5 Questions for President's Health Care Press Conference

[phillybear 364]

The time has come for a change.

 

Unfortunately, we are 3.5 years away from voting for one.

[MDC 5,902]

Republicans have no healthcare policy, so it's either Obama's plan or nothing.

[Recliner Pilot 61]

Republicans have no healthcare policy, so it's either Obama's plan or nothing.

 

Look beyond MSNBC for your info there Skippy.

[MDC 5,902]

Look beyond MSNBC for your info there Skippy.

 

Well? What is it then, sport?

[GettnHuge 1]

Republicans have no healthcare policy, so it's either Obama's plan or nothing.

 

 

So when Osama proposes a huge tax increase, we should pass it because the Repubs didn't propose their own alternate tax increase?

[Recliner Pilot 61]

Well? What is it then, sport?

 

Not sure it's my job to pull you out of your cave. No wait, I'm sure it's not my job.

[MDC 5,902]

So when Osama proposes a huge tax increase, we should pass it because the Repubs didn't propose their own alternate tax increase?

 

The Republicans don't have to support Obama's plan, but the entire party doesn't have any healthcare policy at all. They have no ideas and stand for nothing.

[Strike 3,998]

Republicans have no healthcare policy, so it's either Obama's plan or nothing.

 

Are you focking retarded or just illiterate? I put a link to it in THIS thread.

 

[MDC 5,902]

Not sure it's my job to pull you out of your cave. No wait, I'm sure it's not my job.

 

That's what I figured, because you have nothing.

[MDC 5,902]

Are you focking retarded or just illiterate? I put a link to it in THIS thread.

 

 

I didn't read this thread.

[Strike 3,998]

I didn't read this thread.

 

Yeah I know. And there goes what little credibility you had left.

 

*POOF*

[MDC 5,902]

Yeah I know. And there goes what little credibility you had left.

 

*POOF*

 

I just leafed through it. The only thing I found was tort reform. Is that the GOP plan for healthcare - tort reform?

[KSB2424 3,085]

Somebody needs to watch out for Obama's health. Dude looked worn down. He's going grey and ageing at an alarming rate. That speech was like watching Ben Button backwards.

[Strike 3,998]

I just leafed through it. The only thing I found was tort reform. Is that the GOP plan for healthcare - tort reform?

 

I guess I was right then. Illiterate. Or you can go back and look closer. But if you choose not to read the thread and post something that is already there don't ever wonder why I won't respond to your posts as happened the other day as well. You can just argue with the dipshits in here instead.

[MDC 5,902]

I guess I was right then. Illiterate. Or you can go back and look closer. But if you choose not to read the thread and post something that is already there don't ever wonder why I won't respond to your posts as happened the other day as well. You can just argue with the dipshits in here instead.

 

I've never wondered or cared why you don't respond to my posts, in fact I've never noticed either way.

[Recliner Pilot 61]

That's what I figured, because you have nothing.

 

You are correct.

 

When it comes to me wasting time trying to educate the uneducated and moronic members of this bored, of which you are King, I have no inclination to do so. Feel free to wallow in your ignorance, just don't ask me to pull you out.

[MDC 5,902]

You are correct.

 

When it comes to me wasting time trying to educate the uneducated and moronic members of this bored, of which you are King, I have no inclination to do so. Feel free to wallow in your ignorance, just don't ask me to pull you out.

 

Wow. My unintentional irony meter just hit red and exploded. Of all the "moronic members of this bored," you are by far the single biggest whining vagina.

 

Keep crying for the next eight years, I love it!

[KSB2424 3,085]

The GOP kinda just wants to tackle the root causes of the problem instead of having the gov't take over. For instance instead of spending, the GOP wants to first and foremost eliminate wasteful spending. Things like tightening the belt on abuse, fraud, and waste in already gov't funded medicare and medicaid. Tort reform is huge. This will elimate 'defensive medicine' from doctors who have to over-medicate so they won't be sued by over-zealous lawyers. Tort reform also lowers the exposure from insurers. Lower risk equals lower premiums for you and me. Above the line tax credits for healthcare expenses. Create the ability for small business and individuals to band together (like a corporation) to reduce costs and expand coverage.

 

You know things like that helps lower costs, expand coverage, and stop waste all while keeping the gov't out of it so they don't make a bad thing worse like what happens 9 times out 10.

[MDC 5,902]

The GOP kinda just wants to tackle the root causes of the problem instead of having the gov't take over. For instance instead of spending, the GOP wants to first and foremost eliminate wasteful spending. Things like tightening the belt on abuse, fraud, and waste in already gov't funded medicare and medicaid. Tort reform is huge. This will elimate 'defensive medicine' from doctors who have to over-medicate so they won't be sued by over-zealous lawyers. Tort reform also lowers the exposure from insurers. Above the line tax credits for healthcare expenses. Create the ability for small business and individuals to band together (like a corporation) to reduce costs and expand coverage.

 

You know things like that helps lower costs, expand coverage, and stop waste all while keeping the gov't out of it so they don't make a bad thing worse like what happens 9 times out 10.

 

OK, well those are at least ideas.

 

The government already lowers the hammer on Medicare and Medicaid fraud. As of 5-10 years ago they had ex- Cold War agents cracking down on healthcare providers. If Medicare audits your records and finds an instance of abuse in say 100 cases, they don't bother to keep going through your records. They extrapolate and assume you ripped them off for X amount every 100 cases for as long as you've served Medicare patients, then charge you 3x the overbilling. Medicare does a very good job of watchguarding for fraud and abuse and it's proven cheaper than private insurers. I have no idea what else the GOP wants to do?

 

I'm partly on board with tort reform. I'm not on board with tight caps on punitive damages, but doctors like everybody else sometimes make mistakes in good faith and those cases should generally be thrown out of court. So I guess I don't support caps on damages but I do support exempting doctors from litigation in the first place unless you're talking about serious malpractice.

 

What kills me is there are several market-based ways to reduce healthcare costs but nobody seriously proposed them. What about medical savings accounts? It's absurd for people who are young and in good health to pay an insurance middleman for nothing but routine checkups. What about opening up Rx drug purchases with Canada and other countries? These kinds of things should theoretically be right up the GOP's alley but nobody is proposing it.

[KSB2424 3,085]

What kills me is there are several market-based ways to reduce healthcare costs but nobody seriously proposed them. What about medical savings accounts? It's absurd for people who are young and in good health to pay an insurance middleman for nothing but routine checkups. What about opening up Rx drug purchases with Canada and other countries? These kinds of things should theoretically be right up the GOP's alley but nobody is proposing it.

There is talk from the rightt and libertarian party in regards to medical savings accounts. It's actually on their websites. (I just looked).

 

There are ways and ideas out there to tackle the root problems.

 

I just read the Libertarian response. Pretty tough on Obama. The fangs are out.

Tonight’s press conference by President Obama, complete with scare tactics and wildly inaccurate claims, perfectly illustrated why more and more Americans are losing faith in his promises of prosperity through government control.

 

“Libertarians, and all Americans, aren’t buying President Obama’s ludicrous claim that handing control of your health care over to the federal government keeps costs down. Congressional Budget Office reports show the Obama health care takeover sends costs skyrocketing and further explodes his own record-shattering budget deficits. That not only thwarts job growth but also threatens health care itself. The fiscally irresponsible core of government-run health care is why virtually every such system must eventually resort to cruel rationing to contain its unsustainable and damaging costs.

 

“Under no rational model whatsoever does the Obama government takeover reduce costs and make health care affordable. The damage the Obama plan does to our economy, however, is real and hits Americans directly.

 

“Americans also lost trust in President Obama when he accused doctors of conspiring to intentionally let children with illnesses get worse, and that government must seize control of health care to stop doctors from performing medical procedures he doesn’t approve of. President Obama was perfectly clear. He wants the government to seize control of your health care because he thinks government accountants in Washington are better at medicine your own family doctor.

 

“As he did with the so-called “stimulus” package, President Obama is exploiting people’s fears and insecurities to push his agenda of unquestioned and economically unsustainable government expansion. That is yet another disappointing failure from the man who promised to end “the politics of fear.”

 

“But no amount of wild claims and inaccurate statements can hide the facts. Along with making health care rationed and unaffordable, the Obama government takeover currently being written in Congress outlaws private insurance (page 16,) sends government agents to your home to monitor your parenting (Section 44) and forces the sick and elderly to sit through meetings with government employees on how to end their life (page 425.)

 

“Libertarians have a better idea to make health care accessible and affordable. To start with:

 

* Allow taxpayers to deduct the costs of their health insurance from their income taxes.

* Repeal health insurance mandates that force Americans to pay for treatments they won't ever use.

* Scrap unneeded and unnecessary regulations that keep life-saving drugs and treatments off the market. Such regulations are often supported by health care lobbyists and are intended to freeze out competing products and companies.

* Allow Americans to shop for health insurance across state lines, forcing insurers to compete.

 

“Americans deserve health care that is affordable, effective and universally available. President Obama’s plan fails that test on every count, and he fails our trust. Only Libertarians are proposing the reforms we need to fix our broken health care system.”

[FlaHawker 24]

I didn't read this thread.

You fit right in with the Dems. They don't read either.

[BLS 313]

You do understand that health insurers and physicians/drug companies work together to run tons of unneccessary tests and fill out tons of unneccessary prescriptions in order to line both of thjeir palms, right? That's why health insurance keeps getting higher and higher for the average citizen and doctor/hospital/drug company profits are through the roof, even in a disasterous recession. They are basically righting their own checks. If that's your definition of free-enterprise, then you are truly clueless. And yes, there does need to be restraints on that.

 

It's "writing" and you're wrong about why healthcare costs so much.

[Me_2006 14]

Soooo....it's not going to be cheaper, is going to raise an already gigantic deficit, and the care wont be as good. What exactly is the point?

[NewbieJr 540]

It's "writing" and you're wrong about why healthcare costs so much.

You're right. it's write.

 

As for the rest, I'm not wrong. Love to hear your version, though.

[surferskin 30]

You're right. it's write.

 

As for the rest, I'm not wrong. Love to hear your version, though.

So you really think that insurance companies are making tons of money on unnecessary tests that they have to pay for?

[Brad GLuckman 518]

Some good posts in here on Republican ideas to fix healthcare. My question is this: Why didn't they do this when Bush was in office? As much as I disagree with Obama on pretty much everything dealing with money, at least he is attempting to solve the problem. If the Repubs would've tackled this with all these ideas during Bush's first term maybe things wouldn't be so bad right now, and maybe we wouldn't be staring down the barrel of socialized medicine.

[NewbieJr 540]

So you really think that insurance companies are making tons of money on unnecessary tests that they have to pay for?

No. They're showing huge profits in a near-depression economy by finding it under rocks.

 

Keep burying your head in the sand. All's well with our health care system.

[NewbieJr 540]

Some good posts in here on Republican ideas to fix healthcare. My question is this: Why didn't they do this when Bush was in office? As much as I disagree with Obama on pretty much everything dealing with money, at least he is attempting to solve the problem. If the Repubs would've tackled this with all these ideas during Bush's first term maybe things wouldn't be so bad right now, and maybe we wouldn't be staring down the barrel of socialized medicine.

Because the easiest thing to do about problems is absolutely nothing. The second-easist thing to do is wait for someone else to try to fix it and then criticize the plan.

[Brad GLuckman 518]

Because the easiest thing to do about problems is absolutely nothing. The second-easist thing to do is wait for someone else to try to fix it and then criticize the plan.

 

Well, President Obama's plan needs to be criticized. I'm not talking about that though, I'm talking about the fact the Republicans seem to have some good alternative plans to Obama's plan. Again....they aren't doing a good job getting the word out. I'm just saying they could have impemented these plans years ago instead of waiting for Obama to make it an issue then start talking about it.

[surferskin 30]

No. They're showing huge profits in a near-depression economy by finding it under rocks.

 

Keep burying your head in the sand. All's well with our health care system.

So they're showing huge profits by paying for unnecessary tests and prescriptions? You're going to have to explain to me how that works.

[surferskin 30]

Well, President Obama's plan needs to be criticized. I'm not talking about that though, I'm talking about the fact the Republicans seem to have some good alternative plans to Obama's plan. Again....they aren't doing a good job getting the word out. I'm just saying they could have impemented these plans years ago instead of waiting for Obama to make it an issue then start talking about it.

The republicans actually have had bills in congress that implemented some of these ideas. They didn't pass.

[Brad GLuckman 518]

The republicans actually have had bills in congress that implemented some of these ideas. They didn't pass.

 

I had no idea. Thanks for the info Surferskin.

 

Makes me think....why would anyone be against any of these ideas?

Does it go back to the same old point of our politicians being owned by those who fund their campaigns?

[surferskin 30]

I had no idea. Thanks for the info Surferskin.

 

Makes me think....why would anyone be against any of these ideas?

Does it go back to the same old point of our politicians being owned by those who fund their campaigns?

When it comes to issues like tort reform, it will never pass in congress. How many lawyers do we have in congress? What are the chances they want to put a caps on lawsuits? And yeah, you can always follow the money to find out why they vote like they do.

[NewbieJr 540]

So they're showing huge profits by paying for unnecessary tests and prescriptions? You're going to have to explain to me how that works.

Link to me saying that insurance companies are raping consumers by paying for unnecessary tests?

 

Doctors/hospitals are writing their own checks by making huge profits on tests/treatments that aren't necessary.

 

Drug companies work out deals with doctors to prescribe their medications, in return for kickbacks.

 

Insurance companies have created monopolies in local markets due to over 400 corporate mergers in the last 13 years. Insurers are thriving in the anti-competitive marketplace.

 

The top ten insurance companies have seen an increase in profits of 428 percent since 2000. Their customers have seen an 87 percent increase in premiums.

 

But go back to sleep. All is well with the current health system.

[surferskin 30]

Link to me saying that insurance companies are raping consumers by paying for unnecessary tests?

 

Doctors/hospitals are writing their own checks by making huge profits on tests/treatments that aren't necessary.

 

Drug companies work out deals with doctors to prescribe their medications, in return for kickbacks.

 

Insurance companies have created monopolies in local markets due to over 400 corporate mergers in the last 13 years. Insurers are thriving in the anti-competitive marketplace.

 

The top ten insurance companies have seen an increase in profits of 428 percent since 2000. Their customers have seen an 87 percent increase in premiums.

 

But go back to sleep. All is well with the current health system.

 

You do understand that health insurers and physicians/drug companies work together to run tons of unneccessary tests and fill out tons of unneccessary prescriptions in order to line both of thjeir palms, right? That's why health insurance keeps getting higher and higher for the average citizen and doctor/hospital/drug company profits are through the roof, even in a disasterous recession. They are basically righting their own checks. If that's your definition of free-enterprise, then you are truly clueless. And yes, there does need to be restraints on that.

 

 

Also, noone said the current system doesn't need work. Actually, we all have said it's too expensive but that doesn't mean any alternative is a better one. Most of us don't have enough faith in the government to run healthcare better or cheaper. What are they EVER better and cheaper at?

 

And until, you actually learn what things like tort reform are...there's no need to discuss this any further with you. You've got no facts and are basically just speaking from emotion. The system is BAD. Bush was the problem. Republicans have no ideas. Doing something is better than doing nothing.

 

WRONG.

[NewbieJr 540]

 

Also, noone said the current system doesn't need work. Actually, we all have said it's too expensive but that doesn't mean any alternative is a better one. Most of us don't have enough faith in the government to run healthcare better or cheaper. What are they EVER better and cheaper at?

 

And until, you actually learn what things like tort reform are...there's no need to discuss this any further with you. You've got no facts and are basically just speaking from emotion. The system is BAD. Bush was the problem. Republicans have no ideas. Doing something is better than doing nothing.

 

WRONG.

No facts? Really?

Insurance companies have created monopolies in local markets due to over 400 corporate mergers in the last 13 years. Insurers are thriving in the anti-competitive marketplace.

 

The top ten insurance companies have seen an increase in profits of 428 percent since 2000. Their customers have seen an 87 percent increase in premiums.

 

 

Need more?

 

Go back to sleep, bud. All is well. Obama sucks. Repubs have great ideas (although in 8 years, we never heard about them). Wwe get it Rush, I mean, surferskin.

[surferskin 30]

Repubs have great ideas (although in 8 years, we never heard about them). Wwe get it Rush, I mean, surferskin.

Oh, you've never heard about them? Maybe you should try to get your news places other than fantasy football message boards.

[FlaHawker 24]

When it comes to issues like tort reform, it will never pass in congress. How many lawyers do we have in congress? What are the chances they want to put a caps on lawsuits? And yeah, you can always follow the money to find out why they vote like they do.

Does the name John Edwards ring a bell? That focktard built a fortune chasing ambulances! Then he runs for president on ther platform that we have two Americas: the haves and the have nots! BS!

 

The fact is scum like Edwards play a HUGE role in jacking up health care costs because of his frivolous lawsuits. We want health care reform? Let''s start with tort reform. I heard a report the other day about a woman who sued her OBGYN because he put her on bed rest and she claims the bed rest caused stretch marks So of course, sue the Dr.

[Fah-Q 0]

Go back to sleep, bud. All is well. Obama sucks. Repubs have great ideas (although in 8 years, we never heard about them). Wwe get it Rush, I mean, surferskin.

 

 

Since 1968, democrats in congress have either blocked in committee or voted against every health care reform bills before Congress.

 

1972- The democratic majority in Congress refused to allow Nixon's national health insurance bill out of Committee.

 

1993 The Democratic majority in Congress refused to allow Clinton's National health insurance bill out of committee.

 

1998 - House Democrats voted overwhelmingly against the funding and starting the SCHIP States Children's Health Insurance Bill.

 

2004 - Democrats in Congress voted over whelmingly against providinprescriptionon drug coverage for senior citizens

 

 

To your previous comment... Blaming Pharma for making large profit is moronic: huge risks involved with taking a med through testing and drug trial stages - small chance of approval/go to market, only a limited amount of time until patent expires and generics are offered using the science/risk they paid for. Huge risk=Huge return.

 

Lets punish/demonize the companies who are working to cure diseases for turning a profit, but reward/look the other way when "non-profits" like ACORN rake in millions. What's ACORN's profit margin? What's their product offering?... oh ya fraud

[Johnny B Good 0]

The GOP kinda just wants to tackle the root causes of the problem instead of having the gov't take over. For instance instead of spending, the GOP wants to first and foremost eliminate wasteful spending. Things like tightening the belt on abuse, fraud, and waste in already gov't funded medicare and medicaid. Tort reform is huge. This will elimate 'defensive medicine' from doctors who have to over-medicate so they won't be sued by over-zealous lawyers. Tort reform also lowers the exposure from insurers. Lower risk equals lower premiums for you and me. Above the line tax credits for healthcare expenses. Create the ability for small business and individuals to band together (like a corporation) to reduce costs and expand coverage.

 

You know things like that helps lower costs, expand coverage, and stop waste all while keeping the gov't out of it so they don't make a bad thing worse like what happens 9 times out 10.

 

 

The GOP had 8 years to tackle the root causes. What wasteful spending did the GOP eliminate?