I keep hearing about this "public option" and the "single payer health plan" and "universal health care" during the whole Health Care Reform debate. Being an ignorant housewife, I've found myself wondering; what exactly is the "public option" and the "single payer health plan" and "universal health care"? What do those words mean? Well, according to Wikipedia, they mean this:
A public health insurance option (public insurance option or public option for short) is a proposed health insurance plan that would be offered by the U.S. federal government. It is present in America's Affordable Health Choices Act of 2009 (H.R. 3200) as a Qualified Health Benefit Plan.
Universal health care is health care coverage for all eligible residents of a political region and often covers medical, dental and mental health care. Typically, costs are borne in the majority by government-funded programs.
Single-payer health care is a public service financing the delivery of near-universal or universal health care to a given population as defined by age, citizenship, residency, or any other demographic.
Single-payer health insurance collects all medical fees and then pays for all services through a single government (or government-related) source. In wealthy nations, this kind of publicly-managed health insurance is typically extended to all citizens and legal residents.
Australia's Medicare, Canada's Medicare, the United Kingdom's National Health Service, and Taiwan's National Health Insurance are examples of single-payer universal health care systems. Medicare in the United States is an example of a single-payer system for a specified, limited group of persons within a country.
Think about this for a minute. Obama and the liberal Senate and House are advocating a public option and, in some instances, have even come out to shill for this "single payer health care plan". You know, like the system we use for Medicare! - the very system Obama admits is so corrupt and poorly run that it enables millions of dollars in fraud, waste and abuse to slip thru the cracks every single year! Remember his address to Congress recently? Obama said fixing the broken parts of Medicare was how he planned to pay for the new health care plan. Yes, Obama has actually proposed to fix an obviously broken system while implementing an identical and yet even bigger system, all at the same time. Does that make sense to you? Let me put it to you this way...if you bought a house from a builder and found out that the plumbing leaked, the electrical work wasn't up to code, the woodwork was rife with termites and the foundation was cracked, would you make the decision to fix that house and, at the same time, hire that same builder to build you an even bigger house? No! You would figure out whether or not the first house was worth saving and, in order to do that, would go out and find a better, more knowledable and trustworthy builder to help you make that decision! (After first smacking around and/or suing the original bad builder first, I'm sure!) Then you would, hopefully, take the lessons learned from dealing with that bad builder and take pains to insure you didn't allow that sort of shoddy work to take place on your new house. The point is, you wouldn't logically think it'd be a good idea to throw good money after bad. After all, what's the definition of insanity? It's doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. It's time to tell your duly elected senate and congressional representatives to STOP THE INSANITY! I don't know about all of you, but I definitely would like to see the cost of health care in this country brought under control. But making bigger government is not the answer!
Go here to contact your senators and your congressional representatives. If you don't want this ridiculously inadequate and grossly misguided legislation to pass, let your voice be heard. Tell your elected officials that we need real health care reform and not just another program that will further bloat an already inefficient and incapable government system, particularly one that has already demonstrated such an amazing capacity for fraud, for waste and, most certainly, for abuse. DEMAND AN END TO THIS INSANITY. DEMAND REAL CHANGE! America can't afford the health care reform bills currently proposed by the liberal Democrats, America can't afford another huge growth in the size of our government and America can't afford to sit back and watch this happen without so much as opening our mouths to be heard. 
my question to you is this,if you are opposed to these measures,are you also opposed to Medicare??That is a US funded program!
ReplyDeleteNo, Mike. I am NOT opposed to Medicare. I AM opposed to the way Medicare is run. Medicare is a HUGE bureaucracy, with so much red tape that it's choking itself to death. Did you know that many of the medical supplies that Medicare helps pay for could be bought much cheaper through other sources, but that Medicare rules and regulations won't allow you to do that? That's insane! As Obama himself admitted, the fraud, waste and abuse that is happening within the Medicare system is into the millions each and every year. He claims he's got a plan to fix it. I say DO THAT FIRST, then we'll have a better idea whether or not we should implement the "new" plan using that same model. These people are elected and paid by us taxpayers to make sure our government is run well. So far, they're not cutting it, as far as I'm concerned and are, in fact, on the verge of making our situation much, much worse.
ReplyDeleteKari
They need to get rid of the fraud, waste, and abuse as proof that they can be entrusted to do more. If they know of problems, why haven't they fixed them before now? My DH was recently FORCED to go on Medicare because he turned the magic age of 65. We would have much preferred for him to continue with a private plan, but he is retired and the employer-based plan he was under had to drop coverage of him based on the Fed rules. Already, he has gone thru problems with Medicare because they don't allow the same blood pressure medicine that he has been taking for over 10 years. The replacement one (which retails for the SAME cost) has made his blood pressure go sky high. Now his doctor has to go thru all kinds of hoops to get an exception approved. Thanks, Medicare! DH has been on it only for a couple of months and it sucks already!
ReplyDeleteWhen has the government EVER done anything more efficient, cost-effective, and better than private enterprise?!
Scary~all of it!
ReplyDeleteI do have to say that Medicare is not free, however having been hospitalized several times in the past year, I've not had to pay in addition to what comes out of my ss check monthly. Also, I figured out in the beginning I was better off not getting the prescription coverage, but I know that wouldn't work for everyone. It works for me because my (low)income allows for some of my medications to be free from the drug companies. But, universal health care, NO, I don't think it is something that Mr. Obama should be pushing.
Kari, I'll tell you something else~he (and his co-horts) put through the "Making Homes Affordable" and it is a SHAM!! If you know anyone who is having a hard time making their mortgage payment advise them NOT to sign up for that program. They've about ruined my credit, and now I'm in fix while still waiting to hear if I qualify. :(
Hi Kari
ReplyDeleteJust popping in to say hello as I have been so bad at keeping up with blogging lately Cant comment on USA healthcare as no experience of it. Hope you and yours are all well Mary