Healthcare Poll

[nodoginnafight]

I am wondering how the posters here feel about healthcare. Do you think:
1) The current system is fine - no need to try to fix what isn't broken.
2) The current system is fine, but a few minor tweaks may be in order.
3) The current system is OK, but we need to make some significant improvements.
4) The current system has major flaws that require major fixes.
5) The current system is totally shot - we should throw it out and start all over with a entirely new set of goals and an entirely different system.
6) Some other viewpoint (please explain)

and furthermore, what elements are the most important to you:
A) Cost
B) Availability of care
C) Quality of care
D) Portability and continuous coverage
E) Preventative care

And finally, are there other aspects of the issue not addressed above that you think are vital parts of a successful healthcare program?

In the spirit of full disclosure, may answers are:
3) The current system is OK, but we need to make some significant improvements. And while I think A-E are ALL important I rank them in this order: B, C, A, E, D.

 

[Yukon]

The American system is laughable. However many Conservatives believe it is the best system. This too is laughable.

 

[nodoginnafight]

Yukon, so then would you say that you lean toward 4 or 5?

 

[MaggieMae]

I am wondering how the posters here feel about healthcare. Do you think:
1) The current system is fine - no need to try to fix what isn't broken.
2) The current system is fine, but a few minor tweaks may be in order.
3) The current system is OK, but we need to make some significant improvements.
4) The current system has major flaws that require major fixes.
5) The current system is totally shot - we should throw it out and start all over with a entirely new set of goals and an entirely different system.
6) Some other viewpoint (please explain)

and furthermore, what elements are the most important to you:
A) Cost
B) Availability of care
C) Quality of care
D) Portability and continuous coverage
E) Preventative care

And finally, are there other aspects of the issue not addressed above that you think are vital parts of a successful healthcare program?

In the spirit of full disclosure, may answers are:
3) The current system is OK, but we need to make some significant improvements. And while I think A-E are ALL important I rank them in this order: B, C, A, E, D.

4-C&D:

Since it is looking more and more like this will be just one more futile attempt at assuring that ALL Americans have access to fair and equitable health care, I'd like to see this administration backtrack and start to mend some of the flaws in the existing government health plans.

--The VA continues to have serious problems with returning military people not getting proper diagnoses, long waiting periods, too few VA facilities to accommodate them, among other problems.

--The Medicare system needs to revise its guidelines to make payments to doctors and other medical facilities based on quality, not quantity. There is too much room for fraud.

--Hospitals need to begin justifying their increased costs which they supposedly base on expenses they incur by patients who have no insurance and do not fall within one of the government programs. I find it unbelievable that there is such a shortage of nurses, yet every floor of a hospital has its own fully staffed administrative office in addition to the main office. In other words, paper pushers can be thinned out and consolidated, whereas nurses cannot.

For example, I recently had a bone density scan at one of our local hospitals where I made three separate stops, filling out the same paperwork in a different format before 3 different staff members before I was finally put up on the table for the 10-minute scan by a radiologist. The bill was $700 for their "services" (which included BP reading, a blood test, and a piece of cloth to cover my naked ass. The actual scan cost $190. There's something wrong with that picture. You mean to tell me that a 10-minute procedure cost nearly $900.00???? Guess who paid for all but $21.00 of that. Medicare. Was I charged that much because the hospital knew that Medicare would pay it, no questions asked? See above.

Perhaps when some of the existing problems within the existing systems are dealt with so that we can actually SEE a difference, that will give a boost to the introduction of the next round of proposals for health care reform.

 

[nodoginnafight]

Thanks Maggie - some really good input there. I wish the healthcare debate could revolve around such reasoned arguments rather than all the red-herrings.
btw - I REALLY like your song!

 

[PoliticalChic]

For example, I recently had a bone density scan at one of our local hospitals where I made three separate stops, filling out the same paperwork in a different format before 3 different staff members before I was finally put up on the table for the 10-minute scan by a radiologist. The bill was $700 for their "services" (which included BP reading, a blood test, and a piece of cloth to cover my naked ass. The actual scan cost $190. There's something wrong with that picture. You mean to tell me that a 10-minute procedure cost nearly $900.00???? Guess who paid for all but $21.00 of that. Medicare. Was I charged that much because the hospital knew that Medicare would pay it, no questions asked? See above.

Perhaps when some of the existing problems within the existing systems are dealt with so that we can actually SEE a difference, that will give a boost to the introduction of the next round of proposals for health care reform.

I hope this is helpful:

"A Life Line brochure mailed to homes in the Washington area proclaims, "We can help you Avoid a Stroke . . . in just 10 minutes. . . . You don't have to wait for a medical problem to be screened for your risk of vascular disease or osteoporosis." And the screenings are "fast, painless, accurate . . . [and] affordable," says the brochure. The firm also promotes its services on its Web site, Health Screening | Life Line Screening .

Locally, the company charges $109 for the three-test "vascular package" and $129 for a "complete wellness package," which adds the osteoporosis test. Neither Medicare nor most private insurers cover Life Line screenings. "

Screening With Holes in It? - washingtonpost.com

I know folks that have used this service, and then discussed same with their physician.

 

[Lonestar_logic]

2-a

 

[nodoginnafight]

Thanks for your input lonestar. Do you feel cost trumps all other aspects of healthcare for yourself as well?

 

[MaggieMae]

Thanks Maggie - some really good input there. I wish the healthcare debate could revolve around such reasoned arguments rather than all the red-herrings.
btw - I REALLY like your song!

Yup. It's one of those happy tunes that will put a smile on anyone's face.

 

[MaggieMae]

For example, I recently had a bone density scan at one of our local hospitals where I made three separate stops, filling out the same paperwork in a different format before 3 different staff members before I was finally put up on the table for the 10-minute scan by a radiologist. The bill was $700 for their "services" (which included BP reading, a blood test, and a piece of cloth to cover my naked ass. The actual scan cost $190. There's something wrong with that picture. You mean to tell me that a 10-minute procedure cost nearly $900.00???? Guess who paid for all but $21.00 of that. Medicare. Was I charged that much because the hospital knew that Medicare would pay it, no questions asked? See above.

Perhaps when some of the existing problems within the existing systems are dealt with so that we can actually SEE a difference, that will give a boost to the introduction of the next round of proposals for health care reform.

I hope this is helpful:

"A Life Line brochure mailed to homes in the Washington area proclaims, "We can help you Avoid a Stroke . . . in just 10 minutes. . . . You don't have to wait for a medical problem to be screened for your risk of vascular disease or osteoporosis." And the screenings are "fast, painless, accurate . . . [and] affordable," says the brochure. The firm also promotes its services on its Web site, Health Screening | Life Line Screening .

Locally, the company charges $109 for the three-test "vascular package" and $129 for a "complete wellness package," which adds the osteoporosis test. Neither Medicare nor most private insurers cover Life Line screenings. "

Screening With Holes in It? - washingtonpost.com

I know folks that have used this service, and then discussed same with their physician.

Thanks for the information, and I hope other readers here will jot down the website. It's particularly annoying that neither Medicare nor private insurers cover it. When I first saw my bill, it wasn't glee that I only had to pay $21.00 of the amount, it was ANGER that if I had NOT been covered by Medicare or some other insurance, that amount of money would have been devastating to my wallet.

 

[editec]

I am wondering how the posters here feel about healthcare. Do you think:
1) The current system is fine - no need to try to fix what isn't broken.
2) The current system is fine, but a few minor tweaks may be in order.
3) The current system is OK, but we need to make some significant improvements.
4) The current system has major flaws that require major fixes.
5) The current system is totally shot - we should throw it out and start all over with a entirely new set of goals and an entirely different system.
6) Some other viewpoint (please explain)

and furthermore, what elements are the most important to you:
A) Cost
B) Availability of care
C) Quality of care
D) Portability and continuous coverage
E) Preventative care

And finally, are there other aspects of the issue not addressed above that you think are vital parts of a successful healthcare program?

In the spirit of full disclosure, may answers are:
3) The current system is OK, but we need to make some significant improvements. And while I think A-E are ALL important I rank them in this order: B, C, A, E, D.

We need to allow the market NON-solution to sink in such that almost nobody has HC insurance.

Until enough Americans actually experience the tragedy of being non-insured, they truly cannot appreciate how fucked up this system really is.

But as their employers cut back on insurance enough Americans will begin the realize tht the market doesn't have a solution to the problem.

Let the market fail completely and tragically, THEN suddenly everyone will realize that we need to rethink this whole problem.

 

[Xenophon]

The economy is in shambles, this is not the time to be adding another huge entitlement that can't possibly be paid for.

 

[editec]

The economy is in shambles, this is not the time to be adding another huge entitlement that can't possibly be paid for.

A not entirely valid complaint.

Of course HC costs are actually part of the cause of our economy being in a shambles, but the connections are so complex that even if we fix the HC problem, it won't matter much in the short run.

 

[Xenophon]

The economy is in shambles, this is not the time to be adding another huge entitlement that can't possibly be paid for.

A not entirely valid complaint.

Of course HC costs are actually part of the cause of our economy being in a shambles, but the connections are so complex that even if we fix the HC problem, it won't matter much in the short run.

Its a 100% valid complaint, SS is running out, Obama built a huge new deficiet on top of Chimpola's and we still haven't seen all of the cap & trade hit.

There never was a 'health care crisis', this is a manufactured problem going back to the early 90s.

 

[midcan5]

4-C

Consider that we spend more than any industrial nation on healthcare, 40 million are uninsured, and our healthcare rating is equivalent to Costa Rica and if that doesn't tell you something nothing would.

Health Insurance Reform Reality Check

'Whether or not you have health insurance right now, the reforms we seek will bring stability and security that you don't have today. This isn't about politics. This is about people's lives/ This is about people's businesses. This is about our future.'

Reform will stop "rationing" - not increase it
The "euthanasia" distortion on help for families
Vets' health care is safe and sound
Reform will benefit small business - not burden it
Your medicare is safe, and stronger with reform
You can keep your own insurance

Share This Page: Give others a healthy dose of reality Get the facts about the stability and security you get from health insurance reform | Health Insurance Reform Reality Check

 

[manu1959]

The economy is in shambles, this is not the time to be adding another huge entitlement that can't possibly be paid for.

A not entirely valid complaint.

Of course HC costs are actually part of the cause of our economy being in a shambles, but the connections are so complex that even if we fix the HC problem, it won't matter much in the short run.

making health care free to everyone will improve the economy.....

 

[PLYMCO_PILGRIM]

I am wondering how the posters here feel about healthcare. Do you think:
1) The current system is fine - no need to try to fix what isn't broken.
2) The current system is fine, but a few minor tweaks may be in order.
3) The current system is OK, but we need to make some significant improvements.
4) The current system has major flaws that require major fixes.
5) The current system is totally shot - we should throw it out and start all over with a entirely new set of goals and an entirely different system.
6) Some other viewpoint (please explain)

and furthermore, what elements are the most important to you:
A) Cost
B) Availability of care
C) Quality of care
D) Portability and continuous coverage
E) Preventative care

And finally, are there other aspects of the issue not addressed above that you think are vital parts of a successful healthcare program?

In the spirit of full disclosure, may answers are:
3) The current system is OK, but we need to make some significant improvements. And while I think A-E are ALL important I rank them in this order: B, C, A, E, D.

Your first set of questions I fall between 2 and 4 somewhere. I think the care/treatment system we have is top notch for quality of care...the problem is that without insurance it is not affordable for anyone making under 6 figures.

I think we need to find a way to extend coverage without allowing the government to get involved in providing that coverage. Until the govt can fix the other programs, such as a simple savings plan called social security, which we had entrusted them with I do not trust them to handle an insurance plan.


What elements are most important to me:

Availabilty of care and affordability of care through proper insurance coverage. I do not think that the govt getting involved in the actual care aspects will bring down costs or increase availability. The govt's track record in this area is very bad if you look at VA hospitals, Medicare, or their treaties with native american tribes.

Maybe some kind of legislation requiring insurance companies to provide coverage for high risk patients (then again they tried that with housing in fannie/freddy and the market collapsed)


I really think it comes down to coverage. We need to find a SMART way to get people insurance so they can afford to go to the doctor. To me letting the govt get involved is a poorly thought out idea. Congress enjoys a 20% approval rating for a reason, and if the majority of us dont think they are doing a good job we, if we are intelligent, wouldn't want to put them in charge of our health care. At least not the current lot of losers in the republican and democrat parties.

 

[nodoginnafight]

Congress enjoys a 20% approval rating for a reason

Actually it's 30.6 right now.

 

[PLYMCO_PILGRIM]

Congress enjoys a 20% approval rating for a reason

Actually it's 30.6 right now.

Good to know (who polled that?) it still means its pretty stupid of people to put them in charge of something this important when the majority of people dont think they are doing a good/capable job right now.

EDIT: 30% of democrats approve of congress right now 17% of republicans approve of congress.

The generic approval rating is 18% doing a good/excellent job up 6% from 2 weeks ago.

Approval Of Congress Up, But Voters Downplay Its Accomplishments - Rasmussen Reports™

 

[nodoginnafight]

Good to know (who polled that?

It is a composite from Real Clear Politics - yeah Rassmussen is lower and you can find other partisan polling where it is higher - that's why the averages are the most reliable indicators.