10 ways health care reform will affect you...

[JMak]

The other gimmick here is the baseline expectation that as employers see health care costs go down, they'll push that savings into pay. Uh huh. That's why AT&T is announcing a $1 BILLION write down. John Deere and others announcing multi-hundred million dollar writedowns.

Response from the Democrats to these firms adhering to government reporting requirements...Waxman is hauling them into Congress to testify.

Nice.

You guys have no fucking clue what's gonna happen with this monstrosity...no matter what Obama-ball-sucking-queens try to tell us otherwise.

[Shlomart Ben Yisrael]

[JMak]

For some people, racism explains everything, I guess.

[TheJON]

As expected, it's quite obvious that most of you haven't got a clue about how health insurance works currently so you don't understand the changes.

The truth about this bill is quite simple............it's a stepping stone to a single payor system. Period. That's the whole purpose of it. Obama can't get that passed right now and he knows it, so he came up with a plan that will eventually get us there. 10 years from now (maximum) we will have a single payor system, I can 100% guarantee you that.

Here's my problems with Obama's policy.....

1.He is still failing to address the real issue with healthcare and health insurance in America. It's not the insurance companies, it's the individuals. Yes, I agree that many of these insurance companies are scum. But the truth is if we want healthcare costs to go down, we need to start living healthier lifestyles. Is it really asking that much out of people to cut down the fast food, don't smoke, drink less, and mix in a little fitness? Yes, I'm fully aware that some people just have bad luck with their health and get illnesses/diseases that were out of their control. For those people I truly do feel for and we do need to make an effort to assist them in obtaining affordable care. But the fact of the matter is most of those with pre-existing conditions are due to their own fault. You got lung cancer? Well no shit, you fucking smoked 5 packs a day! High cholestorol? Uhh........yeah. Eating Micky D's 5 times a week will do that to you.

Oh, and to give myself a bit of credibility here. I have asthma. I regularly buy inhalers and something called Asmanex to help control my asthma. Because I had gone from group insurance to individual insurance my pre-existing condition was ridered out so I have had to pay out of pocket for all expenses related to asthma treatment- which comes to about $2,000 per year (including meds and doctor visits). So I think I have a right to complain about pre-ex not being covered. But I don't. I fucking deal with it.

2.Obama wants chain restaurants to put the number of calories each item has next to said item on the menu. Why the fuck for? Seriously, who goes to Micky D's and DOESN'T know that shit is bad for you? "Oh, the Big Mac has 600 calories? Well fuck me. Maybe I'll just go home and eat some carrots!". It's like putting warning labels on smokes. Completely pointless.

3.26 year olds should not be on their parents plans. Why stop there? Why not 40 year olds? Many companies still allow their dependents to cover their children up to age 25 as long as they are an unmarried FT student already. Once you get beyond 23-24 years old you're on your own. How many 25-26 year old will take advantage of this? The dad might have a great plan through his job and is already paying for family coverage. The son, a 26 year old, has a decent job himself but will now not have to pay for his own insurance because he can just stay on his dads plan. I woulda loved this at age 26. I had a decent job with good health insurance and was paying probably $120 a month for it. My mom is a teacher and has even better insurance but it wouldn't have cost her anymore to have me on her plan. That's $120 I would have saved per month. Pretty sweet, right? Well yeah, for me and the other 26 year olds in a similar situation. But at age 26 I should be paying my own bills. I didn't ask my parents to pay for my car insurance, my car loan, my mortgage, my cell phone bill, etc..... So why should they be paying for my health insurance?

No doubt health insurance needed to be fixed, but Obama did not do that with this plan. He fixed a few people's problems, but on the whole it will do more harm for this country than good because it's going to cost so much without actually getting at the root of the problem.

So how do we fix healthcare/insurance?

1.Live healthier lifestyles. Healthier people = less health conditions. Less health conditions = lower health insurance premiums.
2.PREVENTIVE CARE! Get your annual checkups done. Don't be a fucking idiot. You're never too healthy to not be at risk for some sort of disease. Catching things early leads to quicker cures or preventing major illnesses.
3.Healthy food eating programs. What's the cheapest food you can eat? The unhealthiest crap you can find. Healthy food is expensive. Poor people and even middle class people cannot afford to eat that healthy. My wife has been forcing me to eat a lot of organic foods. That shit is expensive. There's no Dollar Menu in the organic foods aisle. Hell, even fresh fruits and veggies are more expensive than buying canned food. The government needs to be promoting healthy eating and finding ways to make healthier foods more affordable. Like I said, the healthier we are as a country the cheaper our insurance premiums will be.
4.Insurance companies should not have to cover people with pre-ex conditions, however each state's risk pool should have affordable coverage for those with pre-ex that would not normally qualify for this coverage. And this should all be paid through state taxpayer dollars. However, there should be stipulations to this:

-If you've committed a felony, you can still be covered but would not be given the reduced risk pool rate.
-If you have access to group insurance, you are not eligible
-If you smoke, you cannot be given the reduced rate
-You must have 2 routine doctor visits per year or lose your reduced rate

5.HSA's. Do some research on them. If you're relatively healthy, quit wasting your money on co-pay plans. You're just giving the insurance companies money for services you don't use. So take that money and save it for when you actually do need to use while getting a tax break on your contributions. They're usually about 35% cheaper than co-pay plans. Most people do not understand these. Go educate yourself on them. Just make sure you only choose a 100% co-insurance HSA plan and one that covers first-dollar wellness visits.

[JMak]

As expected, it's quite obvious that most of you haven't got a clue about how health insurance works currently so you don't understand the changes.

Who the fuck are you talking about?

The truth about this bill is quite simple............it's a stepping stone to a single payor system. Period. That's the whole purpose of it. Obama can't get that passed right now and he knows it, so he came up with a plan that will eventually get us there. 10 years from now (maximum) we will have a single payor system, I can 100% guarantee you that.

No shit, some of us have been saying that for months. It doesn't take a genius to see the plan, hell, Tom Harkin from your neck of the woods is already looking at using reconcilliation in 2011 to get the public option.

Here's my problems with Obama's policy.....

1.He is still failing to address the real issue with healthcare and health insurance in America. It's not the insurance companies, it's the individuals. Yes, I agree that many of these insurance companies are scum. But the truth is if we want healthcare costs to go down, we need to start living healthier lifestyles.

Insurance companies are not scum. They insure against risk. It's not their fault that we treat health insurance as hedging against the risk of getting a cold. Imagine if applied this model to cars - AAA would be paying for brake jobs, oil changes, etc. There are a couple of ways to control costs - eliminate the nearly 2000 state and fed regulations that don't add value but add cost; expose individuals to the real cost of health care via eliminating the employer-based model we have now; and reforming the tax code to permit more pre-tax savings for health care expenses. One reason why Massachusetts plan has failed is that once the plan passed the bureaucrats got to write the regulations. Hence, rather than creating a minimum level of coverage, all plans are nearly comprehensive, including medical devices. In MI all insurers must include diabetic maintenance supplies in their coverage no matter whether you need such provisions. Every state does this. Expect the federal plan to do so as well. The employer-based model we have totally insulates individuals from the real cost of health care services and encouraging the overuse of a finite resource. It's insane that I paid less than $100 total for the birth of my two kids. Obamacare enhances this total disconnect by further insulating people from the costs of their health care.

3.26 year olds should not be on their parents plans. Why stop there? Why not 40 year olds? Many companies still allow their dependents to cover their children up to age 25 as long as they are an unmarried FT student already. Once you get beyond 23-24 years old you're on your own. How many 25-26 year old will take advantage of this? The dad might have a great plan through his job and is already paying for family coverage. The son, a 26 year old, has a decent job himself but will now not have to pay for his own insurance because he can just stay on his dads plan. I woulda loved this at age 26. I had a decent job with good health insurance and was paying probably $120 a month for it. My mom is a teacher and has even better insurance but it wouldn't have cost her anymore to have me on her plan. That's $120 I would have saved per month. Pretty sweet, right? Well yeah, for me and the other 26 year olds in a similar situation. But at age 26 I should be paying my own bills. I didn't ask my parents to pay for my car insurance, my car loan, my mortgage, my cell phone bill, etc..... So why should they be paying for my health insurance?

It's the typical liberal paternal arrogance showing itself. You're right, 26 year olds are not children. They're not dependents, either. Employers and insurers should not be coerced into providing such dependent care provisions in their policies. It should a private arrangement for parents who want to continue providing health insurance for their dependents. And, there shouldn't be a maximum on it. Parents can decide when to maintain coverage or terminate coverage.

2.PREVENTIVE CARE! Get your annual checkups done. Don't be a fucking idiot. You're never too healthy to not be at risk for some sort of disease. Catching things early leads to quicker cures or preventing major illnesses.

Overrated. In fact, preventive care probably enhances the increases in health care costs because it relies on unneeded test/screenings that fail to detect anything at all or detect false positives therefore encouraging even more exams, or worse, unnecessary surgeries. Obamacare exacerbates this by requiring everyone to get such tests no matter the benefit associated with such testing/screening.

A 2008 New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) review of almost 600 papers found that over 80 percent of preventive measures and treatments cost more money than they save.

A 2009 Health Affairs study came to the same conclusion, finding that screenings for colorectal and breast cancer are money losers.

As for the diabetes exams, a 2008 study in the journal Circulation found that the recommended prevention activities for cardiovascular diseases and diabetes would cost almost ten times as much as the savings.

You reduce the cost of health care services by exposing people to their real cost which then incentivizes the smarter, and decreased use of finite health care services.

[Goober McTuber]

Anecdotal? What's wrong with you? I posted actual labor agreements specifying dependent care coverage. I posted actual coroporate websites, again, specifying dependent care coverage.

You do know that that is the definition of anecdotal in this case right? Fucking moron.

It's called providing specific examples. Now fuck yourself you shrimp fucking canuck.

You do realize that your "specific examples" are basically the definition of anecdotal. Good God, you haven't changed a bit. Still the same diverting, deflecting, deceptive and dodging nimrod that you used to be. When it comes to political debate, you are the ultimate tar baby/tard baby. Go fuck yourself, and thank God for the "ignore" feature. Ta-ta, idiot.

[JMak]

You do realize that your "specific examples" are basically the definition of anecdotal. Good God, you haven't changed a bit. Still the same diverting, deflecting, deceptive and dodging nimrod that you used to be. When it comes to political debate, you are the ultimate tar baby/tard baby. Go fuck yourself, and thank God for the "ignore" feature. Ta-ta, idiot.

Translation: "I've been run."

[titlover]

I guess keeping dead beat kids on your policy til their 26 is gonna save my insurance company plenty of dough. And they will surely pass those savings on to me in the form of lower premiums.

Actually it is going to save them plenty of dough. The VAST majority of people 19 to 26 barely use health care services. So more than a few, when confronted by high premiums and jobs that do not give benefits, choose to play health care roulette rather than pay. Which is fine until they get in an accident or get sick. Then they go bankrupt and stick the rest of us with their health care bills. Now those "kids" can pay premiums through their parent's work provided family plans until they are able to get a job with benefits. It's really a win/win.

and then Obama passes out gumdrops to everyone and we jump on our unicorns and fly away to a magical land where everone is happy.

wow, what a nice story.