Obama's health care plan

Ok, so you like Obama and hate Bush. You think Obama cares about this country and Bush didn't. Now how, exactly, does that have anything to do with Obama's health care plan?

Julies, if they took the time to look at the last eight year, they only thing they see is the good that Bush did (which isn't much). They NEVER look at the bad things that he did to this country, they only see the good.

Great question, Taskr. That was what I was about to ask. Let's try to stick to the topic of Obamacare and not go off on how Bush was so horrible, shall we?

Venshida, if a company increases their price for insurance (in order to force people way), or they stop offering insurance then they will be fined. Obama thought of this already, but this should be a wake up call to all Americans as to how much health care is, and how much companies pay for it. The health insurance industry is killing American companies, and their competition overseas doesn't pay a dime for health care (GM and GE both pay over $1 Billion dollars a year on health care, I bet they could compete much better with that money on their bottom line). The government seams to run the military pretty good, right? The American people voted the republicans out of office, and that is just how it goes. We all remember in 2004 when Bush had controlled the government and didn't care what Democrates said (we all know how that turned out, this is why the Democrates are in charge now). I haven't heard one alternative from republicans, and I am sure that theirs will come from the offices of the health care lobbyist (same place Bush's energy plan came from, remember $4.25 a gallon for gas?). Thus the reason they are out of power.

You are very well-educated and well-spoken. This is the first time I have read more than the first couple of comments. I am glad someone is listening to his entire speeches because many people just read the headlines and a few paragraphs in. Thank you a most interesting discussion."

All the people who are cheering Obama on with his health care plan have probably never seen anything like a National Health System like the one in the UK. Waiting lists and cancellations for surgery are the norm - dirty unkempt hospitals are an every day occurance due to the lack of money and staff. The elderly are pushed behind on the waiting lists - many say with the hope that they die before their name comes up. Eleven month wait for an MRI is nothing unusual, two years for a hip replacement. Yes I will agree that the US health care system needs fine tuning but hopefully not at the cost of losing Drs, insurance companies going brok etc. I certainly hope that Obamas plans do not make ours like the nasty one in the UK

Exactly!

Oh Ted, did you listen to the speech? I am sure you didn't seeing how that would make you informed (which isn't your style). He stated many times that there will be NO NATIONALIZED Health care. I know that all of you RUSH ditto head can't think for yourselves so you need someone else to do it for you. But, Rush (like always) is WRONG. If you do some research and listen to the speech you will actually hear what Rush and the wacko right don't want you to hear. I find it funny that you bring up ACORN, there was a right wing hate radio attack on the mayor of my city who hired people to get signatures to remove him from office. They were paid by the group to get as many signatures as they could, no matter what (sound like ACORN?). This was paid for by a group led by the heads of the local right wing hate radio station. This ACORN like group also have worked for many right wing groups in the past and like in this case average half of their petitions thrown out.

Yeah .... listen to his speech! It will all become clear if you just listen to Obama speak. He puts a spell on people, don't cha know?! Plueeze! How do I know when Barack Obama is lying? When his lips are moving!

LOL, if you ACTUALLY listen to the speech you would actually learn something about the subject. They will be the ones that will be paying more in taxes because they are all in the top tax bracket that will have to fund part of the program, and their jobs will be directly impacted by this program. The average American's health care plan will not go up, it will actually go down because if you are not happy with your current plan you can go to the government plan, so they will have to compete. Where as now they can charge what ever they want, and you have no choice in the matter. OK I am really confused about this one! "Tens of millions of people will be added to "the system"; and, the doctors and hospitals that will receive lower payments for the identical services will refuse to accept patients who have the government program leaving these people with very few (or no) choices and very long waiting periods to even SEE a doctor that will accept the government payments." "The doctors at the AMA conference are for it because the general practitioners and internal medicine doctors will be receiving higher payments (MORE MONEY) for doing the same job" Didn't you just contradict yourself? We have been working on health care reform for decades, this isn't a new thing. The United States has the most expensive health care system in the world, yet we don't have the best. Our uninsured are costing us more money then giving them insurance. If you listened to his speech today you would see how he would pay for this plan, and how it will save us billions. But, most people who hate Obama won't take the time to do the research, they will listen to what ever Rush has to say, because Rush has never been wrong.

Pias, did you listen to the speech? I am sure you didn't, and if you did you would not understand it because he isn't telling you who to blame for all of your problems, and how bad the country has become under Obama. How do you know when Rush is lying? When he is breathing.

Your link isn't working for some reason.

sierras236, Thanks for your response. "The government insurance plan will offer bad coverage at insanely low prices. Private insurance companies will have a very hard time competing and still generate some sort of profit." The insurance companies have made huge profits off of these health care policies, if you look at their fincial records you will a very healthy profit margin. They will do just fine. "Further, companies looking to cut costs in health care are going to switch to the government plan." This is where listening to the speech would have helped you. If a company that can afford to provide health care decides not to then they can be fined for that. Making it much more affordable to offer insurance than pay the fine. You also have to remember that the vast majority of owners use the same insurance as their employees, so they won't take second rate insurance for their families.a "Private insurance companies will start losing their clients which will push them into going out of business." Actually they will be forced to actually COMPETE for business, some companies will go under, others will merge, but when there is competition you get better prices. "I still don't see how he intends on setting up such a plan either. I want details. His entire speech was suspiciously light on details. Who is overseeing this plan? Is he going to appoint a health czar? How is it going to be set up?" There are still some questions to be answered, the same people that run Medicare or Medicaid could run the new program because they could be moved into the program. "How is it going to get paid for?" He talked about that today, and you will not have to pay one dime more in taxes for this program. If you look again at the end of the speech he talked about changes in current systems, and other options that could actually have a SURPLUS before it even starts. "Because in every other country, health care is paid for by a percentage of gross income. That alone says tax increases for everyone." The only people that will have an increase in taxes will be the top tax bracket. NOT EVERYONE. "Cut backs in Medicare and Medicaid alone won't pay for that $900 billion cost." You are correct, but streamlining, and just eliminating unneeded procedures will help, if you read the speech you will see how he explains it. "Don't get me wrong, I support health care reform." LOL, OK well tell me how you would reform it, and what it would cost. I have heard this from insurance companies for decades, they all say we need reform. But, then they open their check book and buy anyone that even says the word reform. If you have a better idea then lets talk about it. "In the end, our children will lose the most because they are the ones saddled with the debt." LOL, I bet there is a right wing neo con that wishes he trademarked that saying. I remember hearing this when Clinton was in office, and we all know how that worked out. We just put up with a man that left the country in worse fincial shape since the great depression, and republicans want to talk about what we are leaving our grand children to clean up? Why didn't they think about this when Al Gore talked about the Social Security Lock Box? Why didn't they think about this when Bush hired all of his dads friends to run the country (part of the reason his dad was a one term president)? And, why didn't they think abou this when they were spending like drunken saliors from 2004 to 2006? Alot of questions, but NEVER any answers.

www.thewhitehouse.gov the whole speech is available.

Cool, have you personally done any research on his plan? This ISN'T nationalized health care, like Canada and France, you can still have your current health care plan. THIS ISN'T NATIONALIZED HEALTH CARE. Right now your own insurance company can decide what they will pay for and what they won't so what is the difference between what you are saying is so bad, and what we have now? If you would have actually listen to Obama talked about his plan, you would understand that unless you are in the top tax bracket, then you won't pay a dime for this plan. Cool, it always helps when you do some research to learn about a subject.