Bill, a senior citizen who grew up where I did, asks in an e-mail list, some I know, some I don't- "All the noise by the public has delayed Washington's direction and activity on the health care bill. They are now starting to horse trade to get something acceptable to get this passed. The democrats have offered to soften the impact on small business in hopes of satisfying the republicans. And there are other offerings as well.
HOWEVER, have you noticed there is no mention of softening the impact on the seniors. Obama still stutters when people question this issue. The seniors are still going to take it on the chin with health care rationing and politician control of services offered. They cannot change this as this is where the big cost savings are hidden to support the expansion of services to others.
The senate and house members are about to go home for their summer vacation. This means they will be in their local offices a great deal. They are going to get an ear full. Very little will be positive toward doing any thing to make changes. Now here is my point.
Today every correspondence and communication by most has been fairly positive and non threatening, just stating one's opinion. We are about to take the gloves off and get very nasty. The politicians who are for this bill and pushing (Mostly Democrats) are well known. Those who oppose (mostly Republicans) are also well known. The next attacks after their summer holiday must be toward those who are for and are pushing; even if they do not directly represent you in your state. These folks must get a big picture of the size of the back lash which all politicians will feel as a result of this health care proposal. My problem is I am struggling to come up with a greeting line to address them on written letters that sets the tone."
Dear . . . .fill in the blank. Bill suggests "Dear Senior slayer" or" Dear death deliverer". But Rusty chimes in with "Dear Asshole." And Richard agrees with Rusty.
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13 comments:
So not only does the right lack the facts, it also lacks civility. Big surprise there.
What would Jesus say?
The boomers are going to run medicare into the ground as they take more from the fund than they put into it so if we don't fix it, of course there's going to be rationing. That's why we need to fix it.
Or maybe you want to see it bankrupt by the time your children retire?
So the millions of seniors concerned about this bill are wrong? Obviously, you think seniors' health care needs to be rationed. It couldn't possibly be that the gov't is not an efficient dispenser of health care. When you need your 2nd or 3rd cancer surgery and a committee in the federal gov't gets to decide whether you're worthy, useful or viable, get back to me.
And I have no idea what Jesus would say. The concerned seniors aren't necessarily on the "right," nor are they all Christians. Why do you lefties always bring that up? A bunch of them, however, are sure sorry they voted for this guy.
Dear Senator Kevorkian? Dear defeated representative? Greetings from a former supporter? How's that hope and change workig for us?
Dear road kill?
Very likely, by the time I would need a 2nd or 3rd cancer surgery the system will be bankrupt and I will be left to fend for myself with herbal medicine and aspirin, thanks to those like you who will do everything in your power to protect what you have at the expense of future generations.
And if you're worried that a committee in the federal gov't gets to decide whether you're worthy, useful or viable, I've got news for you. Private insurers are already doing exactly that, and they've been doing it for years while at the same time raising premium costs at ten times the rate of inflation.
So you don't know what Jesus would think about calling people assholes, huh?
Of course you don't.
Murray sez:
Anon #1--It's people like you, with their head in the sand, that will sit by stupefied while our entire great country is being destroyed. The new healthcare plan is a big part of that destruction. Our health care system may need some tweaking but certainly not a complete overhaul. You have a real problem if you think for one minute that our Federal government can manage anything. Just look at any Federal program and tell me any one that was successfully managed!!!!
Hey Murray sez:
Do you have private insurance? How can a for profit entity give people the best care when its main mission is to make profit by not paying for for health care?
What's the incentive for a for profit entity to take on someone with a pre-existing condition when that person may cost it millions of dollars in profit?
Did you know that 30% of total insurance company expenses go to investigations to deny claims and drop the insured that it deems "high risk?"
30%! Aren't you outraged? I am!
When someone can be denied breast cancer surgery because they had acne as a pre-existing condition, we need more than a "tweak."
When someone accidentally cuts their fingers cut off and has to pick which ones to reattach because the insurance company will only pay for two of them, we need more than a "tweak."
When we pay more per capita than anyone else in the world for health care and still rank near the bottom on every list for quality of care, that's going to take more than a "tweak" to fix it.
Care to guess what the number one cause of bankruptcy in the US is? If you said medical bills, then you guessed right.
How are we going to "tweak" that?
Right now the only thing that stands between me and my doctor is my insurance company. My premiums are ballooning every year and so is my deductible. My wife has a pre-existing condition and if I lose my job my family is in real trouble. How is a "tweak" going fix that?
I'll take health care run by the same entity that provides for my defense, lets me send greeting cards all the way to Wasilla for only 44¢, provides great roads for me to drive from sea to shining sea, pays for my mom's knee replacement, lets me borrow books and movies for free, puts out fires and keeps old folks from eating dog food out of a can any day.
Any day.
2% of American citizens need health insurance. For that we throw the baby out with the bathwater. The others who don't have it are either non-citizens, many of them here illegally, or they haven't bothered to apply for the goverment program for which they qualify, or they are self-employed and haven't bought it. This has always been about reducing costs; never about coverage. It has always been about taking over more of the economy; never about what is best for the most (we already have that). And since seniors have lived the longest (everyone gets cancer if they live long enough), their care costs the most. And since they already have socialized medicine with choices and private supplementary care, now they'll get socialized medicine without choices and no access to private insurance. Managed care took a giant leap forward with Hillary doing the ground work.
2% need health insurance???
Really???
Since when is 46 million (as of 2006) out of 300 million 2%?
That's some fuzzy math right there, I gotta tell you.
And what about the underinsured and the people who have junk policies that drop you at the next renewal year as soon as you have any expenses? You're probably looking at closer to 145 million when you throw them into the mix. At least.
And despite your assertions to the contrary, this is absolutely about coverage, as well as cost.
I asked you once before--since you've obviously thought this through so well, what do you do about people with a pre-existing condition?
Where is the incentive for private insurance to cover them?
If I'm an investor and I own shares in an insurance company that finally decides to do the decent thing and cover people with pre-existing conditions, then I'm yanking my money out of that company and taking my chances in a tobacco company that very day.
There is no way that a for profit system can work unless you have major government intervention, like we do now. None. And the fact that private insurers can cherry pick the healthiest to cover while leaving the government to pick up the tab for the truly tragic cases costs us all far more in taxes and medical bills than if we just scrapped the entire system and went to single payer.
Now costs are definitely a problem as well. When I can go to Mexico and get exact same prescrition at a fraction of the cost, then something is very wrong with our costs.
Why did your boy dubya decide to give all that money to big pharma and and create laws that prevented medicare from negotiating for lower drug prices and tried to make it illegal to get prescription meds outside the US?
Was he looking out for America's interests that day?
And remember how he was going to pay for it? Oh, that's right. He wasn't. It was pure unfunded deficit spending. Let the next guy deal with that.
What a patriot.
When a pharmaceutical company can spend more on its advertising budget than its R&D budget(!), then something is very wrong with our costs.
This is the broken system that the party of "no" and "Harry and Louise" hath wrought.
It's definitely past time to roll up our sleeves, hold our noses and overhaul the whole thing.
"The others who don't have it are either non-citizens, many of them here illegally, or they haven't bothered to apply for the goverment program for which they qualify, or they are self-employed and haven't bought it." That reduces that 46 million (which seems to get bigger each time I see it) a lot.
Murray sez:
Norma, you took the words right out of my mouth. Anon needs to ask if she/he wants to pay for those illegals. If so, she/he can have my share. Besides, providing their healthcare means not only more debt but it encourages more of them to cross the border!
Think before you lie. A quick google search shows that these 46 million people are AMERICANS. And that was in 2006 before the bottom fell out! How much higher is it now?
I'm no fan of illegals, but trying to make this all about them is about as intellectually dishonest as blaming the housing bubble on ACORN.
And what about the underinsured and the people who have junk policies that drop you at the next renewal year as soon as you have any expenses? You're probably looking at closer to 145 million when you throw them into the mix. At least.
Hey Murray sez:
Tell me how your "tweak" is going to fix the problems that I listed in my response to you.
Hey Norma:
Tell me how you're private plan would get insurance for people with a preexisting condition.
Anon 10:59: IBD trashed your myth of the 47 million uninsured two years ago: http://www.ibdeditorials.com/IBDArticles.aspx?id=273280379232127
The only thing worse than a worthless adulterer, is someone pretending to be on.
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