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Taking Stock of Health Care Reform
Linked to groups: Healthcare Advisors' Blog
As Congress prepares to recess and the media revel in stories about how the President's attempt to reform health care is on the ropes, it makes sense to take serious stock of where we are and where we may be going.
In advocating for meaningful health care reform, our first task is to identify our target audience. Haranguing people who are not persuadable is an exercise in futility that is best avoided. Although it is very frustrating to hear people say ridiculous things knowing for sure that they would instantly reject these unsupportable fairy tales if only you told them the truth, many of these people are not merely ignorant of the facts. Because their stated beliefs actually are masks concealing what's really in their heads and hearts, simply telling it like it is will do nothing to alter their political positions.
Short-term objectives are what most concern ordinary citizens who place immediate pain and pleasure ahead of future risks and benefits. Their past experience is filtered through a prism that aligns what they know with what they want. This means that most people's political positions are based not on facts but on perceptions grounded in personal needs and desires. Effective political persuasion is not the art of eloquently advocating our beliefs; it is the art of speaking directly to the condition of others. Don't expect others to trust authoritative statements that trivialize their understanding and denigrate their concerns as groundless.
People must move from where they sit before they are ready to come to where we stand.
It is easy to contrast our politics of hope with our adversaries' politics of fear. But let us never forget that safety is one of the most basic human needs. Most people will support change only after they are convinced that the things they hold dear are not endangered. "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself" is not a denial of the legitimacy of fear; it is a cogent promise of personal and collective security from external threats.
During the next month, while Americans are taking stock and consolidating positions on health care reform, this blog will attempt to provide perspective and focus activity where it will do the most good. To do this, we have selected the following four high profile issues about which there are serious differences of opinion and genuine political conflict about how to proceed:
1.The role of the federal government in health care with particular emphasis on the "public plan";
2.The cost of health care reform with particular emphasis on economic growth and the federal deficit;
3.Payment for health care reform with particular emphasis on taxation, mandates, employers' responsibilities, and fair play; and
4.The urgency of now with particular emphasis on whether a patched together third best plan is better than nothing at all.
Each issue will be the subject of a blog structured as a conversation. One contributor will advocate a progressive approach to the issue, another will present reasoned conservative counter-arguments and alternatives, avoiding the lies and name-calling that often pass for political debate but doing her best to give the devil its due. A third blogger will explore ways in which legitimate concerns of left and right may be reconciled. We hope that this approach will enable us to get beyond the knee-jerk, minute-by-minute responses that often characterize communications from both extremes. Finally, each blog will conclude with a set of high priority action items for the coming week.
Let's remember that we aren't engaged in an academic debate about health care. Instead, we are up to our eyeballs in the politics of health care reform. In a debate you attempt to educate, in politics you attempt to influence and persuade. So by all means, let's get the facts out there. But as the battle over health care reform progresses, more and more people will take positions based not on ignorance but on reasoned judgments of what reform will look like if it is enacted. The unknown always is scary and, in the end, the human tendency is to "rather bear those ills we have than fly to others we know not of." Our job is to address genuine fears and concerns, not by denying their existence, but by countering them to alter the political calculus in favor of the changes we so fervently desire.
Democrats in Pay-For-Play Deal With PhRMA?
The NYT is reporting that PhRMA will spend $150 million in advertising to support the White House health care plan in August:
The drug industry has already contributed millions of dollars to advertising campaigns for the health care overhaul through the advocacy groups like Healthy Economies Now and Families USA. It has spent about $1 million on similar advertisements under its own name.
All of the commercials closely echo common Democratic themes about medical care for all, consumer protection and "health insurance reform." Some supporters of the overhaul have hired public affairs and advertising firms with close ties to the White House and Senate Democrats, including GMMB, which worked on the Obama campaign, and AKPD, which previously included David Axelrod, who is now the president's top political advisor.
In a statement released by the President on June 20: [more]
- AMT Supports President Obama's Healthcare Initiatives
By Muhammad Salim A on Aug 23, 2009 7:46 AM EDT| By Muhammad Salim from Chicago, IL - Aug 23rd, 2009 at 4:07 am EDT |
Dear President Obama,
I commend you for making a personal Ramadan greeting video message. I support your efforts to improve relations with Muslims in America and around the world.
In the Ramadan spirit of caring and sharing American Muslims do support your Health care initiatives. American Muslim Task Force on Civil Rights and Elections (AMT), an umbrella organization of several major national Muslim American organizations, has launched a nationwide campaign to support your Healthcare package. We share your values that caring for well being of every citizen is a common responsibility. America cannot be champion of Human Rights unless we address the basic needs of common citizens at home such as access to Healthcare. Healthcare is a Human Right issue and it’s our collective civil responsibility to care for the sick and needy. Muslim charities also have been playing a historic role in their own limited capacity such as providing free clinics in many parts of American urban cities. Regards,
Muhammad Salim Akhtar
National Director
American Muslim Task Force on Civil Rights And Elections (AMT)
Healthcare-Now: Comparing Single-Payer with the Public Option
There has been considerable confusion about the differences between single-payer healthcare, which Healthcare-NOW! supports, and the healthcare reform options, including President Obama’s “public option,” being introduced by the House and Senate.
So we’ve collected the following resources to clarify the difference: http://www.healthcare-now.org/comparing-single-payer-with-the-public-option/
Douglas M,
The office of the president doesn't write legislation. Congress writes legislation which means that their staffers along with the lobbyists have the job of writing the bills. The president only has the power of the veto. Presidential adminstrations can set policy but they need congress to enact it. This present adminstration will ask the president to sign whatever this present congress gives them. And then they will all report it as a success whatever it turn out to be.
The OFA campaign wonks didn't work in my state to help reform our congressional delegation during the 2008 election, so, unfortunately they're having to work with what they've got. It's a real shame that they chose not to use the DNC 50 state strategy during the 2008 general election. If your member of congress or your senators are not supporting this adminstrations polices you now know why.
"This present adminstration will ask the president to sign whatever this present congress gives them. And then they will all report it as a success whatever it turn out to be."
Unfortunately this type of sentiment breeds cynicism, pessimism and resignation. Let's take a much more proactive approach which led to the election of our President with the belief that we can take our nation in a new and better direction.
http://marketplace.publicradio.org/display/web/2009/08/04/pm-healthcare-q/
RYSSDAL: So can we expect in September if things are still up in the air that we're going to see the president more directly involved in negotiations with Congress?
DEPARLE: Well, I don't know what you'll be seeing, but I've seen a lot of that already. He's probably spending two to three hours a day on this right now, and has been for the last several weeks. He's calling some members of Congress on a daily basis. Today he had all the Senate Democrats here. He's all over health care. Whether you see or not, or whether your listeners see it or not, I can guarantee you that's what is happening. He wants to make sure that they keep moving forward in a direction that will lead to health-care reform being enacted this year, that lowers costs, and gets everybody covered. And we're confident that's what is going to happen.
but before you do perhaps you didn't watch the President's interview about HC this morning. He never mentioned supporting a public option, whatever the 'public option' actually ends up being. Get real, he's going to sign whatever congress gives him in October and there will be much media fanfare about it. He'll probally need at least 50+ pens to sign it. His adminstration is using the 'public option' as a bargining chip. It's weak strategy but it did come from the Healthcare Advisors' blog group. Your HCAB folkies where using it in their very first posting and comments at the blog for America months ago.
fyi, this political cartoon was published in my local McClatchy newspaper, the Fresno Bee, on August 5th.
http://www.cagle.com/working/090804/trever.gif
IMO, Americans should know that it's about the rhetoric (scare tactics) being used by the for-profit health care industry's advocates who are against medicare for all and the robust public option.
- btw, Joseph A...
By Susan Rowe on Aug 5, 2009 6:59 PM EDT
please stop psycho-analyzing members of the bfa community. It's weird and very anti-social. You really should try to stop telling other folks that their political opinions are not relevant if you want to make new freinds here.
Doug Marino is a 13 year old boy. I was only telling the truth about how the DC political wonks use people. And they do know how to use people. It is called political 'science' for a reason.
- Health Insurance Giants Arrest Children..."Are we hearing this? Are we seeing it? Are we holding this government, under Barack Obama and his allies in Congress, accountable for arresting 11-year-olds and seniors and nurses and doctors simply because they
By Susan Rowe on Aug 5, 2009 4:32 PM EDTHealth Insurance Giants Arrest Children While Senators Arrest Seniors, Nurses, Doctors
If you doubt for one moment the power of money and its control over whether or not our nation will grant the human right of healthcare to all, just look at who has been arrested speaking up for publicly funded, privately delivered healthcare in the past 90 days.
Frankie, 11, and eight others were arrested in July in Des Moines, IA, as Blue Cross felt a little too much pressure to answer questions about their denials of care and their profits:
In the offices of Senator Diane Feinstein, D-CA, eight senior citizens were arrested in July because they wanted just a few minutes of the Senator's time -- by telephone, not even in person -- to make the case for some sanity in healthcare reform.
http://cbs2.com/video/?id=110325@kcbs.dayport.com
And we all know about the nurses and doctors and single-payer advocates arrested in the Senate Finance Committee hearings in May. They were asking for a seat at the infamous table where the big boys and girls get to play -- err, I mean where the stakeholders who have given enough in campaign contributions get to sit while the health insurance industry, the big pharmaceuticals and the huge for-profit hospital corporations design our reform to make sure their profits grow ever larger and that Frankie in Iowa, the seniors in California, the nurses and docs in DC are silenced by whatever means necessary. read more here.
I believe that to upset the coordinated groups that want to silence the Congressmen at the Town Hall meetings, they could carry a megaphone along with them. With it they will be able to carry their message over the screaming crowd.
Teabaggers protest charity event (TX-17)
Today, the Brazos Valley Food Bank held its annual Feast of Caring event, designed to raise awareness for the 55,000 individuals in a six-county area (Brazos, Burleson, Grimes, Madison, Robertson and Washington counties) in Texas. This event, held at the Brazos center in Bryan, included local reporters, mayors, state representatives, and U.S. Representative Chet Edwards (D-TX17) acting as servers for the guests. All were invited to attend; no fee was charged, only donations to benefit the food bank.
Perfect place for a protest, apparently.
[...]
Let's be clear about this: this was an organized protest at a CHARITY event. Who does that? Is the Party of No becoming the Party of No Respect? Everyone, Republicans and Democrats alike should be furious that anyone would disrupt an event to fight hunger
[...] full article
Very helpful post. OUr strategy must be very focused on the audience we target and our message must be simple and easy to communicate. Unfortunately, health care is complicated and it's really hard to communicate even simple concepts in a simple way!! Our worst enemies now may be our own friends, sad to say. If the Democrats lose this over arguments among ourselves, then the Republicans deserve to win. Millions of people will go without health insurance and frankly it will be the fault of our own divisions. The Republicans are very united against us. Can we not be equally united in favor of health reform!
Your make an excellent point. We cannot afford to fight among ourselves--there is much more at stake than health insurance reform. In 1993-1994, the Democrats also fought among themselves. One result was the Republican sweep of November 1994 and the Gingrich "revolution."
President Obama remains personally popular, but this does not guarantee continued Democratic control of Congress. If insurance reform fails, public opinion could easily turn against the president and our party. This would place all of us--single-payer and public option advocates alike--in the difficult position of fighting battles we thought we'd already won. As others have pointed out, this is a process, not an event. We should push as far as we can, consolidate our gains, and continue to move forward.
Why Single Payer Advocacy Matters Now More Than Ever
How should serious supporters of healthcare reform spend the month of August?
Not by getting trapped in the narrow "debate" between "party of no" Republicans who favor no reform at all, and Blue Dog Democrats, whose "reform" is to make a bad system worse.
And not by campaigning for "buzz words – "public option," "employer mandates" – or whatever President Obama or Speaker Pelosi happen to favor this week. There will be plenty of advertising and organizing to that end, including a $15 million expenditure by the AFL-CIO.
Americans who want to tip the debate in the most progressive direction should take advantage an opening provided at the last minute during negotiations to get a bill approved by the House Energy and Commerce Committee.
And they should do so by advocating even more aggressively for single-payer health care.
[...]
Campaigning for single-payer in August – by demanding that members of the House agree to support such a plan when it comes up for a vote, and by urging senators to schedule and support a similar vote in their chamber – is the best way to assure that whatever reform ultimately comes will err on the side of Americans who need healthcare rather than insurance companies that would deny them that care.
[...]
full article HERE.
- I received thsi email from Michael Pine via the DFA-Link today
By Susan Rowe on Aug 5, 2009 11:18 PM EDTDear Susan,
In kindergarten, I learned to treat others with respect and not try to drown them out as if I was the only person in the world with integrity and intelligence. This appears to be a lesson that neither you nor the "Tea Baggers" have learned. Sorry to put you in the same class as the "Tea Baggers," but you must admit that there is little to distinguish you from them except that you are a liberal and they are conservatives. Also, please note that one person saying something 100 times is different from 100 people saying something once.
I sympathize with DFA as it tries to maintain vehicles for civil discussions among its members just as I sympathize with public officials who are attempting to utilize town hall meetings to carry on conversations with their constituents.
Sincerely,
Michael
Mr. Pine,
You were very lucky to have access to kindergarten. My rural hoosier public school didn't offer it in the early 1960's. But I was fortunate that my grandmother was a grammer school teacher for 37 years. My mother was a christian homemaker and my father was a blue collar worker. I was raised in a hoosier rural christian union Democratic household. My parents built our home with their own hands. I know how to grow, store and cook my own food, make my own clothes and earn my own money and I've know how to do those things since I was a child. I also know when a person(s) think that they're better than other people.
Have a nice day,
Susan Rowe
Full text: http://frwebgate.access.gpo.go.....3200ih.pdf
Pg 22 of the HC bill MANDATES the Government will audit books of ALL EMPLOYERS that self insure!!
Pg 29 lines 4-16 in the HC bill – YOUR HEALTHCARE IS RATIONED!!!
Pg 30 Sec 123 of HC bill – THERE WILL BE A GOVT COMMITTEE that decides what treatments/benefits you get.
Pg 42 of HC bill – The Health Choices Commissioner will choose your HC Benefits for you. You have no choice!
PG 50 Section 152 in HC bill – HC will be provided to ALL non US citizens, illegal or otherwise.
Pg 58HC bill – government will have real-time access to individuals finances & a National ID Healthcard will be issued!
Pg 59 HC bill – lines 21-24 government will have direct access to your banks accounts for electronic funds transfer.
Pg 72 Lines 8-14 government is creating an HC Exchange to bring private HC plans under government control.
Dan you have just reposted the contents of a mass email that hurls charges at health care reform that are uninformed and just plain wrong. I did a POINT BY POINT rebuttal of these charges, every one of them in your three emails and I posted this at Huffington Post over the weekend --
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/linda-bergthold/and-so-it-begins----the-a_b_249354.html --
and also at Daily Kos at http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2009/8/3/760935/-Crazy-attacks-on-health-reform-begin
If ANY of you care about this bill, you will read the actual legislation, but failing that, please read my summary of the legislation that answers Dan's (but not really his - it's from a guy named fleckenstein) points. These points are also rebutted at politifact.org as well.
Do not be fooled and please, if you receive these spam emails, forward our rebuttals. Thanks!
PG 84 Sec 203 HC bill – government mandates ALL benefit packages for private HC plans in the Exchange.
Pg 95 HC bill Lines 8-18 The government will use groups i.e., ACORN & Americorps to sign up individuals for government HC plan.
Pg 124 lines 24-25 HC No company can sue GOVT on price fixing.
Pg 145 Line 15-17 An Employer MUST auto enroll employees into public option plan. NO CHOICE.
Pg 146 Lines 22-25 Employers MUST pay for HC for part time employees AND their families.
Pg 149 Lines 16-24 ANY Employer with payroll 400k & above who does not provide public option pays 8% tax on all payroll.
pg 150 Lines 9-13 Businesses with payroll between 251k & 400k who don’t provide public option pays 2-6% tax on all payroll.
Pg 167 Lines 18-23 ANY individual who doesn’t have acceptable HC according to government will be taxed 2.5% of income.
Pg 170 Lines 1-3 Any NONRESIDENT Alien is exempt from individual taxes.
Pg 195 HC bill – Officers and employees of HC Administration will have access individuals finance, papers and records.
PG 203 Line 14-15 HC – “The tax imposed under this section shall not be treated as tax” Yes, it says that.
PG 253 Line 10-18 government sets value of Dr’s time, professional judgement, etc.
PG 265 Sec 1131 government mandates & controls productivity for private HC industries.
PG 268 Sec 1141 Fed government regulates rental & purchase of power driven wheelchairs.
Page 280 Sec 1151 The government will penalize hospitals for what government deems preventable readmissions.
Pg 298 Lines 9-11 Doctors who treat a patient during initial admission that results in a readmission will be penalized.
Pg 317 L 13-20 government will determine what Drs. and how much ownership/investment they can own.
Pg 317-318 lines 21-25, 1-3 government is mandating hospitals cannot expand
Pg335 L 16-25 Pg 336-339 – government sets and mandates establishment of outcome based measures the way they want.
Pg 341 Lines 3-9 government has authority to disqualify Medicare Adv Plans, HMOs, etc.
Pg 354 Sec 1177 – government will RESTRICT enrollment of Special needs patients!
Pg 425 Lines 17-19 government will instruct & consult regarding living wills, durable powers of atty. Mandatory!
PG 425 Lines 22-25, 426 Lines 1-3 government provides approved list of end of life resources, guiding you in death.
PG 427 Lines 15-24 government mandates program for orders for end of life.
PG 429 Lines 10-12 “advance care consultation” may include an ORDER for end of life plans.
Pg 429 Lines 13-25 – The govt will specify which Doctors can write an end of life order.
PG 430 Lines 11-15 The government will decide what level of treatment you will have at end of life.
Congress has exempted themselves from the bill!
Attempts on behalf of government media fronts to quell spontaneous riots breaking out at town hall meetings amidst anger about Obama’s health care bill by claiming they are manufactured was disproved once again, as ABC News reported that no lobbyists were present at a meeting in Maryland on Tuesday night.
As we reported earlier this week, the George Soros funded Think Progress blog, which is the Internet arm of the Center for American Progress, and has bestowed upon itself the duty of “driving the White House’s message and agenda,” according to its own director Jennifer Palmieri, was at the forefront of attempts to claim that the spontaneous town hall protests were manufactured by lobbyist groups. This talking point has been parroted by other establishment liberal news outlets in an attempt to divide the issue down partisan lines
I think there is some very good evidence that the "riots" you describe were not spontaneous. But even if they were, I believe that riots of any sort at a town hall meeting designed to permit civil discussion of important issues speaks very poorly of the rioters and their respect for American democratic institutions.
If you want a good expose on who is organizing these so-called "spontaneous" town hall riots, please listen to her podcast from tonight, August 6th.
http://msnbcpod.rd.llnwd.net/e1/video/podcast/pdv_maddow_netcast_wmv.wmv
Unfortunately, the local organizers for several of these town halls made a lot of mistakes.
The CPA is taking a hiatus. Hopefully their hiatus is for the purpose of actually doing some real field work in the field and away from the beltway.
We're Taking A Break
The Progress Report is taking a recess. We'll be on hiatus for the next two weeks and will return on Monday, Aug. 24. If you still want political news and updates throughout the day, check out our blog ThinkProgress.org.
In the meantime, we'll be keeping a close eye on what's going on at town halls across the country. If you attend a town hall in your area or see any interesting media coverage, please let us know. Email us at thinkprogress@americanprogressaction.org.
Blue Dog Boasts about Sabotaging Healthcare Reform, Bloating Cost
Firedoglake reports that Rep. Mike Ross (D-AR) boasted yesterday about “killing single payer,” holding healthcare reform “hostage" for ten days, and making health care more expensive for Americans.Ross was boasting because he and other “Blue Dog” Democrats (entre nous, moderate Republicans) in the House of Representatives agreed to allow a floor vote for single payer, which he believes will fail, in exchange for a guarantee that any public option in the health care reform bill does not permit an open-enrollment government health insurance plan to use the bargaining power of Medicare to negotiate lower healthcare costs for Americans. [more]
I want to let the HCAB group's members, the bfa bloggers and DFA Hq know that I have been personally invited by one of the Healthcare Advisors' Blog group's Organizers to post as many articles and comments as I like that are regarding any ideas and opinions about healthcare reform. The Organizer was also concerned to find out that even though I had requested on several occasions to become a member of HCAB DFA-Link group my membership was ignored and she was not told about the request. And she said how she personally very much appreciated my active participation throughout the last several months. She was very apologetic when she heard about the censorship that has been happening to our comment posts that were deleted and/or moved to the water cooler.
Why not look at France for an example?They have the best health care system in the world.
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IMHO, I think any reform ideas for the USA's health care system should come from Americans. I personally know several real grassroots folks who have worked on the issue of health care reform for over 14 years. They have wonderful ideas. Why are we not giving their uniquely American ideas an opportunity to be debated?
"Frankie, 11, and eight others were arrested in July in Des Moines, IA, as Blue Cross felt a little too much pressure to answer questions about their denials of care and their profits."
That's so incredibly cheap and sad. It's disheartening what people do these days to help keep their profits high. Yikes..
Obama Tries to Fine Tune Health Care Message
ABC News' Rachel Martin reports: If the President came to Portsmouth New Hampshire today armed and ready for a knock down drag 'em out fight on health care - akin to the congressional town halls of late - he didn't get it. The high school gymnasium was packed and the President answered nine questions but there wasn't a heckler in sight and even the skeptics in the crowd were well behaved and even deferential - a far cry from the scene outside the high school.
full article: http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2009/08/obama-tries-to-fine-tune-health-care-message.html
Chamber of Commerce Releases Health Care Ad
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, a powerful business lobbying group, will begin airing a 30 second TV ad today criticizing the current health care reform plans in Congress and "calling for responsible health reform."
The ad will air in about 20 states, including Arkansas, Colorado, and Nebraska, and is targeted to areas where lawmakers are undecided on reform efforts.
The ad shows a balloon being inflated with words "tax increases, swelling deficits, government control" written on it. A voiceover notes that the Congressional Budget Office predicts the deficit will grow $239 billion if one form of health care reform is passed.The balloon eventually bursts, as the voiceover says: "Tell Congress, 'Let's slow down and reform health care the right way.'"
[...]
video of ad and full story
http://my.barackobama.com/page/event/search_simple?source=mybobar
Click here to help get President Obama's health care legislation passed through Congress.
Dear Douglas,
What are you talking about? Congress has not passed any legislation and what they are working on doesn't belong to President Obama. What ever the bill(s) are, they are NOT going to be called "President Obama's Healthcare".
I like our President too but please get a grip.
Seek a Political Solution in Afghanistan/PakistanBring our troops home!President Barack Obama said to foreign leaders in his inaugural address, "your people will judge you on what you can build, not what you destroy."How true.Why then are we escalating the war in Afghanistan and Pakistan? An action that will surely create more destruction and devastation, a course which may preclude us from building a political solution--the real path to peace.Similarities between Johnson's Vietnam and Obama's Afghanistan/Pakistan are already being drawn. Read more here.Tell President Obama, Vice President Biden, your Senators and member of Congress we need a political solution to secure Afghanistan/Pakistan--history teaches us that there is no military solution.sign the petition here: http://capwiz.com/pdamerica/issues/alert/?alertid=12570431
As Martin Luther King Jr. observed forty years ago, "A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual death." While the insurance and pharmaceutical industries post huge profits, the U.S. health care crisis grows steadily worse.Healthcare NOT Warfare, Sign the Petition: https://www.thedatabank.com/dpg/309/personal2.asp?formid=healthpet
Many things such as increased labor costs, resistance of consumers to managed care restrictions, the aging of the population, unhealthy lifestyles, a growing prevalence of high-cost diseases, lack of information technology, administrative costs and defensive medicine contributes to increase of health care costs. According to recent findings, just over half of the $2 trillion of health care costs in the US each year is due to wasteful practices. The health care costs that are indicated to be wasteful are behavioral, clinical, and procedural – what that means is that behavioral patterns could be addressed by someone other than a doctor, clinics order unnecessary tests, and health insurance companies might be padding their bills. The biggest cause of people needing an extra cash advance for medical care is overtesting – unnecessary procedures so the physician can cover himself legally, or just gouge patients for cash. Doctors padding bills – no wonder health care cost drive people to needing a personal loan for a simple check up. http://personalmoneystore.com/moneyblog/2009/08/11/healthcare-dollars-drain/
Must say it would be nice if there were some updates from the top. Back in the Dean campaign we would have raised thousands to get out the message.
I think it's important to weigh the pros and cons and fully understand the bill. We want what is best for the American people.
Good comments!
The reason Healthcare Reform is failing is because it has still not been clearly defined - we can do that right now...
Here's what our leaders ought to do in order to win the Healthcare reform battle:
Redefine the Healthcare reform initiative within 3 major points - something like:
- Healthcare is not a privilege - it is a fundamental constitutional right (life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness). Any Healthcare reform must start and end with universal coverage - period, end of story.
- Healthcare is accountable to patients and patient outcomes - in other words "We the People," and not the providers. All incentives, systems and participants must be focused on one primary mission - improving patient outcomes.
- Healthcare Reform must ensure patients rights, freedoms - This means that access to all types of care is universally available - universal coverage is not enough. This is not unrealistic - other nations have been able to provide both coverage and access while still containing costs.
There is still a major role for private industry in Healthcare, just as there is in every country now providing universal care - the difference is that the private industry which is inefficient, serving itself and driving up costs in those systems is controlled or removed. We consider National Defense important - we'd never recommend that the entire US military be privatized. Why, because it is vital to our survival as a nation - Healthcare is no different.
Healthcare insurers get upper hand
Obama's overhaul fight is being won by the industry, experts say. The end result may be a financial 'bonanza.'
Reporting from Washington - Lashed by liberals and threatened with more government regulation, the insurance industry nevertheless rallied its lobbying and grass-roots resources so successfully in the early stages of the healthcare overhaul deliberations that it is poised to reap a financial windfall.
The half-dozen leading overhaul proposals circulating in Congress would require all citizens to have health insurance, which would guarantee insurers tens of millions of new customers -- many of whom would get government subsidies to help pay the companies' premiums.
"It's a bonanza," said Robert Laszewski, a health insurance executive for 20 years who now tracks reform legislation as president of the consulting firm Health Policy and Strategy Associates Inc.
Some insurance company leaders continue to profess concern about the unpredictable course of President Obama's massive healthcare initiative, and they vigorously oppose elements of his agenda. But Laszewski said the industry's reaction to early negotiations boiled down to a single word: "Hallelujah!"
Just the speculation that his health care reform bill will pass has already driven many insurance stocks down. Just look at HMOs like UNH and AET. They are trading way below the levels they usually trade at and will spike higher if the bill fails.
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Videos of some of the 64 House Healthcare Heroes standing strong for a public health insurance option
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By Douglas M on Aug 3, 2009 8:50 PM EDThttp://my.barackobama.com/page/event/search_simple?source=mybobar
Click here to help get President Obama's health care legislation passed through Congress.