95% of those poled want congress to do something. I noticed immediately that the questions posed wasn't "Pass the new healthcare reform law..." but rather "Pass a new healthcare reform law..." If you do a little more snooping around on the Gallup site you can find a much more interesting poll regarding health care reform.
If everyone is so upset at the cost of their health care, why then would they encourage their representatives to vote for a bill that they feel would increase the cost of health care even further? Does this make sense to anyone? Maybe they are okay with it because they feel the quality of health care they would get would increase, right?
This Gallup poll says that those polled felt that their own personal health care quality was more likely to WORSEN because of a new government health care reform bill.So let me summarize: people in the US want health care reform, they expect that the country as a whole will pay more for health care, and they expect that the quality of their personal health care will worsen. Does this sound logical to anyone? Why would you vote for something like this?
health care, junk cars for cash.given bank more money, feedin the auto industry, bailin out the auto makers, hell we been watchin, listen, and a talkin bout time those boys in D>C> gits their heads where they belong,
ReplyDeleteI have a wonderful suggestion on the issue regarding primary care physician (PCP)(this solution would also work for the lack of public defenders). It is a free market solution - Surprise, Surprise!
ReplyDeleteAnyways - each state as part of it licensing, requires all doctors to practice so many hours a year in primary care. These exact numbers would need to be figured out. A specialist, who did not want to work these hours could list them on Medical Hour Exchange, where someone who did want to work them could accept the terms. Let's look an an example: We have a surgeon is not going to want to "waste" his time doing primary care, so he lists his required hours on the new Medical Hour Exchange - he is willing to pay someone $100/hr to work his hours. No one bits - so now the surgeon offers $200/hr, and he gets a PCP to accept these terms. So now the surgeon has fulfilled his license requirement, and the PCP is getting paid more competitively for her services.
I think the issue is more complicated than this. Current health insurance programs are allowed to deny coverage for pre-existing conditions. A medical condition is not always a result of someone's poor planning or lifestyle choices. Everyone deserves the opportunity to have fair coverage and it is not currently available to all citizens. I'm in favor of the government initiating and demanding change in a flawed system. I don't expect it to become magically fixed overnight, but I do expect the country to seek continous improvement by implementing change. I know it is a bit cliche to reference the founding documents, but one of the fundamental rights of being an American is "life." "Life" is listed before "Liberty" and "The Persuit of Happiness" because it is the most valuable commodity in America - Life. Everyone deserves the basic essence of being, and if health care reform can make "life" a little easier for those who wish to live then I am in favor of this!!!
ReplyDeleteI know a ton of people are about to tell me how misguided I am so ... BRING IT ON!!!
I also think there is some brilliance to Karen's suggestion. The reform does not need to eliminate a free market system. I am aware of the "Tragedy of the Commons." If everyone has joint ownership then no one takes responsibility and everything falls apart. However, I do think that the government has a responsibility to eliminate unethical practices that exist in the current health care industry.
ReplyDelete... and for those who are about to tell me I'm contradicting myself - Bring it on (please - I'm feeling fiesty today)!!!
Regarding your comment about the Constitution enabling people Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness - there are restrictions put on the government that identify exactly what powers it has. Check out my earlier post regarding the constitutional argument.
ReplyDeleteJake - you've done an excellent job of collecting data for this blog. Thanks. I will check out the other post once the kiddos nap - sorry I didn't read it first. Happy blogging.
ReplyDelete