Sunday, July 26, 2009

Why Do Republicans Hate Americans?

There is a reason that healthcare reform in America is stalled, and it's spelled GOP. The Republicans are killing Americans because they don't want healthcare reform. And the Democrats are letting it happen.

Kent Conrad (D-NJ) even went on ABC's This Week to say that, despite having a 60-vote majority, Democrats couldn't pass this bill alone; he didn't explain how he came to this stunningly ridiculous conclusion.

But that only shows the blindness of some Democrats. Because the Republicans have already admitted that they want to defeat healthcare, not because they think it would be bad for the country, but because they want to defeat Obama. They openly do not care about the welfare of the American people; the GOP feels that they need to defeat a popular president because they disagree with his ideology.

That is the definition of a partisan hack.

And the Republican efforts are the reason that the current healthcare bill is going to fail. In an effort to be "bipartisan," and to make compromises to ensure that doctors wouldn't face a "pay cut," the House bill includes essentially a $245 billion chunk of payola to the healthcare industry. Well, guess what? If one of the reasons that we need to revamp the healthcare is because medical costs are out of control, then we have to cut medical costs.

Sorry, doc.

While we're at it, why is anybody worried about the insurance companies in all this? As a former executive in CIGNA testified before Congress last week, they've been defrauding us all along.
At a committee hearing yesterday, three health-care specialists testified that insurers go to great lengths to avoid responsibility for sick people, use deliberately incomprehensible documents to mislead consumers about their benefits, and sell "junk" policies that do not cover needed care. Rockefeller said he was exploring "why consumers get such a raw deal from their insurance companies."

The star witness at the hearing was a former public relations executive for major health insurers whose testimony boiled down to this: Don't trust the insurers.

"The industry and its backers are using fear tactics, as they did in 1994, to tar a transparent and accountable -- publicly accountable -- health-care option," said Wendell Potter, who until early last year was vice president for corporate communications at the big insurer Cigna.

Potter said he worries "that the industry's charm offensive, which is the most visible part of duplicitous and well-financed PR and lobbying campaigns, may well shape reform in a way that benefits Wall Street far more than average Americans."

Insurers make paperwork confusing because "they realize that people will just simply give up and not pursue it" if they think they have been shortchanged, Potter said.
In other words, the insurance companies use tactics that are illegal in any other industry: they bait-and-switch, they lie, they steal. And they're struggling with every ounce of energy they have to ensure that they can keep right on doing it.

Mitch McConnell (R-KY) likes to say (and a lot of brainless idiots like to repeat) that Americans don't want their healthcare "denied, delayed or rationed." But under the current system, it already is.

The latest Gallup poll shows that 16% of Americans have no health insurance at all (that's up from 14.8% only 18 months ago). With a current population estimate of 307,212,123, that's 49 million people uninsured. Now, you can add to that the underinsured. As of 2007 (and you can do the math yourself to figure out how much these numbers have increased since then), there were 25 million underinsured adults in the United States.
Much of this growth comes from the ranks of the middle class. While low-income people remain vulnerable, middle-income families have been hit hardest. For adults with incomes above 200 percent of the federal poverty level (about $40,000 per year for a family), the underinsured rates nearly tripled since 2003...

Respondents were identified as underinsured if they spent 10 percent of more of their income (or 5 percent if they were low-income) on out-of-pocket medical expenses, or if they had deductibles that equaled 5 percent or more of their income. An estimated 14 percent of all nonelderly adults were underinsured in 2007, and more than one of four were uninsured for all or part of the year. Adding these two groups together, 75 million adults—42 percent of the under-65 population—had either no insurance or inadequate insurance in 2007, up from 35 percent in 2003.

Lack of adequate insurance coverage, the study finds, is not a problem limited to low-income people. Adults with incomes below the poverty level were at the highest risk of being uninsured or underinsured, but "insurance erosion has spread up the income distribution well in to the middle-income range," the authors say. For those with annual incomes of $40,000 to $59,000, the underinsured percentage rate reached double digits in 2007. Barely half of those with incomes of 200 percent to 299 percent of the poverty level were insured all year with adequate coverage.
Sorry, Mitch, but that means that we have at least 74 million Americans whose healthcare is denied, delayed and rationed.

1 in 5 Americans have delayed or postponed medical care, usually because they couldn't afford it. And 60% of US bankruptcies are due to medical bills which have spiraled out of control.
More than 75 percent of these bankrupt families had health insurance but still were overwhelmed by their medical debts...

"Using a conservative definition, 62.1 percent of all bankruptcies in 2007 were medical; 92 percent of these medical debtors had medical debts over $5,000, or 10 percent of pretax family income," the researchers wrote. "Most medical debtors were well-educated, owned homes and had middle-class occupations."
And rising healthcare costs are also costing us jobs. A study by the nonprofit Rand Corporation gave us the bad news there:
Economy-wide, a 10% increase in excess health care costs growth would result in about 120,800 fewer jobs, $28 billion in lost revenues, and $14 billion in lost GDP value.
Our Republican friends like to claim that all Americans already have access to health care: "After all, you just go to an emergency room." (GW Bush, 2007)

But that argument is a non-starter, too.
In every minute of every day, on average, an ambulance carrying a patient is turned away from a hospital because its emergency room is too full to take more patients...

Many emergency rooms barely can handle their daily patient loads, children don't always get good care and the quality of rescue services is erratic, the report says. Long waits for treatment are widespread, with ambulances sometimes waiting for hours to unload patients. Once in the emergency room, patients sometimes wait for up to two days before being admitted to a hospital bed....

The study cited three contributing problems to the rise in emergency room visits: the aging of the baby boomers, the growing number of uninsured and underinsured patients, and the lack of access to primary care physicians.

The report found that 114 million people, including 30 million children, visited emergency rooms in 2003, compared with 90 million visits a decade ago. In that same period, the number of U.S. hospitals decreased by 703, the number of emergency rooms decreased by 425, and the total number of hospital beds dropped by 198,000, mainly because of the trend toward cheaper outpatient care, according to the report.
So, ignoring all of the hot air being blown around by partisan hacks who get most of their campaign money from the healthcare industry, America can't afford not to have healthcare reform.

The good news is, another partisan hack (Governor Rick "Goodhair" Perry of the "great" state of Texas) recently said that he'd turn down universal healthcare for his state. And that, by itself, may just allow the program to work. Texas has the highest number of uninsured citizens, and ties with Iowa for having the eleventh fattest state (which might just explain why it ranks 16th for the most deaths caused by stroke). If we can get Texas out of the equation, healthcare may just pay for itself.

15 comments:

Gregg's Health Insurance News said...

The Democrats have the Congress, the Senate and of course the Whitehouse...Republicans aren't stopping any legislation. Democrats only have themselves to blame for not getting a bill passed right now.

Diogenes said...

Hell, if we could get rid of Texas, we could solve all SORTS of problems, not just healthcare.

And if we had only done it eight years ago.......

Eric Graff said...

Allow me to cut and paste a post from my blog...

President Obama says he wants this Health Care Reform bill for two reasons:

A.) To lower the cost of healthcare in America and…

B.)To make sure the (supposed) 47 million Americans without coverage can get coverage.

Besides the reports from the non-partisan congressional budget office which tell us this plan will raise costs substantially, let’s set that aside for a moment and look at the facts.

What the President proposes are two concepts that are fundamentally opposed to each other.

Who is more likely to use health care: Those without insurance or those with insurance?

By far it is those WITH insurance because the care costs nearly nothing. If someone else is going to pay most or all of the cost, I’m going to use that service more often… Right?

If it is your purpose to lower health care costs, giving it to people who don’t have it (47 million of them…so they say…) they are going to use it more often and more aggressively then they would without. So right there, the statement of purpose from Obama is fundamentally flawed. The costs will skyrocket!! Obama has never…NOT ONE TIME…showed to the people of this country or explained to them how requiring everyone to have health insurance will lower the cost of it, and he never will because the numbers add up, they don’t subtract down!

You know how to drop the cost of everyone’s health care in America? Take away everyone’s health care insurance. Now I am not advocating that but the fact is if that happened, people would go to the doctor less and costs would plummet.

It is illogical to think and irresponsible to say that costs would go down if everyone had health insurance. This is a house of cards and the longer we see what they’re building, the more it falls apart.

You liberals have a 20 seat filibuster proof advantage in the Senate. You liberals have a 70 seat advantage in the House, and you can’t pass this bill.

AND WHO DO YOU BLAME?

THE REPUBLICANS!!!?????????

Now, besides the fact that every person who becomes gravely ill and is finically capable COMES TO AMERICA FOR CARE BECAUSE WE ARE THE BEST IN THE WORLD… And besides the fact that this President is waltzing around the world apologizing for U.S. and seems very ashamed of this country, the bottom line is…

Barry….you got some splainin to dooo!!

And he said the COP was acting stupidly.....

Nameless Cynic said...

Hey, Eric. How's things?

So first,

Allow me to cut and paste a post from my blog

Oh, right. Hang on... I've got it here somewhere...

these liberal sledgehammers would not stop. I now have chosen to remove their ability to post, their ISP addresses being blocked now and further comments will not be seen by me. I have reported their actions to BlogSpot and they are looking at the comments I forwarded to them in the hope these two people, who seem to care not for country or character, find ways to express their ideas without the crud, rude and inconsiderate utterances prone to liberal minds.

Huh. Would that be the blog we're talking about? Just curious...

B.)To make sure the (supposed) 47 million Americans without coverage can get coverage

Well, I believe that I showed that those numbers were actually a little low. But let's move on, shall we?

Besides the reports from the non-partisan congressional budget office which tell us this plan will raise costs substantially

Excuse me?

I believe that, if you look into it, you'll find that the CBO felt that this bill was deficit neutral. Those numbers are in contention (which, in fact, I mention in this post), but you should probably get that right.

Who is more likely to use health care: Those without insurance or those with insurance?

Well, technically, neither. Those who are sick are more likely to use health care. The question is, who's going to pay for it. At the moment, that's you and me.

If it is your purpose to lower health care costs, giving it to people who don’t have it (47 million of them…so they say...)

Well, almost twice that, if you'd actually read the post. But let's move on.

Do I blame the Republicans? I believe I covered that already, too.

Now, let's look at your bigger question. (I'll assume here that, unlike the Congressional Republicans, you actually have a "bigger question")

Should we, in fact, supply health care to all the non-working, non-productive, useless factions of society who wander around begging change from every hard-working member of this, the greatest nation that ever lived?

I'll answer you in the words of Jesus Himself. (Matthew 25:31-46)

"Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world... I was sick and you looked after me... I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me."

But maybe those words don't mean anything to you.

Eric Graff said...

The words of Christ mean more to me than anything on this earth Bill. The fact is, you and I already do it. There's free care everywhere. So your point is MOOT.

Deficit Neutral? Ah, yeah sure...If you do the math the way the Senate and House do math, which is in no way looking at real cost like the 248 Billion sent out to the AMA.They didn't include that an a whole host of other costs to make it LOOK neutral.

Look, you're going to go on kidding yourself and every Diogenes that reads your stuff. My post is factual. You just say it's not because you want to, not because you use logic. And that,s fine if you want to live sands logic, I choose not to.

There are 5 huge freedoms you'll lose if we get Government run health care Bill, check CNN for details.

"these liberal sledgehammers would not stop. I now have chosen to remove their ability to post, their ISP addresses being blocked now and further comments will not be seen by me. I have reported their actions to BlogSpot and they are looking at the comments I forwarded to them in the hope these two people, who seem to care not for country or character, find ways to express their ideas without the crud, rude and inconsiderate utterances prone to liberal minds."

Yes...That would be me, and I'm proud of it. And I also find I was not alone in reporting you. But I digress.

I'm now having more people on my blog then I have fingers, toes and teeth (I have full sets of each) and no longer have time for your disinformation. Have fun!!

Eric Graff said...

The words of Christ mean more to me than anything on this earth Bill. The fact is, you and I already do it. There's free care everywhere. So your point is MOOT.

Deficit Neutral? Ah, yeah sure...If you do the math the way the Senate and House do math, which is in no way looking at real cost like the 248 Billion sent out to the AMA.They didn't include that an a whole host of other costs to make it LOOK neutral.

Look, you're going to go on kidding yourself and every Diogenes that reads your stuff. My post is factual. You just say it's not because you want to, not because you use logic. And that,s fine if you want to live sands logic, I choose not to.

There are 5 huge freedoms you'll lose if we get Government run health care Bill, check CNN for details.

"these liberal sledgehammers would not stop. I now have chosen to remove their ability to post, their ISP addresses being blocked now and further comments will not be seen by me. I have reported their actions to BlogSpot and they are looking at the comments I forwarded to them in the hope these two people, who seem to care not for country or character, find ways to express their ideas without the crud, rude and inconsiderate utterances prone to liberal minds."

Yes...That would be me, and I'm proud of it. And I also find I was not alone in reporting you. But I digress.

I'm now having more people on my blog then I have fingers, toes and teeth (I have full sets of each) and no longer have time for your disinformation. Have fun!!

KOOK said...

I am struck by two things as I begin to return the favor of being a dissenting voice in the leftist world.

1) Some have said on here that we could solve all kinds of problems if we get rid of certain states, well I believe that too. Maybe it is time for a divorce.

2) The GOP (sad sack though they are) want to defeat healthcare because it is BAD NEWS for anyone who works for a living and/or ever plans on being sick. Not only to defeat Obama. Obama will defeat (some say already has) himself.

His policies will eventually fail as they have every time they have ever been tried since before the time of christ.

KOOK said...

PS This bill has NOTHING to do with HealthCARE. It is about control and power. There is nothing in it addressing CARE

Eric Graff said...

http://cnnmoney.printthis.clickability.com/pt/cpt?action=cpt&title=You%27ll+lose+5+key+freedoms+under+Obama%27s+health+care+plan+-+Jul.+24%2C+2009&expire=-1&urlID=407324012&fb=Y&url=http%3A%2F%2Fmoney.cnn.com%2F2009%2F07%2F24%2Fnews%2Feconomy%2Fhealth_care_reform_obama.fortune%2Findex.htm&partnerID=2200

Diogenes said...

"You know how to drop the cost of everyone’s health care in America? Take away everyone’s health care insurance. Now I am not advocating that but the fact is if that happened, people would go to the doctor less and costs would plummet."

Well, let's take that just one more step in your "logic".

Why stop at taking away everyone's health care? Let's take away all the doctors! That would lower costs to nothing, and then nobody would ever be sick, since there would be no doctors to treat them!

Damn, why didn't we think of this before??

(BTW, e-boy, just because you and A-J filed complaints doesn't mean anybody took them seriously. We're still here!)

Blue said...

You're correct, the GOP would attempt to block any meaningful health care reform but to suggest Obama's plan is that - is ridiculous.

Passing this particular legislation will accomplish little other than insuring any substantive reform will be put off another decade(s). The health insurance industry needs to die a quick death and health care disassociated from employment.

Some things should not be for profit - period. While individual legislators differ ... the parties not so much. Neither the Republican or Democratic party represent the vast majority of Americans. The military-industrial-congressional complex is alive and well.

Nameless Cynic said...

Now, Eman, I asked Diogenes to stop calling you names unless you do it first. He's gone past that, and hasn't insulted you once. Despite ample provocation.

I'd kind of hoped that you'd take the hint. But you don't take hints well, do you? So let's be blunt.

It was Andrew33 who pointed out that this blogs comment area was full of acrimony. He was being a dick at the time, but he made a valid point.

So, rein it in, and I won't tell you what I think of you. You're welcome to disagree with ideas, but leave the insults on your own blog, OK?

I didn't notice anybody else telling you they'd reported me, but I know for a fact that at least two other people have. (I usually blog about it.) But because I'm calm, logical, and usually right, it never comes to anything.

Now, you claim that "the words of Christ mean more to (you) than anything." You don't show that. You denigrate the idea of universal healthcare, even though Jesus wanted it (that's why I pointed out Matt 25).

(I mentioned, incidentally, that ERs are overstresed. And there's equally-stressed free clinics, but you're screwed if you need a specialist. Is that what you mean by "free care everywhere"?)

There's other verses you might like, though (all NIV).

Psalms 37:8 - Refrain from anger and turn from wrath; do not fret—it leads only to evil.

Proverbs 20:3 - It is to a man's honor to avoid strife, but every fool is quick to quarrel

Ephesians 4:31 - Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice.

Also consider Proverbs 9:12, Colossians 3:13 and Romans 12:17-18. And then ask yourself why this agnostic is a better Christian than you are.

Bud-D said...

Democrats have veto-proof majority in the Senate, and control the House, & Presidency. Major logic fault Nameless Cynic.

Mock Republicans as irrelevent if you want, but, they aren't to blame for any of your current problems.

The fault is the Democrats don't have the courage of their convictions. They know the American people don't back them on their power grab, and want some cover.

The Democratic Party: party of Envy and Whining. But that can only get you so far. At some point, you need someone who can actually DO something.

Nameless Cynic said...

It's true. The Blue Dog Democrats, for example, are busy trying to make nice with people who wouldn't vote for them in the first place.

Meanwhile, of course, the Republicans don't offer solutions, just opposition. They've been taken over by the worst types of theocrats, power-mongers and the terminally insane.

Choose your party.

KOOK said...
This comment has been removed by the author.