Obama’s Political Operation To Launch Big Database Of Health Care Stories
In a major new effort to throw Obama’s campaign apparatus into the push for health care reform, the White House’s political operation is set to launch a massive new online data bank of thousands of health care stories, which will be spread around the country via Obama’s extensive email list, officials familiar with the project tell me.
The new “health care story bank” — as it’s dubbed by Organizing for America, Obama’s reconfigured political and campaign operation run out of the DNC — is perhaps the most ambitious test case yet determining whether the technological apparatus that fueled Obama’s campaign can succeed in driving Obama’s governing agenda.
The new initiative, which will be announced and go live later this morning, comes at a moment when many Democrats are asking what Obama plans to do to campaign for health care reform. OFA officials view it as a major technological and communications component of their push to make reform happen.
Here’s an advance look at what the online data bank will look like (click to enlarge):
The story bank is an effort to harness the power of personal anecdote to make the case for reform. Officials with OFA, which is headed by operative Mitch Stewart, say they’ve banked in the database hundreds of thousands of personal and first-hand stories detailing people’s experiences of the health care crisis.
These stories, which OFA had been collecting on its Web site but had not released, will be disseminated to the massive OFA email list, in hopes that campaign-style organizers around the country will use powerful first-hand anecdotes to argue the case for reform — and to push back on opponents’ talking points. There will also be a tool that allow users to flag particular stories as deserving of more attention.
In one particularly interesting detail, the new database will also allow people to zero in on personal stories of people from their states or Congressional districts, so organizers can bring the need for reform close to home and use the tales to pressure members of Congress. I’ll bring you a link to the new database when it’s up and running later today.
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Smart, very smart indeed. Great find Greg, you’re ahead of the game again.
Such an effort will of course need to be moderated in some fashion, to minimize the impact of the inevitable rw spam attempts.
I wonder if DoS attacks on the site from rw lunatics would count as terrorism?
And about time, Greg. Thanks for this update. We need to see how people are personally affected by having no access or limited access to hc.
So the next time you hear some wingnut spouting off with some horror story about Canada, England or (As some jerk tried on Bill Press this morning)Austrailia, we can counter with one at home.
I hope anyone that uses these stories independently verifies their accuracy, because Republicans and Lieberdems are going to jump on the smallest inaccuracies to tarnish the whole lot.
And they should correct the typing and grammar. I could spot 3 in a quick glance at the screenshot. Destroys credibility.
Yeah I worry that the wingnuts are going to launch an effort to totally discredit this initiative. I imagine later on today Michelle Malkin will be trying to track down the home addresses and phone numbers of people who have their story on the website and I also imagine wingnut will be purposely posting false stories so they can come back later and claim its all a sham much like the @ss hats at NRO kept “supposedly” making fraudulent contributions to Pres Obama’s campaign last year to try to “prove” he was breaking FEC laws.
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I can see the potential for it to do good but I can also see the potential for disaster.
“Obama’s reconfigured political and campaign operation run out of the DNC…”
That alone is cause for concern. Imagine if Bush’s White House ran its political agenda from the RNC….ouch….
But it’s all hope n’ change now so I guess its ok…
The plural of anecdote is data?
Yeah Samuel, cuz we all know that Bush was the picture of being apolitical.
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BUHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
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You can’t be serious.
Wonder if the database of healthcare stories will include examples like this:
Thousands of kidney cancer patients have been handed an ‘early death sentence’ under plans to ban life-extending new drugs.
Four drugs which can offer patients extra years with their loved ones have been rejected by the Government’s rationing body because they cost too much.
The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence admits the drugs work, but says that if they are approved, patients with other diseases will have to go without.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1042389/NICE-delivers-death-sentence-cancer-patients-rejects-new-drugs.html
I’m sure the reality-based community wouldn’t support the creation of a cherry-picked collection of stories. That’s not “data”, that’s a commercial.
“Wonder if the database of healthcare stories will include examples like this”
Well, Dr. Von Braun, since that story is from England, do you suppose it would be included in a collection of stories from -American- health care consumers?
So obvious when the health care industry unleashes their blog-watching flacks. Karen Tumulty’s been asking on swampland at time.com why none of the cable news outlets are covering these stories, specifically some powerful testimony before congressional committees. Might have to do with insurers advertising dollars?
Speaking of health care pushes. I’m not sure if anyone else lives in the DC Metro area but the voice on many of the health care ads hitting the T.V. in NoVA are the same voice Obama used during the campaign. Search for the “seven tv ad” ad on you tube and you’ll hear it’s the same person.
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I guess groups supporting Obama’s agenda are using the same marketing firms Obama used during the campaign.
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Just thought I’d throw that out there…one of those things that makes you go hmmmm…
question
Just out of curiosity what would that story have to do with health care reform here which have nothing to do with a single payer system like England? Better yet we have our own rationing here that kills people, its call rejection by insurance companies. And thats in your precious “free market” system. So the choice really isn’t a choice. Whether its England with their single payer or us with our Health Insurance friendly system there is always somebody trying to save money by letting folks die. So what is needed is a way to bring down costs all around so at least people can afford insurance that will probably end up rejecting them later, and thus the public option. But I am sure you would much rather have our deficits explode, medicare go bank rupt and your own insurance premiums go through the roof as long as nobody can ever use that dreaded term “socialist” to describe American healthcare, right?
You really can’t fix stupid
I just have 1 question for all of you educated people out there. Are ANY of you doctors? Do ANY of you know the REAL details about how our healthcare system works compared to socialized healthcare in other countries besides the talking points given to ABC/MSNBC/CBS? Tell you what, before you say that “I’m smarter than everyone and I know what’s best”, why don’t you go ask YOUR doctor what THEY think because THEY are the ones who know what the consequences of these decisions will be.
sgwhiteinfla
Many people in the US advocate health care reform in part through criticisms of practices in the US that deny payment for certain proposed treatments. Health care is rationed in countries with single payer systems. That fact should be acknowledged more widely.
“”why don’t you go ask YOUR doctor what THEY think because THEY are the ones who know what the consequences of these decisions will be.”"
I don’t think my doctor will appreciate a federal agecny determining his salary based on Medicare table on some bureaucrat’s wall, somewhere in DC.
That’s essentially what the House plan does…
Samuel, point me to the WH document please that says a bureaucrat will determine a doctors pay. Thanks.
…And for that matter, Samuel, ask your doctor if he *does* appreciate the bureaucrats from your health insurance company making that decision, as they are doing right now. *You* don’t make decisions about your care, and neither does your doctor. Your insurance company makes those decisions for you. They decide what they will pay for, and your doctor is forced to adjust your care accordingly. Better a government agency that is accountable to the voters than a faceless insurance company that will dump you in a recision the instant you complain.
I don’t think my doctor will appreciate a federal agecny determining his salary based on Medicare table on some bureaucrat’s wall, somewhere in DC. That’s essentially what the House plan does
That is what every insurance company in the US does.
Samuel @ 9:54 AM: Obama could have run that policy advocacy on federal dollars but instead is having the DNC pay for it. And you’re complaining? This is the opposite of what Bush did.
Keep in mind that the “horror stories” that we hear from other countries are cherry-picked from millions of times where people are treated timely, and satisfactorily, and where everyone has coverage and nobody goes bankrupt because of medical expenses.
Yes, those systems need improvement, but the people opposing health reform want to make it seem that those “horror stories” are the norm in universal health systems. They’re not, they’re the exception.
On top of that, if our system was so superior, you’d think that they’d all be wanting emulate it. I don’t know of one country where the population wants to dump universal health care and implement a system like ours.
Keep in mind, health care is now rationed by the insurance companies whose only motive is profit. My former insurer, Anthem Blue Cross used to be a mutual insurance company. The Wall Street geniuses thought up demutualization which bought the company from its policy holders. I ended up with a check for $1500 even though I only had a policy for 6 months.
Have any of you thought about the quantity of medical people? If you give everyone free medical care none of us will get it in a timely fashion, there simply is not enough doctors and nurses avaialble to treat everyone. Right now some people that don’t have health insurance dont’t seek medical help unless it’s urgent. Can you imagine the flood of people that would come if they could be seen for free for a sniffle?
….and this is the guy that used to accuse Dick Cheney of scare tactics in the war on terror? Too bad he’s resorting to a Josef Goebbels propaganda pusche, for something that should now be called the “war on wallets”!!!
I posted my stories on the site accouting how when I was a young, healthy recent college graduate with two jobs but no health insurance, I was thrown into dept for the first time in my life by a trip to the emergency room for a bicycling accident and of the excellent, efficient, and totally free care I received years later when I had a medical emergency while travelling in Denmark. I’m pretty sure we can do a better job of providing health care in this country. Why not read the stories, post your own, and consider the real experiences of your family, friends, and neighbors instead of the paid opinions of lobbyists and pundits?
A HEALTH CARE HORROR STORY: I was recenly married and lost my health care with the state of Arizona. Although my husband has health care with his employer, we cannot afford the care for myself, nor can I work until I am fixed. Why should I have lost the care I had with the state, just because I married? When I lived with my husband out of wedlock, I was eligable for APIPA (Arizona health care). What changed? Just my name. This does not make sense, it makes it sound like our country condones unmarried couples, and penalizes us if we marry. I know that many women out there are not getting married for this very reason, and many more are divorcing, yet staying together, so that they can get the health help she needs. The horror part of this story is the pain that I am having to endure on a daily basis. I have spinal stenosis and there has been nothing I take that will diminish the pain. My only hope is to have either surgery or lazer treatment. I can’t even afford the MRI, which is necessary for doctors to proceed, let alone the help I need. There is really something wrong here, don’t you think! Please President Obama, please help us! Women should not have to suffer as I am, just because we got married. Sincerely, Sheila J. Harris
This same thing happened to both of my children when they graduated. We went on line and found a high deductible, catastrophic policy for each of them and then when they needed to see the doctor for routine things, we negotiated price with them. I covered each of them for significantly less than $100 monthly and paid the reduced dr visits ourt of pocket. All in all, I spent no more on this coverage and visits than I did on their group insurance through my employer. There is coverage out there for those who want it —-it just isn’t free, as nothing is.
“That is what every insurance company in the US does.” Well, Kim and bugmenot the insurance companies pay marginally better than medicaid and certainly will pay better than any government plan unless you are ready to give up 50% or so of your salary in taxes (like in the EU) to pay the doctors what they deserve. Plus, doctors have a CHOICE in which insurance plans to accept. Do you think they will be able to reject this new government plan? Doubtful. Do they get a vote? Nope. They will be forced to accept a fraction of what they should for their work and THAT is why they will not like it no more than you or I would like to be told by the govt how much we should be paid for our work. The real issue here is the left wingnuts who haven’t a clue how things work in the real world and can’t see the forest through the trees. Obama and most others in DC have never worked an honest job in their lives or have forgot what it is like out there so they have no idea. If you want to see insurance costs come down try some tort reform to cap the ridiculous jury awards in medical malpractice cases. Doctors have to charge enough to cover their insurance costs you know. I am all for lower healthcare premiums and do think every American should be covered but the government will charge too much in taxes, waste most of it on layers of bureaucracy and then pay the doctors too little so you end up with fewer people going to med school. A government plan will never be efficient.
And the spiral continues. The same government that caused the run-up of health care costs is now the one we’re coming to to bring them down (ie note education costs). The more government gets involved the more costs go up.
So many on this board talk about coverage like quality plays no role. Sure everyone will get a free Band-Aid for minor injuries/cases, but why are cancer survival rates lower in just about every country where total socialized medicine exists?
http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/561737
http://www.thenewatlantis.com/publications/socialism-and-cancer
And since anecdotal evidence seems to be popular here: I have family in Kuwait who have more money than they know what to do with. When my nephew in Kuwait had a serious skull infection they were told by doctors in Kuwait, Dubai, and England to go to the US because that is where the best care was.
Why don’t we look at the role the government itself plays in health cost problems?
http://www.investors.com/NewsAndAnalysis/Article.aspx?id=480067
The insurance companies are no saints but many times they have to “cost shift” to cover the shortfalls created by their Medicare/Medicaid case reimbursements. So guess who gets stuck with the difference? Not to mention the mound and layers of paperwork caused by unnecessary regulations.
Other thing to reduce health care costs and expand access: Allow shopping for insurance across state lines or not mandate coverages on a few one-size fits all policies for things many people don’t want? (i.e., mental health coverage but not needed/wanted by policyholder); More incentive for Health Savings Accounts, etc.
From boortz.com:
Allow individuals to deduct the cost of their health insurance from their taxable income, just like their employers can right now.
End all state insurance mandates. If some insurance company wants to market an insurance policy that doesn’t cover for the normal costs of childbirth, drug abuse treatments, mental health treatments, obesity treatments, alcohol-related treatments and the like … then let them.
Allow people to shop across state lines for their medical insurance.
Expand the privileges of nurse practitioners. I don’t need someone with seven years of medical school and residency to prescribe an antibiotic for a sore throat.
Charge a minimum of $5.00 per visit to any public health facility … regardless of income. This will weed out the people for whom a visit to the doctor is more of a weekly social event.
Require only life-saving medical care to those who are in this country illegally.
Allow employers to shut out smokers from any company-provided health insurance benefits.
That too me all of 90 seconds .. .and there’s not one idea there that expands the size or scope of government.
Finally one of the greater contributors to increasing health care costs is litigation. But since this is caused by a mainly Democrat Party constituency (trial lawyers) this isn’t mentioned much — the outrageous cost of medical malpractice policies.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124571387059539071.html
There is much more at stake with this healthcare push and more than meets the eye…Listen I think deals were made with big corporations such as GE and IBM who if this healthcare bill passes will make billions of dollars. GE and IBM gave large campaign donations to the Obama campaign. We will be stuck with this boondoggle for decades and our medical care as we know it will be a thing of the past. My husband is a kidney dialysis patient. Will he be told that he will not get dialysis anymore because heis over a certain age? I wonder…They are not telling the American people the truth about this Socialist program…Look at England, France and Canada! They hate the Socialist Healthcare system..so now he wants to impose his will on the American people for payback? Come on now, you scratch my back, I scratch your back…Politics makes strange bedfellows..and Obama has become way too cozy with Jeffrey Imelt of GE..and he has total access to his network any time any day. You can be sure that all commercials on NBC will be in favor of this boondoggle of a healthcare system. Socialism is on the march in 2009.
Wow, there are quite a few people here who seem optimistic about the running of a healthcare system by our government. They can’t run anything else very well, they already mis-manage our money and now they want us to put our lives in their hands? Scary.
As someone who knows that a MD’s pay isn’t what it once was, the cost for their schooling is more than they will make in years, thier expenses to practice off the charts. I have worked with doctors who have just finished school, as well as ones who have been practicing for quite some time. And to say they will not be please with a government run plan is an understatement. Sure private insurances can dictate the type of medical care you recieve, but only to an extent. And that extent is in the type of plan you hold. HMO vs PPO vs POS vs whatever else they decide to come up with. HMO’s of any kind have much more red tape and ways to prevent you from getting the care you need in a timely fashion. Where as a PPO you are more likely to get care pronto, and by qualified doctors, since these usually pay more, therefore more doctors are likely to accept these types of plans. But then you still have to find a good doctor. Just and fyi three of the worse paying insurances are already run by some form of government involvement…Champus, Medicare and MCaid. Corporations have no business running medical anything, and this mean Governments as well.
But no matter what be your own advocate, this is the age of the internet, look things up, compare information, be informed. Every does deserve to have insurance, but everyone does not deserve to have insurance paid for by someone else. “You value most the things you have an investment in”. Your body and health should be one of those things.
I have relatives in England and Canada and they are very glad they have the so called Socialist Healthcare system. They are amazed when they hear that in America if you get sick you can go bankrupt and that millions of people have no health insurance. Also, they find it horrifying that people who leave or lose their jobs also lose their healthcare. I’d take England or Canada’s health system over the US anytime. I lived in England for years, also Spain and Portugal and I had no problems with the healthcare there.
I think it is wrong to make policy based on anecdotes. I am tired of politicians using one case to make policy or lable someone. there are problems with our helth care system, but remember that the # of uninsured is inflated by many people who have opted out of health insurance because they can afford not to have it, or refuse it on general grounds. I have seen figures as low as 22 million who no not have insurance because they could not afford it. What ever the figure most people are covered. We need to fight waste. that can only be done by independent auditors, who cannot be fired by Obama. then doctors salraies can be controlled by stopping ridulous legal fees and claims. If a doctor makes a mistake he should pay a reasonable amount. But often the lawyers get 1/3, irregardless of how much they actually worked. If you are going to set doctors fees, why not limit lawyer’s fees? Those savings would cut into insurance premiums. and excessive tests are now being used according to Obama. Maybe because they are afraid if they don’t then they will be sued for anything that happens. tak away that legal threat and doctors tests would go down. But i for one have had extra tests run and cancer was found, so they are sometimes necesary. But Obama seems to want to panic and use the chicken little approach to health are, and it will ruin us. Time and study are needed to fix the problems. that is why i liked the idea of helping to pay insurance premiums for the poor, get them in the system and then take action on several other problems. Let’s not rush into things, okay.
Like James said, ask your doctor what she/he thinks about a government plan and Obama mandating what they can charge and see what they say. Wake up America, Medicare & Medicaid (2 other gov’t run health plans) have been losing money for years even while they pay doctors and hospitals less than 50% of charges for their services. If the gov’t had to negotiate reimbursement rates like the insurers do vs. making it law that healthcare providers accept what they decide to pay, they wouldn’t last a week!
What dweebs.One dweeb brings up an old article from Rubert Murdoch’s rag in England. That’s got to be accurate and relevant. Not! From Wiki, Google Sutent:
“In the UK NICE refused (late 2008) to recommend suntinib for late stage renal cancer (kidney cancer) due to the high cost per QALY, estimated by NICE at £72,000/QALY and by Pfizer at £29,000/QALY.[20] It was also refused by NICE in 2008 for the treatment of kidney cancer.[21] This refusal/guidance was updated Feb 2009 after negotiations on price for the first course of treatment.”
My doctor works at a community health center. She wants reform and a system like everywhere else in the industrialized world. I go to a community health center because the care is better and private doctors won’t even take my medicare. Whatever we do in the way of reform it won’t be enough. There is a cancer in theis country, it’s called the republican party and it needs to be cut out. Excised. And any Blue dog Dems with it.
…..I lived in England for years, also Spain and Portugal and I had no problems with the healthcare there.” – Elaine Unger
I respectfully ask: What illnesses did you have? What care did you need? Also when were you there?
The trolls are already here. Names like “Question” and “doubter”. Same guy and a plant, a mental vegetable with nothing but baseless assertions. I’ll bet he was all in favor of “government” when we were invading Iraq on false pretenses. As I said earlier. I go to a community health center. I have more than a few stories about people who have been killed or crippled or generally screwed around by going to private HMOs.
Okay, Forget anecdotes. Every other industrialized democracy in the free world has some form of public option. Then there are the statistics. You can’t argue with them. We have a higher infant mortality rate than Cuba and people in France live longer than we do. What f-g else do you need to know? Our health care system is broken.
Medmgr is full of it. Social Security is a government run program. It has been working quite well for longer than he has been alive.
Trolls: bruce, tressa, tom, medmgr, doubter, question.
Thankfully “socialism” is on the march in 2009 and 75% of the population wants it.
Just picked up Frost/Nixon: The Complete Interviews. These DVD’s are AMAZING! Once I started, I couldn’t stop watching them. Watching Frost go to work on Nixon is like watching a great boxing match. Both sides are delivering jabs until Frost delivers the knockout Blow – Watergate. Seeing Nixon crumble under the relentless pressure of Frost is truly fascinating. The Watergate interviews kept me wanting more and the 5 other interviews definitely delivered. This is a must have for anyone’s collection http://bit.ly/FrostNixon
It’s the same story everywhere: Somebody always wants something for nothing, or more aptly (and succinctly), wants somebody else to pay for it. There was a place that advertised itself just that way — the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). Plenty of pointy heads (demented liberals — there are no other kind) fell head over heels for the concept, and still “pine for the possibilities.” Don’t know much about history, but I do recall that nothing developed from that ’social experiment’ (catastrophe) other than nuclear bombs (which without they would cease to exist)…Want “free” healthcare? Just say no!
The insurance companies may pay marginally better than Medicaid, but they pay substantially worse than Medi*care*. And we are already paying 15% payroll taxes to pay for health insurance for the elderly — Medicare. Plus taxes to pay for health insurance for the military (Tricare) and health insurance for the poor (Medicaid) and children (SCHIP) and the destitute (emergency rooms). The only people who *DON’T* get taxpayer-provided health coverage are the middle-class working stiffs! The least expensive people who have the fewest medical problems!
It would be quite cheap to add working people to Medicare. Medicare and Tricare/VA also have the lowest administrative costs and lowest bureacracy levels of any medical insurance in the United States.
The real issue here is the right wingnuts who haven’t a clue how things work in the real world and can’t see the forest or the trees, thanks to a failure to learn any economics and a failure to do any actual research.
“If the gov’t had to negotiate reimbursement rates like the insurers do ”
They do. Idiot!
“I don’t need someone with seven years of medical school and residency to prescribe an antibiotic for a sore throat.”
Apparently, however, you do need one to tell you that you should ALMOST NEVER have an antibiotic for a sore throat, most of which are caused by VIRUSES. Antibiotics don’t work on viruses and giving antibiotics to people who don’t need them is a leading cause of the evolution of antibiotic-resistant bacteria.
Geez. I guess it’s no surprise that one of the people spouting right-wing nonsense is also medically ignorant as well as economically ignorant.
AMERICA’S NATIONAL HEALTHCARE EMERGENCY!
It’s official. America and the World are now in a GLOBAL PANDEMIC. A World EPIDEMIC with potential catastrophic consequences for ALL of the American people. The first PANDEMIC in 41 years. And WE THE PEOPLE OF THE UNITED STATES will have to face this PANDEMIC with the 37th worst quality of healthcare in the developed World.
STAND READY AMERICA TO SEIZE CONTROL OF YOUR NATIONAL HEALTHCARE SYSTEM.
We spend over twice as much of our GDP on healthcare as any other country in the World. And Individual American spend about ten times as much out of pocket on healthcare as any other people in the World. All because of GREED! And the PRIVATE FOR PROFIT healthcare system in America.
And while all this is going on, some members of congress seem mostly concern about how to protect the corporate PROFITS! of our GREED DRIVEN, PRIVATE FOR PROFIT NATIONAL DISGRACE. A PRIVATE FOR PROFIT DISGRACE that is in fact, totally valueless to the public health. And a detriment to national security, public safety, and the public health.
Progressive democrats and others should stand firm in their demand for a robust public option for all Americans, with all of the minimum requirements progressive democrats demanded. If congress can not pass a robust public option with at least 51 votes and all robust minimum requirements, congress should immediately move to scrap healthcare reform and demand that President Obama declare a state of NATIONAL HEALTHCARE EMERGENCY! Seizing and replacing all PRIVATE FOR PROFIT health insurance plans with the immediate implementation of National Healthcare for all Americans under the provisions of HR676 (A Single-payer National Healthcare Plan For All).
Coverage can begin immediately through our current medicare system. With immediate expansion through recruitment of displaced workers from the canceled private sector insurance industry. Funding can also begin immediately by substitution of payroll deductions for private insurance plans with payroll deductions for the national healthcare plan. This is what the vast majority of the American people want. And this is what all objective experts unanimously agree would be the best, and most cost effective for the American people and our economy.
In Mexico on average people who received medical care for A-H1N1 (Swine Flu) with in 3 days survived. People who did not receive medical care until 7 days or more died. This has been the same results in the US. But 50 million Americans don’t even have any healthcare coverage. And at least 200 million of you with insurance could not get in to see your private insurance plans doctors in 2 or 3 days, even if your life depended on it. WHICH IT DOES!
Contact congress and your representatives NOW! AND SPREAD THE WORD!
God Bless You
Jacksmith – WORKING CLASS
I’m a family doctor, US-trained and licensed. I agree with the majority of my colleagues that a national health care plan is necessary. If I were motivated by profit, I would have gone to business school, not medical school. The US insurance industry’s mission is to maximize profit for its shareholders. A physician’s mission is to preserve and restore health. I would welcome a single-payer national health plan. I need it myself…my husband has Medicare coverage and I’m hoping to not get ill while I’m under 65. Our 19 year old has no insurance, either…we pay out of our pockets for medical and dental care.
Why do you need to pay a lot for health care? Just send all the sick uninsured Americans to Mexico. It’s much more affordable, and it will help NAFTA.
Only 50 million uninsured Americans will be cheap to care for in Mexico.
I feel we definately need a safety net, and especially for children. However, some important data points to ponder before we go running off to one end or the other. Love the emotional grandstanding from both ends of the spectrum. Hopefully I can keep mine to a minimum, but I am disappointed I see no one at all asking any real questions.
1) How much of our health care costs are due to our higher rate of obesity compared to other countries, (I have seen data suggesting 60% of health care issues are due to life style, so this has an impact.) This cost will not be addressed by simply having ‘gov’ coverage. A national health plan must address this if we expect to get the cost savings/containment we are thinking about (fat tax?).
2) How much of our health care dollars are due to end of life care/consumer choice? ie. spending 50k on a drug that extends your life 6-12 months, or getting the MRI that you pushed your doctor to give you. My understanding is that this does not happen in other countries under their gov run plans, the doctor is the decider. If you support a gov national plan and say that its tough luck we shouldn’t have to pay for it, then why should I have to pay for anyones health care at all, where do you decide to draw the line?
3) Although our overall care is behind other countries, I have seen data that says our care from age 30 and beyond is actually better (Public Policy Class). Does anyone have the source, or the reason why this is the case?
4) Doctors motivated by profit(SMW). No, they may not ALL be motivated by profit. However, I know several surgeons who are able to tolerate the 100 hour work weeks BECAUSE of the paycheck. Additionally, I know two doctors who have considered closing their practices due to the lack of reward vs. risk. Doctor motivations vary like everyone else, we need to understand those especially with an extra 40 million hopefully seeing a doctor.
5) Quality of care. With government stipulating how much each procedure costs, how are quality of care metrics encouraged, accounted for? Note: this is a problem private or public.
6) Fraud Prevention Incentives. Current FBI estimates are 60 billion/year Medicaid/Medicare fraud. I would imagine private insurance has the incentive to track this down on their own. Will the FBI or some other agency be given the authority/incentive to reduce this down to an acceptable level?
7) No doubt about it. You will wait longer to see a doctor if a national plan is worth anything, ie. people will actually use it. Inelastic supply, shift in demand.
So let’s solve the real problems. Obama care doesn’t even attempt to do the right thing. Obama and his surrogates in Congress are not telling you the truth. It will be single payer and care will be rationed. It can’t possibly go any other way.
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