Phill, I am trying but, honestly, I can’t make any sense of what you just posted! A few more sentences explaining your idea might help. Thanks.
Ok, I;m sorry, but this looks like another slight of hand fake out by politicians. The elimination of preexisting conditions might be ok if an extra surcharge isn’t tacked onto the premium. I am not optimistic as you can tell. As an example, I’ll share a conversation I had with a sales rep for a major CGM maufacturer several years ago.
I had been looking for a CGM thinking it would help with my control and I settled on one that was fairly reasonable (about $200 at the time). So, with ccard in hand I called to order it, but was informed there had been a price increase to around $800 for the unit and a comparable increase in cost for the probes. The salesman explained the insurance companies forced them to quadruple the cost to something normal people could not afford in order so the insurance comapany could justify covering the cost. there are other examples. I can buy the latest greatest antibiotics in Mexico over the counter and and 5 yr supply costs me about $28. Here, the same antibiotics cost well over $550. again the price has to be outrageous before the insurance companies will justify covering it.
there are many many examples of this InSANE logic. What it amounts to is who gets the bucks in our government. I would dearly love it if our government would adopt a real health care reform that truely benefits the citizens of this country similar to the medical reform in germany or checosevakia.
at this time, the best health care reform in this country would be to make medical insurance illegal. then you would see dramatic changes in prices and real competition or the companies would go bust.
I can only hope
danny w
One big difference, in my view, is how much the medical practitioners charge for their services and necessitate insurance purchases for us. In Germany or other countries which have universal health coverage, the medical practitioners truly love the idea of practicing medicine so that they can contribute positively to society and they have a zeal for service to study medicine. And, of course, do research for those inclined to do so.
But here in the US, doctors may write all kinds of beautiful things on the med school applications about how they love helping people, etc. but their only goal is to rake in as much money as possible. The doctors in this country are just capitalists who are only interested in making money - that’s why they charge money by how many procedures they can perform and how many patients per day they can see, and not by how they care for their patients. Even if you need a prescription refill, they would rather that you come in for a visit so that they can charge money for that.
What do you not understand?
- Take all the money that private insurance collects
- Take all the money that is poured into medicare and medicade
- Put it into a fund for all to draw on as health care
- First come first serve until the money is gone no matter of what you paid
Phill for President, 2012!
Hell no I would not make it 1 hour, lol
The verdict is still out on whether premiums will rise or not to compensate for the high-risk policy holders. Theoretically, the fact that there is now an individual mandate that everyone (sick AND healthy) must purchase insurance coverage, should spread the risk pool out enough that premiums won’t go up. Insurance companies have been saying for years that they will cover people with pre-existing conditions happily, if the government mandates that everyone have insurance. This is the way it works in other places that have individual mandates for insurance coverage, but I think it remains to be seen if that is how things will pan out here in the U.S.
My name is no fiction! What do you want me to do - scan in my drivers license or something? 
We have (for now) a family physician (I also have an endo–for now)…he is selective about which insurace he accepts/particiates in (I pay out-of-network for him because he doesn’t do BCBS–they interfere and are a low & very slow pay–if I stayued with an in network provider I would not have to pay anything—he is pwrht the $$)…has opened several rural clinics…and will rx w/o a visit for some things…gives out and answers his cell phone. Not ALL doctors in this country are just capitalists who are only interested in making money --very braod brushes donot normally make very pretty or acurately detailed pictures
Mine is a abbreviation of my real name
There are always exceptions, Denise, and it goes without saying. Nothing’s absolute.
All I know is the people on Capitol Hill who passed this bill will never come under its influence. They have their own set of insurance plans, which we should all have access too. I’m not sure the members of Congress have any clue what its like for average Americans to deal with insurance companies. Overhaul is way overdue, but I’m not sure they did the best they could on this. Our system has been a mess for decades.
I’m cautiously optomistic, but chances are I’ll be angry and disappointed sooner rather than later.
Real information for you, people - from the Speaker’s blog at http://www.speaker.gov/blog/?p=2214: a snippet
IF YOU ARE A SMALL BUSINESSES OWNER: SMALL BUSINESS TAX CREDITS—Offers tax credits to small businesses to make employee coverage more affordable. Tax credits of up to 35 percent of premiums will be immediately available. Effective beginning for calendar year 2010. (Beginning in 2014, small business tax credits will cover 50 percent of premiums.)IF YOU ARE A SENIOR:
BEGINS TO CLOSE THE MEDICARE PART D DONUT HOLE—Provides a $250 rebate to Medicare beneficiaries who hit the donut hole in 2010. Effective for calendar year 2010. (Beginning in 2011, institutes a 50% discount on brand-name drugs in the donut hole; also completely closes the donut hole by 2020.)
FREE PREVENTIVE CARE UNDER MEDICARE—Eliminates co-payments for preventive services and exempts preventive services from deductibles under the Medicare program. Effective beginning January 1, 2011.
HELP FOR EARLY RETIREES—Creates a temporary re-insurance program (until the Exchanges are available) to help offset the costs of expensive health claims for employers that provide health benefits for retirees age 55-64. Effective 90 days after enactment.
IF YOU HAVE PRIVATE HEALTH INSURANCE:
NO DISCRIMINATION AGAINST CHILDREN WITH PRE-EXISTING CONDITIONS—Prohibits health plans from denying coverage to children with pre-existing conditions. Effective 6 months after enactment. (Beginning in 2014, this prohibition would apply to adults as well.)
NO RESCISSIONS—Bans health plans from dropping people from coverage when they get sick. Effective 6 months after enactment.
NO LIFETIME LIMITS ON COVERAGE—Prohibits health plans from placing lifetime caps on coverage. Effective 6 months after enactment.
NO RESTRICTIVE ANNUAL LIMITS ON COVERAGE—Tightly restricts new plans’ use of annual limits to ensure access to needed care. These tight restrictions will be defined by HHS. Effective 6 months after enactment. (Beginning in 2014, the use of any annual limits would be prohibited for all plans.)
FREE PREVENTIVE CARE UNDER NEW PLANS—Requires new private plans to cover preventive services with no co-payments and with preventive services being exempt from deductibles. Effective 6 months after enactment.
NEW, INDEPENDENT APPEALS PROCESS FOR NEW PLANS—Ensures consumers in new plans have access to an effective internal and external appeals process to appeal decisions. Effective 6 months after enactment.
MORE FOR YOUR PREMIUM DOLLAR—Requires plans to put more of your premiums into your care, and less into profits, CEO pay, etc. This medical loss ratio requires plans in the individual and small group market to spend 80 percent of premiums on medical services, and plans in the large group market to spend 85 percent. Insurers that don’t meet these thresholds must provide rebates to policyholders. Effective on January 1, 2011.
NO DISCRIMINATION BASED ON SALARY—Prohibits new group health plans from establishing any eligibility rules for health care coverage that have the effect of discriminating in favor of higher wage employees. Effective 6 months after enactment.
IF YOU DON’T HAVE HEALTH INSURANCE:
IMMEDIATE HELP FOR THE UNINSURED WITH PRE-EXISTING CONDITIONS (INTERIM HIGH-RISK POOL)—Provides immediate access to insurance for Americans who are uninsured because of a pre-existing condition - through a temporary high-risk pool – until the Exchanges up and running in 2014. Effective 90 days after enactment. (Beginning in 2014, health plans are banned from discriminating against all people with pre-existing conditions, so high-risk pools would phase out).
EXTENDING COVERAGE FOR YOUNG PEOPLE UP TO 26TH BIRTHDAY THROUGH PARENTS’ INSURANCE – Requires health plans to allow young people up to their 26th birthday to remain on their parents’ insurance policy, at the parents’ choice. Effective 6 months after enactment.
I have to pipe in with applause for passage of the bill!
Notice that in the last few weeks, The White House has been very careful to refer to this as a health insurance reform bill, NOT a health care bill. That is key. This is a bill which puts in place common sense reforms on the insurance industry, and which finally establishes that everyone SHOULD have the right to health care, and that a private comapny cannot deny you care because of a preexisting condition, or charge you more for a preexisting condition. The limits on denial of coverage will go into effect in 90 days, how could we and our fellow diabetics not embrace that? In addition, it allocates a huge increase in funding for community health centers, which are the front lines in helping the uninsured in both rural and urban areas.
Now, it may not be perfect, and I personally would prefer a single payer, medicaid like system, BUT this is the first step trying to reform a very broken and obscene system.
You can’t really blame them for not creating the ideal reform bill…the other side was not willing to cooperate on anything and was rooting for the President and the Congress to fail.
I blame both sides, John. None of them can cooperate to save their lives and I think they’ve all forgotten who they work for, US! It angers me they can’t get their acts together and do what is best for this country and its citizens. Its a shame they all act like a bunch of ill behaved children. Maybe we should have put a group together to do it ourselves, I’d hope it would have been a better bill in the end. Its frustrating how our representatives have lost sight of why they were elected in the first place, to serve the citizens, not themselves. They’re a shameful lot
Cara, what did the democrats not do to cooperate?
You’re too hard on the medical profession and you’re generalizing without thinking about it.
Of course there are doctors who are in it for the money. That doesn’t mean they are all in it for the money. There are easier ways for smart people to earn a big income other than mortgage your future and spend four years in college, four years in medical school, a year in an internship and three or more years in residency. So some of them MUST be doing it because they want to do good or because they love it.
The fact that a doctor in many places gets paid more for doing more procedures is not a function of her greed, it’s a function of a twisted insurance compensation system that is divorced from looking at outcomes and only looks at the bottom line. Doctors also work under bizarre rules which sometime require that they see you before refilling a prescription, otherwise the insurance company won’t pay for your prescription - that’s not money that’s going to the doctor, BTW, but to the pharmacy.
Hi Cara -
One of the effects of the bill, is that the general public will have access to the exact same health insurance plans as the federal legislators. This will take place once the “exchanges” have been set-up, but that is a basic tenet of the bill…
-dan