Editorial

Health care reform deals with larger issues

Monday, September 28, 2009

Sen. Ben Nelson's townhall meeting on health care reform was enlightening and should have been reassuring for those with some of the main questions, but many more remain.

McCook's hometown senator came down on the side of some of the most contentious issues, saying he would not vote for any plan that provided health insurance for illegal aliens, or which funded abortion.

The so-called "death panels" are dead on arrival, he said, addressing a misunderstood aspect of the health care debate. Nelson said he would not vote for any plan calling for mandatory living wills for Medicare recipients.

And, Nebraska is a leader in tort reform, with laws held up by the American Medical Association as some of the best in the country. Any punitive damages for malpractice go to local school districts rather than to the plaintiffs.

Nelson said he has gone to the sponsors of national tort reform legislation to point out that the proposed laws would pre-empt Nebraska's law, one example of the many "unintended consequences" that could result from hurried health care reform.

The senator correctly pointed out that the United States already has universal health care -- in the form of medical bills for those who use the most expensive form of medical treatment, the emergency room, and are often unable to pay. That treatment, and other types of uncompensated care, is picked up by those who have health insurance.

One uninsured recent father pointed out from the audience that he paid thousands of dollars out of pocket after the birth of his child, asking how the government could force him to buy health insurance.

It should be noted, however, that his child most likely would have received the care he or she needed whether or not the parents were insured -- with the cost borne by the health care system, and ultimately those who have private insurance or who pay taxes. About 12.8 percent of Nebraskans are uninsured, compared to 16 percent nationally, Nelson noted. The goal of health care reform is to bring that down to 3 percent.

A tougher question was the $500 billion the administration hopes to save in payments to Medicare -- through bringing more currently uninsured Americans into the system.

"To say that the government can cut costs to the tune of $500 billion is ludicrous," said one audience member, echoing what seems to be a common perception.

Nelson was more enthusiastic about the prospect of preventative healthcare, pointing to the Union Pacific's experience with reducting the number of smokers in its employ by 40 percent and reducing its medical expenses accordingly.

Nelson noted that both the House and Senate health care reform bills are essentially dead, and the only thing that exists is something called a "chairman's mark," essentially an outline by Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus. Nelson assured the audience that there would be well over 72 hours -- the time specified in a failed Republican amendment, to review any resulting legislation before a vote.

What wasn't mentioned in Nelson's brief townhall meeting -- he had two more the same day -- was how preventative medicine would be implemented, part of the larger picture surrounding health care debate.

How many of us will give up the choice to smoke, or eat unhealthy foods or lounge on the coach, to go exercise just because the government tells us to?

Clearly the health care debate goes to deeper, broader issues than who pays for a visit to the doctor.

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  • Our government panders to the 20 to 30 plus (?) illegal immigrants allowing them free subsidies from taxpayers in the US. California--a Sanctuary State has one of the worst records that currently languish under the immense burden of near bankruptcy, instead of --ATTRACTING--ICE to illegal business operations. Our own government is so absorbed in protecting every other countries border? They remain unconcerned to our poor replica border fence that should have been a two-tier periphery, with border patrol surveillance lanes in between, as originally planned by Rep. Duncan Hunter. Every time a good enforcement plan is written, it's methodically cut to pieces by pro-illegal worker politicians and open border fanatics. Though we spend billions on our armed forces in foreign lands, the rich countries in Europe just forward token troops and little money: while our nation is literary falling apart at the seams--or its rivets?

    Any moment now I expect to hear of yet another collapsing ailing city bridge, deteriorating waterworks, the underground pipes and eroding highway. Our cities are already exhibiting inward decay, but years of neglect by the very people who's supposed to protect us do nothing? I have reiterated watch "The Crumbling of America" on the History (International) channel in the next few weeks and learn? This is where your tax dollars should be going? We must not allow the Administration as in previous times keep sending our precious tax dollars to other countries. These politicians are deaf, dumb and intentionally blind to the rigors our industrial nation is going through. Not just Democrats, but the Republicans have had their sticky fingers in the bad apple--SPECIAL INTEREST--barrel, where money is plentiful. It's like they are intentionally trying to turn our magnificent country into a third world nation, while making other cheap labor countries, on an even par with our sovereign society as US wages tumble? Then Again the Council of Foreign Relations have been amplifying its agenda of free movement of cheap labor through North America for years?

    Most of these other lands have been at each others throats for centuries, so why do we expect any metamorphism into something any different? Only change can come from within, not by our nation expending billions of dollars, American lives? We must build our own borders fences, tall and strong and meant to keep out drug dealers, criminal aliens, terrorists and the never ending tracks of illegal aliens. Our politician's noses are involved in too much foreign policy, while our aging infrastructure implodes. Trillions of dollars are spirited out the country, while we gain little in return. Washington--MUST--start giving back to the jobless American worker by placing a 5 year moratorium on all immigration, even legal? The next politicians should deliver us from any new sinister path to citizenship or better referred to as BLANKET AMNESTY? Follow the "Rule of Law" and not twist it into something else for their own convenience, as it will come back to haunt them at the voting booth. Unless ACORN steps-in with another fed contract and handles sign-ups for the ballot box? In that case will still see absentee ballots for the deceased people, pets and anybody who has learned that you need no government picture ID to sign on to vote.

    The 1986 immigration reform bill dismally failed last time and all we inherited was 5 million illegal immigrants that still keep on coming with their impoverished hands out. Anti-Illegal immigrant forces are growing in numbers to stop another travesty. They acknowledge it could end up costing billions, perhaps even trillions of dollars. Nationwide we have seen the advent of closing hospitals and emergency rooms that have been submerged everyday by swarms by penniless foreigners and their families. Yes! We need health care reform. Americans are dying, going bankrupt , falling under the spell of debt collectors. The special interest lobbyists are causing mass hysteria by lying to the people. Many insurance companies are under this bombardment in television, radio and mass media. Their Status quo wants no change to their profits or high flying CEO's making millions of dollars. on patients backs?

    It has become an enigma--THAT THE EMPLOYERS WHO HIRE THEM-LEAVE THE MAJORITY OF SICK PEOPLE ON THE STEPS OF EMERGENCY ROOMS. SO THAT THEIR RESPONSIBILITY ENDS THERE? THEY DRIVE AWAY WITH A CLEAR CONSCIOUS? THEN IS LEFT FOR THE TAXPAYERS CHECK BOOK TO PAY THE BILL? THOSE EMPLOYERS SHOULD BE HUNTED DOWN AND HELD ACCOUNTABLE FOR EVERY CENT. We have already been warned by the census bureau of overpopulation in the not too distant future. WE now have a very unique deterrent called E-Verify, that is a part of the SAVE ACT and our lawmakers should stop procrastinating and make it permanent for every worker? Washington knows their walking on quicksand, if the try to under fund or spirit away E-Verify this time around? The corrupting influences from the special interest lobby, have failed to induce many lawmakers to table E-Verify. In our future it could have many other uses other than extracting unauthorized labor from the workplace. Once fully installed it could check state drivers license applicants, insurance, school and higher education registrations and hospital admittances.

    Americans have been unknowingly paying taxes to underwrite subsidies for the illegal population for decades. This is the biggest draw to American jobs, because the employers who hire them are sentient that taxpayers will foot the bills for education, health food stamps, housing and other government benefit consignments that even as citizens are denied. Keep the phone calls coming at 202-224-3121 LOOK FOR ANSWERS AT NUMBERSUSA, JUDICIAL WATCH & OVERPOPULATION AT CAPSWEB? These websites can identity politicians who actually work for the American people and others whose immigration grading level is unsatisfactory to stay in office? Have you heard about any large ICE raids lately? ICE got the order to cease and desist from the motley Democratic leadership. They are also using their influence to either weaken the federal training program 287 G that gives local police federal right to hold for questioning suspicious individual's immigration status and to rescind the no-match-letter capability in determining a person's right to work?

    -- Posted by Casca on Mon, Sep 28, 2009, at 4:00 PM
  • Two choices should be offered to everyone to use either; free public care from a new national health system, or alternatively to use privately purchased private care.

    Health care can be fixed for consumers, employers and taxpayers quickly, and save hundreds of billions of dollars annually, if President Obama and legislators would allow the use of what the President has called "government's unfair advantages", which are governments proven ability to deliver high quality health care and medications at costs far lower than private systems can ever attain.

    All government funded costs could be reduced drastically if distributed only through civilian government hospitals using the proven VA systems.

    This solves the Medicare, Medicaid and all other government funded quality and cost control problems that no one will talk about, while giving seniors free care and medications, an infinitely better deal than we have today.

    This change, coupled with using sales tax funding to pay for a national health care system, (a sales tax can raise the money to pay for health care more fairly and cheaply than any insurance plan), would produce huge savings while providing better services, which could rescue our government from going broke as it honors its prior commitments for Medicare, Medicaid, and all other local and federal commitments.

    A sales tax funded public system, providing free care to everyone choosing to use it, could coexist with private systems.

    Everyone shopping in the United States would pay pennies on the dollar supporting public health care, citizens, immigrants, 40 million visiting tourists annually, the rich, poor, everybody contributes, this would be the ultimate risk spreading pool.

    Paying for public health care using sales tax revenues would be hundreds of billions of dollars cheaper each year than using private insurance and it would be a prudent cost effective way to spread risks while paying for health care as it is used instead of increasing the national debt.

    Sales tax funding also avoids the bitter current health care reform proposals that are a convoluted mess, designed to increase health industry profits by using, "governments unfair advantages", to extract money from consumers and employers, to pay for lousy insurance services and excessively expensive contrived delivery schemes.

    Private health care's roll in public/private reform should be to attract every client they can who would find their services so compelling that patients would pay good money to voluntarily purchase their services.

    If private systems were not required to provide any loss producing indigent or government mandated services, per patient expenses would be lower for them.

    If we fixed tort reform, if we don't tax employer medical plans, and if we let insurers sell across state lines, then the private health industry could have a robust competitive market to thrive in.

    Everyone choosing public care could have it no restrictions, no insurance, no co pays, free period.

    Employers who select public care for their employees would not be required to pay for or have any further involvement with health care.

    Using a dedicated national sales tax funding source in conjunction with the VA's delivery and software records systems means we don't need to reinvent the wheel to rapidly implement this dual health care reform system.

    America's Veteran Administration is the largest, lowest cost; best outcome producing at any cost, health care delivery system in the US, it uses the world's best medical software, and it has been controlling the problems with access, cost, quality, and malpractice successfully for years.

    Health delivery systems from around the country that would choose to sell to, and be integrated into, the new public National Health Care System, could be purchased.

    Building new public health care facilities would produce capital assets that will continue to serve Americans for generations, provide millions of construction jobs today, and millions of new health care jobs forever.

    A National Health Care System could also take over states and local government's health care systems to assure operating standards and relieve local funding problems while providing total transferability for patients.

    Going back and forth between free public, and user purchased private care, would allow unlimited choices, ultimate freedom, and always free public care would be available.

    Everyone, including seniors, selecting public care would receive all care and medications free, no restrictions, no insurance, and no co pays.

    Employers who select public care for their employees would not be required to pay for or have any further involvement with health care.

    Going back and forth between free public, and user purchased private care, would allow unlimited choices, ultimate freedom, and always free public care would be available.

    -- Posted by BillWatson on Tue, Sep 29, 2009, at 10:26 AM
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