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1. 

   David said, 5 months ago

   A public plan will also cost exponentially more than what our government is saying it will. I honestly doubt we would be able to borrow enough money to pay for the system that Obama dreams of!

   “Passed in 1965 as part of President Lyndon Johnson’s “Great Society” reforms, the program cost $3 billion in 1966. At that time, congressional leaders estimated that by 1990, Medicare costs would quadruple to $12 billion. In fact, the real cost in 1990 was $107 billion. Eighteen years later, Medicare costs had quadrupled to $470 billion in 2008.”

   Mark my words that government healthcare will increase in cost in exactly the same way as Medicare has. The government wants to do what sounds like pie in the sky to many Americans but FAR underestimates the scope of the action and the cost required to do so.

2. 

   mogelsberg said, 5 months ago

   And now, because of Medicare, we have every senior citizen getting very good care. They are able to live and die in dignity because of Medicare.

   It’s the insurance companies that are denying care, denying payment to hospitals and doctors, being the “person” between the doctor and his patient, holding up approval for tests, etc.

3. 

   deadheadzan said, 5 months ago

   It’s OK to waste billions in Iraq but not allow our citizens affordable health care because it is “too expensive”?

4. 

   rj63 said, 5 months ago

   The US already has the best access to medical care in the world. Be careful how you fund it.

   We Canadians fund healthcare by rationing it which is what long waiting lists for surgery are. You may lose your access over the next 10 years too.

5. 

   cabrobst said, 5 months ago

   Just bug of of Iraq and Afghanistan, let it be the Iranians’ headaches, and use the money for health care for US. The savings will be huge, enough to replace gas guzzlers with plug in hybrids.

6. 

   HOWGOZIT said, 5 months ago

   Thanks rj63–hope you got through to deadheadzan.

7. 

   rekam said, 5 months ago

   Not sure if a public plan is best, but I feel one thing is for sure–so long as investor-owned, for-profit insurance companies are involved in health care, we won’t get proper coverage. For-profit companies have to first look to satisfying investors with a good rate of return, which means maximizing profits and that means shortcuts in services, such as having people on the payroll who try to cut as many policyholders out of coverage for whatever nit they can pick, or pre-existing conditions, whatever it takes.

   Perhaps one way to go would be to have one or more private, non-profit corporations handling health insurance, so that profit wasn’t in the picture, just being sure income is enough to cover expenses and keep the structure afloat. That might be better than just public funding, but is anyone willing to look into this possible solution? Given the power of companies such as Blue Shield/Blue Cross, Humana, Aetna, etc., I rather doubt it.

8. 

   believecommonsense said, 5 months ago

   rekam. good post

   healthcare in the U.S. changed dramatically (not for the better) when the big not-for-profits became for profit, investor owned, publicly-traded, etc.

   the number of uninsured has grown dramatically each and every year … which is the intent of t he private profiteers

9. 

   motivemagus said, 5 months ago

   I’m cross-posting this: Stephen Bergman, AKA “Samuel Shem,” author of House of God and since faculty at McLean Psychiatric Hospital and Harvard faculty, had some interesting facts about the relative costs of government-funded versus private healthcare spoken at Harvard’s graduation this year:
   “The issue is crystal-clear: the for-profit health-insurance industry spends 30 percent on administrative costs—over $300 billion a year; the government-run systems Medicare and the Veterans Administration spend 3 percent per year. Coverage and satisfaction with for-profit is low; that for government systems is high.”
   So much for “expensive government healthcare.”

10. 

    4uk4ata said, 5 months ago

    Hey, just because it works that way in almost every Western country does not mean it will work in the US. After all, we all know more private enterprise is the solution no matter what the problem, right?