Universal Health Insurance

[williet]

A stupid law is just a piece of paper until a stupid person enforces it....My HOPE is that no matter what these airheads in Washington do....somebody in actual law enforcement... police, national guard, reg. military.... will take a stand for what's right....my FEAR is that those who are charged with enforcement are more dense than the ones in Washington.

As I've said before...only Joe Biden and Ron Paul are honest enough to restore the legal Constitutional rights of citizens...and neither has a chance of being elected.

All of the other candidates may run their mouths, but none...Dem.or Rep.will return powers already given to the Executive branch.

[MountainDon]

Right on the topic here....

A story on todays ABC Evening News deserves a notation:

Socialized medicine may sound un-American, but in fact, it's exactly what we provide to our American heroes -- the more than 5 million armed forces veterans and their families.

They get health care that the government both pays for and delivers. It's the Veterans Affairs Healthcare System, and according to health care experts such as Phil Longman -- it's become one of the best health care systems in the country.

So how did the once-maligned VA transform itself?

"First and foremost, by pioneering electronic medical records," Longman said. "Which is a much bigger deal than it might sound."

The Full Story...

the story ends with...    Study after study puts the VA system at the very top for fewer medical errors, for effective treatments, for lower costs and for patient satisfaction. And the VA delivers all of this for at least $1,500 less per year per patient than Medicare.

Maybe there is real hope that a national system could be made to work.

[peternap]

Glenn...where I grew up they claimed to use everything on the hog but the squeal. I kind of like brains and scrambled eggs ....I haven't worked myself up to Haggis yet though.

Do you really think you could put up a fight with a hunting rifle against the military?

Actually Scott, the old deer rifle is a very good weapon for that type of fighting...The term is shoot and scoot.

It's not the lack of weapons that keep us from beating government troops back. It's ego and lifestyle. That's why I poopoo at the militia movement. They've had numerous opportunities to step in. Waco being one. They march around, talk tough but when it's time to pull the trigger, go home. They sure have the talk but not the walk.

Most people have never been in a gunfight. Most people have an exaggerated ego about their abilities and won't train.
Most people won't give up their lifestyle so they won't push that button.

Most Viet Nam Vets can tell you that it's just plain no fun and a civil war here would be 10 times worse. No real supply, few safe zones...on and on.

[Sassy]

Right on the topic here....

A story on todays ABC Evening News deserves a notation:

Socialized medicine may sound un-American, but in fact, it's exactly what we provide to our American heroes -- the more than 5 million armed forces veterans and their families.

They get health care that the government both pays for and delivers. It's the Veterans Affairs Healthcare System, and according to health care experts such as Phil Longman -- it's become one of the best health care systems in the country.

So how did the once-maligned VA transform itself?

"First and foremost, by pioneering electronic medical records," Longman said. "Which is a much bigger deal than it might sound."

The Full Story...

the story ends with...    Study after study puts the VA system at the very top for fewer medical errors, for effective treatments, for lower costs and for patient satisfaction. And the VA delivers all of this for at least $1,500 less per year per patient than Medicare.

Maybe there is real hope that a national system could be made to work.

One of the ways the VA saves money is on the pharmaceutical drugs - they have contracts & get the drugs at a fraction of the cost that the private sector gets them.  If Medicare & Medical would negotiate & get the drug prices down, it would make a big difference.  The electronic record has really helped - the VA was the pioneer in that field.  In fact, I was sent to 3 conferences/workshops around the country to learn more about the process & help with the training at the hospital when we 1st went "paperless".   

[desdawg]

Being a Viet Nam vet and uninsured I had some hope that I could get some help there if I ever need it. Since I have never needed it I haven't really looked into it. That probably sounds pretty strange.
I have never been a proponent of socialized anything. But as far as the VA goes I did pay the established dues.
Social programs open the door for many types of system abuse. And of course we are handing control of our fate over to the government once again. When I look at the uncertainty of the Social Security system I cringe. We of the boomer generation are many. The next generations are smaller which places quite a burden on fewer people. And those people are our offspring.
Do we really want to create another level of socialism?  I don't know the answer.

[Sassy]

That's the delima (how the heck do you spell that  - even my spell checker can't find it  )  I feel about socialized anything - in all the cases I've seen, the gov't just screws things up & it costs several times more than it should.  But now we allow the monopolies with health care, banks, etc which also causes price increases - don't know what the answer is, either.

Ron Paul suggests "health savings account".  Those are already available but the down side is that if you don't spend all the tax deferred money you set aside for the year, you lose it.  IMHO I say you should be able to roll it over to the next year - that's the only reason why we haven't gone to that type of health "insurance".  Don't know if that is what Ron Paul's plan is.  I'll have to read more about it...

[benevolance]

social security was perfect.. it was working and they had enough money in there for anything that could happen...

that is until Bush and cronies decided that they could take 8 trillion bucks out of the fund for the Iraq and afghan wars....

there is nothing wrong with social security... other than the money was stolen from the fund...It is a great idea and the math is solid... it works in the rest of the civilized world and it was working perfectly here too.. until the robbery occured.

[williet]

Health care...cradle to grave ...just because we're American CITIZENS.....the country can afford it and there's NO excuse not to have it......

[desdawg]

Socialism-I am with you Sassy. My gut screams no and my wallet screams yes. I guess they have me right where they want me.  It all sounds good going in but it takes quite a while to get the final bill. We have an ample supply of politico's to refine the system (and abuse it as Peter stated) as it progresses.

[Erin]

I have a friend who often comments that she wishes she qualified for Medicaid.    there is nothing wrong with the level of care for Medicaid recipients, either.