Posted on 08/08/2009 1:01:08 PM PDT by Lorianne
The administration's defense is to accuse critics of being for the status quo. Nonsense. Candidate John McCain and a host of other Republicans since have offered alternatives. Let me offer mine: Strip away current inefficiencies before remaking one-sixth of the U.S. economy. The plan is so simple it doesn't even have the requisite three parts. Just two: radical tort reform and radically severing the link between health insurance and employment.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
Dr. K is absolutely spot on here, IMNSHO...
Tort Reform ... Bigtime!
So sensible and ‘Progressive’. Just the reason no one, Dem or Rep, will ever embrace it. Too many Lobbyists toes would be crushed.
Consolidate Social Security, Medicare & Medicaid (CMS), Veterans & Indian healthcare into ONE single federal administration, with one toll-free phone number. Privatize the customer service part of this new administration. The federal government would take over the state's responsibility of Medicaid from the states; in exchange, the federal government would abolish the Dept of Education, Housing, Commerce, Transportation, Energy, EPA, etc and return these functions back to the states where it belongs.
Now this new administration would strictly provide the following functions:
- Supplemental retirement benefits for EXISTING seniors and those approaching the retirement age
- Healthcare for seniors and the TRULY disabled (Paralyzed gang-bangers, illegal aliens, and "low-income" bums who abuse the system would be disqualified)
Give seniors a healthcare debit card and a yearly allottment of what they're eligible for based on actuary tables and the analysis of their doctors, not bureaucrats. Doctors would then get paid on the spot and set up a reasonable fee schedule and they don't have to deal with bureaucracy as well.
Privatize the rest of healthcare - get the government completely out of healthcare and let the private sector work its magic. Employers should drop their plans and let people buy healthcare off the market.
PROBLEM SOLVED!
But then I guess we haven't yet heard from the small cabal of Kraut-bashers who frequent FR. Wonder what they'll say this time to persuade us that he's never to be trusted?
Go read the comments! Lefties are wading in big time!
Excellent suggestions! Notice how they cleverly avoid the parts of the health care ‘crisis’ which if addressed would stand a chance of improving the system? Your suggestions would deprive them of their control over our lives. And that’s not in their book. Simply returning the ability of government to take money from producers at gunpoint and having to use it for the legitimate responsibilities of government, not using it for all manner of social engineering and behavior modification would go a long way to solving the problem.
They're doing this like they did immigration reform. They know the people want parts of what they envision as the big scheme, but they are holding those parts that widespread appeal and approval hostage to use as leverage for the parts the rulers want and know damn good and well we'll never sit still for!
There's at least a dozen things they could do right now to alleviate much of health care ‘crisis’, but God forbid they should enact those and lose their leverage to force the others on us.
And even then they leave important parts of the needed reform out of their grandiose plan. Like tort reform for instance. Who on Earth could fail to understand that tort reform is a key part of any plan that's going to both solve the problem and have widespread support?
We're wearing them down though! I'm sure most of them in the quiet dark of the night have to admit, at least to themselves, that they've never seen anything like the hornet's nest they stirred with this one! Just got to keep the pressure on them, ignore the ridiculous talking points and charges they dream up and demand they do it OUR WAY or NO WAY. They've had their chances, think stimulus, TARP and clunkers just for starters.
We don't have ‘em on the run yet, but they sure are getting nervous. And the louder they squeal the more convinced we should be that our arrows are hitting high value targets!
Just keep talking Sarah Palin, birth certificates and read the bill, everything will fall in place.
This sounds FISHY! Must-report-to-White-Crib! Dems say R’s have NO ideas for healthcare reform, must-be-true... Must-believe-in-The-One. Hope! Change! Yes-we-can!
Make some ads with Dr. Krauthammer in his wheelchair. Have him explain what must be done. Tough act to follow.
BTTT!
95% of trial lawyers contributed to O campaign. What’s ironic is after the massive, single-payer gov control system is in place there won’t be anybody to sue and that’ll be the end of that. Tort reform — nobody left to sue.
They’ll sue the government docotors/hospitals etc and the taxpayers will get hit some more.
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