If Health Care Reform is passed...

Just wondering if Pres. Obama's health care plan is passed, will that affect many members here as that concerns me (to be blunt, I have been wondering about this since it's been on the news).

I read somewhere that if someone does "not" buy the Gov't plan (if it gets passed) they can get jail time, that's very scary to me!! 

Please correct me if I have the wrong information.

Denise

There is no room in prison for us so not to worry about it. Any way they would then become resonsible for our expensive health care!

I agree w/ Razzle. You have to think the program all the way thru. Bottom line: The government should not be in charge of your health or your health care. Too much government control.

How will they manage this? (while so far, the gov't has proven, over and over, that they cannot manage a business) Who is going to control this? How are they going to control it? Who is going to decide who deserves treatment and who doesn't? Who is going to decide that a person can get by 'with pain medication instead of surgery' -- and that came out of the President's mouth.

Who do you think is gonna want to go hundreds of thousands of dollars into debt to get their MD if the gov't is going to control their earnings? What MDs do you think will work 12 hour days if the gov't is controlling their earnings?

WHO wants the government to control our Doctors??

I cannot afford to pay for others' insurance and health care and it is wrong for the government to force me to. I have to work 2 jobs to support myself and my dogs. I'm not going to do it so I can pay for healthcare for others. I am not being selfish and this is not a moral issue. I cannot afford to feed all the hungry in Africa either, and it would be wrong to force me to.

Finally -- as Razz said, 'HMO mode'. It's bad enough already and will only get worse.

btw, yes, Dejavu, jail sentences and fines have been discussed in this.  Absurd!  I work for a municipal court.  Jail is expensive and they're already over crowded.  To seek more control over the public is insane!

Okay, thanks everyone..   I am not afraid of going to jail because I don't believe this plan will really pass, yes, it has passed the house but it still has to pass the senate.   I have been writing all my congress people and I hope others are too. 

I don't want this to be a debate, I just want to get everyone's feelings on this topic because it will affect all of the U.S. and not in a good way. 

Razzle, I agree with you that we are headed (if we are not there already) toward socialism.   I have never seen a government act the way they are acting now and it worries me.  I worry about my Mom who is a senior, I worry about my friends who are very sick and need the choice of LLMD's or holistic doctors. 

MNC (or zebra), right now we have the freedom to choose our insurance plans and our doctors.  If this plan passes, we lose that freedom.  Huge difference. 

I love my alternative medicine supplements to keep me healthy and if this plan passes I won't have the freedom I have now.  I think that's pretty scary.

So let's hope this won't pass!   Oh golly, the eternal optimist, LOL!

And Scorp, I'm a Scorp too so Happy Birthday to you!  I turned 53...

Denise

Does your medical insurance pay for your alternative medicine supplements? Mine doesn't. Mine won't pay for the naturopath I see either. My insurance does pay a portion of the LLMD's fee, about half, and they pay about 2/3 of the chiropractor charges up to a certain number of visits a year. But it is expensive insurance. I was bothered by the fact that the national healthcare initiative calls for people with "cadillac plans" through their employers to pay taxes on the employer-paid portion of the premium. When so much of my Lyme treatment isn't covered and thus my out of pocket expenses are already high, to think that on top of that I'd have to pay my portion of the premium and more tax for the privilege of less-than-adequate coverage for the particular ailment I have, is unacceptable.

Watching the Lyme videos on yesterday's thread from Canada, where Canadians are coming to the US for diagnosis and treatment of Lyme because their medical system isn't serving their needs illustrates how things could go here, too. Maybe national healthcare would be good for some people with some ailments, but I do not think it will be good for us. We already know via CDC guidelines that government affiliated decision making bodies are not favorable to our needs. This seems unlikely to change if national healthcare goes through.

That doesn't mean, though, that I think the current situation is a good one. We need insurance reform, especially with respect to Lyme treatment.

Rose

Please lets keep politics out of this debate ( rule of this forum ). I'm not sold on our current health care system, and not sure what the best way is to fix it. The only thing I know is a nation as great as ours, no one should have to be without health insurance. The problem with Lyme is much deeper than our health care system and health insurance. Until chronic Lyme disease is accepted as a legitimate condition, and insurance bureaucrats no longer have control of our health care system, it will not matter what type of health care system we have.

I don't view this as a debate, I view this as concern.  What will happen to sick people who will not have a choice on who they want to treat them or get told what doctor they must see who may not be lyme literate, and/or those who do have insurance and what will change with their insurance. 

I don't know what will happen, none of us do.  I just want everyone who has chronic lyme or any illness for that matter to be treated the way the choose to be treated versus not being told how to be treated.

Anyway, Scorpio, thanks and Happy Birthday to you too!  Even at 53 there are days where I feel 16 years old, must be the inner child in me, LOL!

Denise

jc27, I do not view this as a political debate/issue, and it should NOT be one. To those who believe that it is, I say I protest. The fact IS that this IS about healthcare reform and should NOT be a political issue, altho our President has made it one.

From the research I have done so far, the US does NOT rank that low in the world's healthcare, but is actually near the top. Please listen to the Drs who have relocated here in order to make some money, and patients who have traveled here for treatment that is not available in their country.

And it is not only my fear that the gov't can't manage a business such as this. It is my belief and conviction that the government must stay out of our daily life, including our healthcare.

Our system could have used a couple of years of detailed planning 'reform'. Instead, we have a President who has come up w/ a 'plan' that he wants to shove down our throats in little time. A plan that should have taken at least a year to plot out. There is NO WAY our President has been able to properly research all the healthcare fraud in this country today, and/ or to implement a Socialist program such as this.

Please note that the only people in favor of Socialism are the people who have nothing to share.

Health insurance will not reform without arm twisting. I would rather not see the government run health care either, but this has been coming for quite some time now. If costs keep rising at the same rate as it has been, the people will insist on national health care in 4 or 8 more years. My wife and I have friends in Canada and England who used to live in the US, they like their health care. The Fox news kool-aid drinkers would have you believe our system is the very best. Several times I've had my insurance cut me off of abx because they feel I've been on them too long. All my sons treatments for autism are "experimental" therefore no help from them and I'm now waiting (18-24 month wait) to go on Wisconsin's state insurance to get therapy for him. Insurance companies have brought this on themselves and no they won't get any sympathy from me.

Hi all,

I really hemmed and hawed about starting this thread and in a way I'm sorry I did because I didn't want to cause any friction.  Yet it is interesting to read everyone's views and concerns.   So darn if I do and darn if I don't..  

As far as what will happen, only time will tell.  As I said before I will continue to write my congress people with my own personal concerns.   One of them being is that my Mom will be 84 soon and she already is being turned down by certain doctors because she has Medicare which never happened before since she has been receiving it.   I think there's alot more to this that I don't even know about..  I wish I had more information but I don't.   So many different opinions on the internet.  

Perhaps this thread should be locked or deleted..  I don't know.    If it does that's fine with me! 

Denise

We are self employed so we spend an average of $15,000 a year just for insurance. On top of that we pay an additional 20% to 40% if its covered. We pay all dental/alternative care out of pocket.... I have been told by my insurance broker that next year 2010 the average price has increased by 15%.

In 2003 We had better coverage and only payed $3960 a year.

The thing about it is that I have not use my insurance much at all until this past spring. We pay for most of our stuff out of pocket. I am using alternative care for treatment and our policy does not cover medicines.

I don't know what the right choice is but what is going on is making it impossible for a small business to have any kind of insurance.

So Sad

I will be thirty nine years old tomorrow. I have been working since I was sixteen. I have had continuous health insurance coverage through out my career. Early on in my working career I remember when my employer paid 100% of my health coverage. As the years have gone bye I have had to pay more and more out of pocket for my insurance, for less and less coverage. Prior to contracting Lyme disease I had only been to my doctor for annual physicals. I never thought much about health insurance except how I was always contributing to a policy that I never used. However I was content in the knowledge that it would be there when I needed it. Then four years ago I was bit by a tick and became very ill. I remember thinking to myself, thank god I have health insurance, I'm going to need it now. I work as an auditor/inspector for a non profit that is contracted with the state I reside in. The last four years have been brutal. Even though most days I struggled to even get out of bed, I have no choice, I must provide for my family and pay my mortgage. Trust me I don't mind paying my fare share for health care, and my taxes. I am a blue collar, middle class worker with a family, and I struggle from pay check to pay check. I'm not looking for the government to give me hand outs. So when I started going to the doctor, and using some of the thousand's of my dollars I have contributed to my insurance company over the years, I was dumb founded when they denied to pay for my MRI with contrast, when they denied to pay for numerous blood work ups, when they denied me IV treatment, and too much to list. I mean how can I be paying them for a product, they take my money and deny me coverage when I need it most?????? In the last four year I have spent over twenty thousand dollars out of pocket. It would have been much more, but I have intentionally denied myself care just so I don't drive my family into bankruptcy, lose my house, marriage, and career!!!! I'm not sure how to fix our GREEDY health care system, I am leaning more towards universal coverage, and I don't care if it is government run, or privately run. I do know one thing though, if any of your children would become infected with Lyme, cancer, or any other disease, I would be HAPPY to pay a few more tax dollars out of my hard earned pay check so you, or your child could receive the treatment any child, or American DESERVES. What happened to morals in our society??? What happened to love they neighbor??? I will keep working until this disease, or GREED kills me. It's not my intent to insult anyone, sorry if I have. I was always told by my father that if I work hard and stayed grounded in a job, I would have my share of the American dream. I fear greed has destroyed the dream for my generation and those to come.

This issue is so hard. For everyone. And, hardly anyone is in the middle. They either want it or don't want it. But, I need to clarify some things from the side of those that don't want it. It has nothing to do with greed! It has nothing to do with not loving our neighbor. It doesn't mean that we don't want EVERYONE to get the healthcare that they need. That is not it at all! I wish that everyone had the treatment that they need when they need it. I wish that no one was starving or homeless. The problems are as follows: Number 1: Our economy is absolutely awful right now. I do not care how many news reporters say that prices are falling, blah blah, they are not. People are still losing their jobs. We cannot afford Universal healthcare right now. We just can't. Number 2: The more money you make, the more taxes that you pay. My sister works her butt off and pays over half of what she makes a year in taxes. She can barely pay her bills, but is paying all of these taxes that do not benefit her or her family at all. Now, I don't care if you are a billionaire, you pay more than your fair share of taxes already. This is the land of the free. This is the land of opportunity. Why would someone work hard to become financially independent just to turn around and give all of their money to people who don't work? To people who didn't bother to finish high school or go to college, or do anything to better themselves? We aren't communist and therefore should not be acting like it! (now, I know that NHS is not just for these types of ppl. There are a whole lot of good people, hardworking honest and loving people who cannot get health insurance, cannot afford it, or cannot afford good coverage. However, there are also a whole lot of lazy people who just never worked, never tried to be a successful person knowing that the government would always take care of them) Number 3: I was a moderator for a health forum for years. (not this one). People from England and Canada were always coming on asking what to do because they could not get the care they needed because their government would not cover it. Or, one lady had to wait 16 months to start chemotherapy. 16 months! Regardless of Obama and newscasters saying that this kind of thing is not true...it is! People do not come here for medical treatments because they want to spend the money to do it. They do it because they have to or they will die! This is where we will be if this plan passes.
Number 4: If this plan passes, doctors, nurses, physician assistants are not going to be making the money that they deserve. Yes, I said deserve. If you spend the time and money and sweat to go to and make it through med school and residency, etc. you should not get out and make minimum wage. Or even as low as $50,000 per year. When the cost of everything is "regulated," it is going to be regulated to such a degree that it won't be worth the work for these people. They will quit, or choose other professions, or just stop caring altogether...and we lymies know darn well how it feels to have doctors that do not care. It would be better to not even go to the doctor.
Number 5: holistic and natural treatments will still not be covered. They are not recognized as actual "medicine" which is why they are not covered now.
Number 6: We are the creaters of so many wonderful and new medications! Do you know how much money it costs to create a new drug? Around 800 million dollars. MMHHMM. That is why new medicines are so expensive. The people have to make their money back. The reason they stay so expensive? Because after 1 year, a generic is allowed to be made and substituted. This, in turn, keeps the brand name expensive because that 800 million dollars needs to be made back somehow. So, if you need the brand name (which I do on a lot of meds) you have to pay out the whazoo for it. Do you really think the government would pay that much for brand names? Or pay for them at all? Doubt it. So, why would people spend the money to create new drugs when they would just be throwing money away?


What we need to do (for now until a reasonable solution can be found) is have the government just step in and not let the insurance companies do what they are doing. Make them cover people with pre-existing conditions. Not let them deny needed treatments. And make everyone BUY health insurance to offset the cost. Yes, this will cost america money too. But, not nearly as much money as the proposed plan would. And there wouldn't be all of these crazy government rules involved. I do agree with the above poster who said to read the plan. Please do! You will be amazed at what you see there!
I also do not mean to offend anyone. And, I know that a lot of people are not going to agree with me. That is fine! That is your right as an American citizen. (for now anyway.lol) So, I am very sorry if I did offend anyone. I do not want to debate on here either, however, if anyone does want to talk to me about my views..just let me know and we can email. Please don't consider me cold hearted. I am not. I do wish that everyone had everything that they needed and it breaks my heart that it just doesn't work that way. We do have a long way to go and healthcare does need addressed. This just isn't the way to do it right now, but Obama made promises and wants to keep them no matter the cost.