What exactly is "Obamacare"?

[Shane Roach]

Obamacare, like so much that comes out of the Democratic party these days, was a secretly devised health care scheme meant to benefit their constituency. It ignores issues of IP law that have been pointed at for decades now as part of the expense of medical care. It ignored issues to do with lawsuits that need to be addressed. I think loser pays is insipid. Just do away with "punitive damages", "Pain and Suffering", and any of a host of other excuses that give the jury an opportunity to vent their spleen rather than correct an economic injustice. Things like compensating for loss of work, loss of future wage earning potential, and so forth all give plenty of leeway to make sure worst case scenarios are taken care of. Finally, and this really is the bottom line, we need more people to work in the medical field. This is an educational issue at its heart and soul, or perhaps more an issue of the organization and regulation of medical practitioners. Much that is quite simply to do costs an arm and a leg because of the educational requirements -- pharmacists cannot prescribe medicines. Why not? Maybe some medicines need a doctor, but many do not. At what point do we begin to realize we do not need someone with 16 years of school to remove warts and moles? What sense does it make to take medical students and run them through a physical endurance gauntlet called "internship".

Virginia Medical Malpractice Attorney

We do a lot of stupid stuff and pretend we then do not know what to do to fix things. Bottom line is a combination of factors that limit education and competition are at the heart not just of the skyrocketing cost of medicine, but of the generally widening gap between the rich and poor overall.

 

[Vylo]

How does one turn oneself in to a government bureaucracy that doesn't exist?

Still exists, just part of HLS now.

 

[Panzerkamfwagen]

What does Greece have to do with anything about this?

Well, other than being an example of socialized medicine that is succeeding wonderfully, not much.

Wise men learn from other people's mistakes.

 

[KrimsonDraegon]

Dunno - you'll have to ask Sarah
Well, if those are the only two choices...
Didn't I stipulate "federal" somewhere? I'm sure I did.
Then you might consider voting Obama! He's implemented a plan for that that's working great right now.
We're not like every other nation on Earth.
"private investors" determine whether I live or die??
Assuming that is true, how is the federal government determining whether I live or die somehow better?
Who?
ok?
Anger is unhealthy. But then, I'm sure the government has a great solution for that too.
See, and here I thought more than 1% of America had health care... silly me.
Good! You know, I heard it once said that "laughter is the best medicine!"
Seriously? Yes. What do *you* watch?

I can see that sarcasm is not lost on you.

It is simply fantastic that you not only watch Fox News exclusively; but, further, have no idea who the WHO is. I think those two things alone disqualify your opinion as one to be taken seriously.

In case you haven't noticed - I placed two links in the above reply. Please feel free to click them and further educate yourself before making further claims - such as our status as the home of the "best health care system in the world" (a statement that continues to make me smile; I do genuinely appreciate that).

News stations that I keep up with:

Fox News (more for entertainment purposes than for real information)
Associated Press (basically every media outlet uses their articles anyway)
Al-Jazeera ("The Islands" / No, this is not a terrorist site; no matter what Fox News says)
Deutsche Welle (The "German Wave" is available in English too; I just like reading it in German)
Also, my local newspaper (but primarily for coupons and the funny papers)

 

[Viren]

Obamacare forces everyone to get insurance. I already pay for my own insurance so it doesn't bother me. Right now insurance companies run the show and everyone that is insured are paying for those who aren't. Under Obamacare you would have the choice between sticking with a private insurer or picking the government run option.

 

[citizenthom]

Friend, you packed a whole lot of misinformation into one paragraph:

Obamacare forces everyone to get insurance. I already pay for my own insurance so it doesn't bother me.

Your insurance costs will skyrocket under ObamaCare, because now you will have to pay sufficient premiums to cover a slew of high-risk people that insurance companies can no longer charge extra to cover their unique risks. You will pay the same premiums as someone of your same age and in your same area who needs constant dialysis, in a quadriplegic, or has multiple malignant tumors.

Right now insurance companies run the show and everyone that is insured are paying for those who aren't.

False, and I'm not even sure where you get that idea. Uninsured people are responsible for their own bills. The costs of caring for those who cannot pay is less than 5% of our total health care expenditures.

Under Obamacare you would have the choice between sticking with a private insurer or picking the government run option.

False unless you meet the income guidelines or other special situations for Medicaid or are eligible for Medicare.

 

[Viren]

Friend, you packed a whole lot of misinformation into one paragraph:

Your insurance costs will skyrocket under ObamaCare, because now you will have to pay sufficient premiums to cover a slew of high-risk people that insurance companies can no longer charge extra to cover their unique risks. You will pay the same premiums as someone of your same age and in your same area who needs constant dialysis, in a quadriplegic, or has multiple malignant tumors.

If universal healthcare is going to skyrocket costs compared to what they are now why is univeral healthcare much cheaper in the European countries who have it? We have the most expensive healthcare system on earth.

 

[citizenthom]

If universal healthcare is going to skyrocket costs compared to what they are now why is univeral healthcare much cheaper in the European countries who have it? We have the most expensive healthcare system on earth.

ObamaCare isn't single-payer universal health care. Our health care expenditures are inflated because we use health insurance not as "insurance" but as a third-party payer, adding a ridiculously unnecessary layer of bureaucracy, destroying transparency in pricing, and taking away both individuals' ability to negotiate prices and providers' incentive to price services at levels the populace can afford. ObamaCare not only entrenches that system, it makes it the universal method of payment for health services. It worsens the very thing that makes our system so expensive.

 

[Archaeopteryx]

Well, other than being an example of socialized medicine that is succeeding wonderfully, not much.

Wise men learn from other people's mistakes.

So Greece's troubles are all because of socialised medicine? What about all the other places that have socialised medicine and that do not find themselves in the state that Greece is currently in?

 

[Archaeopteryx]

Government tampering with (and eventual dissolution of) the best healthcare system in the world

Anyone can get the "best healthcare" in the world if he pays top dollar for it. The key issue is accessibility.

 

[Archaeopteryx]

The key issue is getting up off your lazy butt and working for what you need instead of expecting handouts.

Does that apply to the unborn and infants? I mean... who do they think they are expecting handouts. Bunch of lazy do-nothings... You wan't someone to help you out of womb? You earn a living and pay the doctor!

 

[KrimsonDraegon]

Does that apply to the unborn and infants? I mean... who do they think they are expecting handouts. Bunch of lazy do-nothings... You wan't someone to help you out of womb? You earn a living and pay the doctor!

Or blind, like myself, who the government refuses to allow a driver's license yet, inexplicably, also refuses disability.

 

[Suomipoika]

Just because they aren't there yet doesn't mean they won't be!

We can all see the argument is getting really weak now. "Just because it isn't yet doesn't mean it will never be!" Self-evidently there is no causation between public healthcare and a decline of a country's economy, and appears we can't find correlation either. And furthermore, none of this does anything to back the original claim about "American superiority in healthcare system".

 

[KrimsonDraegon]

We can all see the argument is getting really weak now. "Just because it isn't yet doesn't mean it will never be!" Self-evidently there is no causation between public healthcare and a decline of a country's economy, and appears we can't find correlation either. And furthermore, none of this does anything to back the original claim about "American superiority in healthcare system".

It is like they make up facts and, where they simply can't for whatever reason, it is like they simply keep pushing the point that one day the facts will present themselves.

I keep hearing about how Canada's healthcare system is horrid, for example; with only 85% of the population finding it "very satisfying". it is so horrid, in fact, that Sarah Palin, a staunch opponent of socialized healthcare, has admitted to crossing international borders to poach their benefits for her and her family.

(I am sorry, I know I keep bringing that up; but it is just the definition of what we're going on about here. If you're rich it is one thing to say "GOVERNMENT HEALTHCARE BAD" and then fly off to another country to get taken care of under their system; but if you're poor you simply suffer or die out-of-sight, out-of-mind)

 

[trunks2k]

Under Obamacare you would have the choice between sticking with a private insurer or picking the government run option.

No, there is no government run option unless some state elects to implement their own public insurance. The public option was a big bone of contention during the whole debate, and was tossed out.

Your options, as an individual who does not qualify for medicare, are:

1. Get insurance through your employer.
2. Buy private insurance yourself either directly or through state-run insurance exchanges.
3. Don't get insurance but pay a penalty every year.

 

[citizenthom]

Or blind, like myself, who the government refuses to allow a driver's license yet, inexplicably, also refuses disability.

That just makes me want to punch a wall.

Although my guess would be that it has something to do with the "handicap lobby" who insists it is insulting to say blindness, deafness, or other congenital handicaps are "disabilities."