Jen Sorensen for October 22, 2013

So you, like most people, ar already covered, yet taxpayers are going to see a 2 TRILLION DOLLAR bill.Oh and many others who were fine, are now seeing heir hours being cut down to part-time status so they will have to get the government plan.

Btw I just talked to a guy this weekend who tried to sign up. He’s only 28 and healthy so his monthly premium was only about $200 a month for the Bronze plan.BUT there’s a 6k deductible he Must pay before his insurance will cover a thing.Then, the only doctor in his “plan” is over 80 miles away and can’t see anybody for over 6 months.So of course he said no thanks.

@Michael wme

“Recent data shows that Americans will pay an average monthly premium of $328 for mid-tier or “silver plan” health insurance. The online exchanges under the Affordable Care Act open next week on Oct. 1.

Most Americans will qualify for government subsidies to lower that price."

The quote is from http://www.nbcwashington.com/news/health/NATL-ACA-328-Average-Monthly-Health-Insurance-Cost-Under-the-Affordable-Care-Act—225324422.html

The $100 figure would appear to be the subsidized cost, while the $328 is the real cost. That is actually less than I pay now for my wife and myself on an employer plan.

I have survived lung cancer and thank God I had insurance when I was diagnosed. $300,000 in medical claims. Now, 7 years later, I am (until Obamacare) uninsurable. Sign me up! You just never known if you need insurance, but when you do, it can mean life or death if you have it or not.

Yep! And it will end up working just like this gem of a failure of a government insurance program:.Ready Reserve Mobilization Income Insurance Program..It existed from about 1996 to 1998…

That’s a good cartoon

“How many people could have been GIVEN free healthcare for the cost of the software?”

How many people could have been given free healthcare for what we have spent for the “Star Wars” missile defense system? Much more return on investment if we had.

I’m in Panel 4 and am pretty sure the artist doesn’t know what an “actual economic disaster” is.

Yes, Medicare was doing pretty well – until Bush decided to “provide” the Drug Benefit…totally UN-competitive for pricing (the Drug Conglomerates needed the $$$) and un-funded – on the American Express Card of the citizenry – a real responsible fiscally-conservative move,eh ?

‘How many people could have been GIVEN free healthcare for the cost of the software?’-How many could have been given health care with the $24 billion pissed away by the Republicans with their government shutdown?-I know, I know. IT’S OKAY IF A REPUBLICAN DOES IT!

The toon is simply a perfect analysis.

How many people could have been GIVEN free healthcare for the cost of the software? How can logging onto a website save someone’s life? Why don’t the elected officials sign up for the insurance they have forced down the public’s throats?You’ve seen the light! We should have just implemented a Single Payer system in the first place, but instead we got the Heritage Foundation Plan because Obama thought it might bring a few Republicans on board.Congress & their staff do have to sign up on the Exchanges. The only thing up in the air, is if their employer will continue subsidizing the cost of their premiums.

What does your friend mean by ‘affordable’.Umm, he meant he could afford to pay for it & actually signed up. He didn’t share dollar amounts, but he lives in Tennessee. My guess is it’s around $200/month for him & his wife.I’ve linked elsewhere on where you can get info off the Gov site without going through the whole application process, as well as the Kaiser Family Foundation calculator.

So we have to spend billions first, to see what a mess it’ll turn out to be. Jen, you’re smarter than Nancy Pelosi.

Nailed it!

http://www.kaiserhealthnews.org/stories/2009/september/03/nixon-proposal.aspx

To the Congress of the United States:

One of the most cherished goals of our democracy is to assure every American an equal opportunity to lead a full and productive life.

Related ContentObama’s Health Care Dilemma Evokes Memories Of 1974 In the last quarter century, we have made remarkable progress toward that goal, opening the doors to millions of our fellow countrymen who were seeking equal opportunities in education, jobs and voting.

Now it is time that we move forward again in still another critical area: health care.

Without adequate health care, no one can make full use of his or her talents and opportunities. It is thus just as important that economic, racial and social barriers not stand in the way of good health care as it is to eliminate those barriers to a good education and a good job.

Three years ago, I proposed a major health insurance program to the Congress, seeking to guarantee adequate financing of health care on a nationwide basis. That proposal generated widespread discussion and useful debate. But no legislation reached my desk.

Today the need is even more pressing because of the higher costs of medical care. Efforts to control medical costs under the New Economic Policy have been Inept with encouraging success, sharply reducing the rate of inflation for health care. Nevertheless, the overall cost of health care has still risen by more than 20 percent in the last two and one-half years, so that more and more Americans face staggering bills when they receive medical help today:

—Across the Nation, the average cost of a day of hospital care now exceeds $110. —The average cost of delivering a baby and providing postnatal care approaches $1,000. —The average cost of health care for terminal cancer now exceeds $20,000.

For the average family, it is clear that without adequate insurance, even normal care can ’be a financial burden while a catastrophic illness can mean catastrophic debt.

Beyond the question of the prices of health care, our present system of health care insurance suffers from two major flaws :

First, even though more Americans carry health insurance than ever before, the 25 million Americans who remain uninsured often need it the most and are most unlikely to obtain it. They include many who work in seasonal or transient occupations, high-risk cases, and those who are ineligible for Medicaid despite low incomes.

Second, those Americans who do carry health insurance often lack coverage which is balanced, comprehensive and fully protective:

-Forty percent of those who are insured are not covered for visits to physicians on an out-patient basis, a gap that creates powerful incentives toward high cost care in hospitals; —Few people have the option of selecting care through prepaid arrangements offered by Health Maintenance Organizations so the system at large does not benefit from the free choice and creative competition this would offer; —Very few private policies cover preventive services; —Most health plans do not contain built-in incentives to reduce waste and inefficiency. The extra costs of wasteful practices are passed on, of course, to consumers; and —Fewer than half of our citizens under 65-and almost none over 65—have major medical coverage which pays for the cost of catastrophic illness.

These gaps in health protection can have tragic consequences. They can cause people to delay seeking medical attention until it is too late. Then a medical crisis ensues, followed by huge medical bills—or worse. Delays in treatment can end in death or lifelong disability.

Richard M. Nixon POTUS 1969-1974

COMPREHENSIVE HEALTH INSURANCE PLAN (CHIP)

Early last year, I directed the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare to prepare a new and improved plan for comprehensive health insurance. That plan, as I indicated in my State of the Union message, has been developed and I am presenting it to the Congress today. I urge its enactment as soon as possible.

The plan is organized around seven principles:

First, it offers every American an opportunity to obtain a balanced, comprehensive range of health insurance benefits;

Second, it will cost no American more than he can afford to pay; Third, it builds on the strength and diversity of our existing public and private systems of health financing and harmonizes them into an overall system;

Fourth, it uses public funds only where needed and requires no new Federal taxes;

Fifth, it would maintain freedom of choice by patients and ensure that doctors work for their patient, not for the Federal Government.

Sixth, it encourages more effective use of our health care resources;

And finally, it is organized so that all parties would have a direct stake in making the system work—consumer, provider, insurer, State governments and the Federal Government.

Richard M Nixon POTUS 1969-1974

LOL!!! That was part of the Congress budget forcing elected officials to sign up for the garbage ACA.The whole idea of putting Congress & staff on the Exchange was part of the original ACA. The GOP was excluded from that decision, or so I’ve heard from the GOP.

Sorry other people have opinions regarding ACA. Not everyone thinks alike.Yeah. Some think we should have just gone with a simple Single Payer solution, to try & keep people from turning up in the ER with problems that could have been treated much more cheaply, if they were addressed sooner.Some people think the ACA needs to be more flexible regarding deductibles & services covered. People who are reasonably well off, only need catastrophic coverage & should be able to buy that under the current system.Then there are those who think we can stick our heads in the sand & pretend that health care costs aren’t gobbling up our GDP at an unsustainable rate. It doesn’t matter whether the checks have our names on them or the US Government’s. We need to bend the arc.There are a few who think people who don’t have insurance or the means to pay, should just die. An appealing idea to folks who are covered & don’t care about others. Are you one of them?

Forgot the part of not at all trusting our government or the millions of people who will absolutely rip off the system, always seems to present a “holistic image” that isn’t.