IT'S TIME FOR UNIVERSAL HEALTH CARE

Your fear that undocumented aliens will get free healthcare through HR 3200 is wholly without merit.

Quote:

Your fear that undocumented aliens will get free healthcare through HR 3200 is wholly without merit.

So undocumented aliens will not get free healthcare under Obama's plan? That seems to be what you are saying, but I just want to make sure that is the claim you are making.

Because I don't believe that will be the case. Simply put, if an illegal alien shows up at a hospital in an emergency situation, does Obama's plan mean the hospital can refuse to treat them?

Or what if, as I think I read elsewhere, the illegal alien has somehow purchased insurance through Obama's public option scenerio. Aren't we, as taxpayers, still paying for the medical service when the government pays out on the policy?

Now I could be all wrong because admittedly, like our Congressional representatives, I've not read the entire proposal. So please feel free to correct me if my above assuptions are incorrect because I would really like to know as much as possible about Obama's plan before jumping on or off the bandwagon.

Halfway to Where? Answering the Key Questions of Health Care Reform

Although neither the House nor the Senate passed a health care bill by President Obama's August deadline, various pieces of legislation have made it through committee, and they provide a concrete basis for analyzing what the proposed health care reform would and would not do. Looking at the various bills that are moving on Capitol Hill, we can determine the following:

* Contrary to the Obama administration's repeated assurances, millions of Americans who are happy with their current health insurance will not be able to keep it. As many as 89.5 million people may be dumped into a government-run plan.
* Some Americans may find themselves forced into a new insurance plan that no longer includes their current doctor.
* Americans will pay more than $820 billion in additional taxes over the next 10 years, and could see their insurance premiums rise as much as 95 percent.
* The current health care bills will increase the budget deficit by at least $239 billion over the next 10 years, and far more in the years beyond that. If the new health care entitlement were subject to the same 75-year actuarial standards as Social Security or Medicare, its unfunded liabilities would exceed $9.2 trillion.
* While the bills contain no direct provisions for rationing care, they nonetheless increase the likelihood of government rationing and interference with how doctors practice medicine.
* Contrary to assertions of some opponents, the bills contain no provision for euthanasia or mandatory end-of-life counseling. The bills' provisions on abortion coverage are far murkier.

In short, Americans will pay more and get less. Whatever the variation, however these bills are merged or compromised, this would be bad news for Americans.

I know tort reform gets thrown out a lot, but from I have read, malpractice suits really don't account for the sheer cost of health care overall.



WellPoint Institute of Health Care Knowledge Releases Report on Health Care Costs

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According to the report the "key drivers" of spiraling U.S. health care costs
are:

-- Advances in medical technology and subsequent increases in
utilization.
-- Price inflation for medical services that exceeds inflation in other
sectors of the economy.
-- Cost-shifting from people who are uninsured and those receiving
Medicare
and Medicaid to the private sector.
-- High cost of regulatory compliance.
-- Patient lifestyles, such as physical inactivity and increases in
obesity.

Interesting report, but it is very unclear to me how HR3200 will resolve these issues. Obama champions covering the 30 odd million uninsured today by miraculously recoupling cost savings and increasing efficiencies throughout the medical industry.

And taxing insurance companies will force them to raise rates, thus increasing insurance costs to all.

In all my years of business, I have never known a company to pay a dime in taxes. Every company I have ever been associated with will pass any and all tax increases on to customers in order to maintain their desired level of net ROI for the owners/stockholders.

This is one of my problems with what Obama is proposing. Of course, he also promises to keep insurance affordable, but I don't quite see it. The only way to do so would be for the public option to undercut insurance rates to drive down the private sector charges.

But that would convince many to leave their private sector insurance for the public option, which would ultimately drive up the payouts on policies, thus creating more of a tax burden while driving some, if not many, private insurers out of business.

The cycle continues as their customers then turn to the public option, putting an even greater burden of payouts on the taxpayer.

There are other issues I have, but again, I'm willing to withhold judgement until I see what a final bill looks like.

So undocumented aliens will not get free healthcare under Obama's plan? That seems to be what you are saying, but I just want to make sure that is the claim you are making.

Because I don't believe that will be the case. Simply put, if an illegal alien shows up at a hospital in an emergency situation, does Obama's plan mean the hospital can refuse to treat them? Or what if, as I think I read elsewhere, the illegal alien has somehow purchased insurance through Obama's public option scenerio. Aren't we, as taxpayers, still paying for the medical service when the government pays out on the policy?

Now I could be all wrong because admittedly, like our Congressional representatives, I've not read the entire proposal. So please feel free to correct me if my above assuptions are incorrect because I would really like to know as much as possible about Obama's plan before jumping on or off the bandwagon.

The CARS program came to a close Tuesday night with nearly 700,000 clunkers taken off the roads, replaced by far more fuel efficient vehicles. Rebate applications worth $2.877 billion were submitted by the 8 p.m. deadline, under the $3 billion provided by Congress to run the program.

Cars made in America topped the most-purchased list, from the Ford Focus to the Toyota Corolla to the Honda Civic.

“American consumers and workers were the clear winners thanks to the cash for clunkers program,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. “Manufacturing plants have added shifts and recalled workers. Moribund showrooms were brought back to life and consumers bought fuel efficient cars that will save them money and improve the environment.”

“This is one of the best economic news stories we’ve seen and I’m proud we were able to give consumers a helping hand,” Secretary LaHood said.

Number without health insurance at 46.3 million

WASHINGTON " The Census Bureau reports that the number of people lacking health insurance rose to 46.3 million in 2008.

That's up from 45.7 million in 2007, due to a continuing erosion of employer-provided insurance. Still, the level remained just below the peak of 47 million who were uninsured in 2006, because of the growth of government insurance programs such as Medicaid for the poor.

The nation's poverty rate increased to 13.2 percent, up from the 12.5 percent in 2007. That meant there were 39.8 million people living in poverty. It was the highest rate since 1997.

The statistics released Thursday cover the first full year of the current recession.

The median " or midpoint " household income declined slightly to $50,303.