Last edited on Sun Oct 25th, 2009 11:26 pm by Lavitakus

Last edited on Sun Oct 25th, 2009 03:35 pm by tell all

“I will not sign a plan that adds one dime to our deficits, either now or in the future — period,” President Obama told Congress in a health-care address last month.

Well, that depends on what the meaning of “plan” is….So Democrats hatched a novel scheme: They would pass the legislation separately, so the $250 billion cost wouldn’t be part of the main reform “plan,” thereby allowing the president to claim that that bill wouldn’t increase the deficit.

Last edited on Wed Oct 21st, 2009 07:00 pm by dover-diva

Last edited on Fri Oct 16th, 2009 06:44 pm by dover-diva

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Last edited on Thu Oct 15th, 2009 07:51 pm by ltcdolphin

Can someone explain to me how government run insurance is going to benefit each and every person?

My husband worked for the state for 36 years. We were lucky. He didn’t make a lot of money but we had insurance. When our children were growing up, the Blue Cross insurance we had was OK but we had to pay out of our pocket; then, after the deductible was paid, we received 80 percent of our money back, if we saved our paperwork and knew hot to go through the process.

Then our insurance got better; we paid co-pays. Finally, we could afford to see the doctor. By now our children are grown and they don’t have insurance.

The big day comes, my husband and I retire. We both have insurance and we pay insurance on our grandson whom we have raised since his birth. We pay $316 per month for insurance on our grandson; this money comes out of pension and Social Security checks. OK, we are still doing OK. But my husband turns 65 years old. Time for Medicare. Here we go again. He must have $96.40 taken out of his Social Security check each month. Now, we are paying $96.40 per month, every month, instead of the co-pay which would be less. Our medical care isn’t any better, but we are paying more.

We don’t have a right to decline Medicare or our Social Security checks will stop. Social Security is something we worked for all our lives because we never made enough money to save. In a few months, $96.40 per month will come out of my Social Security check for Medicare. My grandson’s insurance will run out. He has a medical problem that leaves him disabled. He is trying for disability, but it’s been almost a year.

Government needs to help people that don’t have insurance, and I know there are many. But maybe this could be accomplished if the government would stop helping us that don’t need, want, or can’t afford their help.

I know we are paying for people with no insurance when they go to the hospital; this makes costs go up, which is passed no to us with insurance, and this is expensive.

So, to sum it all up, it’s simple. Let’s get insurance for the people who don’t have any. I don’t mind paying co-pays or even some low taxes to help the needy. It would be a lot cheaper than $192.80 per month for Medicare and $316 for our grandson’s insurance.

But be careful. Isn’t Medicare government-run insurance? Please, God, help us, because we can’t reverse this, as what employer would go back. None, we are stuck. It might be the same if we pass a health bill.

Patsy Barwick

Smyrna

The overwhelmingly popular Medicare program that serves 47 million seniors and the disabled is now over 44 years old, and growing. Since 1965, new factors have changed our nation and the practice of medicine.

• Life expectancy tables have risen steadily.

• New medical procedures continue to improve outcomes.

• New drugs and therapies are introduced daily.

• Organ transplants add to medical successes.

All of these factors have had an economic impact on Medicare, which survives in the same environment with all the other health care delivery systems, where inflation has been in the double digits for decades. Private health insurance premiums keep rising out of control, while Medicare, thankfully, still keeps a shaky lid on costs. Medicare still has the power to set the "reasonable charge," and after the annual deductible, pays 80 percent of the "reasonable charge." The rest of society usually pays the "actual" charge, which keeps climbing in an inflationary spiral, with no real end in sight. Without Medicare, millions of seniors would no longer be with us, but were saved by advanced practices in medicine and solid health insurance provided by Uncle Sam.

Isn’t it time to offer a Medicare-type program to all? That would surely be better than the economic disaster which faces us all if we irrationally do nothing.

Irv Levitt

Dover

• Ending Medicare Advantage. Currently enjoyed by one out of four seniors, Medicare Advantage plans cover health benefits which seniors would have to pay out of pocket. Unfortunately, many seniors do not know that their benefits are at risk because their health insurance provider does not refer to their plan explicitly as 'Medicare Advantage'. What's worse, in an effort to protect against a political backlash, the Administration has imposed a gag order on insurance providers, threatening sanctions if they communicate to their Medicare Advantage customers the potential effects of ObamaCare 'reforms'.

• Dramatically Reducing Access to Health Care. Universal coverage may be a boon for uninsured Americans, but it's a bust for those who are currently insured, particularly seniors. Imagine the traffic jams that would be created if the number of cars on the highway increased by 20% overnight. By dramatically expanding coverage, ObamaCare will create a health care traffic jam for insured Americans seeking health care. Moreover, just as highway traffic is most congested at bottlenecks, ObamaCare will create the longest waiting lines for specialists - precisely those medical professionals which America's seniors most need to access timely and easily.

• Significantly Reducing Quality of Care. Congressional health 'reforms' propose to save money by reducing expenditures on important health care services. Under ObamaCare, doctors will receive an average pay cut of 25%. At a time when Americans most need doctors to enter the profession and extend their working lives, ObamaCare discourages their entry and continuation in the profession. What's more, Administration efforts to shift cost aren't benefiting seniors: 47% of the 'extra revenue' which ObamaCare says it is creating through new taxes and painful cuts is dedicated to servicing the cost of health care's dramatic expansion.

• 49% increase for the non-group (individual) market.
• 28% increase for small employers (those firms with fewer than 50 employees).
• 11% increase for large employers with uninsured coverage.
• 9% increase for self-insured employers.