Finally, he speaks the truth

[IHL]

Well, it took awhile, but finally our Chairman has finally admitted the truth in what his health care debacle will provide for America.
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Really most of that is still a lie, except for the "inefficiencies" part. That was right on. Well, even a little bit of truth with this guy is a step in the right direction.

[RightisRightLeftisWrong]

Well I guess he can't lie all the time.

[FireDog]

He's gonna impeach the teleprompter.

[Topiary Lady]

People who lie and deceive almost always give themselves away at some point. Chairman O has done just that. Am I surprised? Nope.

Watch this guy over the next few weeks. Study his words, as well as his face and physical actions. He is going to give himself away....and the American people are watching.

[IHL]

Yeah, I guess his teleprompter was getting tired of lying all the time.

We certainly can't blame The Chosen One. I bet Barry was pissed when found out later what the teleprompter said though.

[Topiary Lady]

People are beginning to notice that this man (if we can even call him a 'man'), is not genuine. I am glad to see the awakening.

[Topiary Lady]

Did he even flinch when he said that? No - he did not. Would your average 'thinker' catch that and try and correct it? Again, please study these people. Gather and digest all that they say and how they say it. It means a lot.

Tell me again, you liberals, how great is your leader?

[FireDog]

Did he even flinch when he said that?

I'm not kidding here like I usually do. I really don't think he even listens to what he's reading. He's more interested in style while reading what someone else has written. It's happened before.

[IHL]

Anyone can slip up on words and say things they didn't mean, and when every word you say is under a microscope, whenever you make a mistake people will jump on it. And - we've all said things we didn't mean.

Having said that - I agree with FireDog. I don't believe the Big O really believes much of what he says anyway. I really don't. So I don't care if this was just a slip of the forked tongue, we still have every right to make fun of this guy and take advantage of him whenever we can. It's our turn. God knows they would have done it to Bush ten times worse than anything The 0 gets.

[Ne0LyFeiSm]

Anyone can slip up on words and say things they didn't mean, and when every word you say is under a microscope, whenever you make a mistake people will jump on it. And - we've all said things we didn't mean.

Having said that - I agree with FireDog. I don't believe the Big O really believes much of what he says anyway. I really don't. So I don't care if this was just a slip of the forked tongue, we still have every right to make fun of this guy and take advantage of him whenever we can. It's our turn. God knows they would have done it to Bush ten times worse than anything The 0 gets.

I couldn't agree more. But what I don't get is how people can honestly think they can get something for nothing. Universal Health Care is no different - someone will have to pay piper, and especially so in this case as government run Health Care will have no profit motive, which means it has no incentive to be efficient and cost effective. At the end of the day this will be nothing more than a significant tax grab by the Dems to pay for this enormous monster.

Now the Liberals/Moderates/Libertarians/etc on this site tend to go back to the argument that the only difference between Government versus Private insurance is that the middleman is different. In place of the insurer who decides whether to pay your claim, a government bureaucrat would do so. In all honesty, this comparison is pretty accurate. The problem, which also happens to be the key difference, is that the Private Insurer has a vested interest in making a profit whereas the Government does not (see the Post Office for a perfect example). Sadly, this problem is much more complex - personally, I think the biggest driver of skyrocketing medical costs is malpractice suits. The premiums are so high that doctors need to perform MORE tests to make sure they can cover those costs as well as turn a profit. Insurance companies have to then balance these rising service costs with the premiums they charge employers (in most cases, if you have an individual plan, it's just the same only the sticker shock is more) - but not only are Doctors performing more tests to get the $'s for it, they do so to AVOID the POTENTIAL of any malpractice suit being filed. Think about that for a second.. rather than simply practicing medicine (which is NOT an exact science by the way, but I'll address that in another post should anyone be interested), Doctors are more fearful of being SUED than anything else. Medicine is constantly evolving in terms of practice - things that worked 10 years ago aren't as practical today as the science behind those procedures progresses.

Coupled with this (i.e., preventative care) is the Pharmaceutical industry. Consider the costs from an R&D perspective that these companies spend. Want to know why Nexium, the purple pill, costs more per tablet than a similar generic drug? - R&D and patent costs, that's why. That isn't to say that the Pharma companies shouldn't have a profit motive. But if the Pharma company insists on charging X for Nexium, while a generic costs 1/10th of X, which do you think the Doctor is going to prescribe? - If you have an HMO plan, you end up getting the generic anyway for like $10 (which is my actual cost in my current HMO plan), yet should you get the brand name, expect that cost to be anywhere from 5-10x the cost.

If you ask me, the only real solution to this monster is to attack it on multiple fronts:

(i) Pass tort reform IMMEDIATELY - This would so significantly reduce malpractice premiums that Doctors wouldn't do the battery of tests that they do now. As part of this, we should institute a "loser pays" philosophy which would further discourage these lawsuits after the damage/award caps have been set

(ii) Publish procedure costs - Just like you'd shop around for a car, shop around for the price of a procedure that needs to be done.

(iii) Eliminate pre-existing condition clauses - This is just outright wrong. To be denied coverage due to circumstances beyond your control is ridiculous. This is not the same as private insurers charging unhealthy people more due to circumstances IN their control (e.g., drink, smoke, etc.)

(iv) Incentive premiums -To me, this would be a no brainer. If private insurers say that they will offer lower premiums to those who are healthier (e.g., low cholesterol, low sugar, etc.), who wouldn't want to eat right and exercise in order to take advantage of it?

The bottom line is that health insurance is NOT a right. If that sounds cold to some of you, I really don't know what else to say. You have the responsibility to accept the circumstances if you engage in behavior/lifestyles that increase your risk of PREVENTABLE conditions/diseases. To think that you could do whatever you want without consequence is precisely the reason we're on the freight train to hell. Medicaid and Medicare are great examples of social health programs that simply have too many inefficiencies to be beneficial. No one can argue that point. The only way to fix this system is to tackle it from the pain points, not simply throw more money at it. We can't continue on the current course we're on, but it would be delusional on both sides of the political spectrum to think that throwing money at this beast will be the panacea.

[scarymary]

I am leaning toward what Neo and L&LL say about this.........and I'll tell you why......I see so many people who are overweight come into the store where I work buying candy, soft drinks, junk food, etc.,...............they look as though they haven't exercised a day in their life. And many of these same people end up on disability because they are unable to work due to their weight. How much effort does it take to go for a power walk? But ok, lefties, let's go ahead and put these people on the government dole. You do realize you are the one who is going to be paying for these people to continue on their path to being overweight and sedentary. They won't change. They can't. It would cost them their present benefits.