Posted on 01/16/2008 12:36:55 PM PST by CedarDave
SANTA FE— Gov. Bill Richardson launched his personal campaign for universal health care Tuesday.
Some of his key arguments, advanced in an in-depth interview with the Journal:
* Health care is a basic human right.
* Universal health care is doable this year and it won't break the bank.
* Physicians are too greedy and need to give a little.
* A so-called single-payer system is out of the question.
* New Mexico has been historically cautious; now is the time to move boldly to make sure every resident of this state has health insurance.
Richardson, fresh off his abandoned presidential campaign, appeared ready to jump back into the fray in Santa Fe. He said the state has the money and lawmakers have the time to enact universal health care coverage in their 30-day session.
Richardson said covering the state's 400,000 uninsured people is both a human rights issue and an economic development program. And it's good politics, he said.
The governor said he would not support new taxes to pay for universal coverage and they aren't needed.
The plan developed by administration staff says that new spending on public coverage programs would be offset by increased economic activity in the health care sector, by funds collected from employers who don't pay employees' health insurance, and through more premium tax collections as more people buy insurance.
The governor said legislators have told him his Health Solutions plan is too expensive and that an election year is no time to consider universal coverage.
He discounted those arguments. "That was their objection to everything," ... he said.
~~snip~~
The governor called health "a human right of every citizen" and access to care similar to a citizen's right to public education. "Everybody deserves the best possible health care," he said.
(Excerpt) Read more at abqjournal.com ...
In the democrats’ authoritarian socialist paradise, any doctor that “quit” would be imprisoned.
Hi everybody!
Hi Doctor Nick!
Tell him to take his health problem to "non-greedy" Hillary Clinton as she is so good at diagnosing medical problems.
no MrB................shot..............too many
people don’t cha know
Gee...I hope Gov. Richardson, rotund as he is, doesn’t have a heart attack and have to call one of those greedy doctors he has insulted with this broadside. That doctor may tell him that he has made too much money for this month and will see him next month.
Next, we’ll have a government regulation imposing salary caps on what doctors earn. I WANT my doctor to be rich. It’s one indicator of how competent he (or she) is. I don’t want to have a doctor who’s earnings are “capped” by some government agency. But, I’m sure that will be coming down the pike should Clinton or Obama be elected.
Your average large hospital is a titantic infrastructure, think of it like the Space Shuttle--plant, administration, army of techincal personnel (not really that many doctors, but many other well-compensated techincians), maintenance, machines--expensive, delicate, hard to maintain machines, fuel, janitorial...
You are paying to make use of a highly expensive infrastructure--you rented the Space Shuttle. This is what is driving medical costs.
LOL--good one.
< Do I HAVE to...whine.
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1) The Democrat who is perpetually depressed because he's told so often that he's a miserable, worthless cretin and therefore he requires Prozac.
2) The ILLEGAL immigrant who goes to the emergency room whenever his kid gets a splinter in his finger.
3) Medicare, which says to doctors, "Your fee is $50, but we're only going to give you $25." Therefore the doctor turns around and charges other patients $75 to make up for the $25 he just lost. I know of at least three doctors here in Arizona who are now refusing to bill all forms of health insurance and are charging a flat fee out of pocket. "If you want to submit it for reimbursement, that's your choice," they say. But they're no longer going to wrangle with it. It's also saving them the cost of staffing a billing department.
4) Greedy doctors my butt. What about the cost of those doctors' educations? My med-school neighbor has student education loans of over $40,000 and she's not even out of school yet. How is she supposed to pay that back if she's told she needs to charge less once she gets into private practice? But you don't hear Governor LapDog Richardson griping about the high cost of college education, now, do you?
I think now would be an excellent time for every Conservative to reread Ayn Rand's "Atlas Shrugged": "I swear--by my life and my love of it--that I will never live for the sake of another man, nor ask another man to live for mine."
What if all of our medical providers decided to just...shrug?
“human right for every citizen”
I’ve got money that says his plan includes illegals. Any takers??
well,I have a step grandson who will be 2 in April and no way,til I knew if what I had was contageious,was I gonna risk anything....but good points.........
They also know that the GOP didn't exactly go to bat for them (Gingrich was responsible for many ruinous regulation headaches). GOP president, Congress, Senate--still couldn't bring about tort reform.
This kind of rhetoric coming from Richardson is a form of warning--"buck our initiatives and we'll come down on you, hard."
US docs know their numbers and allies are few and will bow to the inevitable.
Why didn't you schedule an appointment with your physician?
Every one of his “talking points” capitalizes on the ignorance of the average American. The “basic human right” BS appeals to their emotions because the Gov sounds like he cares. The “won’t break the bank” statement works because most of these fools believe the banks have endless funds. The “Doctors are greedy” bologna appeals to them because “all Dr.s play golf and drive BMW’s”. “They can afford to charge less!” Richardson knows exactly what he’s doing AND he’s getting ready to accept an offer to be Hillary’s VP. He spews the same dog vomit that the Hildabeast spews.
cause I’m 52 and seem to have Christian Science body............I just go til it heals it’self
this did not
The sound you hear is the sound of the door closing as the last doctor closes the door behind him while fleeing the state. In England, Indian and Paki doctors are returning to their native countries in droves because they realize the socialized medicine is broken. The same thing will happen in NM. People vote with their feet, and doctors will move out of state rather than be overworked, underpaid, and un-appreciated.
Yeah...we all do stupid things.
What drives up the cost of medical care these days is the fact that the definition of "the best possible health care" changes almost by the day.
Many medical procedures today didn't exist even in the wildest dreams of doctors as recently as a generation ago, and what was considered "standard" medical care 40 years ago would probably warrant civil lawsuits nowadays because of how "substandard" it is by today's measure.
Price controls will destroy health care. Everyone except the privileged will receive the same low standard. Physicians and health care providers will be big losers in socialized medicine. I have yet to talk to a physician who speaks highly of Medicare or Medicaid. Every physician I know loathes both programs.
Richardson may initially not support a single payer plan. However, after health care becomes a right, a single payer system will follow. The mandated insurance will fail with high costs and resistance. The legislature will then throw more socialism at the problem until eventually there is a single payer system.
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