Looks like a new health care deal is coming, this one with a public option.
The states can opt out... hmmm is that states rights coming up again. :)
This has been debated a lot. Yall know what I think.
From AP
WASHINGTON – Majority Leader Harry Reid says health care legislation headed to the Senate floor will include an option for government-run insurance. Reid says states will have the prerogative of opting out of the program if they choose.
Reid noted that polls show widespread public support for giving the government a role in the overhauled health care system envisioned by President Barack Obama and his allies in Congress.
I really hate the term "public option". What will they call it when the insurance companies are ran out of business, and the government plan is all that's left? It won't really be an option at that point.
ReplyDeleteAnd don't tell me that isn't going to happen, because that has been the goal all along. The Dems have admitted as much in their own words.
Well I'm sure Kansas will opt out anyways since it is normally a red state, I'll be surprised if they don't. I think if their is going to be a public option then their should be some income limits. Just like with Healthwave for children.
ReplyDeleteIt should be an "opt-in" clause, not an "opt-out" clause. The Opt-in would require the states to ask to be put in, whereas the opt-out would require them to asked to be taken out. I bet the "opt-out" has some stipulations that require a state so many days/months to "opt-out", otherwise you're stuck with it.
ReplyDeleteI also saw an interesting segment on "60 Minutes" last night on Medicare Fraud. I would like to see how they are going to prevent that in the new bill. Losing $60B a year in fraud could pay for a lot of the new bill.
Maybe they'll implant a chip in all of us so they know we are who we say we are.
ReplyDeleteMaybe even a number on our arm.
Maybe they'll implant a chip in all of us so they know we are who we say we are.
ReplyDeleteWell your a little behind the times! Look up biometrics - they can already do that with a retinal or facial scan, voice rcognition etc.
They don't need a number or fingerprints anymore!
Things are alot more advanced then they want you to know!
Yeah, speaking of medicare fraud, I caught a double hospital charge on someones statement from a dr in wichita. The bill was in the 10,000's range. I don't know if it was intentional or not, but we did report it. Its very important that those on medicare check their statements when they receive them or get someone to look over it for them.
ReplyDeleteYes, report those things. Ive seen it with my mother's bills. THe sneak stuff in there, or charge two or three times for the same thing.
ReplyDeleteBut report it directly to the medicare people, not the hospital.
:)
So, how do you think it will get better with a Public Option?
ReplyDeleteWhen the pressure on the Hospitals and Doctors is greater due to tighter Government Control and the 8000 per day who go on medicare?
You think the Government does any better at managing their massive programs?
Just look at HUD!
They will spend every dime and more! The cost to manage it will exceed any savings. Then they will ask for more and more and more ........!
The Government doesn't have to operate like a real business!
This really will be a defining moment in the fate of Capitalism and entrepreneurship!
What's even more interesting is that they already have real world examples of the very type of system they are proposing! That haven't come close to working as they were proposed!
But, they are smarter? --- WRONG!
We reported it to medicare and here's a hint...I found this on the medicare statement after hearing on the news that a dr associated with a heart clinic in wichita got busted for fraud.
ReplyDeleteLike it or not people the public option may be coming and it going to take us... the citizens to make sure the system is not being ripped off.
I agree with CC that it will take citizens to make sure we are not being ripped off.
ReplyDeleteOf course, now, we basically have no recourse against the insurance companies when they do bad things.
THats why the insurance companies are lobbying so hard against it.
I just dont see it as very different really.
except that with a public option, at least we might have a chance to report abuse.
Well both of your posts are examples of how accountability is best implemented at the lower or lowest levels!
ReplyDeleteSo, at the macro scale it gets lost in all the clutter!
But the thing that is the most disappointing about the present approcah is that it doesn't promote accountability or responsibility!
What if we worked to make it where people could make it on their own dime! Promote the things that allow people to make an honest living and pay their own bills!
Nope, once you start giving things away there is no end!
AND - Then for some reason they never seem to come Back!
Are these two examples about hospitals/clinics overcharging medicare?? I don't see how that has to do with private insurance at all.
ReplyDeleteIf it is being overcharged on purpose, having government insurance is not going to protect against fraud.
Insurance companies are lobbying against it because they know it will be the end of private insurance. You can't compete with someone who doesn't have to make a profit, and the government will take a loss (or the taxpayers) on this venture. How can it not?
And then we will have our Socialist healthcare, just like Obama and the rest of the liberals want. I can hardly wait to stand in line for hours with the welfare recipients to see my doctor who is overworked and underpaid. That is, if he still practices here in the USSA.
ReplyDeleteWell maybe if the insurance companies would make it more affordable then there would be no need for a public option for people that can't afford overpriced plans, those premiums is how they are ripping, you, the consumer off! In my book, they are worse then the government.
ReplyDeleteOne more thing, don't forget deductables and copays they still get.
ReplyDeleteHealth care is high, that's why insurance premuims are high. Car insurance makes more profit than health insurance.
ReplyDeleteWe need to control the cost of health care first.
Insurance as a rule is too high. I too had a clinc try to pass a trip for blood work off as an drs visit. I refused to have the blood drawn. They were going to charge my insurance for a dr's visit. If I see I dr, I should pay for a drs visit. If I see a nurse for five minutes, don't charge my insurance company for a drs visit.
ReplyDeleteAgain, that is a health care problem, not an insurance problem.
ReplyDeleteThen you admit there is a need for some type of reform then right? Even if it is with insurance companies? It is a health care problem when health organizations are bilking us out of money.
ReplyDelete