Republican Obamacare horror story?

[RobsanX]

Seriously, is this the best story that the Republicans can come up with to vilify Obamacare?

http://www.npr.org/2011/01/20/133071...ealth-Care-Law

To summarize, Republicans brought in a man who recently took his mother to a hospital to have a brain tumor removed. She arrived at 7 am, had the surgery, and was up and talking by noon. If this is what Obamacare is like, I'm all for it!

[truthwolf1]

I am for anybodys plan if it is going to make my familys healthcare monthly bill drop to a reasonable price and not raise my already high taxes.

[Snusdog]

I am for anybodys plan if it is going to make my familys healthcare monthly bill drop to a reasonable price and not raise my already high taxes.

This is not going to happen until their is legal reform in the health industry. Malpractice insurance and legal fees are at the root cause of most that is wrong with our health care system.............of course the lawyer lawmakers in DC aren't going to even mention that.

I am completely and utterly against nationalizing medicine............HOWEVER................and this is a big HOWEVER................I am all for nationalizing the malpractice insurance that doctors have to carry........... as well as the legal process one must go through to sue for malpractice.

[sgreger1]

This is not going to happen until their is legal reform in the health industry. Malpractice insurance and legal fees are at the root cause of most that is wrong with our health care system.............of course the lawyer lawmakers in DC aren't going to even mention that.

I am completely and utterly against nationalizing medicine............HOWEVER................and this is a big HOWEVER................I am all for nationalizing the malpractice insurance that doctors have to carry........... as well as the legal process one must go through to sue for malpractice.

That's actually an interesting angle. Instead of having socialized medicine, let's address the ever-inflating cost of providing medical care by making some TORT reform (which is what the republicans advocated from the beginning). Malpractice insurance is extremely expensive, let's try for a national or state insurance company to offer a socialized malpractice insurance of sorts. That would heavily decrease the cost to the healthcare industry, but the government would have to pick up that tab since they have to underwrite the whole thing.

[Snusdog]

That's actually an interesting angle. Instead of having socialized medicine, let's address the ever-inflating cost of providing medical care by making some TORT reform (which is what the republicans advocated from the beginning). Malpractice insurance is extremely expensive, let's try for a national or state insurance company to offer a socialized malpractice insurance of sorts. That would heavily decrease the cost to the healthcare industry, but the government would have to pick up that tab since they have to underwrite the whole thing.

Yes but by standardizing the industry the cost would be far less than the out of control anything goes legal malpractice system we have now.............and far less than the tab the government is about to pick up with the current health care reform......................think about it............... the government tab..............as it stands now.....................is already picking up the out of control legal cost which are already factored into the current cost of the current system...................we are simply paying top dollar for something to stay broken.

Reel in the lawyers...............and you reel in the cost of medicine top to bottom......................DR. case loads are less....................there are more resources available in the private sector to assist those in need........................and the cost of health insurance for the average family is roughly the same as cable TV with a movie package................

Until this happens...............cost will continue to spiral out of control....................while quality of care will be stretched and ultimately diminish

[internope]

This is not going to happen until their is legal reform in the health industry. Malpractice insurance and legal fees are at the root cause of most that is wrong with our health care system.............of course the lawyer lawmakers in DC aren't going to even mention that.

I am completely and utterly against nationalizing medicine............HOWEVER................and this is a big HOWEVER................I am all for nationalizing the malpractice insurance that doctors have to carry........... as well as the legal process one must go through to sue for malpractice.

This is a myth. Even you make it impossible to ever sue a provider for malpractice the best it would do is reduce health care costs by 1-1.5%

http://prescriptions.blogs.nytimes.c...th-care-costs/

[sgreger1]

This is a myth. Even you make it impossible to ever sue a provider for malpractice the best it would do is reduce health care costs by 1-1.5%

http://prescriptions.blogs.nytimes.c...th-care-costs/

"About 10 percent of the cost of medical services is linked to malpractice lawsuits and more intensive diagnostic testing due to defensive medicine, according to a January 2006 report prepared by PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP for the insurers’ group America’s Health Insurance Plans. The figures were taken from a March 2003 study by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services that estimated the direct cost of medical malpractice was 2 percent of the nation’s health-care spending and said defensive medical practices accounted for 5 percent to 9 percent of the overall expense."


You are correct, but I think there is no 1 thing that will fix this. We have to look at how to chip away cost one percentage point at a time. It would be hard to name 1 other thing that single handedly increases the cost by 2%. Keep in mind this is 2% of several hundred billion each year, so it's a lot of money. Definately should be looked at, but is no silver bullet. And anyways, why not do some TORT reform?

[sgreger1]

Seriously, is this the best story that the Republicans can come up with to vilify Obamacare?

http://www.npr.org/2011/01/20/133071...ealth-Care-Law

To summarize, Republicans brought in a man who recently took his mother to a hospital to have a brain tumor removed. She arrived at 7 am, had the surgery, and was up and talking by noon. If this is what Obamacare is like, I'm all for it!

The republicans are being so stupid about this. The best plan would be to not touch it and then blame everything bad that comes out of it on Obama. Instead, they are trying to touch it, so now no matter what happens their fingerprints are on it and they are going to have to share some responsibility. If they repeal it and health care costs go up, watch, like 80% of america is going to say we should have tried Obamacare. The republicans are going to leave this term with embarrasingly low approval ratings if they keep taking this approach.




Malpractice reform would still have a significant positive impact:

In one study of defensive medicine, Daniel P. Kessler and Mark McClellan found that, in treatment of heart disease, malpractice reforms reduced costs by 5% to 9% without affecting deaths or complications.[24]



One of the only good things we've done in calfiornia is TORT reform. I believe they set a cap at like $200k or something and apparently it has helped a lot. The nation should follow our lead:

Many supporters of medical liability reform believe that laws modeled after California's Medical Injury Compensation Reform Act (MICRA) should be passed at the federal level. "California is the perfect model for federal medical malpractice reform", said Lisa Maas, executive director of Californians Allied for Patient Protection. "MICRA is considered the gold standard in terms of what other states look to in tort reform in the medical liability area." [28]

[sgreger1]

Anthony Weiner (D-NY) today on healthcare repeal: "For all of you sitting and watching at home, playing the drinking game where you take a shot every time a republican lies; you better get a designated driver."


Meanwhile:

Vermont poised to be first state to enact single-payer healthcare.

[bipolarbear1968]

The republicans are being so stupid about this. The best plan would be to not touch it and then blame everything bad that comes out of it on Obama. Instead, they are trying to touch it, so now no matter what happens their fingerprints are on it and they are going to have to share some responsibility. If they repeal it and health care costs go up, watch, like 80% of america is going to say we should have tried Obamacare. The republicans are going to leave this term with embarrasingly low approval ratings if they keep taking this approach.

.....So here come the Republicans with their vote to repeal ObamaCare .. and the Democrats will have a field day. We already have the hideous Nancy Pelosi telling intellectually challenged Americans that the evil Republicans just want to put the insurance companies in charge. This line will work with many Americans. Democrats spent years demonizing insurance companies while doing everything they could to make sure these insurance companies couldn't compete in the marketplace. It worked. Now they're playing that card again.

My suggestion? Well ... not that anyone in Washington gives a flying whatever ... but why not include some elements of reform in the repeal bill? Here's are a few proposals the Republicans could put forth immediately:

Legislation allowing insurance companies to sell their products across state lines.

Legislation removing impediments from insurance companies that want to offer high-deductible policies.

Legislation expanding health-care savings accounts.

[bipolarbear1968]

Don't get me wrong, the Republicans certainly have the right idea. ObamaCare is clearly one of the most dangerous pieces of legislation ever passed by any congress since No. 1. In spite of that, there are Americans who love it ... love it because they think that it actually going to improve the quality of their health care while absolving them of that troublesome personal responsibility that should be a part of anyone's health care plan.

Americans ... even Americans who have an actual clue ... are going to want something more than a straight-out repeal. They're going to want to see the problems that allowed Democrats to proceed with their health care takeover addressed. Thus far the Republicans don't seem to be getting that message.

[internope]

One of the only good things we've done in calfiornia is TORT reform. I believe they set a cap at like $200k or something and apparently it has helped a lot. The nation should follow our lead:

Many supporters of medical liability reform believe that laws modeled after California's Medical Injury Compensation Reform Act (MICRA) should be passed at the federal level. "California is the perfect model for federal medical malpractice reform", said Lisa Maas, executive director of Californians Allied for Patient Protection. "MICRA is considered the gold standard in terms of what other states look to in tort reform in the medical liability area." [28]

I wonder how far $200k goes in taking care of a person when a hospital or a doctor makes a mistake due to negligence that results in that person being paralyzed for life?

Here is a fact from the California Healthcare Foundataion's California Employer Health Benefits Survey from 2010:

"Single coverage premiums in California average $5,463 annually, significantly more than the national average of $5,049"

It looks like Californians have gained nothing in return for limiting a provider's responsibility.