It doesn’t look like they’re going to, but I sure wish they would.
Just a short one this morning, and overtly political for a change, because I can’t shut up about the way the Democrats and “progressive” blogs are getting all misty-eyed over health care “reform.” Just as I suspected, a glance at the House bill shows a planned $400 billion cut in “Medicare expenses,” which can’t be good. The bill does nothing to hold down the cost of private insurance, and the weak public option is a joke that could end up costing more than private insurance, according to the Congressional Budget Office.
I call it the Insurance Company Enrichment Act. True, they won’t be able to deny you coverage for pre-existing conditions, but there’s nothing to keep premiums from skyrocketing in response. The added layers of complexity the bill envisions will only add more overhead to the already ridiculous pricing Americans have to pay. In short, the bill is a fraud and a sham. And I haven’t even mentioned the step backwards in abortion rights.
The problem is that this entrenches a failed system of health care delivery and does nothing to reduce expenses for American families. The insurance companies themselves are the problem, as no other developed nation in the world has a for-profit health insurance industry. Without the courage to put the insurers out of business with a true single-payer system, the effort is wasted. And to top it all off, they may well wreck Medicare in the process. That mandate is going to be a vote-killer, too. It’s like the Democrats have a death wish…
Finally, for anyone raising the “perfect being the enemy of the good” argument, I say that the time for incrementalism is passed. We know what’s wrong and how to fix it, so we don’t have any excuse. Why in heaven’s name do we give money to insurance companies at all?
Why not just pay the doctors?!?
UPDATE: Here’s a lady doctor and lecturer at Harvard Medical School who makes great sense: “Is the House Health Care Bill Better than Nothing?” I think you know the answer.
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{ 17 comments… read them below or add one }
You will have waited for 65 years to receive what you have contributed to all these years. And the shifting sands of dogmatism make the future less sure. I told you so. Guess who the 400 billion in service cuts will affect? NOSOTROS, los viejos!
Okay, I’m commenting anyway.
Uh, yes. You are absolutely right. The goddamn bastards…
You think Democrats dealing with Health Care Reform is scary, WAIT when they roll out their pencils and start taking on Social Security! OMG
I know. And I’ve always been a Democrat. But the current crop is determined to be Republican Lite. Won’t work! This is really about the corporations vs. the people, but nobody’s working for us.
There is PLENTY of money, just absurdly allocated…
I am baffled by even the idea of what they are trying to pass on this “health care reform” bill. Even as a concept it makes no sense and addresses none of the problems. What is the point? Pablum for the masses? Hysteria control as we quiver in our boots thinking about insuring immigrants….no wait, we are all immigrants, no wait – we are LEGAL immigrants..no wait…. As a second generation uninsured american, I say no. I will not partake of your system. I will not get sick. That should take care of it. I do tend to break and gouge myself out there in the bumpy world, so I will gladly pay a doc to stitch me up again, BUT I will not get sick …..that’ll teach ‘em.
I voted for Obama and I still think he has it in him; perhaps there is an alternate (what do I mean perhaps? of course there is) universe where people are taught wellness and abortion isn’t neccesary because you have to take an unbirthcontrol pill to have a child you choose to have, children aren’t hungry or in pain and doctors are heros and healers again…
Tell me about it.
Imagine, we live in a country where not getting sick is a blow against the empire. Not insuring immigrants — hell, anyone who just happens to be here — is cruelty and madness. And now the White House isn’t even taking a stand on the abortion business.
John: 45,000 people in the U.S. die every year because they don’t have access to health care. We have to do something. If I have to pay more, or get squeezed when I (finally) get old enough for Medicare, I’m OK with that.
In any case, only the House bill has passed. There is still the Senate version, followed by a reconciliation of them both. At that point, things can be done with only 51 votes in the Senate, meaning that the final bill could actually be better than either of the two preliminary ones.
And finally, think rock’n'roll: If nobody knows exactly what to do, shake up the status quo. Do it loud, and don’t worry how it will end.
I’m with Larry on this one. Shake it up and see what falls out if anything, but standing still is not an option. I’m not uncomfortable
with change, but welcome it. I have two friends that are just plain scared of the changes to come. That something must be done is for sure,but what i don’t know ,but I’m willing to give it a go!
And what are the stats on people who are on assistance and die from self abuse with taxpayer funded medical care? I agree that there needs to be a whole lot of shaking going on but backwards sucks. It’s not enough to slather on some political lotion to smooth away the appearance of wrinkles…I would happily pay a lot more tax for the ability of those I love, and those I don’t love so much, to have access to good solid health CARE. Shake it up baby…. I would actually give up social security (I have no intention of retiring) so others could benefit from what I pay into the system but I want a system that works. Show me what works and I’m there. Who am I kidding? we know a lot of what works, we just aren’t willing to go there. We as a public can’t lay all the blame at the politico’s feet. We are all part of the problem until we are all part of the solution.
If this bill would eliminate those 45,000 deaths per year, I might go softer on it. But I don’t see that. And how do you calculate the human misery and related deaths from family bankruptcy and psychological distress caused by skyrocketing medical costs, even if people have insurance? I’ll bet it’s a lot higher than 45K, though. Premium increases are baked-in with the new bill, too. Wait until the under-40 crowd gets a load of what this does to them.
The insurance companies are the problem. This bill makes them richer than they’d imagined in their wildest dreams. That just isn’t right.
JOHN!!! delete this entire post! you’re getting lost in the hedge maze again – stop letting yourself get worked up over the same short term stupidity that’s been going on for thousands of years and will doubtless continue until our species either evolves into pure energy or goes extinct (guess which one is more likely ^_^ ). Frank Zappa once said “Human Stupidity is a more common element in the universe than hydrogen, and has a longer shelf life.”
this is all just polishing the brass on the Titanic. don’t let yourself get so worked up and dragged down to such a narrow focus (and STOP READING THOSE BLOGS!!!! i remember a while back you once were so proud of the fact that you deleted all of your political bookmarks because it was bringing you down so much. like a hardcore alcoholic or junkie, you can’t “just have one”).
i’m only trying to remind you about what you so often talk about yourself: what’s REALLY important in life. and it is definitely NOT wasting time fuming over transitory political this-or-that.
It’s all right, Number 6.
This is different.
I’ve made some progress. It was killing me before because I took on the “victim” role. Emotionally, political forces are just like the bad father/bad mother energies in the psyche. But I’m coming into my own now, which means I can tell the bad guys to go to hell without losing my bearings. The trick is to avoid direct personal attacks, or twisting the knife, which is how I was unfortunately trained. By not projecting and directing personal darkness at the opponent, whoever disagrees with me has to be “nice.” Pyschological judo!
(Joseph has helped some. I wonder if he knows that?)
Zappa was right, but even so, the thing is, I can’t avoid the world or withdraw completely from it because we’re ruled by idiots. I’ve wrestled with that for years. It’s not either/or, it’s BOTH! Not into slugging it out, in other words, but we have to speak up once in a while. What if I were the only person on earth to perfectly formulate a certain thought, the one thought that could change the world?
If I start feeling bad again, I’ll kill it, though. Some days I want to delete every single post and start completely over! But I think it’s best to charge ahead.
ok, as long as you’re the one in control
on a side note, rebecca’s notion of an “unbirthcontrol pill” is interesting – seems like a good idea, if we lived in some kind of utopian Star Trek future, but on the other hand it also sounds like something out of dystopian science fiction like “Brave New World” or “THX 1138″ or “Gattaca”- if there were such a pill, who would control it? who would (or wouldn’t) have access to it? brings up a whole potential for examining the implications of eugenics as well as population control in general.
maybe you should try your hand at writing some science fiction….
Science fiction ain’t a bad idea. I was reading somewhere today that part of what ails the world is that there’s no utopian writing. Everything is dystopian, in fact. Maybe people just don’t realize that our thoughts create the world. I barely do, and I’ve been working at this for a long time.
by coincidence (?) i was reading negative reviews of that Star Trek reboot that came out this year, and everyone’s biggest complaint was that it just wasn’t “Star Trek” – no idealism or dealing with deep concepts at all, just a lot of the usual mindless slam-bang shoot-’em-up; basically it’s just Star Wars redressed in Star Trek clothes (with product placement – that’s right, there are actually Nokia and Budweiser logos – in Star Trek!!!).
and speaking of thoughts creating the world, check this out: recently a number of porpoises have been washing up badly injured or dead, and they finally figured out what was happening to them: roving bands of young male dolphins were ganging up on the porpoises and beating them to death! i shit you not!!! our collective anger has managed to seep into another intelligent species! everything is connected……
There are Lies, Damned Lies, and then Statistics! I always ask my wife: “What is your source?” Most times it is her hairdresser, the internet, TV, or a congressman!
just a note: the unbirthcontrol pill; one would assume that on this alternate plane, all women would have access to it whenever we chose. Perhaps they grow on trees…just a thought, as my human body still prepares every month, for the one child I had 24 years ago…seems an inefficient system. And when I run into Mother Nature I will surely ask about it.
Gee, I guess that flies in the face of religious dogma claiming conception and birth to be a “God” only choice, that must be governed by and legislated by, ah, man?