Health Insurance is another matter and if anyone thinks that the Omama/Palosi Plan will not destroy the existing Health Insurance System, where eventually everyone will be on the Goverment Plan, they have failed to look down the road far enough. As Insurance Companies are forced to raise rates as more and more people and Businesses choose the cheaper, non-competitive Govt. Option which is basically Socialized medicine just as Obama wants it to be. Can’t anyone see the Master Plan here to destroy our Democratic Society and install Socialism on the Sleeping masses before they know what is happening to them. The Dems are already proposing to take 50B from Medicare to help pay for this monstrosity and hope enough Elders Die due to the planned reduction in medical care, to cover this loss of funds.

It ought to be called Death Care Benefit Plan because that is what the Dems are suggesting, coaching you every five years to the Benefits of Dieing rather than suffering because “They” choose to not fix Medicare and give you the care you need. This Medicare Deduction will be used to pay for the 40M that “They” say need Health Insurance. The real # is around 10M, excluding Illegals and their Illigal kids, not racial just the facts, and many of the 40M have just chosen to not sign up for available Health Care. WAKE UP AMERICA!

I won’t claim to know a lot about what is being proposed, so my words are my own feelings and frustrations. It would be great if health insurance wasn’t based off of employment. As is stands, we face a dilemma of my fiance needing more medical care than what we can afford. He works almost full time, but not quite, so he isn’t eligible for insurance at work. Nor is he eligible for any sort of state assistance because we don’t have a child. We most certainly can’t afford the almost $300/month for him to carry insurance ‘privately’.

We are fortunate enough to have a Dr that does her best to work with us and our financial situation – only running tests that will give her multiple answers at once and allowing us to do payment plans with her office. But it would be so nice to be able to find him insurance that costs about what my insurance does through my work, just so that he could get the health care he needs.

Youre response is so hack (to the birthers and to the Bush Administration breaking the law – where they would regularly go to Atty’s with the solution and ask for the legal justification to back up the solution.) I liked you better when you were the geeky conservative policy wonk. You gearing up to run for office or something?

I miss the days when I was far and away the smartest person reading/commenting on this blog. It may be getting too big for me. I remember when Little Joey had to borrow GA’s thesaurus just to figure out what was being discussed. Alas, I will still write stream of conscious replys and never proofread before hitting send.

(However the continued debate on whether Obama is a citizen has heartened me as I have obviously not slid too far down the smart ladder.)

The problems stem from the fact that we have a disorganized system (see TIME article). Insurance companies want to pay less, doctors don’t care about cost, and people cannot afford the plans. And the plans that people do pay $400-$600 a month for leave much to be desired. That’s what happens when cost for employers, insurance companies, and families is put before health.

We need to focus on preventive care, lowering costs, and filtering out abuse (which is big with people that have Caid or *good plans- leaving the working people who are lucky enough to have plans scrambling to cover expenses incurred by vital healthcare).

I didn’t learn about this later in life. I grew up with great insurance and great treatment. I received braces and zit creams. As a result I am incredibly handsome. Why should I be born into great healthcare where others have to go years between seeing doctors?

The real debate which is still be hidden here (or explicitly stated by Michael): Should people and children be offered health care that is both preventative and reactive?

Republicans do not think so. Democrats do. Until we all get on the same page, everything else is just a roadblock. Multistate plans will not work bc they will just offer the least they are allowed. There should be a bottom tier offered to everyone- an expanded Medicaid if not a more efficient Medicare-type program.

Im reading an interesting book now from Sokolof about cognitive science and how Republican and Democrats brains work. Really makes you think about the frames being used. Im arguing empathy to working class families and the conservatives are arguing for personal responsibility. But at some point we (the smarter policy geeks of all political mindframes) need to realize we have a responsibility to help those that are less fortunate. Like seatbelts.