New health care bill

[vetusvates]

Regarding the original post, I found this, this morning, that states some details about the new state of affairs. I don't know how thorough it is in stating all the details (it almost seems to be too positive, and leaving off the negative...especially since I got it from the Drudge Report, which leans way to the right), but I believe it gives us at least the beginnings of a picture,...to examine and discuss the substance and essence of the new bill.
Note, having worked in health care (medical technologist = lab rat), I do realize that insurance premiums and theoretical "care"....can be very different than what happens when one walks through the emergency room doors in crisis.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aa32kl.M09T4

 

[LBoz]

I read that article too, Eric, and so many things in there are frightening to me. They talk about cuts in medicare payments....SO, when my elderly father reaches his cap, he'll get a whopping $250 rebate for his prescriptions. Is this a one time rebate, monthly, or yearly? For many seniors, $250 is about a week's worth of 'scripts. What then?

And not in this article, but seen elsewhere...the previously uninsured will have a 70/30 coverage...but the co-pays alone are pretty high. I'm wondering if they would opt for the less expensive fine of going without coverage? It gives them little incentive to go off of welfare. I'm so confused by the whole thing. :awcrap:

 

[RosieReal]

I Is this a one time rebate, monthly, or yearly? For many seniors, $250 is about a week's worth of 'scripts. What then?

Good point, my mother (again, I'm Canadian but lets just pretend for a moment) has many perscriptions she takes, they cost upwards of 4000$ a month. We have medical coverage that takes care of it for us (thank goodness for blue cross...) but for a while, we had to pay half. My mother works full time, and makes roughly 13$ an hour for 35 hours a week. Paying an extra 2000$ was almost impossible...we went without alot of things..but what can you do when theres nothing to be had? she needs the medication. she would die without it.
I dont know what the right answers are, but there HAS to be a way that the people who need it can be treated for the things they need treatment for... can get the medication they need. I'm not so convinced this bill is that solution...but like I said. I dont know the right answers...all i can see are the problems. I have hopes that maybe its a step in the right direction? but I hope for it to rain jelly-belly's too....

 

[vetusvates]

I read that article too, Eric, and so many things in there are frightening to me. They talk about cuts in medicare payments....SO, when my elderly father reaches his cap, he'll get a whopping $250 rebate for his prescriptions. Is this a one time rebate, monthly, or yearly? For many seniors, $250 is about a week's worth of 'scripts. What then?

And not in this article, but seen elsewhere...the previously uninsured will have a 70/30 coverage...but the co-pays alone are pretty high. I'm wondering if they would opt for the less expensive fine of going without coverage? It gives them little incentive to go off of welfare. I'm so confused by the whole thing. :awcrap:

Excellent. Thanks, Lori, for replying. The $250 rebate was worded vaguely, like a yearly thing (of negligible help). I would hope at a minimum it would be monthly. And yes, I have seen (and been a part of) the 70/30, 80/20, 90/10, and/or 100% systems (individuals had the choice, and payroll deductions were adjusted accordingly). Not new, and not a gift or an expense made more affordable.

I can't help but think that insurance underwriters are going to inevitably find ways over, under, around, and through....to recoup their losses at our expense.

 

[wade]

The Health Care plan I have for my employees requires that all of my employees are covered. I think it’s a state law that if I offer any kind of coverage I have to offer it to all of my employees. They do review of each of my employee’s medical history and then rate my company. I have one employee who has a bad medical history. Because of this one individual, I was up rated 85%. My monthly cost for every single employee went up 85%. I couldn’t exclude this one person. What is more, my employees have the option to have their spouse on the policy and they have to pay for the spouse’s premium. The spouse’s premium went up 85% as well.

When they say that people with preexisting conditions will now be covered, don’t for one minute think you’re gonna get something for nothing.

 

[JemmaUK]

No..............................

Im English and have loooong term experience of a federalised health system- so let me clue some of you in on this...

There is no guarantee that this will improve matters for everyone - in fact so far as I can see it wont due to its own structure - but it WILL improve matters for some - namely those who dont have/cant afford private healthcare but are not so poor as they qualify for medicare/medicaid etc...

Will it be worth it - a resounding YES if its properly funded and that is the most important thing - It has to be properly funded. If its not it could turn out badly.

The NHS in the UK is patchy at best - for two of the conditions I have that are rare, doctors dont have a clue, but then they wouldnt have either if I had private cover. Different areas allow different things to be funded which has sometimes led to court proceedings to get things changed (Heparin is one example)

IF the NHS had been funded properly from the start and all the way through then it would be alot better than it is today - as it is it is still one of the better systems in the world (unless you happen to have certain conditions, at which point they would rather you jump under the nearest train, than actually treat you properly and with respect)...

Now - it is true that poor over taxed lil americans will have to pay for it in their taxes - but seriously - you pay less than $3 a gallon for petrol - we pay the equivalent of $12 and thats got nothing to do with NHS taxes... you honestly dont know you are born in comparison to most of europe...

I suspect that, if its done properly, only the people who benefit will pay, in as much as if you state on your taxes you have a personal/family/job related paid healthcare plan - you wont pay - and if you dont and arent elegible for medicare/aid you will... but think about it - the only difference really is that you pay probably about the same amount to the government instead of either out of your wage to the company for coverage or to a private supplier...

I am not saying the NHS is perfect - you could barely find a greater critic than me after what I have been put through by the NHS locally - but even done in a half-assed way subsidised healthcare is better than nothing... and done properly it could revolutionise the health system in the US and as a result the health of the people in general...

This is not some sort of communista plot - you are not going to get invaded by hairy blokes driving Ford Edsels (seriously, that grill - bad FORD pervy stylist). Neither are you going to transform overnight into russian oligarchs with various blonde attractive 'daughters' who make Maisy van der Kamp look like rebecca of sunnybrook farm... (curious?, look up the name, seriously NSFW*). You wanted change and now you've been given it - and to a degree its up to you all to make it work and make use of it...

*Not Suitable for Work (and in the case of that particular pretty girl, I wouldnt be eating or cooking or doing anything with food at the time...)

 

[Nozomi]

I'm twenty-three, a full time student, and working my patoot off at a minimum wage paying job in order to cover a car payment, rent, car insurence, and food/gas. I don't have the money to buy health insurance - which sucks because it means once a month I pay sixty dollars to go to the shrink so I can get my medication (Bi-polar disorder) and I can't afford the money to go see a therapist as well. I need 1,500$ worth of work done to my teeth due to the fact I've been vomiting bile since I was six years old and, no, I can't afford to go to the doctor and get the tests done to find out why it's been happening. My mental problems aren't my fault, nor is the stomach disorder (or whatever it is) but I simply can't get the money to pay for it all unless I give up the car/car insurance or my psychiatrist/medication.

Simply put, I can not live without my medication. I cannot work without my car. I voted for our President and I'm going to keep my faith in him, at least to see where this can get us. If it means people like me aren't forgotten and can get help, I'm for it. If it makes me immature or, I don't know, a horrible person for thinking this way, then so be it. Just - a lot of us fall through the cracks. I want to see if this'll make a difference.

 

[wade]

Oh I don't think it makes you immature at all. We all have things that are important to us and we worry about our stuff more than others stuff. That is natural. I do it too.

If your employer has to pay more for medical care for his employees, or if he is taxed more to pay for it in some other way, then he will have less money to put toward payroll. That is a simple fact. That means that people will not be getting raises or maybe the staff will need to be cut in order for your employer to continue to make a profit. And yes he deserves a profit. It's ok for everyone to make money. In the end, I hope you don't loose your minimum wage job.

 

[wstphal]

Simply put, I can not live without my medication. I cannot work without my car. I voted for our President and I'm going to keep my faith in him, at least to see where this can get us. If it means people like me aren't forgotten and can get help, I'm for it. If it makes me immature or, I don't know, a horrible person for thinking this way, then so be it. Just - a lot of us fall through the cracks. I want to see if this'll make a difference.

That does not sound like the thoughts of a horrible or immature person. It's reasonable & sensible. I do have one question for your consideration:

If it turns out that the health care plan actually makes things WORSE for people like you (and NO, I am NOT saying it will, I am asking a hypothetical), will you support looking for a better solution, whatever that might be?

I am not trying to coax you into changing your beliefs about the current health care bill, or about President Obama. No worries there. I have my opinions, of course, but this post isn't about beating other people over the head with my opinions.

I just think that there is too darn much lock-step "my President says it so I believe it!" whether that's on health care reform or WMD in Iraq (to pick one instance on either side of the aisle), and I think this country needs a whole lot less lock-step!

 

[Nozomi]

Loosing my job is not something I worry about. I can all but run that silly office place while he's gone and I'm the only person who's been there for more than a few months. Chances are I may be getting a .25$ raise and a title or something in order to 'keep' me there - he knew I was looking for something else because of the ongoings in the office.

I never meant to insinuate I didn't think they deserved a profit. I'm in a job to make money, honestly. Selling what I sell is not something I want to do for the rest of my life - we're all in it for the mortgage. The goods we sell are exclusive to us until you want to wait a few years or drive to Tampa or Orlando so the most likely option is that the prices will go up .50 or 1 in order to meet this. I see that price raise the same way I see the higher taxes - in for the penny, in for the pound and that every little bit helps the big.

 

[Nozomi]

Shoot! I didn't see your reply until I'd already posted, haha! Sorry, sorry! So here's my response: if it makes it worse then yes. I WILL support looking for another way to make things better. Bad things will always happen - so will good things. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that this is a Good Thing because right now, I can't see another way option.

Admittedly, I don't know everything about the health care bill. But, yeah. If it ends up kicking us in the tender manly-girlie bits then I will fully support opting out and finding another way. Democrat, Republican, little green alien ways, whichever works! Something just needs to be done and chaos always creates life. Maybe not good life but - life. We'll just have to see.

 

[starsevol]

I think one thing that scares me about this is...ok..what if this bill is a bad thing and helps no one, or does more harm than good. If that is the case, how easy will it be to change it for the better?
Sometimes these things become written in stone and stay in place after being enacted, no matter how bad it is.

(In 1990, my local government under Governor Bruce Sundlin, changed the RI sales tax from 6% to 7%. Rhode Island citizens were assured that it was only temporary, and the old 6% rate would be reinstalled within a few years. Well, 20 years later and nothing has changed. Sales tax is 7%, among the highest in the country....)

 

[LBoz]

I think one thing that scares me about this is...ok..what if this bill is a bad thing and helps no one, or does more harm than good. If that is the case, how easy will it be to change it for the better?
Sometimes these things become written in stone and stay in place after being enacted, no matter how bad it is.

(In 1990, my local government under Governor Bruce Sundlin, changed the RI sales tax from 6% to 7%. Rhode Island citizens were assured that it was only temporary, and the old 6% rate would be reinstalled within a few years. Well, 20 years later and nothing has changed. Sales tax is 7%, among the highest in the country....)

What occured to me while reading your post, Beth, is that so many of these changes are going to come about in x-amount of years, right? So...are they holding back the promise of wonderful changes so they can use it in the next campaign? And what about the changes that go into effect when he's gone? Do you think he'll give a rat's patootie about us then?

 

[tsst]

I am voting for CHANGE...the change out of every incumbent politician from the POTUS on down.

 

[LBoz]

Amen!!!!!!

 

[starsevol]

What occured to me while reading your post, Beth, is that so many of these changes are going to come about in x-amount of years, right? So...are they holding back the promise of wonderful changes so they can use it in the next campaign? And what about the changes that go into effect when he's gone? Do you think he'll give a rat's patootie about us then?

Yes, that's another thing too!!
Although in this case, I think this bill will do the Democratic party mucho harm during the next campaign....or should I call it camPAIN??

 

[LBoz]

Maybe, but they have a few more years to make us all believe the kool-aid is GOOD for us.

 

[susang]

I'm a very simple person, so can only use what I know as a referance so bawbaw on me, but her goes.
The health care system has been screwed up for eons. Think of this Walmart has $4.00 meds, these are the same meds other pharmacies charged big bucks for. When my hubby had insurance he had a $15.00 rx co-pay, then our pharmacy started accepting the $4.00 drug prices, based on the list put out by Walmart of those drugs. We checked and three out of four of his scripts cost $4.00 at Walmart. Since we don't shop at Walmart we didn't know. So we payed $11.00 more in a CO-PAY, makes no sense. I know we weren't the only ones where did that money go who made the profit. This is also why this thing scares me it is so hard for people to understand, then pass it on to the people who have to impliment of it.

 

[wade]

I am voting for CHANGE...the change out of every incumbent politician from the POTUS on down.

You have my vote. I would like to see everyone in Washington DC with no political experience. Let's get real people. Set term limits. No career politicians.

(sorry can't rep you)

 

[susang]

You have my vote. I would like to see everyone in Washington DC with no political experience. Let's get real people. Set term limits. No career politicians.

(sorry can't rep you)

Please don't hit me Wade but are you referring to Sarah Palin here:headbang: