What Would You Do?

The Dems talk Health Care Reform, but they don't walk it. In the original Health Care Reform bill there was not a single word about malpractice reform which is proven by Texas to reduce health care costs significantly. Why? Because the single biggest contributor to the Democrats for decades has been trial lawyers. That is a fact.

Some doctors pay as much as 200 thousand a year for malpractice insurance alone. Who do you think they pass the cost to? Us.

I am not against people being able to sue when doctors are careless or negligent, but it has to be reigned in significantly. Another Republican idea has been to allow insurance companies to operate across state lines. This would increase competition which would result in either lower costs or increased benefits, most likely both. And another idea is to allow medicines from other countries to be purchased here, medicines that have been proven safe in modern nations.

To say Republicans have not offered good ideas for health care reform is simply not true.

 

NO facts have been provided to prove such a statement.

 

The latest Democrat focus is on adding student college loan "reforms" to the pending health care legislation! They just cannot help themselves! I haven't read the details of these latest proposals but I'm sure it involves giving away more money to selected individuals at the expense of those who actually earn it.

 

I would keep the government out of it all together. Government is what makes it the mess it is today.

A one-night stay in the hosptal for me was $20,000. That was to pay for Hector's, Miquel's, Sofia's, Juan's and Jose's trips to the ER for their cold and flu symptoms.

 

Here's a few things:

1. No more rescissions or denying coverage based on pre-existing conditions.

2. Tort reform. I had mixed feelings about this because of cases in which people were damaged by negligent doctors above the amount of the cap, but I think the overall benefits outweigh the downsides by reducing costs.

3. Open Medicare enrolment to everyone who wants to buy in to it to increase competition.

4. Allow the government to negotiate with drug companies on costs for people who are enrolled in Medicare, Medicaid, and the Indian Health Service.

5. Allow drug re-importation from Canada.

6. Make sure Medicare reimbursements are at a level where doctors and hospitals can make money off of it.

7. Institute an insurance mandate to prevent people from gaming the system by enrolling after they get a major disease (ties in with #1). This also keeps costs down for everyone by ensuring that young people, etc. also buy insurance which spreads the risk around. Under my plan, we will allow people to choose between a public and private options.

8. Offer subsidies based on income level.

 

You're taling about " 2-parent households ", but are only talking about " Mom ". What's " Dad " doing ? Having a beer with some crackers, watching Superbowl from the sofa ? When both work fulltime, in my way of thinking, men clean the house, care about kids homework, shop at the supermarket, and yes, they cook too ...

Preparing a salad with tomatoes, tuna, or soup isn't expensive in time.

When i saw " Supersize me " movie, and what kids were eating at school (where " professionnals who have time because that's what they're paid for " are meant to cook ...), i understood where part of the fat America comes from. Kids eat whatever they want, without any control. Do you just want to eat fries ? Do you want 1/4 pizza ? Just do it. Each and everything was fried in oil :tonofbricks: vegetables were ... nowhere in fact. Even if there were, kids, if you give them choice, will prefer fries, pizzas or burgers. They have full choice, and then take bad habits because no teacher/cook guides/obliges them at the restaurant.

 

This is true. When I attended public high school, every single day we had something deep fried, along with greasy pizza, hamburgers, french fries, etc. I do find it interesting that our GOVERNMENT RUN public schools feed the kids pure junk like this, then the same GOVERNMENT screams we need healthcare reform. They are the ones creating the problem in the first place.

I also think we are forgetting the extremely high cost of prescription drugs, many of which are needed just to live. Personally, I had to stop taking a certain medication--the price was hundreds of $$ a month! I had to decide whether I wanted to suffer physically or suffer financially. Wow, what a fun choice! Since I cannot take the "suggested" generic medications without severe side effects, I must pay FULL PRICE for the name brands because even our insurance will not pay the high cost of name brand drugs. There's a major problem here--it's called greedy drug companies getting rich off sick Americans.

 

It doesn't excuse the lack of effort, but it tells anyone that knows how Congess works how futile those attempts would have been

BTW, is your dog a democrat or a republican? He sounds smart enough to be a republican. :thumbs:

 

They could if the market would let 'em.

But government interference already skews the free market process in upward direction, cost wise,, so no one knows what the real market would be.

You want more of the same? Do you think really think it will be less expensive?

 

Experience doesn't lie.

My wife and I have withstood four major surgeries in the last twenty years, one for me and three for her. Each one costs more than $40,000 with an off work recuperative period of 6 weeks to 90 days. Yes, we had insurance. But were still left holding the bag for tens of thousands of medical bills, of which we paid every penny.

For the last 10 years, even in a year without majory surgery, our out of pocket medical expenses have exceeded $3000 each year, and are expected to exceed $5,000 this year.

We did not lose our home (not even close) , did not declare bankruptcy, and paid every penny of every bill. In our best year, we never even came close to earning as much as $100,000 combined.

The secret? No loss of income during time off work to recuperate.

I'll leave you to decide how that could possibly happen.
Hint: We were not covered by a "cadillac" union type health plan.

 

Everyone is not as blessed as you are.

BTW, be carefull how you brag about how you have been able to do so much while other have not, God may have a surprise in store for you. After all remember, God hates pride!

 

Blessed? Yes. In a thousand ways.

A little planning for the future also helps...if you know what I mean.:godisgood:

 

I wish you had told me that 45 years ago! :laugh:

 

I didn't know it 45 years ago. Spend every penny I made was my motto.
I was young and healthy. Bulletproof and invisible. Nothing could take me down. Like so many people today.


I really began to pay attention about 34 years ago when I spent seven years in the insurance industry, about half of it in individual life and health insurance. The other half in the group health insurance business. I paid attention and decided I could better sell what I believed in enough to buy myself.

There are other factors, but the lessons I learned then...and applied...served us well when we needed it most. It didn't hurt that I am married to an exceptionally smart and responsibly frugal woman. :godisgood:

I give God all the credit for all of it, starting with that woman I mentioned.

 

Excellent, brother Carpro, excellent!

 

I understand the shock. In 1990, I had a brain aneurysm, spent 16 days in intensive care and had surgery to repair the aneurysm. I was too dingy to understand what had happened when I got out of the hospital. My wife had to face it all alone, with friends , family, and of course, God's love and grace.

I eventually could understand that the bill was over $40,000 (and that was 20 years ago). All but about $3,000 of it was covered by medical insurance, but I wasn't going to be physically able to work for at least 60 days and mentally ready to work for God only knew how long. But I was alive!!! With a fighting chance for a normal life.

Two things helped us financially through that crises. One was a little hospital indemnity policy I had taken out 10 or 12 years earlier. It paid $600 for every day I was in intensive care. That's $9600 tax free.

Number two was a disability income policy I took out through my employer that , after the 1st 30 days of disability, paid me 60% of my prior earnings. You see, I believed being disabled had the potential to be worse than dying. Being exposed to the insurance industry taught me that.

Neither of those policies were given to me. I paid for both of them. Our combined income at the time was less than $50,000.

One other note. What if I had died? The insurance business convinced me I was responsible for my family whether I was alive or dead. So, I carried $400,000 worth of life insurance at the time.

I know some people will think I'm bragging. I can't help that. But every time I hear some of these horror stories, I just have to wonder if they took any steps to protect themselves, or they depended on their employer or the government to do it all for them while they bought cars, etc. with their money.