Health Care Reform

[WakeUp]

47 MILLION DON'T HAVE CARE!

THAT'S NOT RIGHT!

THAT'S NOT FAIR!

[Lonewarrior]

HEY WAKE UP!!!!


To you and your left wing radical acorn kook buddies!


If you hate America and our health care so much...


LEAVE!

[Lonewarrior]

Obama the radical liar called out!

Obama heckled by GOP during speech: 'You lie!'



Video: http://cosmos.bcst.yahoo.com/up/play...26716&src=news

WASHINGTON – In an extraordinary breach of congressional decorum, a Republican lawmaker shouted "You lie" at President Barack Obama during his speech to Congress Wednesday.

Rep. Joe Wilson, R-S.C., tried to call Obama to apologize in person, but ended up speaking to White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel.

The contrite congressman, "expressed his apologies" to Emanuel, not the president at whom he had shouted a few hours earlier, Wilson's office said.

By that time, Wilson's House Web site had crashed and he had taken a brutal beating on his Twitter page for breaching protocol and good manners during a presidential speech to a joint session of Congress.

"This evening I let my emotions get the best of me," Wilson said in a statement. "While I disagree with the president's statement, my comments were inappropriate and regrettable. I extend sincere apologies to the president for this lack of civility."

Wilson's outburst came after Obama said that extending health care to all Americans who seek it would not mean insuring illegal immigrants.

"You lie!" Wilson shouted from his seat on the Republican side of the chamber.

Republicans froze, with several looking in Wilson's direction.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi directed a fierce frown at him; first lady Michelle Obama pursed her lips and shook her head from side to side. Vice President Joe Biden looked down and shook his head, too.

Obama, meanwhile, looked toward the outburst and replied, "That's not true," and went on with his speech.

Right away, Wilson seemed to sense that he had fouled up. Wilson appeared to consult his Blackberry for much of the rest of Obama's speech. He shook his head defiantly after several of the president's statements. When Obama finished, Wilson bolted from the chamber.

Wilson's wasn't the only interruption during Obama's speech, but it was the most notable.

Obama's Republican rival from last year's presidential race for the White House defended the president.

Wilson's behavior was "totally disrespectful," Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., said on CNN. "There is no place for it in that setting, or any other, and he should apologize for it immediately."

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., said "I have never in my 29 years heard an outburst of that nature with reference to a president of the United States speaking as a guest of the House and Senate."

"It was a shameful act," he told WTOP radio.

Hoyer said he'll work with GOP lawmakers to decide whether to punish Wilson.

___

Associated Press writer Ben Evans contributed to this report.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090910/..._care_heckling

[WakeUp]

Three Things I Wanted to Hear

Len M. Nichols is director of the health policy program at The New America Foundation in Washington, D.C.

The president made clear tonight that he is committed to solving our health care coverage and cost problems.


He is willing to work with anyone — Democrat, Republican or independent — who is also interested in real solutions. He was equally clear that those who oppose enabling all Americans to afford health care had better be prepared to explain to families and employers why their urgent need for relief from killer cost increases should be postponed, once again, to protect the interests of those who profit from today’s inefficient and unfair system. I could not agree more.


I also heard three important themes:

• Reaffirmation. The president confirmed his strong commitment to key goals of reform. All Americans must have quality, affordable health coverage, and we will not add to the deficit to achieve that goal.
• Flexibility. The president signaled he was open to work with both sides to find common ground on three contentious issues: a public health insurance option, taxing high-cost benefits and medical malpractice reform. A public option that is “triggered” when competition is lacking and prices are too high is a brilliant way to square the circle of this overly contentious issue. Taxing insurers who offer high-cost benefits would be a major step forward in slowing the rate of health care cost growth and making coverage affordable for the long-term. I am particularly impressed with the president’s willingness to start down the road to medical malpractice reform immediately. Some kind of medical malpractice reform should be part of any comprehensive reform package.
• Coverage expansion and delivery system savings are and must be linked. The president thinks that coverage expansion and delivery system reform should be linked by policies that reinforce each other. No reform insight is more true. Both are key to achieving and maintaining coverage for all and a sound fiscal future for our nation.

[WakeUp]

A Surprise: Malpractice Reform?

Helen Darling is president of the National Business Group on Health, which represents large employers on health policy issues in Washington, D.C.

The president raised one issue that was a very pleasant surprise — that is, medical malpractice and the need for change, partly due to the costs and waste related to defensive medical practice. Since Democrats are usually highly resistant to even discussing tort reform, the fact that he raised it is good news. He was not very specific, but at least he acknowledged the problem and opened the door...

...All in all, he was more specific and tough minded than some health policy pundits thought he would be, and he showed that he is willing to do battle to enact health care reform. But he will have to keep speaking for many weeks if he is to keep enough senators and representatives on board to pass legislation...

[Lonewarrior]

Originally Posted by WakeUp

47 MILLION DON'T HAVE CARE!

THAT'S NOT RIGHT!

THAT'S NOT FAIR!

Heres your 47 million..

[WakeUp]

This message is hidden because Lonewarrior is on your ignore list.

Another post from the rude Revenge Fringe, Berserkers, spreading sleaze and lies.

[WakeUp]

More Americans Have No Health Insurance

Census Bureau Report Shows Slight Increase in Uninsured in 2008

By Andy Miller
WebMD Health News
Reviewed by Louise Chang, MD


Sept. 10, 2009 -- The number of Americans without health insurance rose slightly to 46.3 million in 2008, as enrollment growth in safety-net programs helped counter the continued slippage in job-based coverage.

The annual Census Bureau report, released Thursday, shows that an additional 680,000 people had no health insurance last year.

But wait till the next Census report, health care analysts warn.

The data on 2009 will likely show a much bigger jump in the uninsured, when the full brunt of the recession will be documented.

"This is only the tip of the iceberg,’" says Elise Gould, director of health policy research for the Economic Policy Institute. "It's a virtual certainty that with the deepening of the recession this year, more Americans are losing health insurance.’"

The current uninsured number is likely approaching 50 million, Gould says.

Uninsured in America

The overall percentage of Americans without health coverage in 2008, 15.4%, is statistically unchanged from the year before.

"I'm a little surprised that the number of uninsured didn't climb more,"’ says Bill Custer, a health insurance expert at Georgia State University.

But Custer also notes that the Census asked people whether they had insurance coverage at any time last year. So if someone lost job-based insurance in February of last year, that person would be counted as being insured in 2008.

A fuller picture of the recession's impact on the uninsured will be seen in next year's Census report, Custer says.

The new Census report, tracking the first full year of the recession, also shows that the nation's poverty rate increased to 13.2%, up from 12.5% in 2007, and representing the highest rate since 1997. Median household income fell 3.6% to $50,303.

The 46.3 million uninsured figure is still below a high of 47 million reported in 2006.

It's unclear how the uninsured numbers will play out in the raucous debate on health care reform. Gould says the statistics show the need for change. "Americans need affordable, secure alternatives to a system wherein you lose your coverage when you lose your job. The status quo is simply not a viable solution."

President Barack Obama, who addressed a joint session of Congress on health reform Wednesday night, said Thursday of the health insurance figures, "The situation's grown worse over the last 12 months. It's estimated that the ranks of the uninsured have swelled by at least 6 million.’"

Various reform plans aim to extend coverage to most, if not all, of the uninsured. Republicans, though, have pointed out that millions without health insurance are eligible for government programs yet are not enrolled, and that millions more are in households with incomes of $75,000 or more. Many uninsured are also illegal immigrants, Sen. Orrin Hatch. R-Utah, said recently.

More Children Have Health Insurance

The health insurance data, meanwhile, show some good news: a significant decline in the number of children who are uninsured. That number fell from 8.1 million to 7.3 million in 2008. That's the lowest mark since 1987, the first year that comparable data were collected.

Many more kids gained coverage in Medicaid and the State Children's Health Insurance Program. Medicaid's overall enrollment swelled to 42.6 million in 2008, a jump of 3 million. "As people lost jobs and their incomes fell, they became more likely to be eligible for government coverage -- children especially,’" says Custer. "That's what the Medicaid program was designed for."

The growth in Medicaid enrollment has put severe pressure on state budgets, he says.

Job-Based Health Insurance Declines

While the number of uninsured children declined, the figure for adults rose. Many older adults below age 65 - when they're eligible for Medicare - are likely to have significant health care needs, Custer says. "Older adults need health care the most."

The troubling decline in employment-based health coverage has continued. The 2008 report showed job-based coverage dropped for the eighth year in a row -- from 59.3% of Americans in 2007 to 58.5%.

"Smaller firms will find it increasingly difficult to maintain or afford coverage," says Peter Cunningham, a senior fellow at the Center for Studying Health System Change. "It's likely we'll see an even bigger drop [in job-based coverage] next year. It will reflect the higher unemployment rate in 2009."

The Census report shows about 20% of the uninsured are in households making $75,000 or more.

"Some of these individuals have health conditions that may mean insurers won't cover them," Custer says. "Some may work for small firms or be self-employed.’" And some, he added, simply may choose not to obtain coverage.

Another 20% of uninsured are not citizens, the report states, though there is no breakdown on whether they are legal or illegal immigrants.

Cunningham says the health insurance problem won't get better on its own, even when the economy improves.

The cost of health insurance and the cost of medical care, he says, are driving the increase in the uninsured.

[WakeUp]

AJ's got nothing, so he trolls members. He's gotta re-write my posts.



You lose, AJ. You lose your credibility, except with other Berserker Revenge Fringe.

In fact, you proved my point.

This is a discussion board, but you have no intention to discuss.

Your only intent is disruption and revenge.

The Revenge Fringe is holding the conservative party hostage.

You are causing your party to implode.

[WakeUp]

Next Steps for Malpractice Reform





President Obama took an important step away from special interest politics when he committed to changing justice to solve the problem of defensive medicine in his address to Congress. "I've talked to enough doctors to know that defensive medicine may be contributing to unnecessary costs. I know that the Bush administration considered authorizing demonstration projects in individual states to test these ideas. I think it's a good idea, and I'm directing my Secretary of Health and Human Services to move forward on this initiative today."

The wires were abuzz this morning over what he really had in mind. The trial lawyers will try to limit the damage with some sort of program that doesn't limit their ability to make emotional arguments to the jury. But restoring trust in justice--the only way to eliminate defensive medicine--requires consistency and reliability. That means standards of care need to be decided as a matter of law, in written rulings that all can see, by a court that knows what it's talking about.

Because modern medicine is so complex, reliability almost certainly requires some kind of special court. This country has a long history of such courts, such as bankruptcy courts, and it's hard to imagine an area of society in greater need of special judicial expertise than health-care. That's why a broad coalition has come out for pilot projects--including AARP, the AMA, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, the Joint Commission on the Accreditation of Health-care Organizations, and many others

That's what the American people want as well. Today, Common Good and the Committee for Economic Development released a survey that showed an astonishingly high 83 percent of voters want Congress to address reform of the medical malpractice system as part of any health-care reform plan. Moreover, even though the survey found that most Americans generally favor jury trials, for health-care disputes they overwhelmingly support special health courts--an extraordinary 67 percent support a new court system for health-care.

In a recent New York Times op-ed, Senator Bill Bradley called on Congress to make a basic trade--universal care for Democrats in exchange for reliable justice in the form of special health courts. This sensible approach now looks possible, if only congressional leadership can pry its hands loose from the spigot of trial lawyers.