Local Government TV

Wednesday, July 08, 2009

LV Congressman Charlie Dent: How Will We Pay For Healthcare Reform?

During Monday's town hall in Nazareth with LV Congressman Charlie Dent, our health care crisis was a topic of animatd discussion. Congressman Dent's basic point is that none of the "reforms" currently under consideration account for the costs. He also lists some minor reforms that might make those costs more manageable.

"Well, I think everybody acknowledges that our health care system is in very serious [inaudible]. The question is, what type of reform do you want for this country? And I would say to you - we have to deal with the issue of health care costs. Simply creating a new health care entitlement does not address the cost issue. I want to be clear about that.
...

"There was a very interesting article recently about healthcare costs in McAllen, Texas - down at the border - versus El Paso. Two demographically similar communities. Why McAllen's costs were so much higher than El Paso's gets into the issue of [inaudible] and the culture of the healthcare community and how that has contributed to cost.
...

"We need to find ways to control costs. One thing I can do that can help costs is by dealing with a lot of lawsuits. We need medical liability reform in this country. We need it because it is broad enough to affect the costs of medicine because of the defensive medicine practiced. That is one thing I can specifically point to and say, 'We can help you get more money out of the courtroom and into the operating room.' That would be a big help.

"Two, we want to protect the doctor-patient relationship. That, I think, has to be the centerpiece of any reform. People want to protect that relationship.

"We need a strong prevention and wellness piece. I read an
interesting piece - an article - by the guy that runs the Safeway Company. His health care costs for that company are flat while everybody else is going up double digits. Everybody should read that guy's piece. How he's able to manage this? He had series of prevention/wellness issues, everybody had skin in the game, he really worked with the employees and educated them and they became very good healthcare consumers. Bottom line is he has 83% satisfaction from employees. He's managed their costs far more effectively. We should be listening to people like this who definitely tried with thousands of employees.

"Third thing, you talked about the 45 to 50 million uninsured. I mentioned 10 million are not citizens; 10 million are eligible for current programs - Medicaid or SChip; half are under the age of 35. Why don't we use the tax code to help the under 35 population? They are the most insurable population in America, the younger population. They are the least expensive to insure. Let's give them favorable tax treatment just like we give to any company. They [corporations] get all kinds of deductions and exclusions and that's good - we should protect that. 165 million people have their healthcare through their employers. We should protect it. But for the guy who doesn't have health care through an employer, give him or her the same favorable tax treatment. I bet you would be able to get a lot of these folks into a catastrophic program, a healthcare coverage program. If your age is 22, that's what you need - catastrophic coverage. That's what you need more than anything else. This is over half the uninsured in America. ... Let's incentivize this.

"Comprehensive health care reform is a difficult task because it is so complicated. To get into issues of individual mandates versus employer mandates, or both, we just have to go up to Massachusetts to look at their little experiment to get some perspective as to what reform can look like if we're not careful.

"I support reform, but I want to make sure that whatever we do, we do it properly. Look at what's happening in Massachusetts. They created an individual mandate. basically, you have to have insurance. But they failed to deal with cost issues. So what happened is they also have a state plan up there, too, so a lot of people are on the state plan. The costs of the state plan are going up. They're hundreds of millions of dollars into the red. (I think this is their first year of operation if I'm not mistaken - it's the second). And they're running hundreds of millions of dollars into the red. So what happens when the costs of the program go up? Costs go up and taxpayers meet that cost in the middle so what does the state do? Well, it rations care. That's what happens. So,i am concerned that the debate in Washington has been centered around a public plan or a government plan. I have concerns about that. I'll be very honest. The pundits will say you have a government plan to keep the private plans honest ad there are thousands of private plans competing for business. The reality is that public plan or government plan will probably be heavily subsidized. We have some independent analysis ... that says if you use that government plan or public plan - call it whatever you want to call it - you will see about 120 million people transfer from private insurance into the government plan. That will happen. ... Costs will still go up and it kinda' leads to a back door single payer system that i think has some people concerned because Massachusetts - you don't have to go far - will not have the revenue to deal with the rising costs.

"So you have to deal with the costs issue. And that's real the conundrum. That's the issue. If we don't deal with the costs issue, we're not going to fix the problem."

57 comments:

  1. The first rings of hell are reserved for the American insurance industry. We spend more than anyone else in the world already on heathcare with the exception of the Marshall Islands,yet we rank 37th in the world for healthcare quality and it's all because of the insurance companies. We're the only country in the world that still makes an industry out of death and sickness. Cut out the insurance companies like everyone else does on this Earth and we'll stop paying more for less. Court costs are a minor problem. It's a red herring. Insurance companies spend billions more on complicated research and shenanigans to figure out how to deny claims to keep the profit margin up which as a cost is passed on to the sick, us. For those that worry about more taxes: how much do you pay in out of pocket copays and premiums and out of pocket for denied claims? A hell of a lot more than everyone else in the world that pays via taxes and they're getting better quality care, living longer, their babies don't die as often, etc... Our manufacturing can't compete with the rest of the world because the rest of the world has national healthcare and our poor struggling companies have to figure out how to pay billions for lousy prviate insurance that doesn't satisy anyone or do the job anyway. Dent's not a bad guy but he doesn't have the &^%$# to tackle something as big and serious as healthcare. He prefers the easier stuff. I just read that in 1993, 600,000 Americans were reported crossing the border and pretending they were Canadians to get healthcare, just in Ontario. That was 15 years ago. How bad is it now? Hell, 93 were the good old days for us. It's shameful.

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  2. Yeah, cut the insurance companies out and hand health care over to the government in order to cut costs and save money.

    Again, this sort of thinking is very frightening. A hard rain is going to fall, better get ready.


    Scott Armstrong

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  3. The so-called "Greatest Generation" raised the greatest generation of crybabies ever to inhabit the Earth. This generation doesn't accept consequences, demands do-overs, and especially despises the words, "no" and "wait."

    "No" and "wait" are the mantra of government "care." Wait until they take their VA magic to national health. Better get ready for "no" and "wait."

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  4. SENIOR DEATH WARRANTS:

    The actress Natasha Richardson died after falling skiing in Canada . It took eight hours to drive her to a hospital. If Canada had our present healthcare she might be alive today. We now have helicopters that would have gotten her to the hospital in 30 minutes. Obama wants to have our healthcare like Canada 's and England 's.

    In England anyone over 59 cannot receive heart repairs or stents or bypass because it is not covered as being too expensive and not needed.


    If Obama's plans in other areas don't scare you, this should. Please do not let Obama sign senior death warrants. Everybody that is on this mailing list is either a senior citizen, is getting close or knows somebody that is. Most of you know by now that the Senate version (at least) of the "stimulus" bill includes provisions for extensive rationing of health care for senior citizens.. The author of this part of the bill, former senator and tax evader, Tom Daschle was credited today by Bloomberg with the following statement:

    Bloomberg: Daschle says "health-care reform will not be pain free. Seniors should be more accepting of the conditions that come with age instead of treating them."!!!!

    If this does not sufficiently raise your ire, just remember that Senators and Congressmen have their own health care plan that is first dollar or very low co-pay which they are guaranteed the remainder of their lives and are not subject to this new law if it passes.

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  5. Yeah, cut the insurance companies out and hand health care over to the government in order to cut costs and save money.
    -
    Given the fact that administrative costs in Medicare are MUCH LOWER than private insurers as a percentage, I'd think your statement is true.

    Medicare does not have to pay multi-million dollar salaries, golden parachutes, expensive perks, or shareholders.

    Fail.

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  6. The so-called "Greatest Generation" raised the greatest generation of crybabies ever to inhabit the Earth. This generation doesn't accept consequences, demands do-overs, and especially despises the words, "no" and "wait."

    "No" and "wait" are the mantra of government "care." Wait until they take their VA magic to national health. Better get ready for "no" and "wait."

    -
    I think you'd be hard pressed to find any government employee or member of the military willing to give up their healthcare.

    If you've known ANYONE (and I'm certain you do not) on Medicare, you'd know that your statement is false.

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  7. THe insurance industry is spending 1.4 million a day to keep their bloodsucking system going at the expense of lives of Americans. You think Dent isn't not seeing any of this money? Of course he's going to do a "What? Who me? I just read an interesting article!?"

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  8. http://allcountries.org/health/usa_health_care_2008_nyt.html


    http://www.photius.com/rankings/healthranks.html

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  9. We now have helicopters that would have gotten her to the hospital in 30 minutes.
    -
    Seriously? This is why you are LOSING this debate in the country. Richardson refused an ambulance 17 minutes after her fall. An ambulance was called 2 hours later and then the decision to transport her to a trauma center was made 2 hours after that when she had a CT scan. If this had happened in a remote part of the United States, the same outcome would have likely followed.

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  10. Dent's comments are despicable and completely out of touch with America.

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  11. Dent claims we (1) need medical malpractice reform to deter defensive medicine practices; (2) that health care costs can vary significantly in demographically similar communities; (3) that one company has reduced healthcare costs ith prevention programs; (4) that tax incentives can be used to encourage people to get medical insurance; (5) that the cost of Mass.' mandatory insurance plan is spiralling out of control, which will lead to health care rationing.

    I agree with some of his points.

    (1) I disagree that tort reform will lead to a reduction in health care costs. in fact, I think it will have the opposite effect.

    It's hard to disagree with points 2 and 3. I am insufficiently informed to reach a conclusion about points 4 & 5. But I find nothing "despicable" in what he has to say. Nor does it make sense to adopt a major reform without considering how we intend to pay for it.

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  12. From Beyond the GraveJuly 8, 2009 at 12:06 PM

    Here's an analogy that car purchasers will appreciate:

    America goes car shopping with 36 of her closest buddies, (France, Britain, Slovenia, Turkey, Cyprus,) the whole gang. All the other countries buy a Lexus. Some for only 35k and others (like France) with all the goodies that bring it up to 50k. But they get a Lexus each one. When it's America's turn, she buys a 5 year old Kia with over 100,000 miles for $80,000K and drives away screaming out the window, "I HAVE THE BEST CAR IN THE WORLD! I HAVE THE BEST CAR IN THE WORLD!" while the dealer shakes his head, closing up to retire in the Cayman Islands on the money he made off America, and the other countries roll their eyes. America, because its car is broken down and cheap suffers bumps, bruises, and accidents due to wheels falling off and other dangers and probably will die in accidet some day due to the unsafe condition of the car, while the 36 buddies drive off in safety and comfort having spent much less. God bless America. WE HAVE THE BEST CAR IN THE WORLD! Keep telling yourself that. Just don't open your eyes and look at the other cars or what they were bought for.

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  13. I am under no illusion that we have the best healthcare system in the world. We desperately need reform, and Congressman Dent said so. The question is what kind of reform? Should we go to a system that rations health care? Should we just give everyone free medical coverage with no consideration to what it will cost? Is it true that 10 million people w/o health insurance are undocumented aliens? Is it true that half of those who are uninsured are under 35 and just don't think it's that big a deal? Is it also true that there are people who are being denied coverage bc of minor pre-existing medical conditions, as someone pointed out yesterday? Isn't it also true that half of those w/ no insurance are over 35 and desparately need the help? Why are prescription drugs so expensive here?

    These are all very big questions and whatever we do, we need to consider how we pay for it. Can we try tax incentives for a few years and see how that works out? Is that too little?

    I don't have answers, but these questions must be explored - all of them.

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  14. Our government does few things efficiently; health care won't be one of them. This is a disaster being brought to us by the same clowns who admit they misjudged the economy. Get ready to pay more for less. The shared misery concept is almost a religion to some.

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  15. Dent is unconcerned about healthcare because Congressmen and Senators have special healthcare as good if not better than other countries, much better than what his tax paying constituents. As that senator from SC last week said, "If you don't like your health insurance, just get a job with the federal govt,." Give elected federal officials the lousy HMOs we suffer with and you'll see change damn quick. In the meantime, they're all in the Petit Trianon reading interesting articles about how the peasants are suffering. "Let them eat cake."

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  16. Boy where to begin.

    Do you want your local Police and Fire Departments (not Companies which are volunteers) do you want those Socialized agencies (its MORE GOVERNEMENT) to go to the hands of for profit industry? NO? Well why do you corporate yes men, want to let our protection in health be for profit but not your protection from crack heads and fire?

    1. Lawsuits. Imagine if the government said "Hey people suing garages for shotty work, that is driving the cost of auto repair up. So let's drop the abilty to sue for bad work."

    Do you righties think that will make auto repair better? NOOOO! Then you hand a free license to every low life to intentionally mess with cars to make more work.

    So why for a Doctor do you fell thats ok, because he is white collar? We have a system right now that hands out rewards for procedures. So they are giving doctors commissions for things patients don't need to get in many Hospital systems.

    How is that any more ethical then a guy who slices a coolent hose to bring back more work?

    Next: ""Two, we want to protect the doctor-patient relationship. That, I think, has to be the centerpiece of any reform. People want to protect that relationship."

    Well Mr. Dent this is from the Physicians for a National Health Program. http://www.pnhp.org

    This is under Myths busted about the Canadian' system.

    "4. You have to wait forever to get a family doctor.
    False for the vast majority of Canadians, but True for a few. Again, it all depends on where you live. I live in suburban Vancouver, and there are any number of first-rate GPs in my neighborhood who are taking new patients. If you don’t have a working relationship with one, but need to see a doctor now, there are 24-hour urgent care clinics in most neighborhoods that will usually get you in and out on the minor stuff in under an hour.

    It is, absolutely, harder to get to a doctor if you live out in a small town, or up in the territories. But that’s just as true in the U.S. — and in America, the government won’t cover the airfare for rural folk to come down to the city for needed treatment, which all the provincial plans do.

    5. You don’t get to choose your own doctor.
    Scurrilously False. Somebody, somewhere, is getting paid a lot of money to make this kind of stuff up. The cons love to scare the kids with stories about the government picking your doctor for you, and you don’t get a choice. Be afraid! Be very afraid!

    For the record: Canadians pick their own doctors, just like Americans do. And not only that: since it all pays the same, poor Canadians have exactly the same access to the country’s top specialists that rich ones do."

    Pg.1

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  17. Pg.2

    Dent makes it like all under 35 have no insurance beacuse they want to buy a Wii. BS!

    Most lack jobs in industries that offer healthcare. thanks to Clinton Gore working hand and hand with Newt and the GOP. They signed a bill called NAFTA. That got the snowball rolling downhill for a thing called Globalization. Now American manufaturing, IT, and many other good industires are gone.

    Working a register at the local gas station, chain video store, waiting tables at the local diner, cutting grass for the local landscaper, and most other jons held by TODAY's under 35 DO NOT OFFER INSURANCE!

    A Universal Single payer healthcare system that EVERY other industrialized nation has except the US of A, would erode that number.

    Universal Single Payer is NOT being discussed. I know some of you right wing trolls will say I'm wrong. But NO Glenn Beck is wrong. What is on the table is government subsidized. Which means the for-profit companies will turn a profit on your tax dollars. Like bailouts for wall street or no bid contracts for Haliburton.

    Yes a Universal Single Payer system will put Private out of business, and GOOD! My father recently died from Liver cancer. Around late 2002 he went for a basic check up. My father in his then early fifties, basicly never was sick. A simple blood test turned up he had hepatitis.

    The For-Profit bureaucrats fought his treatment. After over 30 years of two claims. One a broken ankle in the 1970's and a piece of small cement in his eye in the late 1980's.

    Blue Cross Blue Shield's bureaucrats fought the treatment saying it was too pricey. They didn't want to spend $1,200.00 to save a persons life. It cut into their profit.

    After a two month battle they finally caved. The for- profit bureaucrats do this to try and get members to cave and pay out of pocket. We are pig headed Irish and are not easily detered.

    When the idea was looked into about a transplant for my fathers Liver. The For-Profit insurance said he did not qualify for a list.

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  18. Pg.3
    Then in the fall of 2008 my father had pains in his side. At first they thought maybe it was a muscle strain. It wasn't . Our family doctor tried to get him a MRI and surprise, the insurance company bureaucrat who was on the phone and NEVER saw him said it was "un-needed".

    Shortly after New years 2009 my dad got sick and threw up. He almost never did that even when he was doing the treatments a few years back.

    Around his birthday (the 12th) he grew sicker. When he went to the Doctor the doctor spotted what we missed seeing him daily. His skin tome had changed. He had a yellow tint. By the end of the Month he looked like Mr. Burns.

    Again our Dr tried to have him admitted into the Hospital. Again a For-Profit bureaucrat never saw him over the phone said it was un-needed. My Dr had a fit, he fought her telling her she would go to Hell for doing this.

    Finally after our Dr fought for DAYS they caved and let my father get admitted. February 11th they told my father he had Terminal Liver Cancer. February 20th at 8:30 Am my father died.

    So do I care if the system that makes it's profits on the suffering of hard working American citizens, that screws them over so some bureaucrat can make a bonus, and up some stock value fails? FUCK NO!

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  19. Pg.4
    As for the system that is ruining Massachusetts. That was done under REPUBLICAN Mitt Romney. See Mitt is a career scab. He made his millions off the backs of laying off hard workers.

    Thats what Mitt did before Politics he helped corporations "downsize" and he made his bonuses on how few workers were left.

    So what do you think the man heavily funded by For-Profit Insurance lobbyist did when he got in office?

    Dent said : "So you have to deal with the costs issue. And that's real the conundrum. That's the issue. If we don't deal with the costs issue, we're not going to fix the problem."

    Ok so how about the Big Pharmas rip off. Canadians pay for their medicine out of pocket. But only pay maybe $10 per prescription better than many for profit "co-pays". Why is that cost so high?

    Is it the beautiful women they hire to sweet talk Drs? These former beauty queens and cheerleaders turned drug models. I worked at Starbucks and saw these women spending money hand over fist on the company cards for coffee and related products to sweeten them up.

    One would spend no less than $30 a stop and came in at least twice a day.One day she spent a whopping $125 for a coffee maker for a Dr. And told us. Why did the cost not bother her "Hey it's work paying for it , not me." Or better IT is US paying for it not her!

    How about all the "Special paint schemes" NASCAR teams do featuring secoondary sponsors. how much are they paying for Jeff Gordon to have the car painted like the "purple pill", ask your doctor about un-needed sponsors.

    Let alone how much these drug makers and For-profit insurance companies need to have in the bank for their Lobbyists. You think this is out of their pocket? NO! They raise the price on the US consumer as a way to funnel money into accounts just for lobbying Democratic and Republican law makers!

    Now I don't have enough time to debunk every BS claim by the radical right wingers who rad Bernie daily. But one really sticks out.

    ANON 9:29

    The Late Ms Richardson at first refused treatment for her injury. And then when she had a growing head ache went to a local hospitial and THE WAS TRANSFERED TO A HOSPITAL IN NYC! In other words she died in our system you stupid bastard!

    Next time google your talking points before you write them Glenn Beck is full of shit and when you just repeat the mistruths you look like a real dumb ass!

    Here are some good links to read. I know the Uber Right wing that trolls here yelling Glen Beck's talking points will find some Bull shit from a Michelle Malkin blog to debunk me. But I deal in reality and FACTS! Not spin and corporate sales pitches!

    If you folks who oppose Universal Healthcare are all such great Christain conservatives why do you fight health care for the poor? I don't recal Jesus yapping "It's their own fault! Pull yourself by the boot straps commie!"

    I see hypocrites saying it today!

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natasha_Richardson#Injury_and_death

    http://www.pnhp.org/news/2008/february/10_myths_about_canad.php

    http://singlepayeraction.org/

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universal_health_care

    Bernie Sanders talking of Universal Single Payer Healthcare
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n_UNcOKvPNc

    Ralph Nader on Universal Healthcare
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fmtIV35gwfA

    Comments on Obama's BS flip flop on Universal Healthcare
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cFgA1LP3wjA

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  20. tax incentives? how well are the working in other parts of our economy? It seems that tax incentives are code for corporate welfare.

    KOZ's... they are are tax incentives. Let's not botch health care reform this way.

    $1.4 million a day being spent by health insurance industry on lobbying? Is this true? If so, I'm not sure I will trust any politician who talks about health care reform and has taken a penny from the insurance industry. Did Dent?

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  21. "Given the fact that administrative costs in Medicare are MUCH LOWER than private insurers as a percentage, I'd think your statement is true."


    I help my grandparents with their Medicare forms. Do you know why Medicare's "administrative costs" are "MUCH LOWER" than private insurers?

    Because they don't bother to ever get their charges or their paperwork correct. I have received Medicare statements for my folks paying for procedures that weren't even performed. Maybe you enjoy hour long phone coversations with government bureaucrats who don't give a shit about your case. You actually sound like you might.

    While poor record-keeping, poor service and indifference might lead to lower costs -- it is not something to brag about.

    Epic Fail on your part.

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  22. The same way we invest in your Healthcare Charlie Dent; thou I think it's more like "Charlie Browne".

    "LV Congressman Charlie Dent: How Will We Pay For Healthcare Reform?"

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  23. Why didn't Charlie Dent ask this about the war; thou I think it's more like "Charlie Browne".

    "LV Congressman Charlie Dent: How Will We Pay For Healthcare Reform?"

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  24. "Charlie Browne!" Ha! That poster made a funny!

    You know what's really funny! President Obama saying on TV that if his wife's or his girls' health was at dire risk, he wouldn't trust the system he wants to set up for all of us.

    Call Me PigPen

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  25. What's all this support for this treasoness representative Charlie Dent.

    FISA Amendments Act of 2008

    http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2008/roll437.xml

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  26. Anon 3:14 I talked in great detail about bureaucrats who don't care.

    You should read my post. And from looking at your comments you should READ period.

    Please enough of the tired as I'm told by right wing propaganda machines.

    The bureaucrats Newt talks of. Well sadly they are here now they work in the FOR Profit. See The people who oppose this are so ignorant. They let some liar politician talk them into terms like "Government bureaucrats" what are these people in India for the For Profit companies? HECK What is Newt? A BUREAUCRAT.

    God don't be so easily fooled. Then again I'm arguing with the brain trust who think it is the "Democrat Party" that won the White House. Civics lesson : Democratic Party not Democrat.

    Now I've said all I have to say. See how these anons spamming up the post all the time here are a rare few. Logic means nothing to them. Mindless how can you live with yourself? Me , me, me , mine thats all they worry about these people.

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  27. Dear Mr. Spike Rogan --

    Is there a literate person who can read my post again to you in your domicile?

    I did not write about Newt Gingrich "bureaucrats."

    I relayed a personal experience that I had with an actual bill from Medicare that looks like it was put together by someone who was twice as smart as you -- in other words -- someone functioning at the IQ equivalent level of a dust bunny.

    Do you understand the words that are coming out of my hands?

    No theory, no propaganda -- actual shit that has happened to me involving thousands of dollars for services that were not performed but which were apparently randomly billed by the dedicated AFSCME union members at Medicare.

    But you're probably right, I'm sure that the good folks at Medicare only completely screwed beyond recognition the charges relating to my own grandparent's medical treatment. Certainly, this never happens to anyone else.

    Now bleat some more about Fox News or whatever.

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  28. “evil blood sucking medical insurance companies” Wow, isn’t that a bit judgmental? To all of my friends on the left, why do you believe it is up to the collective “government” to take care of you? Why is it the responsibility of the productive to support the unproductive?
    In this country we have the right to succeed or fail. The government (us) should provide a safety net for those who truly can’t take care of themselves but that should be the limit of our(government) responsibility. I don’t want to surrender control of my health care to a government bureaucracy. I don’t want to empower the government to control health care.

    Scott Armstrong

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  29. Al Gore got rich off the environmentalist idiots. I wonder who is going to cash in on this nonsense. I smell Freddie and Fannie again. We know Tom Daschle and his wife are in the middle of this with their paid-for limousines and "lobbying" junkets. This is another scam that plays on the anger of the Spikes of the world. He's ready to buy a bridge in Brooklyn he's so (justifiably) pissed. This is a scam.

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  30. Great point 5:58. Pick out the limousine liberal most likely to cash in.

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  31. Next Election is The Power of The Write In.

    Party Politics is now declared Dead On Arrival.

    Both Parties are bad and those who support a party are even worst.

    The sell out of Americans is over.

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  32. I agree with Scott. One provisio though. Once accepted by a Health Insurance Company and you are paying premiums, the Company must pay out claims. No fault health insurance.

    Also no cut clauses would be beneficial and realistic but Scott will be hiding in his basement with his stuffed Reagan doll and "Commie-be-gone" spray.

    Problem is Health Care in America is very big business. They will bring about their own destruction by their inherent greed.

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  33. In case of a nuclear war, only rats, cockroaches, flies and insurance company brokers and executives will survive.

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  34. By the way notice I'm a crazy ready to buy a bridge in brooklyn.

    I'm a illiterate because I read what someone said.

    Yet not a single opponent had the class to say "Sorry about your loss" or "Sorry about your father".

    Hmm.

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  35. Sorry about your loss.

    However, your personal experience doesn't give you the right to force me into a program dealing with my own health that will not benefit me. Nor does it put the onus on me to pay for your health care or the health care of any other individual.

    Further, I will actively resist, within the confines of our Democratic Process, any attempt made by you, or people who share your beliefs, to force me into a system that will negatively impact my ability to make my own decisions about my health care or my family's health care.

    Medicare already takes money of out my check every week and as a young worker I don't believe for an instance that the money I'm paying will be there to take care of my health needs when I'm a senior.

    That's the way it is.

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  36. Anonymous,

    "Scott will be hiding in his basement with his stuffed Reagan doll and "Commie-be-gone" spray."


    Oh so typical, oh so predictable, and oh so low brow. Such is much of the so called rhetoric of the "enlightened"(?) left these days.

    Scott Armstrong

    Scott Armstrong

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  37. "(1) I disagree that tort reform will lead to a reduction in health care costs. in fact, I think it will have the opposite effect." Bernie 12:02 PM

    Take a look at states that have enacted tort reform. It has been a huge success. Some sort of federal tort reform may not be the answer to all of our problems, but it has to be a part of the equation to decrease the costs of healthcare. To say that it would increase healthcare costs is contrary to established precedent.

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  38. Don't forget the pharmaceutical companies. In Florida they have bus and train lines that make regular trips to Canada where these poor decreptic geriatrics buy the same medications we have here for hundreds of dollars less since with national healthcare the govts. can buy the pills in bulk at reasonable prices. It's pathetic we put our old people through that. It's very common in South Florida for people to travel to Central and South America to fill prescriptions. Out of pocket overseas it's cheaper than with insurance in the States.

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  39. It isn’t the government’s responsibility to provide “drugs to old people”. A case can however be made that senior citizens who can’t afford drugs should have access to them. The difference is clear, we/the government should care for those who can’t care for themselves, we/the government shouldn’t be providing drugs for everyone.

    Scott Armstrong

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  40. The "despicable" point is that he sidesteps the point with lots of peripheral-view issues. He touches on each Republican talking point and dances around the issue. He is surely not reaching across the aisle in those statements, but making a hostile statement AGAINST real reform. In other words, he purely partisan on an issue too important to do so.

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  41. While poor record-keeping, poor service and indifference might lead to lower costs -- it is not something to brag about.

    Ha! As if this doesn't occur in the private sector. Except part of those charges are going to pay for golf excursions in La Jolla.

    By the way, I find the fact that my mother is still alive much more satisfying then my convenience dealing with paperwork.

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  42. Spike, while we disagree on the best course to take in regard to health care, I do want to extend my deepest sympathy on your loss. No one should go through what your father did.

    The Banker

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  43. Anon 5:45 PM

    I am so glad that your personal anecdote defines the entire Medicare program. I've had vastly opposite experiences. We are at an impasse on anecdotes, I fear.

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  44. Nor does it put the onus on me to pay for your health care or the health care of any other individual.

    If I were lying the street dying, you would not help me? Why is insurance - universal insurance - so abhorrent to you? Perhaps you said no.

    You need to get over the idea that a government plan would be inferior to the average person's coverage and service.

    There are many scenarios in which you - yes you - could find yourself seriously ill AND without coverage.

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  45. We're screwed. After WWII when the rest of the world went to nationalized healthcare and we chose to keep it profit based and connected to employers, it created a monster that can't be stopped. Dent's in the pocket of BIG INSURANCE like everyone else and we're all screwed with lousy care. It's not too late to emigrate to Canada if you're under 55.

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  46. Wait a tic. During the last election cycle, Bennett claimed Charlie was in the pocket of BIG OIL. In fact, I could have sworn I saw him driving a tanker one weekend. Then, a little later, he was in the pocket of BIG FINANCE. I'm pretty sure I saw him at a drive in teller window in Bath. Now it's BIG INSURANCE, too? Oh my. He sure gets around.

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  47. That was a long answer. Not a good sign. That usually means, if coming from a politician, one thing, "I don't know" or "I have no idea."

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  48. If we had national healthcare, then Sarah Palin wouldn't be without her much needed Thorazine and Lithium.

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  49. Dear 11:03

    "Ha! As if this doesn't occur in the private sector. Except part of those charges are going to pay for golf excursions in La Jolla.

    By the way, I find the fact that my mother is still alive much more satisfying then my convenience dealing with paperwork."

    Wait. I thought that government run health care will be "better" than private health care. Why should massive foul-ups occur at all?

    Do you spend your entire life ostensibly disagreeing with something someone says and then employing an argument that actually ends up reinforcing the point they make? How frustrating that must be.

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  50. Nurse Ratchet said:

    "If we had national healthcare, then Sarah Palin wouldn't be without her much needed Thorazine and Lithium."

    Question? Would Nancy Pelosi's face-tox treatments be covered?

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  51. You think this guy has the numbers to give the Democrats the cover they need to steal people's health insurance coverage?

    http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/obama_administration/daily_presidential_tracking_poll

    Think again.

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  52. Wait a tic. During the last election cycle, Bennett claimed Charlie was in the pocket of BIG OIL. In fact, I could have sworn I saw him driving a tanker one weekend. Then, a little later, he was in the pocket of BIG FINANCE. I'm pretty sure I saw him at a drive in teller window in Bath. Now it's BIG INSURANCE, too? Oh my. He sure gets around.

    This should be obvious to you. He's a member of the Republican party.

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  53. Wait. I thought that government run health care will be "better" than private health care. Why should massive foul-ups occur at all?

    Do you spend your entire life ostensibly disagreeing with something someone says and then employing an argument that actually ends up reinforcing the point they make? How frustrating that must be.


    No, I have life experience. I realize that humans make mistakes. The private mistakes are just much more costly. You have no argument. It is PROVEN Medicare operates at 3x less expenses than private insurers. It's very humorous that you believe no one has disputes with private insurers. National healthcare would be better, it would be universal, cheaper and would break the for-profit motives of the insurance companies.

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  54. Representative Charles Dent 2010 contributors:

    American College of Radiology
    American Hospital Assn
    American Nurses Assn
    American Society of Anesthesiologists
    American College of Emergency Physicians
    Allentown Anesthesia Assoc

    Watch that money come rolling in. But you shouldn't expect more, given Dent's statements, he's already a loyal soldier.

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  55. Then, Democrats came for the doctors. But I was not a doctor and said nothing.

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  56. Oh, no! Dent took money from medical stooges. He should be like a Democrat and only take money from union stooges.

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  57. "No, I have life experience. I realize that humans make mistakes."

    Oh, please do tell us all about your life experiences, won't you?

    Don't keep us waiting on pins and needles, you fiend.

    You know we all can't wait to hear about how your life experiences make your take on health care the only possible answer.

    I'm holding my breath, oh Wise One.

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