KDBDallas

As a Constitutionalist or Libertarian, I’m surprised you wouldn’t give the power to enact universal health care to the states where it belongs.

Because all rights not explicitly granted to the Federal Government in the Constitution are reserved to the States.

Under the proposed health plan your son would probably have died. Many provisions are “questionable” at best and it seems most folks intrepret that as the feeble young with defects, and the elderly prone to death soon anyways, are better off to let nature “take its course”, horrible, we cannot pass the legislation proposed as it is now.

I am truly sorry for your situation. Our premature daughter (about a month and a week early) only suffered from a grand mal seizure and RSV. I can’t imagine the anxiety and hardships you’ve faced.

That being said, there isn’t some magical thing called “the government” that can solve your troubles. The money that would go to pay for your daughter’s health care has to come from somewhere. With insurance, it comes from the other members of the insurance pool. With the government, it comes from the taxpaying citizens of the whole country.

I am curious why you think that you should receive my hard-earned money because you’ve had such unfortunate circumstances. As a self-described Constitutionalist, how can you justify the infringements in the case of medical care? Because it would make things easier on you?

The system is broke, but we shouldn’t call on the arsonist to put out the fire.

I did not say who should run it (state or federal)

I actually like the option that Obama said in his speech last night…
Have a non-profit company setup that is setup with rules and regulations of how that company is ran.
The Federal Government would just act as an oversight committy to make sure this company is doing what it was setup to do. (in other words act like a board of directors)

This plan would pay for itself through premiums, just like every other insurance company. So this would help the taxation issue. (So that answers @Bill question)

I would also be fine with the same thing being done at the state level. Problem with being at a state level is if you move to a different state. However I would be ok with this.

I do not believe in the “death panel” junk.
Premature babies are born all the time in countries with FULLY socialized medicine. In fact America currently has one of the WORST rates at saving preemies. We are down next to 3rd world countries. Same with the handicapped.
I read an article of someone saying that in the UK someone like Steven Hawking wouldn’t have been given the care to live and prosper. The funny thing is, Steven Hawking WAS BORN IN THE UK and has lived most of his life in the UK!

All I care about is getting me and my family insurance at affordable rates, and without major changes and the government stepping in somehow, nothing will change in the way of the current insurance companies not giving my son coverage or me coverage because I am of “excess build”

NON profit company? What kind of quality health care are expecting to get for free? Have you heard of “you get what you pay for?” This will resonate throughout the Healthcare industry and there will be more deaths/mistakes than ever before! The real problem is that the medical industry itself is re allowed to inflate rates to unreasonable fees. ie, an aspirin in the hospital is over 5 dollars and you can purchase the same damn thing at walgreens for 2.50 and get 30 pills! Ridiculous!

Many of the current health insurance companies are Non-profit. For example, IHC in Utah is a non-profit company. However, for them that means they just have to get rid of the money by giving the CEO bonuses, etc.

So we just have the same type of non-profit company, but that us truly non-profit. I am not saying the people working there should not get paid, but the upper people don’t need to be making 10 million a year or more. They don’t need bonuses in the hundreds of thousands of dollars on top of their huge salaries.

I do totally agree that the Drug companies are at blame too. Charging us sometimes upwards of $200 for a single pill when it cost them maybe a dollar to make.

I totally understand how crazy hospital stays can be. Trust me. My son was in the hospital for 3 months.

I am not saying that any one thing is a fix all.
However it would be a start.
Something (and I truly don’t care what that something is) has to be done to allow me to be able to PAY for insurance (I am NOT asking for a hand out)

If placing a law that insurance companies can not reject me because of pre-existing conditions, would allow me to signup but have to pay like $600/month, I would be VERY HAPPY!

Once again, it would not be a fix all (because some couldn’t afford $600 a month) but it would be a step in the right direction and would probably lower the amount of people who are uninsured.

The Stephen Hawking anecdote does not mean what you think it means: the fact is that he is able to live a productive life in spite of the NHS thanks to several American foundations that pay his expenses.

The plan would *not* pay for itself through premiums. Leaving aside the fact that it will considerably expand the deficit, it will be built on the backs of the healthy just like insurance except that the healthy suddenly expands to include every American who currently has opted to not buy insurance for whatever reason. They will be made to pay a fine and they will get no benefit because they wouldn’t have been a user of the plan anyway.

This plan will *not* change the premature birth rate except insofar as it limits the ability of women to get reproductive assistance. I would suspect that a big factor in premature birth rates are older women getting pregnant and multiple births plus inadequate prenatal care for the poor (it’s been available for decades and they just don’t go to the necessary visits or take the necessary prenatal precautions). Socialized medicine doesn’t change it (though maybe it just defines up premature).

Thank you for explicitly stating that you just want insurance and that you don’t care who has to end up paying for it. I hope you will enjoy the high-quality, cheap health care that is sure to come about from the federal government with its caring, efficient agencies as the big bad, rapacious private insurance companies are crowded out and undercut into bankruptcy. At least you’ll have yours.

Please disregard those last two sentences. I try to avoid sarcasm in political discussions, but sometimes it slips through. I apologize.

My heart goes out to your situation. I live in Utah and have IHC as my provider through my current insurance, believe me, for being “non profit” I am sure paying through the nose! I believe the medical/insurance industry is “broke”, however I do not believe the HC bill is the answer. I KNOW it will make things worse for the majority of the people. YOU included. I do agree that when you dhange insurances however, that they should be required to pick up the pre-existing conditions. 100%

I fully want to pay for my insurance. I am NOT asking for a hand out.

However, we are ALREADY paying for the poors insurance. It’s called Medicaid.

The problem I am talking about is those that are middle class. I make too much to get Medicaid and none of the non-government companies will insure me.

The health care system is a victim of it’s own success. We develop new drugs and procedures that allow preemies to live and the elderly to live longer. Years ago the technology that allowed doctors to save Tyler didn’t exist. But all that training and technology costs money, and lots of it.

Health insurance companies won’t accept you for the same reason a homeowner with a multi-million dollar house would be rejected for insurance after it being severely damaged by fire or flood. For an insurance co. to accept you, they’d have to significantly raise premiums for everyone they insure to cover the costs.

This the the main problem with President Obama’s plan. He wants insurance companies to not deny coverage due to pre-existing conditions and to cap out-of-pocket expenses. The only way insurance companies can do this, without going broke, is to jack up premiums for everyone. A government plan will have to do the same thing. The other alternative would be to limit who gets coverage. This is where the “death panels” come in.

Government health plans in countries like Canada are causing their governments to go broke. Our government is already broke (over $11 trillion in debt) and we haven’t even started Obmama’s plan yet.

As nice as it may sound, there’s no way they can cut $900 Billion of waste out of the health insurance industry. Even if they could, I doubt it be enough to allow affordable premiums *and* unlimited health care for everyone. Think about it, the US government is the poster child for bureaucratic waste. If the insurance industry can’t cut waste the Federal Gvt. really can’t.

Just out of curiosity, how were you able to pay for all of Tyler’s treatments so far? I’m just afraid that if you had been under a government health plan, Tyler wouldn’t be alive today.

@Mark I am Ty’s mom We had a group plan for one week when Tyler was born. We capped out in a week his maximum. Due to federal regulations of babies born extremly low birth weight ( ELBW) ALL babies in the United States born under 2 lbs and a few ounces ARE OFFERED medicaid. So “you” the consumer and tax paying indivdual ( along with US a tax paying couple) paid for his care. Which oddly enough WAS a government health plan. For one year following his birth he was on medicaid along with whatever group plan we were on at the time.

2 years ago we moved to Arizona. Right before we left for Arizona we had only our group plan and we were left with 20 percent of a Total skull reconstruction that left us OWING over 150 K.

Our group plan in Arizona had an option to pay a higher premium ( which we did) which meant less money in our pocket each month to get a really good plan. Also while in Arizona Tyler was diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy thus granting us long term care for him which gives him insurance NOT based on mine and Dallas income. It did not cover Dallas and I.

After looking at options in Utah Tyler has a 8 year waiting list ( or longer) for long term care services. So we thought since we have been COVERED CONTINUALLY since the day he was born 4 years ago that we would be able to buy insurance and we have been denied. One look at his history will not allow us to be covered. Paying cobra premiums is 1200 a month which is more than our house payment and we have been left MASSIVELY indebt due to the SHORT time we were without a Government plan.

So would he still be alive with a goavernment plan, YES he would. Why do I know that? Because the federal government set up guidlines for pregnant women and their “fetus” and what lengths they will go to to save a child. 23 weeks seems to be the cutoff. AND he would be alive because he WAS on goevernment health care and he was able to get the services he needs.

Without health care for him NOW he does not get preventive care because I cannont afford out of pocket to pay a neurologist, pediatrcian, neurosurgeon, orthopedic doctor, opthamologist and a rehabalitation doctor OUT OF POCKET. Instead I will have to wait till something breaks and he needs life saving measures taken at the expense of other peopele that could have been prevented.

Nancy
Thanks for your response.
It’s good to know that the gvt. was able to help out with medicaid but, as you may know, medicaid is going broke.

I think the feds should start small by fixing their existing health programs. When they can sustain medicare and medicaid, then maybe they can think about creating a new program to compete with the insurance companies. I also think congress should be required to use whatever plan they come up with.

In the mean time they should lift restrictions that prevent more competition among insurance companies. They might also pass a law that prevents denial of coverage due to a pre-existing condition for people, like you, who had continuous coverage.

You say your high premiums for the Arizona option (AHCCCS I assume) meant less money for a “really good plan.” Are you talking about a plan for you and Dallas? Couldn’t you have got a decent plan for yourselves only and kept Tyler on AHCCCS? I also wonder why you moved to Utah when you had coverage in Arizona. Seems like a self employed software engineer wouldn’t need to relocate.

You’re right, I’m already paying for others’ health care through taxes. Plus I’m paying for my family’s health care (out-of-pocket because I have a high deductible plan) plus insurance premiums. I just don’t believe my taxes and/or premiums will go down under Obamacare. What I do see are skyrocketing premiums and taxes for most of us. The rich people will find ways to keep from shouldering the country’s tax bill which means Obama is going to have to collect from the middle class.

Having said that, I can understand your desire for a gvt. plan. If you have no insurance you’ve got nothing to loose. Better to have poor health care than none at all.

We paid more for our GROUP PLAN AHCCS wasn’t paid for by us. The reason for moving when we had long term care for Tyler ( not us, we would be in the same boat) was to be closer to family. As living in Arizona left us with no family around at all and less interaction for Tyler with other kids. WE paid for our group plan and had less money out of pocket by paying more from each check. Tyler was again DOUBLE covered. AHCCS wouldn’t have been enough as they don’t cover everthing ( like hearing exams, ABR’s and some speech things) so without double coverage we would still be responsible so some. Plus some care for Cerebral Palsy is not covered so we still needed to do things out of pocket ( like orthotic braces for his feet) While the medicaid program is going broke that is one program that is helping illegal immigrants and other people who lie about their income to stay on it.

Maybe they do need to reform that system but how else are we suppose to pay for our own child till them?

I still think the problem is with price gouging and the exhorbant ridiculous costs of things that are so inflated. If the costs were regulated and controlled, then nancy could AFFORD braces, meds etc. I think there should be a cap on profit for items. ie, once again the asprin that they charge 5 bucks for that costs them .23 cents. ridicuous. We could afford our own health care if it weren’t so jacked up.

Group Plans vs. Individual Plans:

Group Plans Through Your Employer:

In Utah, you can’t be denied coverage under an employer’s group plan if you have maintained continuous coverage.

Premiums are based on the overall risk across the entire group. Typically, the larger the group, the lower the premiums.

Employers typically pay up to 70% of the actual premiums for health insurance. For example, if you are paying $400 per month in premiums for your family, your employer is probably paying $900 or more — for a total of $1400 per month.

Individual Plans:

Insurance companies can approve or deny coverage for individual plans at their discretion.

Premiums are set according to the policy holder’s risk and not averaged into any group, which typically results in higher rates.

Without an employer to contribute to your premiums, you are left holding the entire bill. It is not uncommon for individual policies for families to run $1500 to $2000 or more per month.

I bet that makes COBRA seem like a deal, doesn’t it?

Having been self-employed in the past, I had to come to terms with the fact that higher premiums for individual plans is a risk one must understand and accept before taking the self-employment plunge. It is one of the reasons I am no longer self-employed.

There are other options that may be more affordable, though. Some insurers offer Health Savings Account plans, with lower premiums. You contribute money into an interest-bearing account, out of which you pay your medical expenses. Such plans typically have high annual out-of-pocket limits, but once you hit the limit, everything is covered 100%. I actually have an HSA plan through my employer. You might want to look into it.

My wife also suggested that you contact the Disability Law Center to get coverage for your son expedited.

I agree with Dana. The government should impose a profit cap on other industries like professional sports, movies, television shows, video games, etc. You know, stuff we can live without.

And heaven forbid people in the health care industry make a good living. Doctors who spend at least eight years in college and at least three years in residency, working 80+ hours a week while paying off huge student loans . . . Why should they make a good living? The government should make them work for average pay like the rest of us who didn’t put in nearly the sacrifice.

Sorry for the sarcasm but people tend to complain about profits in the health care industry then turn around and willingly contribute to the lucrative entertainment industry without blinking an eye.

Our priorities are out of whack.

Price controls don’t work. If enacted they inevitably constrict supply or drive companies out of business. This isn’t opinion, but basic economics and it has played out in rent control, gas price control, and electricity price controls in California. Prices aren’t arbitrary except when they are distorted by government intervention. That $5 aspirin likely includes the handling costs of having a nurse deliver it and a on-site pharmacy to dispense it. Maybe Medicare won’t allow the hospital to bill for those services separately so it’s rolled into something that can be billed.

WE already pay for the nurse to deliver and dispense that 5 dollar aspirin on a seperate bill from the hospital. The hospitals DO indeed bill for those services. (at least they did 10 years ago when I had my last child)It is on the billing from the hospital. After my 2nd C section I requested an itemized list and it was 40 pages long for a 5 day stay. I still feel strongly that insurances should be REQUIRED to carry ANY persons, regardless of age or conditions, Pre-existing or otherwise. Lets face it, MOST people are relatively healthy, children included, it does not seem fair for the few that have extenuating circumstances be excluded. Insurance companies, like banks, are making money. Bottom line, and you can’t exclude a few “costly” people when your making bank on 95% of the others. Ridiculous. If your paying the premium, your family should be covered. ALL of your family, whether they have cp, cancer, cf, or anything else. period.

One problem with the government REQUIRING insurance companies to do things is that the insurance companies will decide not to do business at all.

This recently happened in Florida. The state of Florida put in price and coverage restrictions for property and casualty insurance in an attempt to bring down costs for homeowners after premiums went up due to so many hurricanes. But instead of getting cheaper insurance, residents are finding it hard to get insurance at all because so many insurance companies have decided to not sell new policies in Florida. It’s not because the insurance companies are greedy. It’s because they can’t remain financially sound paying for huge claims while collecting low premiums.

The same thing will happen if Obama gets his wish with health care reform.