The previous Administration had 8 years to bring up this topic of concern:  health care.  Did they even try?  

They did come up with the Rx Prescription program for seniors but failed to find a way to pay for it.

So…………………….. 

Helen….thank you for expressing some of the frustrations that sensible people are feeling.  

WHERE ARE THE STATESMEN in Congress - ie the people who will stand up for what is right without regard to party affiliation, peer pressure or the fear of re-election?  Where are these strong souls who will have a vision of a healthy country and help the less fortunate Congress members, who are so fearful, through the process of compromise?

“The government has given us the compassion of the IRS, the efficiency of the post office, and the effectiveness of the Katrina cleanup.” And they want to run our health system. I say no."

Let’s finish out your litany of governmental events.  Don’t forget to add the government gave us two wars, rebates to the rich, prescription coverage for the elderly without a way to pay for the program and a deficit.  

You may be too young to remember that Bill Clinton left office with a budget surplus.   

I am delighted for you!   Congratulations on managing your life so well.

I think Obama was brilliant to start the process by encouraging a discussion by the entire county.  He gave the US Congress a chance to come up with their own plan and they have.  Like a good community organizer, he got everyone involved.  Granted some of the involvement involved misrepresentation, lies and crass stupidity.  But we won’t go there.  On the other hand, this whole process has gotten this country involved and active in the democratic process of all of us working this issue out.  I imagine he might be pleased on how he took his skills to national level.  

We are all interested in a subject that will affect all of us and will help us take care of each other.  Isn’t that what this country is all about?  Taking care of each other? 

SG -  You are right!  

Here’s an example:  I needed an x-ray on my ankle and my health insurance coverage was not going to cover the cost.  I went to the finance department of the hospital and asked if I paid the bill, right then, how much would they reduce the cost of the procedure.  They reduced the price by 40% because that was how much they allocated for all the paperwork they would have to complete for the insurance company, if I had asked to have them bill my insurance company.  By paying the bill at the time of the service, I saved money, and the hospital saved money, since they didn’t have to do any paperwork.  The bill was paid, the paperwork was complete.

So, if a system can be set up so that insurance paperwork is out of the picture, with automatic payments by the organization running the US healthcare system to the hospitals, just think how much money will be saved.  How much less paperwork will have to be created.  And we all, including the US government, could save on the expense as opposed to the present US healthcare system. 

Have you considered the phrase:  "Pursuit of happiness"……(Bill of Rights)

I consider having good health care to keep my body healthy is part of the pursuit of happiness…….. 

Plan A

(1) Everyone is covered, no matter who you are, or if you are employed or not.

(2) Employers are released from the obligation to provide health care coverage.  (I have no idea why employers were given this responsibility in the first place.  What degree of expertise do they have about choosing a good health care plan for their employees?)

(3) Removing from all insurance coverage the exception of "pre-exisiting" conditions, so that all citizens have the freedom to shop around and find the best plan for themselves, or, have an option of adding additional coverage after an "event".  (At the moment, every patient with a pre-existing condition has no freedom and is living in a socialist situation at the mercy of the insurance companies.)

(4)  Setting up a system similar to Medicare.   Everyone gets the basic coverage and then if you want additional coverage you have your choice of additional plans, such as homeopathic services, alternative care.

(5)  Removing the discrimination towards women of child-bearing age who are charged more for insurance than men of the same age.

(6) Make preventative care options available free of charge such as colonoscopy, screenings for diabetes, eye disease, hearing, osteoporosis, arthritis,  pneumonia, turberculosis, MS, MD, polio, etc…… 

(7) Provide prescription coverage for everyone.

(8) Provide Newborn screenings, childhood inoculations, sports medicine for children (Adults might need to pay extra) and other services to give a good start to a child with good health care

(9) Counseling - including end of life counseling which is already included in Medicare, therapy (might have to be extra in some cases), nutrition counseling, grief counseling, medical counseling for a major life event.

(10)  Set up the system in the same manner as Medicare and Medicaid….with everyone accessing whatever doctor they want. 

I bought a Kaypro computer in 1984.  It was the only computer that would fit under an airline seat and I traveled on business with my computer.  It weighted about 10 pounds or so…and was so bulky.   You had to know DOS to make it work.   It was wonderful compared to the typewriters, even with the correctable tape.   The floppy disks were about 5 inches in diameter and you really had to know how to put information on the floppy.

I know have a Mac ibook and think I am in heaven.  It’s so easy to use.  And communicating on this website is fun and sometimes exasperating.

It’s not funny,

especially for those of us who have discovered that we need to introduce ourselves with the same words.  Possibly, the people who find this caption funny, might want to reassess their relationship to alcohol.

Kaylie…….I enjoyed your comment of "red is blue" - "blue is red".  I grew up in a family just like yours.  

I began experiencing alcohol before I began to walk.  The family thought it was so cute to give me sips of "eggnog with rum" at Christmas.  By the time I was 8 years old, I was sipping Champagne with the family, since "it didn’t have that much alcohol in it".  The family had a rule:  before the age of 16 you were given 1/2 jigger of booze and after your turned 16 years, you were given a full jigger of booze.

In college, I could "hold my liquor" as my parents had hoped with all the home-training program.  I ended up putting all the "non-practiced drinkers" in the dorm to bed after they imbibed too much.  And I had jobs where I got paid to go to cocktail parties.  I was a great drinker! 

At the age of 40, much to my surprise, I discovered I was an alcoholic. When I informed the family, they responded that I was "nuts".  And the parent’s denial continued throughout the remainder of their lives.  The siblings still don’t believe I’m an alcoholic and think I am being "dramatic" not drinking anymore.  I’ve been sober and free of all drugs including junk food and sugar since 1986.  

It took me a long time to understand the "red is blue" syndrome.  Glad you mentioned that part for denial is the center of this disease. 

FP….

I had a friend who recently benefited from assisted suicide in your state.  She had tried every Western medical/healing/homeopathic/Eastern healing techniques she could find and the disease kept taking her ability for quality of life away.  She even went to see the healer St. John in Brazil and she was able to live another 18 months with quality life.  But, alas, the disease was winning and she was able to end her life in dignity with her family and friends surrounding her, instead of going on a feeding tube, living in a nursing home and not being able to care for herself.  Thank goodness we have one state in the Union that has provided sensible choices.

So, I wonder why all these people are putting out false information, ie. death panels, limited care options, etc.  What is their motivation to use such scare tactics.  How will they benefit?  Whenever anyone tries to motivate me with "fear tactics", I become very suspicious of their motives.  Why would they need to scare me, to get me to agree with them?  So strange.  So devious.  So unethical.

And about these fears of end of life counseling.  The option already exists in medicare.  And if you check into any hospital for surgery, this option is provided to you.  So what’s the big deal here.  I guess those who are fearful of this option, have never been in a hospital or don’t have elderly parents.