Today at AARP the President had this to say: "
We also want to start rewarding doctors for quality, not just the quantity, of care that they provide. Instead of rewarding them for how many procedures they perform or how many tests they order, we'll bundle payments so providers aren't paid for every treatment they offer with a chronic -- to a patient with a chronic condition like diabetes, but instead are paid for how are they managing that disease overall. And we'll create incentives for physicians to team up and treat a patient better together, because we know that produces better outcomes."
Now I am wondering how exactly he or one of his many Czars will do this without looking and evaluating patients records. When we were talking about listening on terrorists people got all upset because of the possibility that someone could be listening in on your conversation with Grandma... How do these same people feel about government looking into your medical records?
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Comments: 11
And though there are confidentiality laws. Have you not noticed when someone famous dies the details leak out?
Remember the anti Atkins group who stole copies of Dr. Atkins autopsy report and released it.
When you go to a Dr. Office or a Hospital or Clinic, A form with detailed information is submitted to your insurance company. The insurance company then decides what it will pay.
So what is different?
The President has requested ideas from EVERYONE
Republicans have submitted ideas, some adapted, but more Republican congressmen are choosing to simply stop the program.
Have you forgotten?
Medicare is a government program. Do you want it abolished?
The leadership of the Republican party would like it ended or at least limited.,
The Republicans have been screaming for years to end Social Security and Medicare.
Yes, the contradictory act was the big gift to the drug manufacturers by Bush.
I believe he was hoping to break the system as quickly as possible, yet still give away all this money to drug companies.
Insurance companies look at procedures and tests if they are approved not your record to see how well you are or are not doing after doctor gave you two aspirins.
Released medical records come out through a freedom of information act and have to be signed off by a judge or released by family.
Really we back to Bush??? How about law suit abuse and docs having to pay for insurance out the whazzoo
Look the point is that you don't like big business and I don't like big government. Do you like the service you get at the DMV? Unemployment? Any government office really?
If I don't like my insurance company then I just take my business somewhere else...try doing that with government when private companies are all going belly up. Private companies just can't compete with government...no matter how often the Pres says we get to keep our insurance.
If private insurance is such a great deal . . .
If this problem of around 50 million people being uninsured is easily solved by private companies, have they not had enough time?
8 years since the Clinton plan was savaged
As for DMV,
You can rant as much as you like, and I certainly have my rants, but fact is California had a lot of cars and drivers, our DMV is modernized,
you make appointments, take care of some things on-line, etc.
Workes better than any of the telephone or utility companies.
I don't think I said I didn't like big business, but one can certainly find as much or more fault with them as with any gov. agency.
For OBVIOUS example
General Motors
1950- Largest corporation in the world. not largest auto mfg. Largest co.
Company pres about $1 mil /year salary & perks.
Following many years of market share beginning around 1960
to today
Co. CEO pay 2007 $15 Mil Plus perks.
Didn't they do a great job of taking care of their share holders.
GM was not efficient
Not only did not maintain market share, but began losing at an ever increasing rate
to::::::::::::::
I fully agree with you on GM and other failed companies. I would have preferred that the Administration didnt micromanage the auto industry but let them go bankcrupt. Look if large companies know they can screw up and just get bailed out by government then what incentive do they have to make conservative sound business decissions. They can go full speed ahead and if it doesnt work government will bail them out... now I wonder which side of the isle is creating this monster that government will be here to take care of you...
Medicare
Medicaid Fed/State program
If for some reason you are injured at work, you will be covered by Workmen's comp. (some employers use the state run insurance programs)
People in the military
If you are an employe of a city,
county,
state or the
federal gov.
Now that covers a lot of people who don't seem to be being harmed by having their records reviewed by "the government"
But hey the Republicans, wanting to be certain you continue to vote against your own self interest,
will keep the anti gov. slogans coming. Slogans work. for all who refuse to think for themselves.
And so on.
Having been one of those who was in the military with everyone and his brother having access to my records, it didn't make me feel particularly good but I was in the Army, not a private citizen. Unlike you, my trust level for government in general is low and this one has done nothing to bring that up. A major thing you neglect to mention when talking about those great government health plans, they are all heavily subsidized. None of them pay for themselves with worker premiums. Nope the taxpayers are on the hook for those great plans.
This plan, despite your Obama's words is almost exclusively a Dem one. Not that the Repubs haven't offered some things but quite simply none of which move far enough to doing what Obama has promised and is currently failing at doing. That is actually covering the mythic 47 plus million without some form of insurance. Despite very conservative CBO figures on costs, the plan has outlined covers less than a third and the costs are probably 2-3 times forecast. Of course the raw number 47 million doesn't stand up to scrutiny anyway once examined. Extract illegals and the voluntarily uninsured (never mind the temporarily uninsured) and that number is at least halved.
But fining anyone that doesn't have health care insurance should end much of that. No more actually allowing people to make their own choices on such matters to insure or not. That's freedom today.
Speaking of slogans, have you noted that mathematically your party does not need a single Repub to pass anything? It's your party that is infighting and your party that is worried badly about the costs; politically and fiscally to this plan. If it was such a great idea, your party and plenty of opportunist Repubs would be aboard-that is if they actually believed the majority want anything at all like this plan. That so many outside of the safe progressive districts are being cautious says more than any poll or media talking head has done so far.
I honestly do believe though that some variation of this plan will pass. And in a few short years as the cost shots up (like all such government programs), the subsidies from private policies will dry up with the companies going out of business. With government taking money from the taxpayers to offset losses in their plan, there is no way private sector plans can compete.
Personally I have no stake in the ins. debate.
I am blessed with great health, and a huge dislike of the medical industry and medical people. My children know that the next time I sea a medical person
I will have to have been delivered to them while unconscious. I have no plans to see a Dr. or whatever.
I am already paying big time taxes to pay for the non working poor and illegal immigrant care.
We are all subsiding the employers of illegal immigrants.
So come on do you think we could come up with a plan for the working poor.
The largest block of uninsured.
People working at low paying jobs.
Guess what kind of jobs Reganomics created.
Low paying jobs.
Of course the best way these workers can serve the capitalists is step aside and die as quickly as possible.
As for "sin care"
Private health insurance companies charge more for smokers and the overweight.
Not to mention anything that can be attributed to smoking or being overweight probably will be denied coverage.
I can't imagine an alcoholic or anyone who has been through drug rehab would be allowed to purchase insurance.
Some would not even be covered by corporate policies, this prevents re-entry into the workforce.
I do think that all of these things are health issues and should not be singled out, but the very puritanical U.S.A. loves sin taxes and punishment.
Part of the national character, sadly.
The 47 million number was provided by the Census bureau during the 2nd term of Geo.W.Bush presidency.
You could do some research and see if it included working illegal immigrants. We do know for certain,
their employers are not providing insurance.
I did not see any serious employer sanctions during the G.W. Bush years.
You Republicans in your dreams hope Dems will sabotage the plan, don't count on it.
We Democrats will have a great gloat.
How many Republicans do you think voted Democrat because of Bush's expensive giveaway to the drug companies?
I don't care what plan passes or if a plan passes. The Republican proposals don't amount to much, shift more cost from business to individuals.