Obama To Forge A Greater Role On Health Care

[Harry]

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/07/us/polit...rss&emc=rss

[keith]

Man, I didn't see this coming....

"President Obama has concluded that he must exert greater control over the health care debate."

The prez says that the *cost* of health care is a drag on the economy. It might be, but that is the basis for his argument that only a nationalized, universal health care system can fix this. If he and the congress are really interested in reducing the cost of health care then they need to address one of the biggest cost components and aggressively go after tort reform. These days paranoid doctors are forced into ordering 50 tests when one will do. They have to carry huge malpractice insurance policies that each and every patient pays for. The problem is tort is good for lawyers. What's congress? A bunch of lawyers looking out for their own.

Keith

[UNT90]

http://www.kxmc.com/News/386720.asp

Yikes.....Minot doesn't exactly get anchor babes for their local news. That one gal looks like the daughter of Alice from The Brady Bunch.

Ya, we're not headed down the path to socialism. We are in great shape. Just close your eyes and dream it true.

[FirefightnRick]

The Crisis

“the status quo is broken”

The Deceitful Misinformation

Broadly speaking, he wants to extend coverage to the 45 million uninsured

The road is now paved the for the Statist to steal away even more of our property and liberties.

.

.

BusinessMedia.org: Health Care Lie: '47 Million Uninsured Americans'

Breaking It Down: Who’s Uninsured?

The number of the uninsured who aren’t citizens is nearly 10 million on its own, invalidating all the claims of 40+ million “Americans” without health insurance.

“It’s really indefensible that we now have more than 45 million uninsured Americans, 9 million of whom are children, and the vast majority of whom are from working families,” said Sen. Hillary Clinton in a May 31 speech.

It was typical spin and easy to find. ABC medical expert Dr. Tim Johnson cited the incorrect data as he praised a "bold" and "politically brilliant" universal coverage plan on the April 26 “Good Morning America.”

“It’s bold because it does propose to cover all Americans, including the 47 million now who are uninsured, within five years,” said Johnson.

In his propagandumentary “SiCKO” that favored the socialist health care systems of Canada, Britain, France and Cuba, Michael Moore made the fantastic claim that almost 50 million Americans are uninsured.

“SiCKO: There are nearly 50 million Americans without health insurance,” quoted Moore’s Web site.

However, the Census Bureau report “Income, Poverty, and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2005,” puts the initial number of uninsured people living in the country at 46.577 million.

A closer look at that report reveals the Census data include 9.487 million people who are “not a citizen.” Subtracting the 10 million non-Americans, the number of uninsured Americans falls to roughly 37 million.

Moore should have paid attention to that fact, since he agrees that being “an American” matters to get health insurance.

“That’s the only preexisting condition that should exist. I am an American. That’s it,” said Moore in footage aired by ABC’s “Nightline” on June 13.

That isn’t the only problem with the numbers currently being used.

Moore’s Trouble with the Facts

Recently, CNN’s Dr. Sanjay Gupta accused Michael Moore of “fudging” some numbers in his recent film “SiCKO.” This sparked a temper tantrum by Moore who threatened to become the network’s “worst nightmare” if they didn’t apologize and recant.

CNN did “correct and apologize” for one transcription error, but stood by Gupta’s statement “CNN’s numbers and Moore’s numbers aren’t far off, but we believe ours are a fairer comparison.”

In his film and television appearances, Moore left out quite a bit of information about the uninsured.

On his Web site, Moore claimed the Census Bureau had “underreported” the number of people without health insurance.

But Cheryl Hill Lee, a co-author of the Census Bureau study Moore was citing, told the Business & Media Institute that the data showed the exact opposite of what Moore said.

The Census “underreported” the number of people covered by health insurance – meaning that more people have insurance than the report suggests. The Census also underreported the number of people covered by Medicare and Medicaid

They Can’t Afford Insurance …

Many of the same people pushing the incorrect numbers of uninsured Americans also claim that these people cannot “afford” insurance.

“And when you’ve got 47 million people in this country with no health insurance, they don’t go to the doctor because they can’t afford it,” Moore said on CNN’s “Larry King Live” July 10.

Katie Couric echoed those sentiment on the CBS “Evening News” May 23.

“The number of Americans with no health insurance is continuing to grow as more and more employers say they can’t afford to offer group insurance … People who try to buy insurance on their own often find the price beyond their reach,” said Couric as she introduced a two-part “investigation of the health insurance industry.”

But according to the same Census report, there are 8.3 million uninsured people who make between $50,000 and $74,999 per year and 8.74 million who make more than $75,000 a year. That’s roughly 17 million people who ought to be able to “afford” health insurance because they make substantially more than the median household income of $46,326.

On the July 13 “Larry King Live,” Gupta did make that point, providing more context than Moore and most journalists about the affordability of health insurance.

Subtracting non-citizens and those who can afford their own insurance but choose not to purchase it, about 20 million people are left – less than 7 percent of the population.

“Many Americans are uninsured by choice,” wrote Dr. David Gratzer in his book “The Cure: How Capitalism Can Save American Health Care.” Gratzer cited a study of the “nonpoor uninsured” from the California Healthcare Foundation.

“Why the lack of insurance [among people who own homes and computers]? One clue is that 60 percent reported being in excellent health or very good health,” explained Gratzer.

A Lie that Promotes Big Government

Moore, Clinton and Obama have used the lie about 40-some million uninsured Americans to promote universal health insurance plans. Moore asserted in his film that providing health insurance to everyone is a moral and even religious obligation.

The mainstream media have played along, championing “ambitious” universal coverage plans and referring to the U.S. system as “deeply flawed.”

“California’s ambitious plan to make health insurance available to almost everyone in the state is getting a lot of attention all over the country, and here’s why. According to the latest figures, the number of uninsured Americans has grown to more than 46 million,” said Katie Couric on the “CBS Evening News” January 9.

Journalists’ failure to question that high figure has furthered the cause of nationalized care.

“Proponents of universal health care often use the 46-million figure -- without context or qualification. It creates the false impression that a huge percentage of the population has fallen through the cracks,” Gratzer told BMI. “Again, that’s not to suggest that there is no problem, but it's very different than the universal-care crowd describes.”

Dr. Grace-Marie Turner, a BMI adviser and president of the Galen Institute, agreed that “the number [on uninsured] is inflated and affects the debate.”

Turner also pointed out that “45 percent of the uninsured are going to have insurance within four months [according to the Congressional Budget Office],” because many are transitioning between jobs and most people get health insurance through their employers.

So what is the true extent of the uninsured “crisis?” The Kaiser Family Foundation, a liberal non-profit frequently quoted by the media, puts the number of uninsured Americans who do not qualify for current government programs and make less than $50,000 a year between 13.9 million and 8.2 million. That is a much smaller figure than the media report.

Kaiser’s 8.2 million figure for the chronically uninsured only includes those uninsured for two years or more. It is also worth noting, that, 45 percent of uninsured people will be uninsured for less than four months according to the Congressional Budget Office.

Edited June 7, 2009 by FirefightnRick

[oldguystudent]

The Crisis

The Deceitful Misinformation

The road is now paved the for the Statist to steal away even more of our property and liberties.

.

.

BusinessMedia.org: Health Care Lie: '47 Million Uninsured Americans'

Doesn't really matter if it's only a thousand uninsured. You got yours, so f**k 'em, right Rick?

[FirefightnRick]

Doesn't really matter if it's only a thousand uninsured. You got yours, so f**k 'em, right Rick?

Again, as usual with your posts, you read something into it that doesn't exist and/or make something up that also doesn't exist. Where did I say f**k 'em? Where?

Why does the Liberal-Left have such a problem with FACTS?

Rick

Edited June 7, 2009 by FirefightnRick

[hickoryhouse]

There has got to be a better way to do it than to turn yet another major portion of the economy over to the government. Uninsured people are definitely an issue that deserves attention and we need to do something about it. I don't want the government taking control of it however.

Good question is if the numbers in Rick's quite are accurate, and the true number of uninsured people who do not qualify for government assistance and can't afford there own is in the 8 million range, which is alot, why does the media, government and Michael Moore feel the need to lie about it?

[FirefightnRick]

Republicans and the 'Public Option' A case in which compromise means government health care.

The White House strategy is to dilute it just enough to win over credulous Republicans. That is what has always happened with government health programs:

When Medicare was created in 1965, benefits were relatively limited and retirees paid a substantial percentage of the costs of their own care. But the clout of retirees has always led to expanding benefits for seniors while raising taxes on younger workers.

In 1965, Congressional actuaries expected Medicare to cost $3.1 billion by 1970. In 1969, that estimate was revised to $5 billion, and it actually came in at $6.8 billion. That same year, the Senate Finance Committee declared a Medicare cost emergency. In 1979, Jimmy Carter proposed limiting benefits, only to have the bill killed by fellow Democrats. Things have gotten worse since, and Medicare today costs $455 billion and rising.

Medicaid was intended as a last resort for the poor but now covers one-third of all long-term care expenses in the U.S. -- that is, it has become a middle-class subsidy for aging parents of the Baby Boomers. Its annual bill is $227 billion, and so far this fiscal year is rising by 17%.

Schip was pitched a decade ago as a safety net for poor kids, and some Republicans helped sell it as a free-market reform. But Schip is now open to families that earn up to 300% of the poverty level, or $63,081 for a family of four. In New York, you can qualify at 400% of poverty.

Any new federal health plan will inevitably follow the same trajectory, no matter how much Republican Senators might claim they've guaranteed otherwise. The Lewin Group consultants estimate that 119 million people who now have private insurance could potentially be captured by the government under the Obama public option. This is on top of the 90 million already in Medicare or Medicaid. This would guarantee a spending explosion that would over time lift federal outlays as a share of GDP into the upper 20% range or higher.Republicans would spend the rest of their days deciding whether to vote for tax increases to finance this, or stand accused of denying health care to the middle class.

This health-care debate isn't like the "stimulus" bill, which was largely about short-term spending and deficits. This one is about whether to turn 17% of the U.S. economy entirely and permanently into the arms of the government. For Republicans, this is about whether they still stand for anything at all.

Rick

[keith]

Doesn't really matter if it's only a thousand uninsured. You got yours, so f**k 'em, right Rick?

You say that like it's a bad thing. What's wrong with personal responsibility and self reliance?

Keith

[GreenMachine]

Doesn't really matter if it's only a thousand uninsured. You got yours, so f**k 'em, right Rick?

G' damn it, I don't have a Porsche, I want a f'n Porsche! Why does that sack of dung Bill Gates have tons of cars, homes, boats, and probably a f'n Porsche. Why can't the gov't give me a Porsche, even though I haven't earned it, haven't worked hard for it, haven't planned for it, Nada. I tell ya, this country is a piece of crap if they don't take something away from Bill Gates and give it to me or include it in my stimulus package. We are all EXACTLY the same and we should all have the same.