Meanwhile all kinds of studies are coming out talking about wasted money in health care and the different ways that costs can be trimmed and service can be better. We have previously talked about ways that costs can skyrocket and we previously questioned what Congress' plan was to reduce costs, or if such a plan even exists. It now seems important that we have one.
If Democrats are actively trying to pass health care reform, why are costs going up? Are insurers actively trying to antagonize the public? Is it a giant middle finger to Congress? Are they trying to get as much cash as they can before legislation hits? Am I even asking the right questions? None of this makes any sense.
I'm so confused. I need somebody to make sense of all this - where is Ja?
Question for internal review - did I put too many links in that post?
ReplyDeleteAnyway I simply can't reconcile the cost increases with all the attention on health care right now. It seems like insurance companies are making it abundantly clear that something is wrong with the current system. Is this intentional? Or are things really that messed up? Do they want a health care bill? Maybe because they have worked behind the scenes to rig the setup of a new bill in their favor? Am I giving them way too much credit?
Sorry for my hundred questions and no answers. I'm extremely confused by this whole situation
No, I don't think you put in too many links or asked too many questions because in this kind of debate there's no such thing as too much information. Think about it - when things have gone FUBAR (over and over again), it has been due to misinformation, misdirection, or just outright lying.
ReplyDeleteI think if a bill were passed tomorrow that is anything similar to the proposals being floated by the 5 committees to propose legislation, the health insurance industry would see it as a huge victory. The thing that the industry fears the most - single-payer health care - was taken off the table before the debate even started (do NOT get me started on Democratic negotiating tactics concerning the most significant domestic issue in 3 generations) and every move since - EVERY move - has been another gain for the industry. Why?
Because they own Congress. Look at that report for a second - 4 Republicans, 6 Democrats, and Arlen Specter (toss-up). There have been pages & hours spent on talking about "bipartisanship" when it comes to the health care debate; the truth is, it already exists - in the form of campaign-contribution-based cowtowing to the health care industry on any meaningful efforts at reform.
What's that you say? That campaign contributions are murdering our democracy? But of course we've covered this before and nobody seems to care. I find it very, very strange. Why do we the people not care about this?
ReplyDelete(By the way your link doesn't work for me, dunno why)
I'm moving forward here and just assuming that we the people are the problem. Because if we don't care, why would our politicians? Let me ask you this: what is it that makes the people not dig into these more important political problems like campaign finance? Has the average person been convinced by either their party (since both are in on it) or their talk show hosts (who are in it for ratings) that the "important" issues are yelling about talking points?
Was Jon Stewart correct about Crossfire that they are hurting America with "partisan hackery"? Are these distractions from real issues, or are we just stupid in general? Man this is depressing to really think about
So the recent update of the bill is that they are requiring coverage but not including the public option I guess?
ReplyDeleteI know Scott you hate the idea of making personal insurance mandatory as discussed in this BW article. I know it's a half-measure, but do you think it's still worth it as opposed to doing nothing and getting no bill done?
To continue my trend of bringing up old posts, I found this article to be somewhat of a "diamond-in-the-rough" where the rough is the current health care fiasco (really, we need a 9-billion word Wikipedia article to describe US Health Care Reform?).
ReplyDelete