tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2618685271512418876.post6861968231580503360..comments2023-10-11T09:36:37.977-04:00Comments on Almost There: Health Care - and whateverbobbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00658103343742852411noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2618685271512418876.post-38292538121837256662009-07-25T23:55:01.913-04:002009-07-25T23:55:01.913-04:00I don't have a great understanding of what'...I don't have a great understanding of what's happening over there, but I am aware of how messed up your healthcare system is. I do hope for you all that improvements will be made. I also like listening to Mr. Obama talk. He comes across as being very genuine to me. I don't feel that way about many politicians!Hey Harriethttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01364446516114445193noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2618685271512418876.post-76571728615486205822009-07-25T17:55:59.613-04:002009-07-25T17:55:59.613-04:00This has been a bee in my bonnet this week too - a...This has been a bee in my bonnet this week too - although it is the British media that has bugged me. They are so well trained in 'critical thinking' that the only thing they can do is criticise - if someone has an idea or proposal for the common good, you can bet your last penny that the media will pick holes in it, shred it up and feed it back to us their way. Ask them to come up with a better plan? Silence! Sorry to rant on your blog, but this hs been my gripe of the week.Jacquihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01659012917888444554noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2618685271512418876.post-11759126981830753702009-07-25T14:38:25.840-04:002009-07-25T14:38:25.840-04:00How can we get it out there that we need single pa...How can we get it out there that we need single payer health care? Our health care system as Celeste Maia has said is broken and all the politicians in Washington who are paid by the lobbyists are not going to do anything. And if I hear one more poll.. (one can get whatever results is desired by asking skewed questions)!! I used to believe that if we focused our energy (thoughts, prayers, whatever you call it) on something we could make it happen. Okay, ten minutes an hour, focus positive thoughts on single payer health care, aimed specifically on your elected reprsentatives (as well as letters, emails, etc. Any other suggestions?karinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18168012252053900809noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2618685271512418876.post-21698407990663444442009-07-25T04:55:49.256-04:002009-07-25T04:55:49.256-04:00For years and years I had one of the "good&qu...For years and years I had one of the "good" health care programs. My husband was in the Foreign Service and our family was covered with a program that worked anywhere in the world, was heavily subsidized by the government, and was backed up by military health care when we were stationed near US bases. <br /><br />When he left the Foreign Service and went to work for an international organization based in Spain, it was still good for a while. However, by the mid-1990's, it all began to change. The euro-dollar exchange rate increased the dollar costs. The insurance company adopted a policy of questioning to death every bill so that we would simply be worn down with correspondence that never got resolved. In the event, the only bill the insurance company would pay was for the annual checkup. And we were paying $3,300 a year.<br /><br />We finally opted out of the US health care system -- and that got the insurance company's attention! For about the same amount of money -- and no subsidies -- we get excellent health care in Spain, elsewhere in Europe and even from the US. It is straightforward. If we use MAPFRE doctors and facilities, and there are hundreds, we just show our card and forget about it. If we use others, they pay 80%. We choose.<br /><br />This is the long way of describing how broken the US health care system is. Obama's plan is not radical enough because bringing down health care costs will require undoing the unhealthy structures throughout the system. And that will take time. We will need that Advisory Committee to keep the focus on changing the economics of US health care down to its unhealthy roots.Celeste Maiahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08683512170853367791noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2618685271512418876.post-51865959758241153552009-07-25T00:26:49.614-04:002009-07-25T00:26:49.614-04:00.............
In all fairness, it was after the t................<br /><br />In all fairness, it was after the two comments above that I decided on the addendum, so when kenju and Sylvia say they agree with me, it may not mean they agree with what I have added.bobbiehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00658103343742852411noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2618685271512418876.post-5432151297760274122009-07-24T21:51:15.673-04:002009-07-24T21:51:15.673-04:00Agree with you 100%. And, yes, just give me the n...Agree with you 100%. And, yes, just give me the news/facts and allow me to use what mind I have left to come to my own conclusions! I'm afraid we ask in vain though!Sylvia Khttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05484577678585907669noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2618685271512418876.post-48616338655054362572009-07-24T18:19:56.907-04:002009-07-24T18:19:56.907-04:00You are right and I don't care for the polls e...You are right and I don't care for the polls either. So many of us are too uneducated to make a good decision in a poll.kenjuhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07342414519714356343noreply@blogger.com