PJTV Wants YOU to Participate in Our Health Care Forum
Leading up to the vote on the new health care bill, Pajamas TV will host policymakers, doctors, and other experts in a virtual forum on health care at 7:00 p.m. ET on Wednesday, July 22. It will be streamed live at www.PJTV.com.
As part of a groundbreaking interactive series, PJTV is bringing the health care debate into the homes of concerned citizens and encouraging them to engage directly with lawmakers and other health care specialists through email, Twitter, and YouTube. At issue: the consequences of government-run health care. Featured participants in PJTV’s online forum will include House Republican Whip Eric Cantor (R-VA), Congressman Tom Price (R-GA), chairman of the House Republican Study Committee, and Congressman Dave Camp (R-MI), the top Republican member on the House Ways and Means Committee. These lawmakers will be featured along with policy experts who will discuss the new health care legislation and answer questions from online viewers.
The forum will be hosted from Pajamas TV’s Washington, D.C., television studio by University of Tennessee law professor Glenn Reynolds, aka the “Instapundit.” Pajamas TV commentators, bloggers, and health care experts will participate in the forum from Pajamas TV’s main high-definition studio in Los Angeles and from studios at the Manhattan Institute in New York City and the Heritage Foundation in Washington, D.C.
PJTV is soliciting questions for the online forum from the public. Questions or links to video submissions can be sent to: healthcare@pajamasmedia.com
People should limit video submitted questions to under 30 seconds in length and state their names and hometown. People who submit written questions should also leave a contact number, in addition to their real names and home towns.
For additional information on participation in the health care forum, click here.
Do the members of Congress have to subject their own health care and the health care of their families to the so called health care reform bill?
Who gets to appoint the members of this exclusive body of Electors who make these sacred decisions about my health and the health of my family?
No, the congress does not have the same plan that they are wanting to dump on the public.
John Fleming of Louisiana has propsed a bill that the congress would be on the same health care plan they want the public to be on.
The bill, H. Res. 615, says members of Congress who vote for a government-run health care bureau should become the inaugural customers of government-run health-care
So far, not one Democrat has signed on.
It’s looking like the Marie Antoinette syndrome has effected them…
To continue with Ms. DeCelles’ question [#1]. Does the President and his family become limited in their health care options to the same degree that any of us will be limited? If not, why not?
What exactly is the new health care proposal before Congress? How will it effect me? What will it cost? Is it better or worse than what I have now. Will I have the option to keep the health insurance I now have? What are the differences between the proposed socialized medicine for America and Hillery Care?
Why is everyone fighting this…. let just face reality… fighting this vote amounts to telling a doctor who dead set on putting a bandaid on a missing limb to not do it….
The bill and arguments around it are meaningless. So what if THIS bill doesn’t pass their will be another thats has better hidden text.
Fighting this stuff is frankly pointless all your doing is making it easier in the long run for ppl like obama to win. Step up and look at reality.
What, in the professional’s opinions, are the biggest inefficiencies that they would fix within the current system? How would better standards on data storage and transfer measure on efficiency?
How do we educate people to the reality that not everyone is going to be able to afford the Mercedes Benz class of health coverage? Isn’t it true that rationing will continue, and that the proposed legislation is just simply a different form of rationing?
Lower costs are generally a function of supply > demand. Since demand for health care services only looks like it is going up, what are the medical schools doing to increase the supply of doctors, nurses, etc…?
I ain’t submittin’ no video with my real name and town! Like I need the 0bama-thugs to send ACORN after me!
Yes, I’m paranoid.
Question: Given the dismal conditions in public housing and the manifest failures of public schooling, why should we accept that public health care will somehow be successful?
* Will I have the freedom to switch plans at my OWN discretion/timeline?
* Will I have the freedom to choose my own doctor/hospital/course of treatment?
* If I can afford it, can I have the freedom to buy care outside of my plan?
* Will my aging parents be limited on their care due to their age/poor health?
* Will illegal immigrants be offered the same care as I am?
* Will Congress be on the same plan?
* Who will determine what care I am allowed on the plan?
* Which government agencies will have access to my medical records?
* Will insurance rates be determined by current health status?
* Will businesses who ARE providing employees with health insurance be subject to taxes intended to pay for insurance for businesses not providing insurance for employees?
LaRaza is demanding that Illegal Immegrants be covered by Obama’s health plan. Who will pay for that? Three guesses…
Anyone within our “representatives” read page 16 yet?
Will my doctor call a “hotline” or reference a government written manual to be told how to treat my condition? Couldn’t we just go ahead and replace the doctor with a computer?
May I please have the health care option that the government “public servants” (you know, those guys that work for me) have?
Why does my “representative” believe that he/she should get different health care options than me who pays his/her salary?
Does anyone believe we still have a “representative” government when my “representative” can vote for a health care plan for me that ain’t good enough for him/her?
10. Paul -Indiana:
“LaRaza is demanding that Illegal Immegrants be covered by Obama’s health plan. Who will pay for that? Three guesses…”
-And, the INSANITY is…
If you put someone in the ‘system’ down as an ‘ILLEGAL’…then WhyTF don’t we DEPORT them rather than put them on ‘the dole’? *bangs head on desk*
GAWWWWWWWWW!
Paperback Nonfiction
Top 5 at a Glance
1. GLENN BECK’S ‘COMMON SENSE’, by Glenn Beck
a really good read
Why can’t the people decide this expensive long term issue? And that vote would happen BEFORE the amnesty of 40 million plus illegals. Let the taxpaying citizens of this country decide their heathcare policy.
Comments 1 and 2 are on target. Make them go on the plan with us.
Here’s a suggestion: How about the government stop meddling and interfering in our personal lives (a national computerized medical records system for ALL Americans? WTF! Oh yes: and developed and run by none other than Obama’s G.E. – gotta love that cronyism) and just leave us alone for awhile?
The constant jabbing by this administration since it took office is getting on my nerves. Everyday it’s another jab at the tax paying American citizen. There is always a new “crisis” and yet another “fix” proposed by our insincere and overreaching government that adds to the national debt and deficit and incurs yet more taxes to be paid by us in one form or another.
Dear Mr. President and Congress of the United States:
Leave us the hell alone.
Love and Kisses,
Mr., Mrs., Ms., and Miss United States Tax Payer
Will it be just like Canada where you get to die waiting in line?
#12, Delia, I don’t know what it takes. As an interim solution I would give the Illegals free transportation to any sanctuary city, or state, and let those bleeding hearts find out ‘up close and personal’ just what will happen if Teleprompter Barbi gets his way.
Please tell us exactly what is broken in the U.S. health care system before the wolves of Washington do a major reconstruction surgery. 2.5 trillion dollar industy has gone bust? I still want to see that pie chart on the distribution of those health care costs and I bet that the big chunk is research and development.
And stop calling it Health Care. It is medical insurance. There is a big difference between health and damage control.
If the alledged big problem, the broken part is insurance premiums, then the insurance companies are already redistributing the wealth. Lots go to profit, and lots go the unfortunate and uninsured. The healthy insured pay into the whole.
Don’t forget those other two characters waiting to write themselves checks, the lawyers and bureaucrats. If this scam doesn’t bring the economy to the breaking point then cap and trade will. The Chinese will not finance every utopian idea that the American left wing can invent.
First get real, and honest about definitions. Health care is not health insurance. One is for every case the other is for just in case. We could probably find a way to sunsidize the latter but could never afford the former. Also some agreement on what access and affordable mean would be helpful. Second, enact serious tort reform which numerous studies show would decrease healh care/insurance costs by an average of 15%. Third, mandate price disclosure by all health care providers and require costs be advised at time of service. Every time it is tried competition applies downward pressure on prices. Finally only on the premise that the so-called public “option” is the defacto replacement for the current fed employee plan should any of this be taken seriously at all. Failing that final point all we are witnessing is yet another rewriting of the rules on the barn at Animal Farm, showing beyond doubt the pigs certainty that they are more equal than others….
#19 JED: How’s THIS for a chart?
House Democrats Health Care Plan Organizational Chart
P.S. Get ready for your eyes to bleed upon seeing this…
18. Paul -Indiana,
Good idea, Paul. Put the Illegals smack dab in the Elite’s neighborhoods and build special ‘housing’ in the uber rich Liberal’s ‘feel-good-as-long-as-I-don’t-have-to-smell-you-up-close’ bleedin’ heart’s home space. Put your B.S. where your mouth is, Libs. Juan and Juanita need a HOME near YOU.
19. JED,
Exactly right. For a medical care system that is soooooo awful and horrible, we still have people coming/running to the USA in droves for our ‘horrible, awful, corrupt’ medical care. People who have the same kind of ‘medical care’ that 0bamacare wants to implement. Things that make ya go hmmmm.
I’ve mentioned this here before but it bears repeating:
When my mother was on Welfare and used medical care for my siblings and I, the only doctors and dentists who would even ‘accept’ medical coupons were Nazi docs, the scum of the earth, evil, vile cretins who put us on needless anti-biotics, filled ALL OF OUR TEETH with needless mercury fillings and not to mention how long we had to wait in waiting rooms with other Welfare recipients for the service!
IS THAT what people WANT? Is THAT the ‘final’ solution?
UnF*CKING believable!
Meanwhile, the news is ‘analyzing’ Michael Jackson’s ‘hair catching on fire’ for a Pepsi commercial.
AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! *pulls hair*
P.S. When all of the ‘good doctors’ leave their practices because of 0bamacare, all we WILL have left will be the ‘Nazi’ doctors.
Oh happy day.
#20 Frank:
Also, don’t tax group insurance benefits as income, since the employer has already figured that cost into the employee’s pay and has reduced the pay to compensate.
Also, don’t require those who already have private pay or group insurance to pay taxes to fund the public insurance. Double dinging is a no-no.
I just sent my state senators a little love note. Dear Blah, Blah, Please join us by leaving your private government healthcare program and join the proposed national plan. This will assure the voters that you really do believe in this program. If that doesn’t appeal to you…please vote no. Thank you,
How is this plan any better than how a VA hospital system is run?
Where is all the ads, like the first Hillarycare, denouncing this monstrosity of human indignity?
Why is it the government can be trusted with health care when most of the problems with health care arose from government interference?
Whatever happened to freedom and democracy?
What’s the point?
What can PJM actually do?
Please don’t become part of the nonsense that says “As long as we are providing opportunities for expression, everything will be ok.”
When such opportunities are used in place of ACTION ON THE PART OF ELECTED OFFICIALS WHO ARE RESPONSIBLE TO STOP SOETERO AND ARE NOT DOING IT, THEY ARE NOT DOING AMERICA ANY FAVORS.
BTW, I have already e-mailed my elected representatives to register my fury. Everyone has got to do that, at least.
This specific bill is not the problem that has to be dealt with.
What Col. obama did to the auto industry, the banking industry, the unemployment numbers, taxes, taxes, taxes, and–now–this bill–are just the shadow cast by the problem.
The problem is we have a renegade in the White House who is hell bent on destroying this country, not only down to the foundations, but INCLUDING DESTRUCTION OF THE FOUNDATIONS.
WHEN IS SOMEONE GOING STOP DEALING WITH THE MATCHES BEING TOSSED AROUND BY THIS ARSONIST, AND STOP THE ARSONIST??????????
The VA has been a Govt health system for over 50 years, ask our Vets how that has and is working.
Remember Walter Reed problem with our Iraq Vets? When our members of Congress say they will
be on the same plan then sign me up!
What EXACTLY is wrong with what we have now?
I have yet to see anyone answer that question, which might be because nobody has asked it. When will a conservative Politician stand up and say ‘we are spennding TRILLIONS to fix what ain’t broke’.
Someone on the left needs to explain what is broke.
The closest I have heard is some sort of nonsense about people not getting medical care. SO What? NO HEALTH CARE SYSTEM HAS 100% COVERAGE. There is always somebody slipping thru the cracks.
When you consider that no American medical professional can refuse you service in a life threatening situation, and you cannot be taken to court to pay for it, it seems to me we have as close to free, universal health care as it is possible to get.
Optional Medical care should be paid for.
Right now health care is a market based solution. How will changing that to a government based solution help anyone except the government?
Fortunately, this President is a Usurper and as soon as he is out of office, that will be proven at which point any and all laws he signed will be null and void. So in that respect it really doesn’t matter what the Demonrats do.
In the interests of full disclosure, I am a military brat and grew up with one version of ‘Socialized medicine’ in the DOD health care system. I had no complaints, ever. If there was a serious problem, it was dealt with. I never had braces, or any other form of cosmetic surgery. Being ugly is OK. Dogs and small children love me.
#21 Moogie:
If they put that Organizational Chart of the House Democrats Health Plan on the front of every newspaper in the country there would follow a serious real crisis of epilepsy coast to coast. I have been convinced that the lunatics have taken over the asylum since The Mandante of November, and that chart would push us into a babbling idiotocracy.
I will try to remain kind and predict that any federal program that mimics a private sector program only runs at a 600% inefficiency rating.
Must put ice on eyes!
Jed: Did you notice all of the “jobs created” with this chart? Here a committee, there a committee, everywhere a committee committee. And a director. And an administrator. An a new office of this and that and the other thing with its own administrators and managers.
In police culture, they call this a “cluster f**k.” In the tax payer culture, they call this just plain ol’ “getting f**ked.”
Pardon the expletives. As I said in another forum, there are certain exceptional circumstances that seem to call for the use of special words.
Meryl — Do the FBI and Secret Service know about you yet?
1. Why can’t they just fix Medicaid and Medicare first?
2. What is the big hurry getting this thing passed? I haven’t heard of ANYTHING that is in this bill.
3. Will military members and their families continue to receive healthcare from local base hospitals? Will TRi Care just disappear?
4. Say I’m being treated for brain cancer right now. Will having this new plan disrupt my regularly scheduled visits for MRIs? or, will the wait time double/triple/quadruple?
Meryl: At this point, we are in “triage” mode – treat the most grievous wounds first, then tend to the smaller ones. Or to borrow another analogy that is more specifically related to your “matches and arsonist” example: we are only equipped to fight one fire at a time. When we get these blazes under control, we’ll turn our attention to the arsonist.
Meanwhile, one thing we CAN do about the arsonist: Where’s the birth certificate?
Oops, one more.
Since you are unwilling to FIX the immigration problem first, how is this new free healthcare going to deter more aliens entering the US illegally?
#38 Stella: What makes you think this administration wants to deter more illegal aliens from entering the U.S.? Heck no – the more the merrier. Gotta get those votes and what better way than to promise a free ride? I bet amnesty and open borders will be next on the agenda.
34. Deep Brain Diarist
I have no idea. I suppose they do, if they are concentrating on people who are opposed to the destruction of the Constitution of the United States and opposed to the undermining of the principles that have governed this great country.
Your attempt to intimidate is typical of those who want us just to be quiet. I’m wondering who’s watching you.
There are legal ways to stop someone who is violating their oath of office and I would like to see some effective opposition gaining strength.
Don’t you believe there are legal ways to stop an out of control president of the United States of America? Your comment to me says more about you than it does about me.
38. Stella:
“no hablo inglés”
;p
34. Deep Brain Diarist:
“Meryl — Do the FBI and Secret Service know about you yet?”
DBD, take your f*cking meds already!
37. Moogie–appreciate your comments.
I should stay off here when I get to the point where I’m both fearful for our country and angry. That’s when I get sarcastic (maybe you noticed)…and usually that’s not useful.
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs (in order of importance):
1. Government
2. Self Esteem
3. Reassurance
4. Art
5. Pity
6. Healthcare
7. Food
8. Shelter
9. Water
10.Sex
Man I can’t wait for subsidized sex!! Rich people owe it to losers like me to pay for my sex. It’s only fair.
43. Meryl:
“I should stay off here when I get to the point where I’m both fearful for our country and angry. That’s when I get sarcastic (maybe you noticed)…and usually that’s not useful.”
Don’t you dare! THAT, fine lady, is when it gets GOOD! The angrier, more sarcastic and riled up, the better I say! It’s when we become docile, complacent {and dare I say apathetic?} that we lose our MOJO. -And, Lawd knows we need to keep our MOJO now more than EVER if we are to survive and overthrow this tyranny!
In that the claims made by Obama and others that this socialization of medicine is not a socialist program, will not tank the economy, nor will it force private insurance out of business, and various other claims that have been made, given that “our lying eyes” show us that it is a socialist program, it will tank the economy for generations to come, and as per page 16 of the 1000+ page heath care reform bill currently being consider, specifically calls for the end of private insurance, I have one simple question:
Are you people complete idiots, or are you simply lying through your teeth?
Actually, you don’t need to answer that; either way, you people are clearly incapable and undeserving of the positions you hold. If Mr Obama, Mrs Pelosi, Mr Reid, Mr Schumer, and the rest of the DC elitists were being forced to budget their personal finances in the same way they are trying to budget our tax dollars, they would be holding Tea Party protests every damned day. AND THEY KNOW IT.
There’s no doubt every citizen would demand that it be Absolutely Mandatory that Congress, the President, his Cabinet, Czars and their families be the first to sign on to any government health care plan they believe “good enough” for the rest of us, and they should be allowed No Supplemental Policies. If it were only possible, ditto for all members of the MSM who have been pushing for it. At every possible point, they should be questioned and asked to publicly confirm their commitment to doing this. Is there a petition being prepared?
Regarding Comment 2 — good work Sallie — Why isn’t each and every democrat in Congress being publicly asked each and every time they speak about the “Plan” why they haven’t signed on to HR 615 yet?
Every single talking head and journalist who promotes it should also be repeatedly be publicly asked to sign a pledge to sign on as well.
Right. Paranoid ramblings of powerless people who still hold onto the fable that Obama is somehow going to be exposed as a secret Indo-Canadian Kenyan and a Mooslim to boot, and I’M the one who needs medication.
I’ll say one things… you may be irrelevant and powerless and scared of your own shadows… but you’re very amusing.
47: Or better still…any proposal like this health care bill should be tested…ON THEM. Make THEM endure their plan for one full year, in full media view (this is a reality show I would PAY to watch!) then at the end of the year, let the voters decide whether or not this plan worked.
49. Deep Brain Diarist,
0bama ‘bragged’ about his ‘muslim’ upbringing when it was ‘convenient’.
I understand you’re a political ‘fetus’ here and have not read up on your ‘master of disaster’.
That being said, good grief, you need a check-up from the neck up!
Let’s see?
0bama didn’t want his children attending a ‘public’ school and also refused vouchers for Chicago children to be able to apply to schools out of the ‘slum districts’.
Hmmmmmmmmmm.
0bama’s starving, poverty stricken brethren in Africa haven’t gotten one ‘red cent’ from ‘THE ONE’ and yet he spouts “Spread the wealth” rhetoric.
0bama smokes and if he gets lung cancer you can bet your bippy he’ll get the ‘best medical care’ tax dollars can ‘provide’.
0bama ‘turned up the heat’ in the WH while people froze to death in ‘fly-over’ country.
You Leftards need to stop thinking about ‘party’ and thinking about FACTS.
GOOD GAWD! It’s like trying to converse with Pinocchio!
#9 Thinking Person: Since no one answered your questions, I will attempt to do so.
1: No.
2: No.
3: Care, yes; at an extremely high rate. Refer to Crowder’s undercover investigation of Canada’s “health care.” Insurance, no.
4: Yes.
5: No, they will probably get better care.
6: Of course not!
7: Government bureaucrats who probably don’t even watch “House.”
8: All of them, whether they logically have anything to do with health care or not.
9: Misworded question. There will BE no insurance, as the insurance companies will have gone belly-up in a matter of months. If you are referring to the government health care provided to you by your lord-and-masters, the answer is yes. The worse your health is, the less care you will receive. If you are old, a smoker/alcoholic/drug user, or if you suffer from ongoing chronic ailments, then the government would just as soon you die to free up space, a la the British health care system.
10: Dunno. What day is this? Obama has flipped back and forth on this one, (first he chided and attacked McCain for suggesting that employers get such a tax, then he comes out and says that he will do the exact same thing, and now he’s saying he won’t. We may never know until it’s too late to do anything about it) but given that his policies tend to punish those who are successful to pay for those who fail, I would think that ultimately yes, businesses who can afford to insure their workers will be taxed to make up for the businesses that can not. And the question becomes moot when private insurance inevitably gets forced out. Then it will become a standard tax on any and all businesses to pay for the government program.
Hope this helps…but then again, is there any hope left?
0bama smokes and if he gets lung cancer you can bet your bippy he’ll get the ‘best medical care’ tax dollars can ‘provide’.
Considering that a smoker will receive the fuzzy end of the lollipop in Obama’s health care plan, is it any wonder that he is not going to be forced to participate? Hypocrisy at its finest!
Every single person in this forum and all other forums discussing health care really should watch Steven Crowder’s video about Canadian healthcare:
http://www.pjtv.com/?cmd=video&video-id=2153
Deep Brain: I would especially encourage you to watch it and get an idea of the type of treatment you can expect in the future. Need an MRI to check on that deep brain surgery you had? It’ll be a 5-6 month wait – if you’re lucky. In fact, with the implementation of this type of health coverage system, experimental procedures like the one you had will soon be a thing of the past.
This health care bill is NOT good news for people suffering from chronic conditions. My son is slated to have a slew of reconstructive surgeries in the near future, and frankly, I worry that the treatment he needs will not be available, or that the wait will force him to wait for a prolonged period before he can even have the surgeries. Perhaps some government agency will decide the reconstruction is not “medically necessary?”
I have been involved in the health care industry for several decades now – as a consumer. Believe me when I say “not medically necessary” will become a new catch-phrase for this archaic system of health insurance.
Regarding page 16:
If they try to outlaw private insurance and private providers, they will probably be sued, with the precedent cited being – irony of ironies – Roe v. Wade. Roe said that the certain decisions made jointly by a doctor and patient were the business exclusively of the doctor and patient. That’s going to make it hard to allow the feds to regulate the doctor/patient relationship without weakening Roe.
Heh.
I found a question that I can answer so PJ Media doesn’t have to ask it:
YES! (to both)
Now if I could ask one more question:
Has anything O said during the campaign or since he took over (usurped) the Presidency been true?
How many in America are ready to “Buck Up” when they hear Social Security just held a $700,000 party at the Biltmore on their dime and Michelle O can afford $600 tennis shoes and $875 purses while O serves Waygu beef on our dime at his little Wed. night “parties” complete with the Hollywood elite?
Blah blah blah WINGNUT blah blah blah WINGNUT blah blah blah WINGNUT blah blah blah WINGNUT blah blah blah WINGNUT.
Quitter!!!11
Flowertops!
CKIAH
obammy is a communist traitor.
REVOLUTION!!!
Seen enough? I have.
Since I am 70, does that mean I am already past the age of “being cost effective” and will be denied proceedures so money can be saved for younger people?
But, but, Our Fearless Reader says that the current health care system is “unsustainable” in its current state. We have to change it.
How can you argue with that?
What?
You want to know what “unsustainable” means?
It’s all another ponzi scheme folks. First it was, “oh dear, there are some 40 million Americans? who don’t have health insurance.” Now it is the entire system is unsustainable. If they really wanted to JUST provide coverage for those who supposedly don’t have coverage, well, it just wouldn’t amount to enough zero’s. You know, as in TRILLIONS of dollars. This is the change that Barry has brought. No more about billions, now we are talking trillions. Now we are talking real money!!!
#61 Cowboy Tom – Sorry pardner to have to tell you the hard truth, but I’m sure even me at 56 is way past being salvageable in this brave new world. Even socialists understand costs must be controlled somehow, especially when they have soooo many great things left to do for mankind and mother earth.
Say, just where can a real, legitimate American citizen find a copy of the dems latest nightmare? I can’t seem to locate this 1,000 page monstrosity. Any help is greatly appreciated.
Communication theory has —as an integral element— a component which is described as ‘noise.’
.
Noise is that aspect which detracts from the message itself.
.
Simply stated —as an example— we might consider this: If one person is attempting to communicate a message to another person, and there are 50 other persons close by screaming at the top of their lungs, then the message is confounded by the noise of the 50 nearby persons.
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Will the message get through? That depends upon the intended receiver and his ability to ‘filter out’ the noise.
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That gets us to this point: How many people are trying to get the message out that the whole idea of so-called ‘national health care’ is nought but a LIE to begin?
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How many OTHER people are screaming at the top of their lungs to KEEP THE MESSAGE from getting out?
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Not ~everybody~ knows the truth of what’s planned for us. All most people see is ‘money’: EVERYBODY ELSE’S money.
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The genesis of this matter began back in the late 1940′s to early 1950′s, right after WWII when big corporations NEEDED qualified engineers and technicians to help them ramp-up production in the post-war era.
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Those corporations (IBM, etc.) didn’t want to pay the full —and honest— wage, so they hit upon that neat stratagem of ‘perks.’
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The main perk was ‘paid medical/dental’ care.
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The corporations KNEW that they could hire an insider cadre of doctors who would PAY to become a part of that select few who were preferred above all others.
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Why? Because it virtually GUARANTEED them a clientele, versus having to compete with those medical professionals whom were not a part of the cadre.
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Back then, medical professionals actually had to COMPETE for business, and so therefore kept their prices low.
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Now, you understand here that medical care back then was quite affordable by all, including those who needed to resort to charity.
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But many people were afraid of having to pay for long-term care, because it would of necessity encumber them for an extended period of time, especially where an elder family member was involved.
.
So, the idea of ‘paid medical/dental’ was a big hit with those who fell for the charade.
.
BUT, they all worked to a ‘schedule of cost per procedure,’ such that no medical professional would charge more than the schedule allowed.
.
Most charged MAXIMUM schedule.
.
Later on —into the 1960′s— that same cadre of medical professionals decided to RAISE their prices, and the corporations agreed, but with one exception: The employees had to pay a portion (co-pay) for each office visit and for each medical procedure.
.
Then along came Medicare and Medicaid.
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Those ‘federal programs’ copied the corporate models completely, including the ‘schedule of payments for procedure.’
.
Now then, because the big city doctors demanded a very much higher price for their services, they finagled the Congress to allow them to charge very much HIGHER prices than a country doctor would likely have charged.
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The country doctors, sensing ‘blood in the water’ commenced to charge the VERY SAME HIGH PRICE the city doctors charged —even though they didn’t need— because the ‘SCHEDULE OF PAYMENTS FOR PROCEDURE’ allowed for that charge.
.
Therein lay the very largest part of the COST problem: Government got involved and the rest is history.
64.WhyamInotsurprised?
The Library of Congress website has all of that…their www is:
thomas.loc.gov
65.Highlander
Thanks for taking the time to illustrate.
You’re right on. My lifelong employment started in 1958 and I recognize every element of your illustration. We “bought into it” hook, line and sinker, and routinely used perks as an MO for sorting job offers.
#66 Meryl – Thank you for the reference.
“Since I am 70, does that mean I am already past the age of “being cost effective” and will be denied proceedures so money can be saved for younger people?”
Yes it does. Obama stated he was cutting $306 billion from Medicare, the only way this could be done is to ration care.
60+ years of age? If you get a bad case of the flu or break a hip with the 0bamacare plan, count yourself ‘skrewed’.
Questions that I think should be asked in your upcoming health care forum:
1. In which article of the Constitution is the power to regulate health care – 19% of the U.S. economy – specifically delegated to the federal government?
2. After sober consideration of the administration’s illegal takeover of General Motors, and the negative effects on the national debt caused by the TARP and the ARRA, why should the American people believe anything that the Democrats are saying about the benefits and costs of health care reform?
3. If Medicare and Medicaid currently under-reimburse providers for their cost of delivering patient care, why would the creation of a “public option” insurance plan that pays at these rates do anything other than further debilitate the financial stability of hospitals and physicians?
4. Does anyone in their right mind believe that a “public option”, i.e. government-sponsored health insurance plan will actually compete on a level playing field with commercial health insurers?
5. Why are true free market reforms for the delivery and payment of health care costs – such as de-coupling health insurance benefits from employment – not being given a fair hearing in Washington?
6. When are the impeachment hearings for Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, Barney Frank and Charlie Rangel going to be scheduled?
Yeah, I have questions. I have spent the day skimming the 1000 page bill and there is a lot more mind blowing junk in there than being reported yet. But mainly I want to know how would a medical “provider” of sound mind still work under price fixing from the White House, at Medicare reimbursements at levels below costs, with unlimited personal malpractice liability? My spouse and physician relatives and friends (some of them just out of residency) are all going to quit and dammed soon. The AMA does not represent most of the physicians in the country in spite of Obama’s fantasy. All the rest, the majority, are talking about QUITING. In addition to not going broke they do not want to be on the front line of rationing. Is Obamacare going to mandate chaining them to their exam tables to work as slaves? Can liberals only project static analysis of behavior and not see this self induced catastrophe? Is this purposeful destruction along with cap and trade, stimulus, etc.?
The only things driving up healthcare costs are technology, lawsuits ( no mention of Tort Reform in this bill- Obama is not going to take away the money from his legal bretheren) , “Administrative costs” and the government itself. Last week, we doctors were told at our hospital that tests we ordered are being “audited” by the government and payment will be denied for any test some faceless government weasel thinks was not needed. It’s already started. 2 doctors retired this week after hearing that. Good luck on getting in to one anytime soon and getting the government to approve your tests.
Isn’t it odd that only Obama wants this? Not the public, just Obama Boy. And he has to do it soon before the rest of the economy collapses and he’s kicked out of office. That’s what the only hurry here is- to pass as much crap thru Congress as he can before 2010.
73. Well Educated Cad
“Isn’t it odd that only Obama wants this? Not the public, just Obama Boy.”
Oh, but just today Nancy said that the American public is with them. She said it, so it must be so.
What a bunch of jerks.
Why is the Obama Plan better than the McCain Plan? If it is not: why is the bad the enemy of the better?
Your 30 second limit to a video question is too minimal. With name and city, 1/3 of your time limit is already expired.
I would suggest a multiplier by 4.
-Pat
Lake Balboa, CA
When CMS subcontracted with National Government Services to handle Medicare payments to participating providers in NYC, the inevitable SNAFU resulted in doctors not receiving their payments for months – some had to take out second mortgages just to make payroll. How will the “Public Option” be any more reliable, given its scope?
I have an advanced form of cancer. I am receiving chemotherapy which is helping me prolong my life. The drugs are developed by big pharmacological companies at enormous expense, most of the cost of which is cause by the government. The treatment is being paid for by my private insurance. At least one of the drugs I receive is not available in the UK and other socialized medicine countries because of the cost. Without these drugs, or something similar at a similar cost, I will have 18 to 24 months to live. I have two questions. First, why does the government have to stick its nose in my private health arrangements. Second, ladies and gentlemen of the Congress, what did I ever do to you to make you want to kill me?
78. George Bruce:
Ugh. Your heart-wrenching post made me cry. I will pray for you, I know that sounds kinda lame to say, but I will.
Don’t cry for me, Delia. I’m not crying. And I’m not giving up.
Even if I lose my fight, I will still have been luckier than most of humanity for the privilege of having been born an American in the 20th century. I appreciate more than ever how lucky I have been. In some ways it would be a mercy to not have to watch what these filthy communist bastards are going to do to this still great and free country.