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11217,
wife said it was too cold to bring our son out so we’ll go this weekend. I usually like to check out a place before I order delivery from there.
noki,
I place the healthcare “crisis” in quotes because it is just that, a position.
There is no doubt that people are not being covered, but the human condition has not changed in the past 20 years. The same percentage of people are sick and ill as in the past, dare I say, there may be less sick and ill as a percentage thanks to advances in medicine.
The problem in healthcare is one of allocation of resources. the proposals I put forward earlier will not only alleviate the concerns of those not being covered, they will allow our government to allocate healthcare resources and dollars to those in need, to cover the 15 million -20 million that need coverage.
The cost of medicine will come down drastically with competition alone.
repeat, the cost will come down, so people who are caught in the middle (too little income to pay, too much to get medicaid) will be able to have medical care.
we also need to address our expectations as a society as to what each individual (there are 300 million of us now) is expected to receive. I think everyone understands that not everyone will be able to receive a liver or heart transplant. And using the fact that one person in a million happens to be able to get two heart transplants because of their wealth, is simply an unrealistic use of class warfare for the sake of scoring political points.
“I also learned that if you DO NOT have insurance you get billed MORE for exams, visits, tests, etc. than the insurance company does.
HUH??? If you don’t have insurance shouldn’t doctors/hospitals be billing you less.”
ET;
This is the whole point of the insurance company’s role (financial intermediation). If you have one consumer (insurance company) that purchases thousands of a particular “Product” than an individual, the former will get a much better price.
As DIBS said, this is basic economics.
“The stimulus plan, as enacted, did nothing to stimulate the consumer, absolutely nothing.
Posted by: daveinbedstuy at February 1, 2010 10:59 AM”
Because consumers without jobs can’t consume. A consumer economy is like a tripod with only 2 legs. No jobs, no consuming. Cut taxes to make people buy more? That’s a financial plan to get us out of debt? That’s like saying a car can run on air.
Posted by: bxgrl at February 1, 2010 11:19 AM
Read my 11:12 post. You can’t “stimulate” the creation of jobs without final demand. No matter how much money you through at a government or a company, they are not going to hire any more if they see no increase in demand.
Increase in demand comes from spending from those who are able to spend.
I’m sorry but giving more money to the unemployed or to the government is not going to increase demand. Cutting the payroll taxes of those that have jobs will stimulate demand. They will be more likely to spend it.
This is very basic economics.
Not following the posts (just scanning)….sorry.
But as someone who pays for their own health insurance (and it ain’t cheap), I have to say that, the Health Insurance Industry in this country is a big joke. For me at this point, it’s a crime.
I spent most of last week battling my insurance company cause they billed me for some tests that should be covered. I spoke to incompetent people, followed by stupid people than rude supervisors.
WHAT THE F*CK am I paying for insurance if basic tests aren’t covered?????
I also learned that if you DO NOT have insurance you get billed MORE for exams, visits, tests, etc. than the insurance company does.
HUH??? If you don’t have insurance shouldn’t doctors/hospitals be billing you less.
I now view the medical/insurance industry as such a scam.
Legion is quite right about the massive amount of Medicare and Medicaid fraud.
Want to see an example in action? Go the the corner of Quentin Road and West 3rd St.in Gravesend. I know this location because it is where my folks live. On that corner you will see a 6-story apartment building. Almost half of the first floor of that apartment building is taken up by a firm that calls itself something like “Rehabilitative Therapy associates”. Sounds good, right? Take a peek through the windows, however, and you will see that this facility is nothing more than a GYM, and in this GYM healthy young people (all of a particular ethnic group that I won’t disclose) are smiling as they work out, AT THE TAXPAYER’s EXPENSE (Medicare). More aggravating, they are so confident in not getting caught in their fraud that this firm makes no attempt to conceal what is going on there.
Legion, those are all good ideas, and should be incorporated in health care, I’m not going to argue with that. However, none of those items helps the person who does not have health insurance because they can’t afford to buy it, or their job does not offer it, or they are not eligible for reasons like pre-existing conditions. Making people responsible for their own care sounds great, and would work well if EVERYONE was covered, and also had enough money in their bank account to be able to pay all of their other bills. Sadly, most people are put in the position of either having health care, or having a roof over their heads. Any comprehensive health care policy in this country that seeks to cover the highest amount of people needs to realize that people need access to affordable insurance that will allow them to be treated quickly, efficiently, yet fairly and without prejudice. I would support any plan that can deliver on that. Your comments on the ways to streamline and eliminate the fraud and the gravy train of excessive tort abuses and outright thievery should be incorporated, and I hope they are, but that is only one part of a wider picture.
“The stimulus plan, as enacted, did nothing to stimulate the consumer, absolutely nothing.
Posted by: daveinbedstuy at February 1, 2010 10:59 AM”
Because consumers without jobs can’t consume. A consumer economy is like a tripod with only 2 legs. No jobs, no consuming. Cut taxes to make people buy more? That’s a financial plan to get us out of debt? That’s like saying a car can run on air.
Legion- the Teabaggers started calling themselves that referencing the Boston Tea Party. It is not from pundits on the left. As for marginalizing them- they do a damn good job on that all by themselves. They can’t even get a convention together.
I hope you read the transcript of the Q & A- it was not only interesting, but you get to see and hear the other side of the story. Something you don’t get with Fox News, and in limited amounts from the WSJ.