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Politics : A US National Health Care System? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Lane3 who wrote (8823)	8/29/2009 9:46:01 AM
From: Brumar89	2 Recommendations Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 42652

In fact we know that what is being called "rationing" doesn't occur here to the extent and in the way it does in Britain and Canada. We don't have the long waiting periods they do in those countries as one example. So clearly if you think health insurers are "rationing" already, they're doing a hell of a lot less of it than governments in the health care business do. Given the relative power of governments and private companies thats not surprising. So the argument, health insurers already ration so we should let the government do it fairer breaks down. In fact, we have good evidence governments impose rationing to a far greater extent than any insurer would or could.

To: Lane3 who wrote (8823)	8/29/2009 10:29:08 AM
From: i-node	3 Recommendations Respond to of 42652

>> This is the most thoughtful piece I've seen on rationing. Agree. Really worth reading.

To: Lane3 who wrote (8823)	8/29/2009 10:59:57 AM
From: longnshort	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 42652

Yeah rationing after the news from England this past week Mark Styen said in England they have a ten month wait for the maternity ward.

To: Lane3 who wrote (8823)	8/30/2009 2:52:03 AM
From: KLP	1 Recommendation Respond to of 42652

Lane...Thanks for that article. It is well deserving of reading and then thinking about for everyone, rather than immediately shooting from the lip, IMO. Back to very Basics - this sentence stands out: It’s a mistake to think of health care as a right. It is not a right; it is a good. I agree. Politically, even at the Kennedy funeral today, I heard one of the young people mention that "health care IS a right." If we all start from square zero, we HAVE to acknowledge that unless our Doctors and medical professionals are made to be slaves, then we can NOT demand they "fix our ailments without payment." There are so many questions that must be asked, and that the American people need to hear, and think about before they chime in. Questions like: --Are our Federal Employees (including retired and still working) that are 65+, including in Congress and the Administration, on Medicare or Medicaid? (I'm assuming that most are not on Medicaid.) --How many different insurance plans to the Federal Employees have to choose from? --How big are the risk pools in the various plans for the Federal Employees? --Do these plans cover the workers who are presently working no matter their age? We already have several government plans for millions of citizens already. The various Military plans, Medicare, Medicaid, Medical care for Children if they don't already have it....etc... I really don't see why we as a country, try to figure out what people want, and how much they are INDIVIDUALLY willing to pay for it.... Everyone should have some 'skin in the game so to speak'... No free insurance just because you are poor, or don't think you want it, or will need it, or whatever other reason people give. We have to license ourselves to drive cars. We have to license our cars in order to drive them. We need to have basic insurance coverage to cover for Comprehensive and Liability or we can't drive legally. Expand Medicaid for all who can't afford to pay much for insurance but need at least catastrophic coverage for those people. Increase the number of clinics where people can go for shots, colds, general medical issues. Have these staffed by Medical professionals who want to work for the Government at a salary and don't want to have their own practice. Have a sliding scale for payment. There are so many ETCs...but some of the tough questions could begin at the community levels and condensed to present to the Congress. Currently Congress and the Adm are trying to force our entire country to do THEIR bidding on decisions that should have input from to citizens themselves....Bottom up, NOT Top down... To think this can, and should, be done in a matter of a few weeks is asinine. Our Government leaders who try to foist that thought on the American people deserve to lose their jobs immediately. They show they are NOT at all serious about the situation, but instead are trying to do a political solution instead. Utter stupidity!