The American Spectator

notoobama| 5.20.09 @ 6:48AM

I won"t hold my breath on the republicans getting on this bandwagon. Like with everything else, they are weak and spineless and will sit by and watch the dim-o-crats take over this country and drive the conservative party out of existance.

Robert Rosencrans| 5.20.09 @ 6:50AM

interestingly enough, neither the Republican plan nor the Democratic plan call for tort reform. Medical malpractice insurance premiums have forced doctors out of some locations and out of certain specialties. As a result, there is a forced shortage of doctors which causes medical costs to go up. This is but one example.

Real medical equality will come with tort reform, an issue neither party wants to tackle.

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jim rice| 5.20.09 @ 7:55AM

Yay! The Republicans are putting forth ideas!

And this one isn't totally half bad. I think I can support this.

Ron Greiner| 5.20.09 @ 8:37AM

A 30 year-old-male can get HSA insurance in Tampa for $57 a month or $684 a year. A $2,300 tax credit would pay 100% of the insurance plus put $1,616 in his HSA at the bank. Of course this coverage would have to be purchased outside of these state exchanges. I have had my HSA since the very 1st day, 1/1/97. America's 1st HSA enrolled at Save101.com

Mike| 5.20.09 @ 8:42AM

So I'm guessing the Republicans are dropping insurance agents and brokers that help people understand complex insurance plans and navigate the treacherous system of healthcare by the wayside?

Ron Greiner| 5.20.09 @ 9:31AM

Mike, the article says,"But insurers could offer, and consumers could choose to buy, insurance coverage outside the Exchange. "

Democrats shy away from the tax free HSAs like vampires to the cross. Rush Limbaugh shys away from the HSA too. So the Democrats and Rush have something in common. Rush keeps the HSA in the half of his brain he has tied behind his back.

Dustoff| 5.20.09 @ 9:40AM

As someone who works in Heathcare. I've seen the medicare system mess & VA. I can only hope the Rep push hard for some type of reform.
Because if you think this system is bad. Talk to most people who have to deal with the VA. )-:

Medicare is just as bad. More and more doctors are refusing to take medicare. It pays so little and with all the government paper work, the pay out is pennies.

For me NO thanks.

PS. Nothing is free.

eshaks| 5.20.09 @ 10:27AM

A voluntary system will never work to cover everyone, why? many, especially the healthy will choose not to spend any money on healthcare, they will take their chances. Insurance works on the principle of large numbers, the more persons covered the less costly it is per person and the more predictable the cost.

Big J| 5.20.09 @ 10:31AM

It sure would be nice to get the health care monkey off my back. As a small business owner, administration is a CHORE! It is really nice to see the Republicans acting like, well, Republicans.

Robert: I agree with you that the majority of the blame in rising health care cost has to do with lawsuit abuse. Just ask any doctor. In case you missed it,

"The bill would also finance specific state programs to end lawsuit abuses and excessive malpractice costs. Each state's health commissioner could appoint an expert panel of three medical and three legal experts to recommend a quick, low cost resolution for each case. States could also establish specialized, expert health courts."

Like Ragu (Prego?): "It's in there!"

Unfortunately, this alternative plan doesn't increase governmental control into our private lives nearly enough, so don't look for it to go too far. :(

eshaks| 5.20.09 @ 10:52AM

I have been in the health insurance industry for over 30 years and I know that advocating a national health care system may be against my personal financial interest however, it is obvious to me that if you want everyone covered the government has to set the rules. I lived in Canada in the seventies and was impressed with their system of covering their citizens primarily through their jobs first and everyone else through a supplementary system. My wife used the system and we didn’t pay a dime. There is still a private system there. You should read surveys of the Canadians if they are satisfied with their system. Also, Canadians on the whole are healthier than Americans, I encourage everyone to read the data.

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Dustoff| 5.20.09 @ 11:04AM

eshaks
My wife used the system and we didn’t pay a dime.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Why would you post a outright lie. You pay.

Kevin| 5.20.09 @ 11:23AM

The only think I saw in my local paper today was that the Republicans had a plan and that they plan on taxing the benefit to the employee to pay for this whole plan.

Old Texican| 5.20.09 @ 11:26AM

Yes government must level the playing field for any AND ALL insurors.
The one thing that scares the bejeebers out of any insurance company is the concept: ADVERSE SELECTION.
ie: If a particular insuror offers superior coverage
for cancer for instance, cancer patients will soon discover it and flood the insuror with claims that are unsustainable.
HSA's are the best dea that has come along in many years. In only three years our HSA for our employees is self funding for huge deductibles, thus dropping our premiums even further.
In the meantime we paid first dollar deductible costs straight from the company. Finally, our HSA's are structured to be "employee portable"

I am very afraid the communists won't let this bill see daylight, though.
As we discussed the other day "grab'em.........and their hearts and minds will follow".

Vicki Larsen| 5.20.09 @ 11:27AM

I legally immigrated to this country in 2002 from Canada (to marry a U.S. citizen)extremely happy to leave the medical system of Canada behind only to find myself stuck in the same mess here in ID now. My husband is 75 so he is covered by medicare but because I have a pre-existing condition being an insulin dependent diabetic (tightly controlled I might add) I cannot afford medical insurance. This would not be important except for the fact that I was recently diagnosed with breast cancer which my local doctor believes has metastasized. Because I do not have a green card, a point which I mentioned before I was ever enrolled in the Women's Health Check Program I will not receive treatment and will more than likely be dead within two years, just another cdc statistic at the age of 54 . For those saying go back to Canada, the Visa I arrived in the US. on stipulated that it was valid for only one trip south and if I return to Canada the U.S. would refuse me re-entry. I would never receive treatment in Canada in time given the time element involved with the wait times there either. Canada would not accept the test results already obtained here and the results for an initial mammogram take anywhere from five to six weeks after waiting three months just to get on the medical system. Also as a rebuttal to a previous poster, health care in Canada is NOT FREE! Canadians are amongst the most highly taxed people in the world and they also pay a medical premium based on their salary all for the privilege of waiting in line like everyone else, often dying before they reach the front of the line.

Old Texican| 5.20.09 @ 11:31AM

Oh yes the Canadians pay!

We attend medical conventions most every year in Canada and talk to medical people...and patients.
Many have told me the best part of Canadian healthcare.....wait for it.....Detroit Michigan.

Robert Rosencrans| 5.20.09 @ 11:31AM

BigJ: That's a good step forward in terms of tort reform but anytime efforts are left to the states some states will remain jackpot jury states and other states will be prudent. I doubt if that type of jigsaw effort will reduce health care costs.

Old Texican| 5.20.09 @ 11:36AM

You are in our prayers, Vickie.
God bless you for speaking the plain truth in this forum.

Old Texican| 5.20.09 @ 11:40AM

Robert, I appreciate your point, but you have a choice...
Vote with your feet to a prudent State
Or
Vote to be a ward of the Fed. (gulp)

Scot| 5.20.09 @ 1:03PM

Every thing cost. Why do people insist on thinking things are free or should be. If you are not willing to trade value for service then you dont deserve the service. Health comes with a price, how much is it worth to you? You should be the one that decides that not Govt. If you think that Govt should pay (because you know they will tax the rich more for you to not pay) then you dont really value your own life and in my mind are scum.

Dustoff| 5.20.09 @ 1:15PM

Let me ask all who think they well get "great" gov run Health care.

If you do, then ask yourself. Do you think that as the years go by you'll get the same care as say Ted Kennedy or anyone in Congress?

Don't fool yourselfs.

Lisa Lamborn| 5.20.09 @ 1:28PM

Oh, please. Bush passed HSAs and they had to be slid under the SS bill.

Healthcare is about health. Making it political bites ALL of us in the ass every day. Perhaps, to the greater good, if you took the political and religious views out of, and just deduced the best plans for the consitituents the endless wasteful diatribes would end, and people could act accordingly.

Starting with a course in health insurance and how it really works and how you really can figure out what you need, versus what is available might be a good idea. The system sucks cause no one wants to just educate the customer base in the product(s). That just isn't political or party sided. It's common sense.

carolinem| 5.20.09 @ 1:43PM

The Republicn plan is overly complicated, relies on controlling individual states (whatever happened to the return to federalism Republican leaders always tout), and does nothing to rein in out-of-control insurance companies that cheat subscribers and medical providers out of legitimate payment. The major insureres have been the subject of numerous class action and RICOH lawsuits, and actions by state attorney generals, that make the banking crisis look minor in comparison. There is little recourse for patients and medical people cheated by them in the aggregate of billions of dollars. Meanwhile, the heads of these companies reap salaries, stock options and bonuses in the amount of hundreds of millions of dollars. The Republican plan does not address these issues. Until health insurance companies are brought to account, nothing will change.

eshaks| 5.20.09 @ 1:45PM

I did not mean to suggest that the Canadian system is free, I apoogize, there is always a cost but the cost is in taxes and payroll deduction and not in paying premiums. This allows everyone to be covered and not to worry about finding thousands of dollars bancrupting their family when their is an emergency. The question is which do you prefer? The issue that everyone needs to look at is that you are paying for the present system weather you have health insurance or not. One of the things that makes it so inefficient is that most of the people who do not take out insurance are younger and healthier persons so you have a system of adverse selection, older and sickier persons under the system and people only using health services in an emergency. It looks like free choice but your taxes are paying the hospitals covering the uninsured and the undocumented. I have been in the group health insurance field since 1977 and have to explain to companies why their priums were increasing by 25% to 55% each year until this forced almost every company to go into managed care, HMO's and PPO's. Now that is too expensive for companies and businesses.

Tim| 5.20.09 @ 2:32PM

Oh gee, let's see . . . a Republican plan for health care. This plan is just Obamacare lite.

Let's try this novel approach . . . GET THE GOVERNMENT OUT OF THE HEALTH CARE BUSINESS ENTIRELY! I KNOW BEST HOW TO PROVIDE FOR MY FAMILY'S HEALTH CARE!

Gill O'Teen| 5.20.09 @ 3:30PM

Tim, you are 100% right. No plan that puts responsibility for my health in any hands other than mine is worthwhile. If I do not have Freedom, I don't need my health. I do not live to serve the government. I live to serve a Higher Power. If I'm not Free, I'm a slave.

dcd| 5.20.09 @ 3:58PM

I'd amend the plan to provide better information and education on what various insurance actually provide and what an indivdual is likely to need.
Insuarnce companies are very fond of the small print and people are notoriously bad at assessing risk.

Murphy| 5.20.09 @ 4:18PM

Progress ....

At least these fellas admit there's a problem.

Most "conservatives" seem to assume the market can be allowed to solve ever problem on earth.

Rush Limbaugh says he's perfectly satisfied with how things are, and I imagine most millionaires don't worry too much about it. But if you're not a millionaire, and you know that losing or changing a job can eliminate you're ability to see a doctor if you get ill, things look very different.

Now -- if only they'll turn away from their corporate sponsors and seek remedies for the healthcare system that will benefit the middle class, perhaps we'll get somewhere.

jr| 5.20.09 @ 4:59PM

I refuse to read about it, explore its possibilities or just think about it until Obama, Reid and Piglosi give the okay. This, only after ABCNBCNPRCBSCNN, Oberman and "dyke" Maddow also go for it, and Chrissy gets a tingle.

Dustoff| 5.20.09 @ 5:07PM

Murphy
Most "conservatives" seem to assume the market can be allowed to solve ever problem on earth.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Many of these problems are GOV driven. Along with the crazy lawsuits that the dem party backs up.

Snowskier| 5.20.09 @ 5:57PM

We have the best medical care in the world due to free enterprise — private doctors, hospitals, and pharmaceutical companies inventing new drugs. This system is now threatened by too much government regulation, Medicare, and Medicaid. The only way to preserve the great quality we enjoy is to reduce the government’s role, not increase it.

A new plan should not be tied to tax credits. Instead, the federal income tax system should be dismantled along with the IRS in favor of a national retail sales tax. This is described at www.fairtax.org

As economist Milton Friedman stated in his book titled “Capitalism & Freedom”, medical care is not a right or entitlement. Any attempt by federal or state government to guarantee it is bound to fail, since the costs to taxpayers will quickly become an unsustainable burden. We see this now, as the cost of Medicare/Medicaid is ballooning out of control. There will never be enough taxpayers to pay for all the things people would accept for “free”.

We need a completely private medical care industry, with competition for customers and price. Taxpayers and purchasers of insurance should not be forced to pay for my medical care if I am an irresponsible drunk, chain smoker, drug addict, or “victim” of self-inflicted obesity. But that’s exactly what is happening right now. And taxpayers and purchasers of insurance should not be saddled with the cost of treating the uninsured, which includes millions of illegal aliens.

steve in ohio| 5.20.09 @ 6:23PM

Tort reform is important, but I don't think it is a panacea. We had modest tort reform here in Ohio, but our insurance rates have continued to climb. Can anybody point to a state where it has worked? Also why are Republicans proposing such a good plan only now when they have no power to pass it. I think we're doomed to socialized medicine and our party will share in the blame.

Tom| 5.20.09 @ 8:51PM

If we end up with govnt healthcare, will the lawyers still be able to sue?
I thought that one could not sue the fed.

Paul from SA| 5.20.09 @ 10:13PM

Many of these sound like good ideas, though I think one of the most important changes made must be to separate employment with health insurance. Drop the deduction entirely or let everybody have an equal, identical deduction.

And we have that pesky problem with all the free medical care we provide to people with no insurance or money. Any ideas on how to tackle that one?

But this is a dream. ObamaCare is coming... along with the most powerful union in the world: The dreaded Health Care Union -- bigger and more powerful than all other unions combined. The Federal budget every year will include a health union bailout.

Paul from SA| 5.20.09 @ 10:17PM

Tom, I would think they will add extra health care legislation to encourage more lawsuits with ObamaCare. The trial lawyers are just as important to Democrats as the unions. It's just a big redistribution scheme.

Jerry| 5.21.09 @ 3:51AM

Vicki Larsen: Very sorry to hear of your predicament. I don't know if they're relevant, but perhaps provisions for the medically indigent in Idaho might be relevant. See: http://www.communitycatalyst.org/projects/hap/free_care?id=0012

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Len| 5.21.09 @ 6:18PM

Here's an idea, get an amendment passed authorizing the federal government to involve itself in health care. Should I laud these folks for their unlawful infringement, when no such authority has been given.
Government exists to protect the rights of life, liberty and property. When it involves itself in the care of man inevitably someone's right will be violated, i.e., someone's property will be confiscated to provide for someone else. It may done under the cover of "taxes", but there will be mutliple transfers that only seek to hide what is really being done.
Either someone is paying taxes for the legitimate functions of government or they're not. A tax credit merely transfers someone's share elsewhere.
Another way that liberty and property rights are violated is that someone will be forced to provide services at less than what they are willing to charge. Always, somewhere, someone will end up owning part of another persons labor or property.

Len| 5.21.09 @ 6:25PM

Is health care a right? No. Rights are those which man carries himself. He has the right to life. He has the right to liberty, or to move about at his will, he has the right to property, or the fruit of his labors. He retains these rights and is allowed to exercise them as long he does not infringe on anothers.
So to have a right to health care implies that one has a right to make a demand of someone else to take care of them, thus owning a part of that person. When those in government take my money to provide for someone else, my rights, which they are to protect, are being violated, under the guise of doing good. How can a violation ever be good?

TJK| 5.21.09 @ 6:30PM

This is certainly more palatable than the Dems' planned steamrolling (oh, I mean reform) of the health care industry. And this is why it doesn't stand a chance. Look, the GOP can put their options on the table, and in the end, reconciliation removes them from the discussion. Bend over, grab your ankles, and just hope Obama has the common courtesy to give you a reach-around. If the GOP can roll back the tide in 2010, maybe some of this can be undone. But not likely. We need the pendulum to swing so far that the GOP picks up the 51 seats needed to freeze out the Dems. Sorry for the doom and gloom, but my White Sox just got beat 20-1, so everything is looking dark right now...

Couchrock| 5.22.09 @ 10:50PM

This bill is far from perfect, but better than anything else I've heard coming out of this Congress.

On medical liability, the best reform--and this would apply to all litigation--would be adopt "loser pays," as most other industrialized countries have done. "Loser pays" simply means that whoever loses the case would pay the other sides' attorney fees as well as any other damages that might be appropriate. This squeezes out the frivolous lawsuits. And it doesn't prevent meritorious claims, since plaintiffs can purchase tort insurance--which their attorneys typically cover--at a rate that reflects their expected probability of winning.

GringoBob| 5.28.09 @ 8:32AM

Hold on slick - listen to what you are saying !

Obama told you that the costs of Medicare and Medicaid are "out of control" and will bankrupt America if we don't act fast - Medicare and
Medicaid are Federal Government managed (or mis-managed) programs

Then, Obama told you that we must act swiftly, boldly and decidedly to pass his administration's health care reform package as that is the only possible way to alter the dooms day course of continuing with Medicare and Medicaid - got that straight ?

According to Obama, we must invent nationalized and socialized healthcare (that has continually been tried and failed in Europe) to be managed by the same Federal Government that Obama just told you were "out of control" ? Is this some kind of sick joke Obama is playing on you or does he just think you are so stupid you won't notice that he wants the "problem" to be the "solution" ?

This is a multiple choice answer - so, is Obama;

a) smoking funny cigarettes

b) not playing with a full deck

c) think we are all too stupid to exist

d) intentionally trying to bankrupt America

e) executing one of his many "fuzzy math plans"

f) all of the above

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Robert: I agree with you that the majority of the blame in rising health care cost has to do with lawsuit abuse. Just ask any doctor.

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