Democrats begin discussing smaller health bill

[blazerboy30]

The problem Obama is facing is there is no answer to the health care problem that a majority of voters will favor.

The baby boom generation is hitting their golden years and many have lost a significant portion of their retirement or did not save properly. The reality of older people not being able to afford medical care and prescription medication is here and will get worse each year for the next ten years. This is a serious problem with no easy answer and no answer taht will make a majority happy.


Have fun with that Obama . . . I feel for him.

I think there are things that the majority of people would support. Whether or not they can provide a complete healthcare reform that the majority would support, I don't know.

Start with tort reform. We could provide a lot of people health insurance with that small change alone.

 

[Denny Crane]

Joe Lieberman said he would support a medicare age lower to 55 in his state paper. then when it was an option he said he wouldn't vote for it. funny how that works huh?

Maybe because it was included in a bill with $trillions in other spending?

Hence smaller bills so 8 of 10 of them might pass instead of all or nothing.

 

[Denny Crane]

No. It means I might make slightly above average.

Not to quibble, but you mean you make slightly above the median.

 

[The_Lillard_King]

I think there are things that the majority of people would support. Whether or not they can provide a complete healthcare reform that the majority would support, I don't know.

Start with tort reform. We could provide a lot of people health insurance with that small change alone.

Tort reform is not the solution to health care and should not be the starting point to a health care package.

 

[Eastoff]

Not to quibble, but you mean you make slightly above the median.

nah man, he said he makes more than average

 

[Eastoff]

Tort reform is not the solution to health care and should not be the starting point to a health care package.

agreed. Doctors are going to start doing a shitty job if tort reform is the only thing that changes.

 

[blazerboy30]

Not to quibble, but you mean you make slightly above the median.

I said earlier that I'll assume we have a close to "normal" distribution.

So, yes. I meant the median and the average, same thing.

 

[blazerboy30]

Tort reform is not the solution to health care and should not be the starting point to a health care package.

I shouldn't have said "start with". I also never said it is "the" solution.

But we can come up with better ways to improve the healthcare solution than taxing and spending ANOTHER $1T.

 

[maxiep]

so you don't think removing the public option was a huge fucking compromise?

That wasn't to get Republican votes; that was to get Democratic votes in the Senate. Besides, the "public option" would still happen under the Senate bill, just delayed a few years until they collapsed the private health insurance industry, which is clearly the end game in the Senate bill.

If there is going to be a bill to transform 1/6th of the US Economy, I'd like to see a bill that 75%-80% of House and Senate members can vote for. That means taking on tort reform, allowing insurance companies to sell across state lines, to allow people to buy the insurance they want rather than what state boards tell them they have to have, allow health savings accounts, treat individuals buying insurance the same as companies with the same tax deductions, etc.

Perhaps the Brown election will force the Democrats to deal honestly. So far, it's been nothing but a power grab. This current bill doesn't give health insurance to everyone, doesn't bend the cost curve and doesn't allow you to keep the coverage you have. So, why do it?