Ok Fellas, if you have an opinion on this important issue say it here. My two bits is that reform is needed, but this half baked compromise will make things worse. We need a full blown public option for anyone who wants it. Keep it simple and tie it into having a job. Folks trully unable to work get coverage until they are able to work. If you are a lazy fat-ass, tough shit. No work, no medical. A public option will compete against the insurance coverage model and make it obselete, or far less relevant. The drugs companies would be put under heavy scrutiny, and any crooks should be arrested , locked up and throw away the keys. No kidding, those bastards with their addictive products are ruining folks. Rennick Welby M.D.
Democrats supporting this POS bill are greedy, self-serving ASSHOLES! Anti-American... total waste of human skin.
Pass the current bill.As a far left liberal I want single payer 1st and public option 2nd,but this is better then nothing 45,000 a year die due to no access to health care,thats more American deaths then Iraq and Afghanistan Considering this is a trading forum I would think more here would support this bill because the self employed are fucked the most by health insurance companies
The benefits.How anyone could be against this is beyond me IMMEDIATE CHANGES Uninsured people with medical problems will have a workable alternative. The bill pumps $5 billion into high-risk insurance pools run by the states to provide coverage to those in frail health. Taxpayer-backed insurance won't be free, but premiums should be much lower than what's charged by private insurers willing to take those in poor health. For people with private health insurance â about two-thirds of Americans â there would be some new safeguards. For example, insurers would be barred from placing lifetime dollar limits on coverage and from canceling policies except in cases of fraud. Children could stay on their parents' coverage until age 26. _INSURANCE COMPANIES Health insurance companies would face unprecedented federal regulation and particularly close scrutiny of their bottom line. A fixed percentage of income from premiums would have to go to medical care, otherwise insurers would be forced to provide rebates to consumers. That share is 85 percent for large group plans, and 80 percent for plans in the small group and individual markets. One of the central reforms of the bill won't start until 2014, when the exchanges open. From then on, insurers will not be able to turn away people with medical problems or charge them more. _THE SELF-EMPLOYED Starting in 2014, self-employed people and those whose employers don't offer coverage would be able to pick a plan through a health insurance exchange, like a supermarket. It's modeled on the federal employee health program available to members of Congress, with a range of private plans. Small businesses could also join. About 25 million people would buy coverage through state exchanges, and nearly 6 in 10 would be eligible for help with their premiums. The new tax credits would be computed according to income and other household characteristics. The money would go straight to the insurer. To consumers it would look like a discount â generous for lower-income families, less so for those solidly in the middle class. For example, a family of four making $44,000 would pay $2,763 in premiums _about 6 percent of its income_ for a policy worth $9,435. But a similar family making $66,000 would have to pay $6,257 in premiums, close to 10 percent of its income. That may be less than a mortgage, but it's more than a car payment. Once the exchanges open, most Americans would be required to carry health insurance or pay a fine. Medicaid would be expanded to cover childless adults living near poverty, bringing the total who'd gain coverage to more than 30 million. People with employer-provided insurance would not see major changes. But if they lost their job, they'd be able to get coverage through the exchange. _SENIORS Seniors have been understandably worried about the health care plan, much of it financed with Medicare cuts the government's own experts say could be unsustainable. In the crosshairs are subsidies to private Medicare Advantage insurance plans, which now enroll about one-quarter of seniors. The government overpays the plans when compared to the cost of care under traditional Medicare. That largesse translates to lower costs for seniors in the plans, and the overhaul could trigger an exodus from Medicare Advantage as insurers are forced to raise rates to stay in business. But seniors stand to gain as well. Obama would gradually close the coverage gap in the middle of the Medicare prescription drug benefit. The so-called doughnut hole would start to shrink immediately, but it wouldn't be fully closed until 2020. In the meantime, seniors in the gap would get a 50 percent discount on brand name drugs. The plan also improves preventive benefits for seniors in traditional Medicare. _DOCTORS Primary care doctors and general surgeons practicing in underserved areas such as inner cities and rural communities would get a 10 percent bonus from Medicare. But the more significant changes for doctors would unfold slowly. The goal is to start rewarding doctors for keeping patients healthy, not just treating them when they get sick. The plan would use Medicare as a testing ground for new ways of coordinating care for patients with multiple chronic illnesses such as high blood pressure, diabetes and heart problems, a common combination. Primary care doctors would become care managers for such patients, keeping close tabs on medications and basic health indicators. Doctors and hospitals would be encouraged to band together in "accountable care organizations" modeled on the Mayo Clinic. _EMPLOYERS Obama's plan wouldn't require employers to provide insurance to their workers, but it would hit them with a stiff fine if even one of their workers gets a federally subsidized coverage. Companies with 50 or fewer workers would be exempt, and those with 25 workers or fewer could get federal assistance. But the fines could turn into a big headache for many employers, particularly since they may not be able to tell if their workers are getting benefits from the government. For example, a company with 100 employees that fails to provide coverage could face a fine of $140,000 under the plan Obama unveiled Feb. 22. Getting the bill from the IRS would become a dreaded moment for business owners.
Here are some of my beefs with the plan. 5 billion, that $111,111 per individual supposedly dying from no insurance. And this plan doesn't even cover everyone so the true cost per individual "saved" is even more. "unprecedented federal regulation" well...that pretty much says it all. "most Americans...required to carry health insurance or pay a fine" I can't imagine this being constitutional and it's certainly not the feds business whether I have insurance or not. "Stiff fines for employers" ( those evil bastards that provide us jobs) yeah that's just what we need in a recession
Another stupid ET cunt. A whopping 45,000 a year? OMG, the horror! So to save 1% out of the 5,000,000 Americans who die each year, we're socializing a major part of the economy? Does ObamaCare now promise immortality, too? Secondly, the self employed are among "THE LEAST FUCKED" by insurance companies. I dare you to find a group plan that's less expensive than a policy for a healthy individual.
No. I don't. There's a million or more homeless in America too. Do i see Big Brother building free housing? If anything they're working 24/7 on ways to INCREASE home values. Much of the healthcare debate is illogical. If insurers are so greedy then why are provider costs rising? Would not insurers put the screws to doctors and hospitals and attempt to FREEZE prices? How is it good business for greedy Blue Cross to pay higher and higher prices for procedures? And who is to say what's "fair value" for a procedure? The Federal government? I keep hearing bullshit like "a family of 4 pays $12,000" a year for insurance. Well most public school systems spend 12k PER KID(or more) so they can sit in a classroom 5 hours for 180 days a year. How come Obama doesn't find THAT cost obscene? Oh, because 10% of the DNC delegates every 4 years are teachers, eh? So, FUCK YOUR STUPID SOCIALIST ASS.
The solutions are simple for Insurance reform: 1. Any insurance company with a CEO making over 500K annually cannot raise rates. They're managing insurance salesmen for Christs sake. It ain't rocket science. 2. Any insurance company occupying lavish corporate headquarters in ivory towers cannot raise rates. 3. Any insurance company spending millions upon millions of dollars on advertising cannot raise rates. 4. Any insurance company that denies a claim is liable for legal action should the person denied have two doctors agree that treatment was required. The individual(s) which denied the claim will spend no less than 5 years in prison should the court decide in favor of the claimant. Health care reform a little tougher, but not much. 1. Anyone over the age of 75 is not eligible for any type of transplant operations. 2. Anyone over the age of 80 who is diagnosed with a terminal illness shall be given the option to die with some dignity...assisted suicide. 3. All Alzheimers patients over the age of 80 will be put out to pasture. Tough I know, but they ain't getting any better and that kind of life ain't living and we all know it. 4. Finally, anyone showing up at an emergency room with nothing more than a cold will be kicked in the nuts and given a 5 dollar coupon to Walgreens. See how easy this is.