Posted on 04/23/2011 3:09:49 PM PDT by FourPeas
More than half of the 50 states have sued to block the federal healthcare legislation passed last year. Congressman Steve Womack laid out the Republican response to the ongoing debate. He spoke with 5NEWS as he toured St. Edward Mercy Medical Center Friday.
Womack listened as neonatologist Dr. Victor Coloso walked him through the NICU. Hospital CEO Jeff Johnston says it's important that the federal government reduce the deficit, however he wants legislators to understand that healthcare costs money and they need to carefully weigh cuts.
"It's important that people have access to quality healthcare, and we try to do that regardless of their ability to pay but at some point we've got to be able to balance that equation,” Johnston said.
The debate over so-called Obamacare continues. Twenty-seven of the 50 U.S. states have joined a lawsuit against the federal government to block the new healthcare law from taking effect.
(Excerpt) Read more at 5newsonline.com ...
I have just been through the hell of looking for health ins for myself.
Migraines and asthma are considered “pre existing conditions” and I have a 2 year “rider” for them.
To be clear, even though I have NEVER had a break in insurance, for the next 2 years, no coverage for those “preexisting conditions” neither of which I have been hospitalized for.
Or I can keep COBRA for twice as much $$.
So, this begs the question, since we know ins co’s operate on “thin margins”........are Doctors ordering too many test which is ratcheting up the cost? Should there be malpractice caps on “med-Mal” cases?
Why does my medication cost $30 if I have a prescription card and $250 without? Is the cost of medicine connected to the economy in any way or does it have its own economy?
How could Bambi Care help/hurt my situation?
If ins was delinked from employment would that help?
Did Congress bother to look at the questions/issues I posted above?
We just got another health insurance premium raise yesterday.
We’ve had it for five years now. It stayed basically at the initial rate with one small rise for the first few years (I thought that was strange when everyone else was complaining, but it did) and started to jump about a month and a half after they passed Obamacare.
It has gone up about 27% since ObamaCare passed, which is a hefty jump.
I’d like to go and boot that d*** man in the butt.
The GOP had a chance to defund it in the 2011 CR that was just passed.
They let funding continue.
Defund collectivist’s collectives. The U.S.A. becomes financially solvent and we become very low-taxed prosperous/productive citizens in a country which acts as a beacon for individual liberty.
If my memory serves me correctly, I thought I heard Rush say a few weeks ago that the Ryan budget totally defunds Obamacare. Or did I dream that?
The Ryan budget has not been signed into law. Only the 2011 CR has been, and it did not defund Obamacare. The GOP did not fight for it and make it a minimum requirement.
The reason health insurance and health care are so expensive is largely due to government involvement in both. Years ago, Teddy Kennedy admitted that creating more problems in health care was the best way to implement socialized medicine. As health care costs rose, people would eventually be driven to demand a single payer system, because they would not be able to afford anything else.
Another problem is that health insurance is not truly insurance in the way that auto and property insurance are. You do not expect your insurance company to buy new wiper blades for your vehicle nor a new dishwasher if yours breaks down, but people want $20 co-pays and $10 prescriptions from their health insurance. Insurance companies are also required to cover many services that you may not want or need, but lobbyists for various groups have nagged or bought state politicians until they force insurers to cover their pet treatment, test, or disease. In other words, we really already have a socialized system, because we are forced to pay for the health insurance and health care of others. The price of everything goes up due to this distortion of the market by government interference and regulation. Our government already calls the tune in health care, because of Medicare and Medicaid. Government does not pay enough to cover the real costs, so insurance companies and health care proiders have to jack up the prices just to try to stay afloat. Nothing is free; it only means that someone else pays.
If you look at the specialties where usually patient and doctor have a direct relationship, without insurance or government being involved, you will find there has been progress, innovation, declining cost, and an increase in accessibility. I am thinking of cosmetic surgery and lasik eye surgery in particular.
I am very sorry for your situation, and we have family members who are also having to endure high cost and inadequate coverage. Obamacare and other schemes to introduce more government into the health insurance and health care industries will only make things worse. Costs will go up (even if disguised as taxes), quality will decline, and there will be more and more rationing. There is no unlimited supply of anything, and that includes health care. Politicians promise what they cannot deliver - as much as everyone wants at a low price. They lie. You don’t see them participating in the schemes they foist on the rest of us.
There are some doctors now that don’t take insurance. They will file it for you, but you pay them for visits up front. One of our sons and his family are going this route and they are very pleased. Their doctor can keep his fees reasonable, because he is paid right away and does not have the cost of all the paperwork and delays. You might look for a doctor in your area who has this kind of practice. Ofthen they offer varying levels of access by offering different plans and services to people. This is what will truly bring costs down and increase quality and access, so look for the liberals and tyrants in government to attempt to shut it down. Already there are complaints from the commies in AARP that is isn’t “fair” that some people can afford this. They would rather have all of us stuck in a third world health care system than to let the market work to produce the most good for the most people.
Praying for you. I know this is a tough situation, and it makes me very angry when leftist elitists reserve the best for themselves while forcing everyone else to live in socialist misery.
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