Healthcare and the Government…Continues
My last post about health care resulted in some great responses and differing view points on health care reform. As one comment pointed out, “the devil’s in the details”, it is hard to come to agreement how to make reform happen. I got two emails yesterday that made the problem a little more clear to me.
I subscribe to the mailing lists of the White House and Congressman Michael Turner (I’m in his district). I got an email from each yesterday, and they both feel strongly about their position on health care reform. David Axlrod wrote that “The President made crystal clear what’s at stake in this debate: the fiscal well-being of our nation and the health of our families and small businesses.” This was in case I didn’t watch the President’s TV show, which was nice of him, because I didn’t. I also got an email from Congressman Turner yesterday titled “Reckless Govt Spending Threatens America’s Future”. It talks about the deficit and the Obama budget being the downfall of America. Ron Paul says health care is a good and not a right, or something similar to that. I may not be the brightest person, if I were maybe I wouldn’t live in a trailer by the river, but I would think that in a democracy, the job of our elected leaders is not to polarize and argue.
Their job is to find a compromise that fits the people’s needs and is in the best interest of the nation as a whole. I think it’s time to call them to task and tell them to do their jobs. We all need to be more involved in what our elected leaders are doing. It is important for us, the citizens of the USA, to lobby for ourselves by contacting our representatives in govt. and telling them to find some middle ground. Does anyone else think that it would be better for them to find a workable compromise in which both sides bend? Or are the majority of Americans rigidly firm in their positions and unwilling to compromise?
Universal health care is not the answer. Other countries have had success, but American government has a way of killing the spirit of good in things it touches, ie: public schools. Health care cost is a problem in the US, mostly because americans can not afford it! The problem is at least two fold: 1) selfish priorities, some people would rather have a large screen tv or new car then pay for their health care & 2) Administrative/Advertising costs inflate the cost of our necessary procedures. I conducted a study during my AAS degree years & discovered that on average $0.80 of every dollar that is billed from a hospital/clinic goes to cover the processing of the insurance and the cost to collect moneies from patients who refuse to pay.
As rediculous as this sounds, that is how simple the problem is today. However, hospitals/clinics are usually remodeling and building million$+ additions to “improve their services” so I have to wonder…would it be so bad if they set a percentage of the “profits” aside to assist people who do not have insurance? Or better yet, if we abolished health insurance and establish health care savings accounts that private citizens are educated on how to develop and maintain, couldn’t the problem be reduced???
As for Obama’s plan to reform, all I have heard is that he is looking to fund a change that he has not defined. I would love to gather money for a purpose to be later defined…I am looking at reforming my transportation so help me pay for that???rotflmao
Very interesting that such a large proportion of money goes for administrative costs, that is a problem. I think you have a good idea about them setting aside some funds to assist people who cannot afford care….it makes sense to me.
I must tell you that I think you are spot on about the government “killing the spirit of good in the things it touches”! I’ve worked in various govt agencies for around 15 years, and that statements rings so true to me. Thank you for taking the time to share your opinion! Sorry I can’t help you with funds to reform your transportation LOL.
Freewalker, you are so right on!!!
I’ve been a senior executive at several corporations and can tell you that if our people EVER came into a meeting pointing fingers at the people that disagreed with them, like a bunch of kids, the whole lot of them would be fired. These guys (politicians) play on our emotions like spoiled children and, shame on us, we let them get away with it.
You hit the nail on the head, except for the part about you not being bright. That is clearly not the case.
Why thank you! It seems so bizzare to me that our elected officials can’t seem to get the work done. You are right, if they were part of a regular business, they’d probably be fired for not getting things done and playing tit for tat games. It would be nice if they took the business of running our country seriously enough to find a fair solution.