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1. 

   oldlegodad said, about 1 month ago

   Either way “We the People” lose thanks to our elected “representatives”

   http://www.gocomics.com/shoe/2009/10/14

2. 

   d_legendary1 said, about 1 month ago

   So far they are doing a good job on keeping the public option off the table. I might have to b*tch out Bill Nelson and Obama tomorrow.

3. 

   believecommonsense said, about 1 month ago

   No, either way, whatever way, the insurance industry will continue raising rates and fleecing doctors and hospitals until their unprincipled profiteering makes the whole thing implode and then they’ll ask for a bailout.

4. 

   oldlegodad said, about 1 month ago

   There is precedent for that. Think bad mortagages/banks.

5. 

   fennec said, about 1 month ago

   Mentioned this link before, but it’s applicable to this ‘toon too:

   http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/michaeltomasky/2009/oct/12/baucus-bill-pricewaterhousecoopers-report

6. 

   cabrobst said, about 1 month ago

   The criminals here are the insurance executives who want to take our money and give nothing back.

7. 

   ray32648 said, about 1 month ago

   The primary objective of “reform” appears to be lining the pockets of the insurance companies.

   The only strategy applied in Afghanistan so far is left overs from Dubya.

8. 

   ray32648 said, about 1 month ago

   “Reform” isn’t the answer. Medicare for everyone is the answer. If the big insurance companies decide to get out of medicine then don’t let the door hit ‘em in the butt on their way out.

9. 

   BOB HASTY said, about 1 month ago

   The INSURANCE CARTEL has made themselves the issue. The current system allows these life insurance companies to become the middleman between us and our doctors. For their services, congress has allowed them to keep our premium dollars that do not get spent on our health care. Since they are a legal monopoly, they get to decide how much to charge and how much to keep as profit. For us in CA, Pacific Care has denied 40% of health care, which they get to keep as profit. They are protected from federal regulations as a monopoly, and Arrissa protects them from state regulators.

   If we want to lower health care costs in CA, First, we must get rid of the “Middle Man Cartel.” Our health care costs would be lowered by 37% if we chose a Medicare Option. If we chose Blue Cross, we save only 5%.

   So before we tackle the Drug and Equipment lobbies, let’s get rid of the Insurance Cartel. When they were not-for-profit [the reason we gave them the monopoly], the insurers helped spread the costs of health care across the populace. They performed a valuable social service. Since turning “for-profit,” they have replaced their fiduciary responsibility to their share holders for the social contract they had with us.

   If we cancel the monopoly GIFT, requiring insurers to compete with government service departments could make them into the FedEX/UPS vs. USPS equivalent in health care. They could be just as profitable, with these new set of rules. We cut the biggest non-essential cost to health care.

   I hope ANandy gets it some day!

10. 

    charliekane said, about 1 month ago

    Heads I win, tails you lose?

    Or is it taels I win, heads you lose.

11. 

    charlie555 said, about 1 month ago

    We can’t buy preventive care for “43 million” citizens without either raising insurance premiums or raising taxes.

    Someone has to pay for the millions who will not be able to afford policies: the truly poor, the full-time volunteer poor, the religious poor, the lazy poor, the work under the table poor, the cheat on my asset reporting poor, the retire early and live off the fed poor, the give my money to my kids and live off the fed poor, etc. etc. etc.

    Do we really want the police state that will be required to make this work?

12. 

    lalas said, about 1 month ago

    Charlie – I loved the making-up-wars-in-Iraq-Patriot-Act Police state so much I thought I’d go out and get me another one.

13. 

    charlie555 said, about 1 month ago

    ^:-) except I don’t second guess the decision to go to war based on the information W. and the Congress had at the time the decision had to be made.

14. 

    michaelwme said, about 1 month ago

    Insurance is based on taking premiums and returning 70%.

    If you have a house and buy fire insurance, on average you’ll get 70% of your premiums back. But this means you pay a tiny amount, and, if you’re the unfortunate person whose house burns down, the insurance company will pay to rebuild it.

    With health insurance, everyone will eventually get sick. And the insurance companies will return 70% of premiums. So you pay in for a lifetime and the insurance company will return 70% of those premiums to pay for your healthcare.

    ---

    In the 1870s, a Mr. Clements wrote about how, at one point, the Mississippi pilots restricted licensing, so steamboat companies had to pay a fortune for pilots.

    Today, the US Medical establishment restricts licensing, so sick people have to pay a fortune for healthcare providers.

    ---

    If you save your money and pay directly, it ‘s a lot. If you use an insurance company, they have the insurance company negotiators who force the healthcare providers to accept fees of 50% of their customary fee, so the insured’s premium of 140% of the cost of healthcare turns into 70%.

    Is there a better way, or does the US have the best healthcare system in the world?

15. 

    motivemagus said, about 1 month ago

    There is a better way. The US does not have the best system in the world. We have some of the best doctors, medical assessments, and tools - but not access.

16. 

    Vieteran said, about 1 month ago

    The very notion of a profit motive when it comes to the health of human beings is immoral. Any system which is specifically designed to maximize profits by preventing people from getting medical care is immoral. If you want to make money, sell cars or refrigerators. The health and well being of human beings should never be for sale. If you believe that health care should be for sale then you should move to ..uh…uh..heck, I guess this is the only country on earth where health care is still sold for profit.

17. 

    parkersinthehouse said, about 1 month ago

    cogently stated Vieteran

    it’s what we think but haven’t said much

    hey - you’re a VietNam veteran - could i just say we never thanked y’all enough

18. 

    Ken Warren said, about 1 month ago

    If you stop and think about it the health care industry, which is a business, business plan is:

    People get sick, kids get sick, people get old and sick – how can we make a profit off of that?

19. 

    fbrewer said, about 1 month ago

    I suppose we could settle for the Republican reform plan.

    “Don’t get sick”.