Which healh care plan do you support?

[mvd]

I'm 100% behind single payer.

[mvd]

1. Glad to see the single payer support

I will not criticize you if you pick another option, but single payer is one of my huge wants.

[DesertFlower]

3. it's a big thing with me too. nt

[DesertFlower]

2. single payer.

we've got to get rid of the middle man (insurance companies).

HR 676 would work.

[TahitiNut]

9. Yup. HR 676. Every time I hear "something uniquely American" I get livid.

Ya gotta be some combination of insane, stupid, and pathologically greedy to ignore the FACT that single payer health care is PROVEN successful in EVERY other industrialized country. Assholes like McCain & Co. might as well be saying "fuck you!" to 250 million Americans.

[stray cat]

4. I want John McCains coverage and pension he gets as a senator through my taxes

you know - government sponsored socialized medicine as McCain calls it.

Definitely not McCains idea of coverage but the government funded ie taxpayer plan the senators get for life.

[mvd]

5. Yes, I have heard of that one

It produces more equality and is way better than our current plan at least.

[sandyd921]

6. Let's fight for single payer....

once a Democratic president and Democratic house and senate are in place (Please, please let it be!). Let's fight like hell to get them in, then fight like hell to get them to pass single payer! It's up to us to make it clear to them what we want!

[Kitty Herder]

7. Hear, hear! Single-payer, no compromise!!

[mvd]

8. Right on

Not only is it the best solution IMO, but if we have the Presidency and increases in both houses of Congress, we'll have a lot of room to get our message across.

[MercutioATC]

10. Expand FEHBP to cover everybody.

Federal Employees Health Benefits Plan

Each geographic area gives enrollees a mix of HMOs, PPOs and PPV plans to choose from with open seasons every year.

I have it and I'm happy with it.

[DesertFlower]

11. but aren't insurance companies involved?

i have united health care -- PPO. it's good coverage, but i'm all for single payer -- get rid of the insurance companies.

[MercutioATC]

12. Yes, they are...and I'm in favor of that.

I see too many issues with single-payer, not the least of which is how hard a sell it would be.

Let's just get everybody covered.

[mvd]

13. I realize that we might have to get to single payer in steps

But it is worth fighting for in my opinion. Even if taxes go up, look at how much in bills would be saved. I definitely believe health care should be a right. With insurance companies, you will always have profit motive.

[MercutioATC]

14. I'm not prepared to give Congress that kind of control.

...at least not the Congress we have.

That aside, the current system allows one to tailor their insurance package according to their needs. A single-payer plan would be less versatile, IMO.

[mvd]

15. I'm for allowing it

It's worth a try IMO. I'd rather trust the government with health care than insurance companies. We just differ - I'm afraid I can't settle for anything less than single payer. Except that we need Obama elected to even get near it. :hi:

Note that the single payer I'm taking about pays everything, so that everything is free. So people won't have versility problems with plans - they just get the health care, period.

[MercutioATC]

16. I realize its potential benefits, too.

There are things I like about the idea, I'm just not ready to buy in yet.

[mvd]

17. That's ok - but I hope you will someday

At least you seem to want everyone with AFFORDABLE coverage. :hi:

[DesertFlower]

19. exactly. nt

[DesertFlower]

20. it should be a right.

every time i hear the word "health insurance" i see red. goddammit, what kind of country to we live in if we can't give this basic right to our people?

i don't mind the higher taxes. my insurance goes up every year along with my deductibles and co-payments and i can't even buy coverage for long term care because of a pre-existing condition. we're paying $117 a month to cover my husband for long term care and there are limitations on how much they will pay and for how long.

with single payer, we'll never have to worry about losing our homes and anything else that we own.

[DesertFlower]

18. getting everyone covered is a start.

then slowly we'll need to go to single payer.

people get scared when they hear single payer or socialized medicine.

have you read up on HR 676? if not, may i suggest that you do. i think it could really work.

[flaminbats]

24. Isn't that Obama's plan?

I think it would help uninsured people and it would be the hardest plan for members of Congress to vote against ;)

[dflprincess]

27. How does help uninsured people if they still have to come up with the money for premiums?

And, unless you can define "affordable" please do not throw the line about Obama's plan giving people access to "affordable health care' out. All his plan does is give people who can pay for it another option for health insurance, not care.

Any system that allows the for-profit insurers to keep picking our pockets is not reform and it certainly can't be called change.

[flaminbats]

28. it would help those with pre-existing conditions..

so insurance companies would have to offer the same premiums and benefits to everyone that they now offer to members of Congress.

it isn't perfect, but its a start! :shrug:

[dflprincess]

30. But they would still have to pay for it

and the insurance companies will still be free to set the premiums. They might be mandated to cover everyone regardless of preexisting conditions - but no one has said that they have to make that insurance affordable.

Minnesota has a state run program for people who don't have access to other insurance or state programs. The premiums are on sliding scale based on income+family size and what the state thinks a person can pay and what might actually be doable bear very little relation to each other.

[leftstreet]

21. K&R

[mdmc]

22. kick

[lonestarnot]

23. Have some more! And I'll also take a piece of pie wit dat!

:milk:

[LWolf]

25. To be more specific:

Universal, single-payer, NOT FOR PROFIT health care.

[bluethruandthru]

31. That's the only way! n/t

[LiberalHeart]

26. I want to live in France. Their system is amazing.

[dflprincess]

29. For sure.

My doctor saw "Sicko" and even he thinks it would work - though he confessed he also liked the mandatory vacation time France has (and he liked that most European doctors don't graduate with a ton of debt). We agreed that time off is essential to one's health, whether you're the doctor or the patient.