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If you live in the U.S., this health care reform thing is all over the news.

I'm an avid news watcher and one thing I've noticed is the lack of a solid, laymans explanation of what they're trying to do to our health care system.
I'll read things on news websites and watch clips about it on the news but none of them have offered a simple, easy to understand and comprehensive explanation.

All I hear about it is Democrats this and Republicans that.  So and so senator voted this and so on and so on.

I'm 35 years old and haven't had health insurance since I was 18.
That's a long time to go without it so I'm very interested in what's going on with all of this because it could affect me.

Can someone please lay out a simple explanation of what they hope to accomplish with this whole health care reform thing?

I must admit I find a lot of the explanations pretty damn poor myself.  Don't even bother trying to read any of the bills themselves.  They're long and incomprehensible.

As a start, I think it is important to state that they're arguing over exactly what they're doing, so it is in flux right now a bit.

I'll try to give my own understanding.  The basic thing they are trying to do (or at least say they're trying to do): make health care better and more available and more affordable.  The way they're trying to do this is variant.  Basic things are attempting to eliminate layers of bureaucracy and interference that inflate costs, increase efficiency across the board, and introduce something to promote competition between private insurers. 

The current bill looks like it will *require* everyone to have at least basic health insurance.  The lowest income people will be subsidized to meet costs.  Private insurers will be forced to take people with pre-existing conditions, health problems, and will be limited in how high premiums can go.  There will be a sort of marketplace where you can easily shop between different insurance programs, POSSIBLY including one run by the government.

The bill isn't finalized yet, so...  We don't know any of this for sure.  It looks like no matter what happens, people who can't afford insurance now will be at least a little better off.

I don't really want any arguments (*cough* *cough* fail photo thread *cough*) but I just wanted to say this:  I live in Canada where health care is free.  I, nor anyone I know personally, has had any trouble because of: wait times, medical denies, high taxes, or any other problems about free health care that I have heard about.

I REALLY want to stay neutral on this site, but I just had to say that.  Sorry guys.  :bluesad:

For what it's worth, I think the US would be far better off under a Candian style system.  Or one like Germany, for example, where the insurance companies are forced to be non-profit and have pretty strict government regulation.

Wow...

I'm pretty grateful for the NHS right now.  :teddyr:

Yeah, even though they suck....BAD!  :bouncegiggle:

I think it wil be another disaster a la the iraq war, farm subsidies and every other intervention into the world / economy our government has ever done.

unlike Iraq at least hopefully some ordinary american people might be able to derive some actual benfit from it, if the whole thing isn't scrapped right away due to the latest crisis:  the crashing of the Us dollar.

and then after that I think it's frogs, then locusts, ...and I can't remember what's after that

Hey, I've had no problems with it.


Unless what you said was a joke involving that nurse.....

I meant hospitals really not clinics. I like my little 'ol clinic.  :teddyr:

Ever had to go in for a MRI or CT scan?  Maybe it's not true, but I've heard the waiting lists on both is at least a month.

I'm curious, what are the malpractice lawsuits like up there?  Do they have a lot greedy trial lawyers in Canada?  Just curious...

That's a major part of the problem in the US, doctor's are so worried about being sued they order a lot of unnecessary tests (also why malpractice insurance rates are so high and why so damn much paperwork needs to be filled out.) 

And yes Rev, I'm blaming lawyers again :)

Also, why is private health care practices flourishing over in Canada?  And did you ever notice there are never any NEW drugs developed in Canada?

Again, I could be totally wrong here, but I'm hearing too much from too many sources on the downside of government run health care (Canada and Europe in particular) for me to just dismiss as untrue.  Maybe it's different in the particular area of Canada you live in, or maybe you're in relatively good health so you haven't needed too much in that area.  Or maybe I'm just cynical, who knows?

All capitalist propaganda. Privatization is the worst thing ever. Well maybe not.... It is good to have a choice of public or private health care, I guess. But having to have to pay for health care seems inhuman to me.

Going back to the Obama Health Plan, on the surface, I'm all for the idea of cutting back bureaucracy and fraud, but here's the thing: when have you EVER known the government to do that?  

What we need to do IMHO is cap the attorneys so they've not going around suing everyone for any and no reason (John Edwards), and be able to buy insurance across state lines, increasing competition.  But, sadly, NO ONE In Congress is willing to take on tort reform.

Call me cynical, I don't believe the whole "let the government take care of everything" is the way to go.  

Another note, ever notice that when a lot celebrity Europeans need an operation done, they usually come HERE to America to get it?  Why is that, I wonder?

I wouldnt say that I think "let the government take care of everything" but... I believe there should be a public option for people who can not afford heath insurance on their own. We have become a nation of me first and I hate that. Republicans and conservatives love to say I want my country back.. yeah, me too. You know, back when people actually cared about what happened to their neighbor. When people went out of their way to help those less fortunate than themselves. 

Those screaming the loudest about reform are the elderly, those on medicare.. that is a government run program and while it has its problems, it helps more than it hurts.

No one should die in this country because they couldn't afford to go to the doctor, no one should die because some pencil pusher sitting at a desk decides he can save the company money by denying a dying person a procedure that could save their life. The insurance company CEOs have gotten rich off killing people. Its been too long in coming that people have another option, other than paying their premiums every month and praying that they dont get sick.

That's a part of the problem of health care costs, and I fully support tort reform.  Don't quote me on the figures, but I believe the Congressional Budget Office estimates that tort reform could save $41 billion in health care costs. 

We have a saying in this profession: it's 90% of lawyers that give the other 10% a bad name.   

Maybe, as far as I know the MRI or CT scan waiting lists aren't that long.  I haven't had to go for one so I wouldn't know, but I'll ask someone who would.

There was some condition that, recently, was having a long waiting list.  I think it was some sort of surgery.  (Any other Canadians want to help me out here?)  But what I DO remember was that it wasn't a surgery for a life threatening condition.


I honestly haven't heard too much on the news about Malpractice suits.  Maybe I'm just reading the wrong parts of the newspaper.

Let me just say one thing: I'm 16!  I'm not supposed to care about this stuff.  At least none of my friends don't.  I was actually born in the states and I moved to Canada several years ago.  The reason was free health care!

See I agree fully with liberals that health care is a RIGHT not a privalege.

The question is why do we have a 3 trillion dollar budget and people who can't afford health care?

WHy don't we allow people to deduct health care cost from their income tax and lower the budget to meet the gap?

I'd much rather spend more money on a better health plan and less on wars and subsidies for the well connected on capitol hill.


better yet, just eliminate the income tax.  then we'll all have plenty of money to spend on health care!


But I'm NOT for adding to our already enormous budget and debt.  


I also think John Mackeys (http://online.wsj.com/article/SB20001424052970204251404574342170072865070.html) ideas on health care are the best I've heard

I agree ... health care should be a RIGHT, not a privalege.

also we should both learn how to spell privelege.



this is why i don't get government.  Why are we supposed to deny ourselves basic stuff like health care and decent schools and roads so washington can form all these committees to do all this stuff.

shouldn't we take care of the basics first?

Well, hey, I won't hold your youth against ya.  I think it's great that you're taking an interest in issues that'll affect you in the future!  Although I'd caution you to be sure and leave plenty of room to think about other, less than serious adolescent stuff, otherwise you'll burn out pretty quick! 

Watching too much of the news is unhealthy... :)

I was looking at yours lol ... privilege* :twirl:

The worst thing to ever happen to the US health care system is the HMO.  When these came on the scene they were supposed to help lower the cost, but what they ended up doing is taking the money away from doctors and giving it to the insurance companies.

Since all the doctor's fees are set by the insurance companies, the doctor has to run his office like an assembly line. Haven't you noticed they spend very little time talking to anyone because they have to see so many patients in order to earn a living and pay for the extra office help they have to have to arrange referrals and do insurance paper work.

This has gotten so bad that there is severe shortage of doctors practicing family care.  Most medical students are now going into the high paying specialties.


One thing in all this fuss over government run health care is these senior citizens protesting for them to keep government away from Medicare.  If you don't know what that is, it is a government funded and administered health care system in the US for retired seniors and physically disabled folks.  It's been a big success since being  instituted during the Johnson Administration back in the 1960s. We pay a tax  for it every pay period along with our social security.

Some have wondered why we don't just extend it to everyone (it would cost a helluva lot).