Health Care Reform Becomes Health Insurance Reform

Throw The Healthcare Obstructionist Out!

More than two thirds of the American people want a single payer health care system. And if they cant have a single payer system 76% of all Americans want a strong government-run public option on day one (85% of democrats, 71% of independents, and 60% republicans). Basically everyone.

We have the 37th worst quality of healthcare in the developed world. And the most costly. Costing over twice as much as every other county. Conservative estimates are that over 120,000 of you dies each year in America from treatable illness that people in other developed countries don't die from. Rich, middle class, and poor alike. Insured and uninsured. Men, women, children, and babies. This is what being 37th in quality of healthcare means.

I know that many of you are angry and frustrated that REPUBLICANS! In congress are dragging their feet and trying to block TRUE healthcare reform. What republicans want is just a taxpayer bailout of the DISGRACEFUL GREED DRIVEN PRIVATE FOR PROFIT health insurance industry, and the DISGRACEFUL GREED DRIVEN PRIVATE FOR PROFIT healthcare industry. A trillion dollar taxpayer funded private health insurance bailout is all you really get without a robust government-run public option available on day one. Co-OP's ARE NOT A SUBSTITUTE FOR A GOVERNMENT-RUN PUBLIC OPTION. They are a fraud being pushed by the GREED DRIVEN PRIVATE FOR PROFIT health insurance industry that is KILLING YOU!

YOU CANT HAVE AN INSURANCE MANDATE WITHOUT A ROBUST PUBLIC OPTION. MANDATING PRIVATE FOR PROFIT HEALTH INSURANCE AS YOUR ONLY CHOICE WOULD BE A DISASTER. AND UNETHICAL, CORRUPT, AND MORALLY REPUGNANT. AND PROBABLY UNCONSTITUTIONAL AS WELL.

These industries have been slaughtering you and your loved ones like cattle for decades for profit. Including members of congress and their families. These REPUBLICANS are FOOLS!

Republicans and their traitorous allies have been trying to make it look like it's President Obama's fault for the delays, and foot dragging. But I think you all know better than that. President Obama inherited one of the worst government catastrophes in American history from these REPUBLICANS! And President Obama has done a brilliant job of turning things around, and working his heart out for all of us.

But Republicans think you are just a bunch of stupid, idiot, cash cows with short memories. Just like they did under the Bush administration when they helped Bush and Cheney rape America and the rest of the World.

But you don't have to put up with that. And this is what you can do. The Republicans below will be up for reelection on November 2, 2010. Just a little over 13 months from now. And many of you will be able to vote early. So pick some names and tell their voters that their representatives (by name) are obstructing TRUE healthcare reform. And are sellouts to the insurance and medical lobbyist.

Ask them to contact their representatives and tell them that they are going to work to throw them out of office on November 2, 2010, if not before by impeachment, or recall elections. Doing this will give you something more to do to make things better in America. And it will make you feel better too.

There are many resources on the internet that can help you find people to call and contact. For example, many social networking sites can be searched by state, city, or University. Be inventive and creative. I can think of many ways to do this. But be nice. These are your neighbors. And most will want to help.

I know there are a few democrats that have been trying to obstruct TRUE healthcare reform too. But the main problem is the Bush Republicans. Removing them is the best thing tactically to do. On the other hand. If you can easily replace a democrat obstructionist with a supportive democrat, DO IT!

You have been AMAZING!!! people. Don't loose heart. You knew it wasn't going to be easy saving the World. :-)

God Bless You

jacksmith — Working Class

I REST MY CASE (http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/07/25/why-markets-cant-cure-healthcare/)

Republican Senators up for re-election in 2010.

* Richard Shelby of Alabama
* Lisa Murkowski of Alaska
* John McCain of Arizona
* Mel Martinez of Florida
* Johnny Isakson of Georgia
* Mike Crapo of Idaho
* Chuck Grassley of Iowa
* Sam Brownback of Kansas
* Jim Bunning of Kentucky
* David Vitter of Louisiana
* Kit Bond of Missouri
* Judd Gregg of New Hampshire
* Richard Burr of North Carolina
* George Voinovich of Ohio
* Tom Coburn of Oklahoma
* Jim DeMint of South Carolina
* John Thune of South Dakota
* Kay Bailey Hutchison of Texas
* Bob Bennett of Utah

One wonders why the 490 or so CEO's who don't run "health care" companies don't get together and say "Enough!" Is it because they all have their cookie jars and if they disrupt the health care fix then their own privileges are put at risk? When will the good of the citizens and the good of the general economy take precedence over private greed?

I agree. so we need to get back to the health care reform issues and focus on fixing them.
I believe health care reform is about improved access to health care, reduced errors and omissions, reduced waste, and better use of our investment in health care delivery dollars, along with fixing many of the issues noted below (extracted from NEPA HRTF White Paper):
• Sixteen percent of today’s population is without health care coverage.
• National expenditures in 2007 for Health Care were $2.4 Trillion.
• Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBM) help to reduce the costs of Pharmaceuticals. However since their dealings are hidden, it appears that they are generating significant profits for the Pharmaceutical companies at the expense of the state and federal government, the patients and the taxpayer.
• In the Medicare Modernization Act of 2003, the right of the federal government, specifically CMS to negotiate with the pharmaceutical companies for lower drug prices was strictly prohibited in the bill.
• Pills are packaged in open containers and not packetized. As a result nursing homes employees regularly destroy millions of dollars worth of useful medications.
• Research reveals that pharmaceutical companies are charging the U.S consumer 3 to 5 times more for pharmaceuticals than Canada, Europe, or Mexico.
• Insurance companies routinely add on to the cost of treatment services an overhead cost of operations of 15 to 25%. Use one form for every company.
• Insurance companies routinely build up reserves in excess of 400% of the required amount set by the insurance department in each state. This amounts to Billions of dollars held in reserves by the health insurance companies across the US. Manage one catastrophic reserve fund per state and sell insurance across state lines.
• It has been demonstrated repeatedly that medical errors can be significantly reduced through the introduction and use of e-prescribing and by having Physicians implement and use Electronic Medical Record systems. Spend the 19.2 Billion wisely.
• Major Hospitals and physicians group practices should form Integrated Networks and implement the chronic care model with the physician office performing the function of a Medical Home. Improve access to health care, by providing more generalists and nurses.
• Employers should work with medical group practices in their geographical area and implement medically managed wellness programs with incentives for improving nutrition, reducing Diabetes, cholesterol, obesity, high blood pressure and by stopping smoking, alcohol or drug use.
• Insurance companies should be encouraged by the Health Care Reform Bill to implement high and moderate risk designations for Smokers, heavy drinkers, drug abusers (both legal & illegal) and obese patients. Take the money used for drug interdiction and use it to facilitate recovery efforts.
• Regulatory agencies such JCAHO and NCQA should be provided with language in the bill which strongly encourages ISO 9001 Certification of hospitals in order to reduce medical errors and improve quality of care.
• We have discussed the fact that a disproportionate amount of money is expended during the last 18-24 months of life. Need to effectively and honestly deal with this issue.

People on Medicare are complaining about government run health care, and pro military people are complaining about "big government's" inefficiency. When the uninsured go to the hospital, they are still treated and the costs are passed on to everyone. An ounce of prevention is cheaper than a pound of cure, so those with preventative care will always lower costs compared to those with no coverage, and those only treated for emergencies. If you like paying insurance company CEO's billion dollar salaries, and don't care about quality, or decency of care, then a continued effort to derail health care reform is just what a profoundly ignorant, stupid, and backward country needs.

I'm Canadian. Honestly, I feel really bad for all Americans right now. Obama wants his "health care" reform passed, and representatives of "big health" have gone to war with him. Those representatives might be corrupt, they might just want Obama to look bad so that he doesn't get reelected, or they legitimately might really not like the reform. You all have your own opinions and you're all voicing them, and that's great! But the problem is that this whole thing DID turn into a "war". Anybody watching the news will realize that depending on who you're listening to, there's a lot of conflicting information, and moreover there's TONS of misleading information. There's an old quote: "The first casualty of war is truth".

Maybe this rant was a waste of everyone's time, but this is what I have to say: If you want your full reform, you should be damned sure you want it. I'm happy with my medicare system, and I know that Canadians live longer, which to me is the only real way to tell if it's working, but I've never seen what it's like before socialized medicare. I don't know what's best.
But if you do, and you think it's a health reform, then get out on the streets and march. Stop ranting on the internet, and get out of your house and march. Don't make stupid signs with "clever" little phrases to show everyone how smart you are. A protest isn't about YOU, it's about the cause we assume you believe in. A sign should say "Health Reform Now" and "We support health reform" and nothing else (keep it positive). There are people in Washington who are trying to do the right thing, and I haven't seen ANY support for them other than internet postings. You tell everyone to dress normally, with no face paint and no dumb slogans. Wear a suit or wear jeans, it doesn't make a difference, just look normal. And when you get a million people out onto the streets, a million Americans dressed like Americans and acting like normal Americans, then nothing would be able to stop your reform.

With all due respect, the health insurance providers in this country would like to do to the American health care system what the 401k did to the US retirement system. The term " patient empowerment" that is being bandied about is thinly veiled code of conservative "free marketers" to have yet another avenue to fleece money from people who are no more capable of choosing what conditions they ought to buy insurance for, than they were able to select investment choices within their "self directed" 401k retirement accounts. Only this time, the stakes are much higher. Now instead of having to defer or rethink retirement because you made an uninformed choice, you'll risk your very life as you try to choose from the cleverly packaged and marketed insurance products.

Time and time again, private business interests have salivated over the the possibility of marketing products that by virtue of provider obfuscation, are able to take advantage of huge segments of the population who are too ignorant of what they are buying to make an informed purchase decision. The result has CONSISTENTLY resulted in outsize profits for the seller, while the purchaser is totally unaware of the con to which they've been subjected until it is far too late. Yes, these advocates of "free market competition" are really talking about a competitive game in which their legions of fast talking salespeople will sell huge numbers of health insurance policies so full of arcane "gotchas" and fine print, that you wont realize you've just bought half the coverage at twice the price, until its too late.

The recent mortgage crisis is a good object lesson of what happens when uninformed people are misled into making choices based on assumptions provided by those with the most to gain from the transaction. How many hundreds of thousands of people now face foreclosure, because lax oversight of our "free market" mortgage providers allowed them to pitch arcane and exotic mortgage products with deceptively low upfront costs and turn them into ticking financial time bombs that ruined the financial futures of unwitting and ill-informed customers. We must not allow the illusion of "free choice and market competition" to obscure the real objective of its purveyors. Namely, to do to the health care market what they have done to every other market-based solution. To turn them into another way of separating honest people from their money while providing the least value possible. It is, after all, the essence of the for-profit business model. It should NOT be the model of heath care in America!

Obama reframing the health-care reform debate as "health insurance reform" is like putting lipstick on a pig!

The altruist-collectivist-statist cabal shoving PelosiObamaReidCare (PORC) down our throats would unhesitatingly violate the rights of doctors, patients, and business owners on a massive scale unprecedented in the history of our country.

Doctors on Strike for Freedom in Medicine (http://www.doctorsonstrike.com) cites HR3200 with 10 violations of our rights, three of which include (1) forcing people to buy health insurance, (2) forcing employers to provide health insurance for employees, and (3) forcing some groups (wealthy, business owners) to pay for the health insurance of other groups.

The end--universal health care--does not justify the means--gross violations of our rights. The idea that the end justifies the means is something that many left-over lefties behind PORC still embrace. So did Lenin, Hitler, Stalin, Mao, Castro, Chavez--and Alinsky. According to these collectivists, the interests of the collective always require the subordination and sacrifice of the individual. And individual rights? Fogetaboutit!

But not here. The United States was founded on the idea of individual rights. Our founding documents are imbued with the philosophy of individualism--that individuals are ends-in-themselves; that we have the right to exist for our own sake; that no one has the right to force anyone to live for the sake of others; that we have the right to be left alone to pursue our own ends in life as long as we do not infringe on the liberty of others to do the same; that we should deal with one another by voluntary means; that the proper role of government is to protect our rights.

Precisely because PORC is a direct attack on individual rights in America, legislators should expect extremely loud (but civil) protests when they meet with their constituents to discuss PORC.

Americans are not stupid. We realize that we must act now to bring a halt to this leftist-led, lemming-like leap into health care he!l. We are mad as he!l, and we are not going to take it anymore!

The politicians are turning a deaf ear to us so we need to crank up the volume until they get the message:

"Earth to politicians: Health care is not a right, doctors are not your slaves, businesses are not your banks, the wealthy are not your wet nurses, and patients are not your pawns."

Dr. Gregory Garamoni
Founder, Doctors on Strike for Freedom in Medicine
http://www.doctorsonstrike.com

There was once a time when nuns provided healthcare for the poor for free. What happened? Despite heavy recruitment efforts, religious vocations in the US crashed. Big malpractice awards made insurance unaffordable. Many hospitals were sold to private corporations, which now operate them on a for-profit basis. Expensive machines were successfully marketed. Doctors started owning labs. Expensive drugs were marketed to the public. Managed care and Health Maintenance Organizations promised low cost healthcare but delivered the opposite. College tuition for doctors and nurses skyrocketed. Malpractice premiums skyrocketed. Hospitals expanded recklessly. and the list goes on.... Healing is a gift, not a commodity! As a society, we need to set our priorities straight, and getting rich by providing healthcare should not be one of them. We need to pay for the training of doctors and nurses. We need pay professionals, including administrators and executives, fairly but not excessively. We need to cut the medical waste (both physical and financial). We need to subject every treatment available to a rigorous cost/benefit analysis to rein in spending. We need malpractice reform to stop defensive medicine. And we need our nuns back!

I just read the article "Why Health Insurers are Winning" in the August 17th edition. Why isn't the mainstream media mentioning that there is a very real possibility that in the future if this passes, we will have to pay a 35% copay instead of the 20% we pay now. I think that kind of information should be blasted across the airwaves!!!! The only thing this reform is going to do is to have the people who already pay for insurance have to pay twice as much to help out the deadbeats and illegal aliens get the "free" care.

I see there are still some on the fringes who think the majority of the people want a so called single payer system. The Democratic machine is mobilizing people to write opinions and comments on this and other websites.
Won't work, people. We know the Soviet style tactics used by the DNC. Divide and conquer by using disinformation, rigged polls and racist innuendo.
The Democrat socialists are in full retreat, knowing time is running out.
On November 2, 2010, Obama and his gangster friends are going to lose their majority.

I have lived in 3 countries that have national health programs - England, Canada,and Italy. Not one of those countries has the health care of service that Americans have come to expect. The hospitals are often old and squalid, the staff often speak poor English (or Italian) as they have been recruited from countries with low cost labour, the technology is often outdated, and the waiting lists for standard procedures and even some emergency procedures are long and growing.

The reason people here in the USA are afraid of the so called "proposals" now under consideration are:

1) there are 5 of them and at least one if them is an unintelligible 1000 pages;

2)Obama has made clear in the past that his ideal is a single payer system, and he and the democrats are telling half truths - yes the current bill may permit citizens to keep their current coverage, but it is constructed in a way that ensures over time (as planned by the D's) that this option will disappear, and
3) they heard real and legitimate bad stories about other national health plans,
4) THERE IS NO way this will save money, it will only cost money, which will then require health care rationing by bureaucrats, and
5) there are more sensible and simpler alternatives to solving today's problems without major government involvement (e.g permit insurance companies to compete across state borders).

When you say 'everyone' wants a single payer system and reference poll numbers, please cite the poll.

The numbers you quote don't line up with reality, only propaganda.

This poll is from Time Magazine, end of July.

Q7. WOULD YOU FAVOR OR OPPOSE A HEALTH CARE BILL THAT...?
5) CREATES A NATIONAL SINGLE-PAYER PLAN SIMILAR TO MEDICARE FOR ALL, IN WHICH THE GOVERNMENT WOULD PROVIDE HEALTH CARE INSURANCE
TO ALL AMERICANS
ALL
RESPONDENTS
===========
FAVOR 49%
OPPOSE 46%
NO ANSWER/DON'T KNOW 5%

I am a working class person. I have spent a lot of time talking to people in my area. I am not sure where the two-thirds of Americans are that want a single payer insurance or for that matter government involved with insurance at all. I know I do NOT want my government involved. I know that everyone I have talked to does not want government involved. I do have insurance through my husband's employer. If this plan goes through, they will not be able to avoid to keep giving us this insurance.
We will always be a nation of have and have-nots. What is going to end up happening is the elimination of the doing ok, ie the middle class. You do not fix a problem by lowering the standards on all people. We tried that in education and look where that has gotten us.
I am also THRILLED that my senator from Alabama is trying his best to voice my opinion on this matter.
God Bless Richard Shelby
God Bless America
Dawn- working class mom of four

My most recent experience with our health care system involved an urgent visit to Stevens Memorial Hospital in Norway, Maine. The staff received me, processed me and treated me with efficiency, professionalism and friendliness. Praise for one and all.

JackSmith’s scathing portrait found no corroboration in my experience of Stevens nor in my recent experiences, on behalf of various family members, of hospitals in Amherst,MA, Portland, Rumford or Lewiston in Maine. Statements like JackSmith’s, whether buried in blogs or read off a presidential teleprompter, amount to little more than artificial crisis inducers. They promote panic, despair and fear which serve as covers beneath which our government rips apart our existing health care system’s every institutional sinew and absorbs wholesale its severed parts.

If Democrats wanted only to reduce costs, improve efficiencies and increase coverage, they would tweak our excellent health system and adjust its elements and influences to meet those ends. That the Party must first, and at intolerable expense, verbally trash and operationally crush every grace this present system possesses betrays their likely commitment to darker visions of social engineering and political control.

Dawn -

"everyone I have talked to does not want government involved" (in health care)

They already are. Ever hear of the three best-managed health systems in the country: Medicare, Medicaid (both, with Social Security, run at a surplus since inception)and the VA (see Howard Dean's book - best run system of all.)

"..my senator from Alabama..." O.K., now I believe your statement, "everyone I have talked to does not want government involved"

But they're both not only wrong, but in disagreement with roughly 75% of the rest of the country.

The good thing is, no one is going to deny them the right to pay more and more each year, for higher and higher deductibles, only to get canceled("rescinded") if they actually get sick. That will always be their right as Americans.

Yeah I think that Obama is punting the cost issue. But lets face it this is such a gigantic change that he needs to get one win at a time. Legislators aren't going to just overhaul the entire system that funds their campaigns. Politically one win will guarantee the other. By expanding to uninsured, it then forces the need to reform costs because now the government is on the hook. It would be nice if America let the guy lead - given he has been A george bush janitor, cleaning up an economic mess, defense spending etc. This is actually his own agenda, not forced on him to deal with. Give him the room he needs, don't we always trust our president until they screw up royally. We elected him to govern, let him do it.

I am hearing both sides of the debate, and am confused! I am 45 yrs old and a single parent that became ill. Currently on Medicare and Cobra from former employer. Im covered 100% 15 year old Daughter no longer cover thru Cobra I can no longer afford it, am looking into FAMIS, I may not qualify I get to much in disability!!!
COBRA runs out 02/10 and I have several options a Medicare Advantage plan, Private Plan (preexisting condition, and astronomical rates), high priced Supplemental Plan
I am in need of a double lung transplant, never smoked, dont drink, a connective tissue disorder, so if I get the surgery now I MIGHT be able to return to the work force ( worked as a RN 18 yrs)if all goes well.
The transplant center is telling me they do not accept Medicare Advantage Plan only a Medicare Supplemental Plan which I do not qualify!! Because Im not 65, in the state of VA only a few companies offer a supplemetal plan,the insurance company BCBS!! quoted me $901.00 per month!
I feel lost every one is talking about the health care reform vs. healthcare insurance reform!
Can some one kindly give me an opinion as to why I should be for againt this reform??

Marie

I think the goverment must control the heathcare insurance plus hostpitol doctor and all heathcare.doctor must get pay by salary.
I KNEW ALL THESE INSURANCE CAMPANY AND DOCTOR AND THOSE MONEY MAKER AND THOSE CROOK DONT WANT TO GIVEUP TO WHAT THEY BEEN EAT UP ON PEOPLE ALL THIS YEAR.
HAY ALL WORKING AMERICAN STAND UP FOR YOUR SELF BE WITH PRESIDENT,DONT LET THOSE CROOK TO CONFUSE YOU ALL OVER THE NEWS.
PLEASE TAKE NOTE

The same old story has't changed. The rich get richer and the poor getter poorer. When the republican think their pocket books are going to be even lightly slightly effected they run to the streets and town halls and show their real selves and ther their values.Oh,they will give to charity and sit back and brag ,while their neighbor is suffering with no insurance and no hope.Some of you did work honest and hard for your money and now it is time to share and really reap the rewards.It is not going to look good on our record that you got a recipt for tax purposes for every thing you did for mankind.

Kudos, Cathy, for noting the evolution of the language from health care reform to health insurance reform. When Pres. Obama mentioned "health insurance reform" on July 23 while in Cleveland, it was the beginning of assigning a black hat to one of the players involved in the health industry -- one that might stimulate the support from the electorate that will be needed to get any reform passed. One of the major challenges we need to face is that we have made promises we can no longer afford to pay for.

As many have noted, when Social Security was established, the retirement age was 65 and the life span was not much more than 65 and 8 months. As medical advances have continued, so have our lives. How are we do reconcile our longer lives with the payment for the care?

Who is killing Healthcare Reform?

With one side in near hysteria, and the other being disingenuous if not misleading, its no wonder there is huge confusion on the subject of healthcare reform. However, the whole debate is less complex than it appears. One side is intent upon providing affordable healthcare insurance for 47 million Americans through higher taxes and deficit spending- the other side, who would shoulder a disproportionate share of the expense for universal healthcare, and reap fewer of the benefits, are opposed to the plan. Somehow, the concept of actually reducing the cost of healthcare has gotten lost.

It appears that the Tort Lawyers have successfully defended their turf, the Insurance Lobby has positioned themselves nicely to weather the controversy, and cynics might conclude that big Pharma has cut a deal that changed the focus of the debate from Healthcare Reform to Healthcare Insurance Reform- assuring that the costs of pharmaceutical drugs will continue to be higher in the United States than almost anywhere in the world. The Republicans are desperate to regain their footing, and will do just about anything to derail the Obama train, regardless of the consequences. The Democrats are similarly motivated to manufacture a mandate for a broad range of liberal initiatives from votes cast against the hugely unpopular previous administration, and to do so before the fading popularity of the new administration tank altogether.

There are a whole range of reasonable, pragmatic changes that could be implemented to improve the quality and affordability of healthcare in the United States, but thus far they have gotten overlooked, slandered, and lost in the crossfire of unsubstantiated claims, demonization, and infighting.

1. Encourage retail walk-in Healthcare Clinics, where at modes t cost, trained Healthcare Professionals (ex. RNs) could treat common ailments, recommend over the counter remedies (and limited prescription drugs) and triage more serious ailments.

2. Allow Credit Unions and/or other (Federally Insured) financial institutions to offer Healthcare Savings accounts as a service- rather than an employer-based model. These same institutions could offer Group insurance policies at a lower cost than individual policies. These might take the form of catastrophic coverage policies to coordinate with the Healthcare Savings Account reimbursements.

3. Consider funding the education of more healthcare professionals- presumably driving down the cost of routine care- and perhaps offer a work-study program or internship to offset/repay that tuition.

4. Tort reform. Plaintiffs are certainly due the compensatory damages they are awarded, but where is it written that punitive damages must be awarded to the plaintiffs and their lawyers? Punitive damages are a necessary deterrent, but if they were instead awarded to Charitable Organizations, the incentive to file spurious lawsuits would be diminished.

5. The Pharmaceutical companies need to generate profits to stay in business and continue to provide and develop medicines- but why are they allowed to charge more for those medicines in the United States than elsewhere in the world? A more universal pricing policy would reduce costs for U.S. Citizens as well as the U.S. Government.

6. Rather than legislating Healthcare, the Government could draft, publish and support “model” healthcare insurance plans, which then could become a standard against which all privately offered policies could be measured. Once the model or standards are in place, it would become much easier to comparison shop the policies as all plans that are in compliance with the model offer (at least) the same basic coverage. It might even be easier to administer the plans, as specific coverage would be common to all compliant plans. No Insurance Company, or any other entity, would be obliged to offer plans designed to be in compliance- but perhaps Healthcare Insurance Plans that are in compliance with the model AND offered by credible, responsible institutions could offer the plans nationally- by private companies. Such plans could be endorsed by, and offered through. the SBA. This would result in a co-op that could offer small companies access to the same healthcare programs (and rates) larger companies enjoy today.

7. Excessive and possibly unnecessary testing procedures are often mentioned as one of the components of spiraling healthcare costs. Healthcare professionals explain that performing these tests is necessary to protect themselves from possible litigation. It may also be that many of these same Healthcare Professionals have financial interests in the facilities that perform these tests, providing an incentive to proscribe testing procedures that may not be necessary in terms of diagnosis. Greater scrutiny and transparency is required.

If the “public option” were eliminated, and the penalties associated with “pay-to-play” removed from the proposals under consideration, we could have a reasonable health care reform bill passed by October- unless the far right and far left are successful in an odd conspiracy to kill Healthcare reform altogether.

No one has asked the real and difficult questions to the other interrelated parts of the health insurance puzzle. Those involved parties such as the health insurance companies, the pharmaceutical companies, the medical device and diagnostic providers, the HMO companies, and the doctors who are responsible not only for patient care but for writing the entire ticket. These pieces of puzzle are so dissimilar in their function while so integral to the issue as a whole their role often appears to be pushed aside by the centralized and utopian concept of health care presented by the reformers of today’s health insurance.

Collectively, these parties need to first agree that health care needs to be reformed and then agree as to what the problems are, what they are willing to concede, what they are willing to take on as far as liabilities, and how much less they are will to settle for and for how long. To exclude these interrelated ancillaries from our nations health industries and the public debate on health care will do no more than provide a predictable, perverse, and incomplete picture of the realities of modern day public health care reform.

Personally, I'm hoping...that a backhand way of cost control is that the new regulations will made health insurance impossible...thus driving private insurance to make a real innovation in bargaining real real hard with the hospitals.

After all, the auto companies decried the emissions regulations as impossible, and then the catalytic converter was invented.

Of course, this is a long shot, akin I think to hoping that Bush's stance against Iraq in 2003 was bluffing so as to get real inspections in place, and that he wouldn't take the insane and costly and bankrupting step.

PREACH!

I tell you, Business Week has by far the most well informed comments on any website I've seen. (way better than the ignorant comments on Rush Limbaugh's site).

What I can contribute is this: if we can get this bill passed now, and get the basics down, we can always fix it and improve on it later. We just need to take this first step.

Lets not have this go down in the annals of history as ANOTHER failed attempt at health care reform like Clinton's or LBJ's or FDR's.