Obama's letter about health care

[bob4432]

Originally posted by: eskimospy

Originally posted by: bob4432
to all of you people that want this uhc and the gov to be more involved in your medical care, what area have they done such a good job that would make you think they can handle something of this magnitude?

also, who here has actually dealt w/ federal/gov health care or just the plain fed gov in general - taxes don't count. and i am talking on a personal level, not a generalization like the mil protects us, etc.

I have. Government health care saved my life, it was absolutely top-notch.

As for wondering if the government can run a health care system, they already do. The VA health care system scores higher on patient satisfaction surveys than the private system by a considerable margin.

civilian fed gov or mil fed? i too have the opm/fed plan and use aetna under it - i have no issues w/ that, but when i got hurt when i worked for the usps - repetitive motion injury, well that was a whole different story as i was going through owcp/dol - their lack of care and their ability to deny claims, doc fees, call the docs and question/harass everything and make life hell turned my situation into a lifelong disabilty...so i am not too impressed w/ that side of it.

as far as va, have you used it personally? being i was civilian i never did, but the guys i worked w/ that were vets did and when they would go see a doc @ the va, it would be a day long event for them - they were ok w/ it, but i wouldn't say they were dancing in the streets, but they also gave a lot for that care - body parts, exposure to misc agents, chemicals, etc.

 

[fskimospy]

Originally posted by: bob4432

Originally posted by: eskimospy

Originally posted by: bob4432
to all of you people that want this uhc and the gov to be more involved in your medical care, what area have they done such a good job that would make you think they can handle something of this magnitude?

also, who here has actually dealt w/ federal/gov health care or just the plain fed gov in general - taxes don't count. and i am talking on a personal level, not a generalization like the mil protects us, etc.

I have. Government health care saved my life, it was absolutely top-notch.

As for wondering if the government can run a health care system, they already do. The VA health care system scores higher on patient satisfaction surveys than the private system by a considerable margin.

civilian fed gov or mil fed? i too have the opm/fed plan and use aetna under it - i have no issues w/ that, but when i got hurt when i worked for the usps - repetitive motion injury, well that was a whole different story as i was going through owcp/dol - their lack of care and their ability to deny claims, doc fees, call the docs and question/harass everything and make life hell turned my situation into a lifelong disabilty...so i am not too impressed w/ that side of it.

as far as va, have you used it personally? being i was civilian i never did, but the guys i worked w/ that were vets did and when they would go see a doc @ the va, it would be a day long event for them - they were ok w/ it, but i wouldn't say they were dancing in the streets, but they also gave a lot for that care - body parts, exposure to misc agents, chemicals, etc.

I specifically used the VA system, it treated me for a pretty advanced form of cancer and as far as I know (knock on wood) I am cured. I had experience with both the inpatient and outpatient features of it, and both were absolutely great. When I would visit my doctor as an outpatient the total experience would be an hour to maybe an hour and a half, something that's pretty much the same with private doctors.

Regardless of what I think or what anyone else thinks individually though, large scale patient satisfaction surveys have repeatedly ranked the VA system more highly than the private one. There could be many reasons for this other than it just being better (like low cost to the recipients), but certainly if the care being given there was truly bad it would show up. (if they amputate the wrong leg I'm sure it's no consolation to you that they did it for free)

 

[Tom]

Originally posted by: Cuda1447
I haven't read the entire email yet, I have to go in a minute, but I felt the need to comment on something.

And we've all heard the charge that reform will somehow bring about a government takeover of health care. I know that sounds scary to many folks. It sounds scary to me, too.

He talks of speaking honestly, but then says something like this. Does anyone actually believe him? After all, this is coming from the guy who strong armed GM and now has the .gov with a controlling stake in the company. I think we can all agree that he has spoken through his actions, that bigger government is what he is shooting for. He wants nothing more than government control. To say otherwise is an outright lie, in my opinion.

I'm sure that Presidents Obama and Bush both would love it if GM and the other auto companies had not needed government help to stay in business.

 

[Elias824]

Everyone knows obama wants to take over healthcare to abort kittens

 

[blackangst1]

Originally posted by: dmcowen674

Originally posted by: spidey07
He just keeps lying and lying and lying.

It is HE who is spreading the misinformation and bold face lying to the american people.

I don't see Obama starting a war by lying.

You FAIL

He sure hasnt stopped any either.

 

[bob4432]

Originally posted by: eskimospy

Originally posted by: bob4432

Originally posted by: eskimospy

Originally posted by: bob4432
to all of you people that want this uhc and the gov to be more involved in your medical care, what area have they done such a good job that would make you think they can handle something of this magnitude?

also, who here has actually dealt w/ federal/gov health care or just the plain fed gov in general - taxes don't count. and i am talking on a personal level, not a generalization like the mil protects us, etc.

I have. Government health care saved my life, it was absolutely top-notch.

As for wondering if the government can run a health care system, they already do. The VA health care system scores higher on patient satisfaction surveys than the private system by a considerable margin.

civilian fed gov or mil fed? i too have the opm/fed plan and use aetna under it - i have no issues w/ that, but when i got hurt when i worked for the usps - repetitive motion injury, well that was a whole different story as i was going through owcp/dol - their lack of care and their ability to deny claims, doc fees, call the docs and question/harass everything and make life hell turned my situation into a lifelong disabilty...so i am not too impressed w/ that side of it.

as far as va, have you used it personally? being i was civilian i never did, but the guys i worked w/ that were vets did and when they would go see a doc @ the va, it would be a day long event for them - they were ok w/ it, but i wouldn't say they were dancing in the streets, but they also gave a lot for that care - body parts, exposure to misc agents, chemicals, etc.

I specifically used the VA system, it treated me for a pretty advanced form of cancer and as far as I know (knock on wood) I am cured. I had experience with both the inpatient and outpatient features of it, and both were absolutely great. When I would visit my doctor as an outpatient the total experience would be an hour to maybe an hour and a half, something that's pretty much the same with private doctors.

Regardless of what I think or what anyone else thinks individually though, large scale patient satisfaction surveys have repeatedly ranked the VA system more highly than the private one. There could be many reasons for this other than it just being better (like low cost to the recipients), but certainly if the care being given there was truly bad it would show up. (if they amputate the wrong leg I'm sure it's no consolation to you that they did it for free)

eskimospy - i am extremely glad your cancer is in remission and that you have had what sounds like excellent care and your treatment does sound good. the vets i had talked to that had issues were going to the VA hospital in Phx, AZ (we talked a lot - after i got hurt and was put in permanent light duty assignment, the usps keeps all the injured people together in small groups), not sure if that one has a "bad rep" or not but there quite of few people that did have serious waiting issues and they felt that their VA doc was green. they also complained that each time they went, they would see a different doc, so no history. some of these vets had serious issues like yourself and ailments like diabetes from vietnam and the chemicals that were used there to smaller stuff that wasn't life threatening but still painful and lifechanging nonetheless.

i personally had dealing w/ owcp and the dol and that was hell - had to get senators/congressmen involved and was eventually forced in disability retirement due to the policies of owcp/dol. others that were injured at the usps and had to deal w/ owcp and the dol felt the same way - lying doctors (i have atleast 1 pdf of a court case stating that the company that owcp sub-contracted for would basically tell the docs what to say or the docs wouldn't get paid, and when the docs are getting ~$1k per a 5min "evaluation" they say what is needed for them to get paid) - saying one thing to your face and then reporting differently, claiming people were lying about their injuries - even when x-rays showed broken bones - the stories never end. one of the people i worked w/ nearly got his foot cut off and years later was "evaluated" by the owcp doc who claimed that he shouldn't be limping anymore, was faking it and was @ 100%....that is the stuff that i am afraid of - this gov healthcare taking on a life like owcp, if that is the case, "death panels" (i know, i know) would be the highlight of the program...

 

[Fern]

Originally posted by: Vic

Originally posted by: Cuda1447
I must have misunderstood your post then. Especially about part #2. I thought you were saying they were efficient, I apologize.

Never the less, I think my points are still valid for others to read.


As for #1, if you wouldn't mind I'd like you to elaborate on something for me. Excuse me for being a bit uninformed about the subject. Why do you think private health insurance exists based on the benefit of tax breaks. In other words, are you saying they exist soley because of that? If that is, how so? If I'm not mistaken the employer is benefiting from the tax breaks, but how exactly would the insurance company benefit from this?

When your employer pays you in health insurance benefits (as opposed to salary, etc), those benefits are tax-free to them. Likewise, your own salary-paid contributions to those benefits are tax-free to you. Because of this, it would be downright silly of you to consider any other health insurance option but your employers'. This is a significant competitive advantage. It also pretty much screws those who don't have access to such employer-provided benefits, like the self-employed, who might like to be able to purchase health insurance in an open marketplace, and who do not have access to ANY tax breaks on health care costs unless they exceed 7% of their gross income (and then only on that portion which exceeds 7%).

Vic, those tax rules have changed.

Everyone who follows a few rules, whether an employee or self employed, gets the "above-the-line" deduction for health insurance etc.

I.e., employees and others are now on equal 'tax footing' as far as medical care & insurance goes.

Fern

 

[WhipperSnapper]

Originally posted by: sandorskiGiven that Choice, everyone would be "against" Abortion. Give the same Deduction/Option for every Issue/Government Expenditure, then watch in Horror as everybody is against everything.

How so? The people who check off that they are in favor of government funding for abortion would receive a tax break as a result of the government's net savings on education, welfare, health care, and criminal justice expenditures.