly, he is extremely optimistic and well informed. Lowering the medicare age to 55 is stepping outside the box and I cannot find a reason why it wouldn’t work. Lowering it once again to age 45 and the possibility of hiring older employees who would not need employer’s health coverage is an interesting idea.
He has a wonderful blog. I hope others will check him out. Thanks for bringing his name to me. I’ll keep reading.
I just read Sen.(R) Kay Bailey’s Hutchison’s take on health care reform. She focuses on making health care a buyers’ market that would also give small businesses affordable options to offer their employees. She also makes the point that Medicare is so over run by fraud that billions have been wasted. It currently pays out more than it takes in. According to Kay, 40% of physicians turn away Medicare patients because the system is so poorly administered. Well, heck. I knew it was bad but didn’t know it was that bad. Her prediction is Medicare will be completely broke by 2017. She has a big concern because her state ( also mine) has the largest number of uninsured people… around six million. You can just imagine what that costs Texas. Okay, Medicare is circling the drain. I simply do not understand why we don’t take what we already have and reform that…."that" being Medicare. Wouldn’t that be easier than inventing the entire wheel?
Deber, Krugman’s column today on the economy is also interesting. "US Sitting While Water gets Hotter". And now for some humor… AIG is asking regulators if it is okay to give pay bonuses.
Maggie, boy did Hutchinson hit the nail on the head with regard to Medicare paying out more than it takes in. As you know, we need to fix this now! Yes, of course, it would be better than inventing the entire wheel! Excellent. This administration needs to be told to slow down, fix medicare and tell us when it is "showtime." We all want it right. We cannot afford another medicare failure.
I’ll go read Krugman’s column now.
Maggie, Kay Bailey has been grossly incorrect in financial matters since her term as state comptroller. Once in a Republican women’s dinner in Dallas, she stated the deficit in the state budget, and a woman next to me, then head landman for Oryx, leaned over to me with her checkbook out and said, "Hell, I’ll write her a check for that - she’s off her rocker." Kay had only surmised a deficit, not put it into numbers. I’ll never forget it. That was the year that the president of TWU turned Republican, then rose to the top in the SS Administration and later nearly collapsed SS. Lovely capitulating brains, eh!
What Kay is unaware of is that CMS is now a buyer’s market; other nations have cited us for putting the health, and lives of our citizens into "a market economy," scoffing no less, yet realizing and acknowledging that "Medicare" is the best plan going.
We here, hear, that Kay’s going to make a run for our present, past and compromised gov’s job - heaven help us. We cannot sustain more patching up hours in Texas.
Everyone should read this:
If Senate Democrats seem to be in endless negotiations about health care, there’s a good reason: They only have one shot at a sweeping reform bill. If they don’t get enough support for it, there’s no good fallback route.
Even as his administration is dealing with fallout from the Bush-era war on terror, including a possible Justice Department probe of prisoner abuse, President Obama on Monday renewed his push for action on health care reform. "We are going to get this done," he said.
The House plans to preview its version of health reform today – Tuesday. The Senate has fallen behind schedule as Finance Committee chairman Max Baucus tries to produce a bill backed by Iowa Republican Chuck Grassley. But Obama is ratcheting up the pressure and reportedly told Baucus he wants a bill by the end of the week.
The liberal fantasy is that Democrats should use their 60 votes to break any potential filibuster and muscle through the bill they want, or pass health reform under a Senate "reconciliation" procedure that requires only a simple majority of 51 votes.
There’s much more. A very informative read for those who want to understand why Health Care Reform seems to have stalled:
http://www.politicsdaily.com/2009/07/14/the-last-best-hope-for-health-reform/
Interesting article. I was interested in this…
"The goal is to cut back on expensive treatments that don’t work. That would save money for Medicare as well as in the health sector in general. This may be impossible to score, however, and in any case it involves far more than money. The research would have to be overseen by a board. And there would have to be language addressing concerns such as whether plaintiffs or defendants would be allowed to use the treatment guidelines in malpractice suits. So there are several elements of uncertainty about the fate of this initiative under reconciliation."
Oversight by a board is a must. It appears the President wants something on his desk that includes a public option so he can kick that back out there again . I wonder if they are still looking at the Massachusetts and Tennessee plans.
Honestly, Maggie, democrats and republicans are closer than you think on this. They just want it right. The expensive treatments that don’t work are just physicians protecting themselves against lawsuits. So much is unnecessary…I agree with that.
I read this morning that Massachusetts is looking at the Canadian plan!
I’m not sure I understand the question. What are you referring to?
Think about it. If you believe all of that, or if I did, I’d be more than sad, and on the way to DC.
Well, it looks like they will go that route…and hopefully what they will find out is that the covert operation was to assassinate Bin Lade. Now, who wouldn’t want that? Further, there is an executive order that can be played by the president in times of war/terrorism and Bush played that card all within the law.
I heard something interesting yesterday and that is we are setting a precedent for future presidents, now to include President Obama, who may have to invoke that same executive order (in Iran who knows?) and he, too, have to keep information from Congress because of its sensitive nature. None of us know what is ahead. What we do know is that the CIA was told to keep it quiet and in this instance of assassinating Bin Laden…well, think about it.