"the status quo is unsustainable" BO

[dogtowner]

his reference to rising healthcare costs in 2008... uh oh....

looks like Obamacare will save nothing and instead cost half a trillion. here's a funny jusxtaposition for you to chew on...

“(T)he status quo is unsustainable,” Obama declared in a June 2009 speech to the American Medical Association. Yet under the law he championed, spending over the next decade is expected to actually exceed the status quo he viewed as unsustainable.

In the same AMA speech, Obama warned that, “If we fail to act, one out of every five dollars we earn will be spent on health care within a decade.” Yet the CMS report predicts that “health care spending as a percentage of GDP is projected to rise from 17.9 percent in 2010 to 19.6 percent by 2021” – in other words, roughly one in five dollars.

 

[Cruella]

Obama is an idiot. Like a good little communist, he wants big government takeover of everything. Anyone with half a brain knows that a huge government bureaucracy costs more while delivering less. These numbers are bogus. We know the costs will far exceed anything they've come up with. They are still writing the bill, and will forever more. It has no end.

 

[Johnny Tremain]

Remember--The AFFORDABLE Health Care Act will save us all money to build that pool out back with. Or a new Prius.
Laughable. The magnitude of this debacle is incalculable. A disaster, bordering on sheer insanity, and MANY will die in the confusion.

 

[dogtowner]

Remember--The AFFORDABLE Health Care Act will save us all money to build that pool out back with. Or a new Prius.
Laughable. The magnitude of this debacle is incalculable. A disaster, bordering on sheer insanity, and MANY will die in the confusion.

hope you are wrong, fear you are not.

 

[GenSeneca]

It's Bush's fault.

 

[Johnny Tremain]

All problems, since the Earth cooled, were caused by George W, Bush at the behest of the Republican Party. And Karl Rove.

 

[dogtowner]

All problems, since the Earth cooled, were caused by George W, Bush at the behest of the Republican Party. And Karl Rove.

don't forget the Stereo Satan Koch Bros who bankroll it all !

 

[Cruella]

don't forget the Stereo Satan Koch Bros who bankroll it all !

I never heard the name Koch brothers, until a few months ago. Where have they been hiding? If they're so rich, why don't they start a REAL hard hitting conservative TV News station? Not like FAUX.

 

[PLC1]

his reference to rising healthcare costs in 2008... uh oh....

looks like Obamacare will save nothing and instead cost half a trillion. here's a funny jusxtaposition for you to chew on...

He was right in 2008. The status quo is unsustainable. The Obamacare bill that managed to make it through Congress isn't doing anything to make it more sustainable.

Our health care system costs far and away more than that of any other nation. Costs are rising faster than the rate of inflation, and have been for decades.

Meanwhile, the dysfunctional Congress is not going to pass anything that goes against the wishes of the health insurance industry, so anything that is likely to actually cut costs is off the table.

That is the situation. The solution?

 

[PLC1]

his reference to rising healthcare costs in 2008... uh oh....

looks like Obamacare will save nothing and instead cost half a trillion. here's a funny jusxtaposition for you to chew on...

He was right in 2008. The status quo is unsustainable. The Obamacare bill that managed to make it through Congress isn't doing anything to make it more sustainable.

Our health care system costs far and away more than that of any other nation. Costs are rising faster than the rate of inflation, and have been for decades.

Meanwhile, the dysfunctional Congress is not going to pass anything that goes against the wishes of the health insurance industry, so anything that is likely to actually cut costs is off the table.

That is the situation. The solution?

 

[Cruella]

My understanding is that healthcare insurance companies had a very small profit margin. Smaller than what most companies would deem profitable and worth the hassle.

If states would let insurance companies compete in their states, rather than the select few they allow, the rates would go down. Tort reform is badly needed too. Medical insurance also isn't a one-size-fits-all industry. Age, sex, existing conditions all have an affect on the cost. Not only that, most Americans could pay for normal medical costs out of pocket. And probably a heck of a lot cheaper a year than what they would pay on insurance. What most people need is a catastrophic insurance.

I can't believe that a mammoth government bureauacey is going to be less expensive than what private carriers cost. That's just another liberal fantasy. If Obamacare passes, there is going to be a lot of confusion, rationing and people hurt.

A recent survey said that if Obamacare passes, 83% of those polled said they are considering leaving their profession. A lot of them won't take medicare or medicade patients now as it is. So where are we going to get all these great doctors to care for 300+ million people? Who is going to spend 12 years of their life, not to mention the cost of that education/training to become a doctor in a losing profession?

 

[PLC1]

My understanding is that healthcare insurance companies had a very small profit margin. Smaller than what most companies would deem profitable and worth the hassle.

Profit margins are around 10%, according to the industry. No, health insurance profits aren't a big factor. Health insurance lobbies may be, however.

If states would let insurance companies compete in their states, rather than the select few they allow, the rates would go down. Tort reform is badly needed too. Medical insurance also isn't a one-size-fits-all industry. Age, sex, existing conditions all have an affect on the cost.

Health insurers do compete across state lines. I'm not sure just how the urban legend got started that they don't.

Not only that, most Americans could pay for normal medical costs out of pocket. And probably a heck of a lot cheaper a year than what they would pay on insurance. What most people need is a catastrophic insurance.

That is so. A catastrophic care insurance would probably do more to lower the cost of health care than anything else.

I can't believe that a mammoth government bureauacey is going to be less expensive than what private carriers cost. That's just another liberal fantasy.

One wouldn't think so, and yet our current system is still the most expensive in the world, even more expensive than those mammoth government bureaucracies in every other nation in the world. If that doesn't make people stop and think what will?

If Obamacare passes, there is going to be a lot of confusion, rationing and people hurt.

A recent survey said that if Obamacare passes, 83% of those polled said they are considering leaving their profession. A lot of them won't take medicare or medicade patients now as it is. So where are we going to get all these great doctors to care for 300+ million people? Who is going to spend 12 years of their life, not to mention the cost of that education/training to become a doctor in a losing profession?

Obamacare passed. How many health care professionals have quit?

 

[dogtowner]

He was right in 2008. The status quo is unsustainable. The Obamacare bill that managed to make it through Congress isn't doing anything to make it more sustainable.

Our health care system costs far and away more than that of any other nation. Costs are rising faster than the rate of inflation, and have been for decades.

Meanwhile, the dysfunctional Congress is not going to pass anything that goes against the wishes of the health insurance industry, so anything that is likely to actually cut costs is off the table.

That is the situation. The solution?

as we've discussed before, the political headwinds are mighty. Medicare was crafted to make the medicine biz a cash cow. lawyers did their part forcing needless tests and the medical schools did their part by dialing back physician diagnisis skills and replacing it with diagnostic checklists. no easy task to pry those fingers from the wads of cash. and pharma is only thornier.

 

[Cruella]

What ever happened to state/county run health clinics? Things like preventative care. Well-baby care for check-ups, shots, blood-pressure checks etc. A local hospital here even had a "free" clinic every other Saturday. There just seems to be a lot more creative things that could be done reasonably to help people with
medical needs. I believe the public schools here still have annual screenings for eyes, teeth, hearing and weight-height BMI.

 

[dogtowner]

What ever happened to state/county run health clinics? Things like preventative care. Well-baby care for check-ups, shots, blood-pressure checks etc. A local hospital here even had a "free" clinic every other Saturday. There just seems to be a lot more creative things that could be done reasonably to help people with
medical needs. I believe the public schools here still have annual screenings for eyes, teeth, hearing and weight-height BMI.

still around. a forgotten provider to all those without ins but get care anyway. but it seems too much like charity which is so demeaning to ask for dontcha know. schools dont do that so much in tougher budget times unless they were just public health offereings that happen to be directed at school age kids.