Sarah Palin- Healthcare Czar

[Free Thinker]

Quote from AAAintheBeltway:

I agree that someone has to regulate the financial soundness of insurance companies, but this is not like a life insurance company where you pay in for decades. What is crucial in my mind is competition among various types of plans. Some people are happy with major medical and a fairly hefty annual deductible. Others seem to think it is a crime against humanity if they have to pay even a small co-pay. Give them a choice.

The problem with too much regulation is the regulators start forcing coverage of peripheral issues, like maybe cosmetic surgery, abortion, chiropractors, homeopathetic, etc.

I don't think health savings accounts can work in the absence of primary insurance coverage, simply because of the huge fee reductions insurers are able to negotiate. There are some "concierge" practices which do not accept insurance, but the vast majority will not accept a patient without insurance. In addition, show up at an ER without insurance only if you are prepared to pay a year's salary to treat a sprianed ankle.

you need more than that for regulation. otherwise you get situations where schyster companies sneak in wording that eliminates their exposure.
there are already shady companies selling health insurance through infomercials. if you look into these they sneak wording into their policy that limits their exposure to almost nothing. the consumer buys these products thinking they are covered and pay for years only to find out the coverage is worthless.

"I don't know about you, but when I see the term "low cost," I immediately assume the product is of very little use and limited quality. And when I see the Infomercial king Billy Mayes pitching a health insurance policy...well...I know there's something wrong. And there is.

The policy he's peddling is like Swiss cheese. Full of holes...and full of something else as well! Consider these policy provisions on the 1100 Series policy:

$100 application fee. Sorry...but you NEVER should pay an application fee.
Only $1000 of surgery coverage per year. Seriously...I'm not kidding!
Limit of $20 per blood test of lab test.
Limit of $220 for an MRI.
Only $1100 of your hospitalization charges are covered per year.
Anesthesia charges limited to $250 per surgery (that's about 10 minutes, folks!).
NO outpatient surgery coverage.
Inpatient hospital expenses such as lab work, blood tests, medications etc...are NOT covered!

And it keeps getting better! For Ohio residents, the cost is NOT $50 per month, as you might expect. Try $159 per month and a whopping $269 per month for an entire family.

At those prices, you should get a food dehydrator, a knives and cutlery set, a pasta maker, a pocket fisherman and an autographed picture of Lebron James."

http://healthinsuranceatoz.com/beware-of-health-insurance-infomercials/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c7d85T4OfqA

 

[jficquette]

For some reason people expect health care to be flawless. No mistakes.

Give me an industry that is mistake free. We had a Shuttle blow up almost on the launching pad, one broke up from re entry. We can't even be flawless in Space endeavors.

Point is is that healthcare is ran and administered by humans who make mistakes.

We have to do something with tort reform and recognize that mistakes happen.

Why not just ask the insurance industry how much tort reform needs to be implemented to get insurance premiums to 25% of what they are now and include those with preexisting conditions?

John

 

[Free Thinker]

Quote from jficquette:

For some reason people expect health care to be flawless. No mistakes.

Give me an industry that is mistake free. We had a Shuttle blow up almost on the launching pad, one broke up from re entry. We can't even be flawless in Space endeavors.

Point is is that healthcare is ran and administered by humans who make mistakes.

We have to do something with tort reform and recognize that mistakes happen.

Why not just ask the insurance industry how much tort reform needs to be implemented to get insurance premiums to 25% of what they are now and include those with preexisting conditions?

John

making a mistake is not the same as slick marketing with an intent to decieve.
i agree that tort reform should be included in the reform bill.

 

[jficquette]

Quote from vhehn:

making a mistake is not the same as slick marketing with an intent to decieve.
i agree that tort reform should be included in the reform bill.

Lawyers probably do the slickest advertising and deceive the most.

As a matter of fact I don't think Lawyers should be allowed to advertise nor take cases on contingency.

 

[Pa(b)st Prime]

"Other" countries don't have 40,000,000 unhealthy, African-Americans and 60,000,000 (perhaps 1/4 illegal) Mexicans of Indian ethnicity sucking off their health care system.
Here's some lines from a recent AP story from France:

“French government to tackle surging health care deficit”

PARIS (Reuters) - The French government is looking at ways to plug a gaping hole in its health care budget and may charge patients more for hospital stays, Budget Minister Eric Woerth said on Monday.

After a 4.4 billion euro ($6.31 billion) shortfall in the health budget in 2008, Woerth said he expected the deficit to hit 10 billion euros this year and 15 billion next, with the economic downturn denting social security contributions.

“We were not far from balancing the social security books and now, with the economic (crisis) … the deficit is taking off again,” Woerth said, adding that the government would address the problem in the 2010 budget."


Or from England: "Science Daily (Aug. 16, 2008) — The NHS and private healthcare are not providing good enough basic care to a large portion of the population in England, especially older and frailer people, according to a study published on bmj.com.

Overall, only 62% of the care recommended for older adults is actually received, conclude the authors.

The large-scale independent study of quality of care involved 8 688 people aged 50 and over and looked at 13 different health conditions including heart disease, diabetes, stroke, depression and osteoarthritis.

The research team led by the University of East Anglia studied whether effective healthcare interventions were received by people aged 50 and over with serious health conditions.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/08/080814210004.htm


Yes indeed, France and the U.K. sound like GREAT models to copy. Of course with Medicare, Social Security, Fannie, Freddie, the FDIC, Amtrak and the Post Office all beacons of wonderful Federal stewardship, why would anyone be skeptical about the G's ability to "reform" health care?

Quote from Ricter:

We do not know that about government health-care spending. It does not follow, because it implicitly assumes a premise, that health-care spending is the only government spending.

As health-care spending is not the only government spending, it is plausible that other spending could be cut, while maintaining current levels of health-care spending, and still effect a shrinking deficit. And that's assuming the economy adds nothing more to government revenue. Add to revenue and it becomes even more plausible.

Other developed nations have made a more public health-care system work, is it really something "a little Yankee ingenuity" can't make work here?

 

[Free Thinker]

Quote from Pa(b)st Prime:

"Other" countries don't have 40,000,000 unhealthy, African-Americans and 60,000,000 (perhaps 1/4 illegal) Mexicans of Indian ethnicity sucking off their health care system.

you racism is showing through again. last time i went to the mall the fat white people were in just as bad of shape as the minorities.

 

[Ricter]

Quote from Pa(b)st Prime:

"Other" countries don't have 40,000,000 unhealthy, African-Americans and ...

What's achieved by using racial concepts? The poor, and freeriders, are problems to contend with everywhere, though admittedly maybe not to America's scale (what does that say about us?)

Anyway, unless the nature of freeriders is changing in some significant way, they do not change the logic of my point: reducing spending elsewhere than healthcare could result in a falling deficit, all other things being held constant. Palin argues as if there is no other form of government spending.

 

[Pa(b)st Prime]

If "other spending" could be cut then guess what: It would ALREADY be cut. Do you see the Pelosi Congress cutting social programs? Or education costs?


Maybe you were in Canada during the debates:

"That's (McCain's proposed budget cuts) using a hatchet to cut the federal budget," Obama said. "I want to use a scalpel..."

I'd bet dollars to doughnuts that the cost of a educating a student has risen FAR MORE than the cost of hospital patients the past three decades. (tuition at my grammar school was $850 in the 70's-it's 12k today) Is there a Democrat alive complaining about skyrocketing school costs? Of course not. Not when 1 in 10 delegates at the DNC are members of the NEA.

Quote from Ricter:

What's achieved by using racial concepts? The poor, and freeriders, are problems to contend with everywhere, though admittedly maybe not to America's scale (what does that say about us?)

Anyway, unless the nature of freeriders is changing in some significant way, they do not change the logic of my point: reducing spending elsewhere than healthcare could result in a falling deficit, all other things being held constant. Palin argues as if there is no other form of government spending.

 

[Ricter]

Quote from Pa(b)st Prime:

If "other spending" could be cut then guess what: It would ALREADY be cut...

I just don't see cause and effect there.

 

[Pa(b)st Prime]

Lotta black folks up there in the Dakota's?

I notice this phenomenon on ET. The diversity plus dudes are always from huckin and jivin' places like Toronto, Lake Tahoe, the Dakota's, Australia. Pretty easy to be Joe Outreach when you live in a state with less blacks than a medium sized Chicago housing project....

Quote from vhehn:

you racism is showing through again. last time i went to the mall the fat white people were in just as bad of shape as the minorities.