http://www.cnn.com/2010/POLITICS/03/21/health.care.latest/index.html?hpt=T1
:'D
I just hope some crazy nutjob isn’t further motivated to take a shot at Obama because of this. I honestly wonder what will come of this in the future. Will it truly change the face of health care?
So what does this mean without me having to read a log of random garbage from CNN?
- Everyone will be required to have health insurance or pay a fine
- People who cannot afford insurance will get it for free (Medicaid) or get a subsidy
- Each state will have an insurance exchange where some individuals can buy approved insurance plans
- Insurers will not be allowed to deny coverage to sick people (children in 2010, adults in 2014)
- Insurance companies will be forbidden from dropping people when they get sick
- Companies with more than 50 employees will be required to offer insurance or pay a fine
- Annual and lifetime limits on claims will be eliminated
- The Medicare donut hole on drug coverage will be phased out
- Health plans above a certain level will be subject to an excise tax in the distant future
- People making over $250,000 a year will pay a new tax on unearned income
credit: Electoral-vote.com
Essentially, everyone has to buy private health insurance, and the poor people get it paid for by the government. It’s not the same as a health system (the actual doctors) which is entirely owned by the government. I think that’s how the Scandinavian systems work. Canada too? One of the largest problems with it is that it does not break up government-sanctioned monopolies; if every insurance company could compete on a truly nationwide basis, costs should, the economist would argue, naturally plummet making costs all around cheaper.
I had to write a paper last semester supporting the reform, so I’m glad we’ve taken a step forward.
edit: Sin: People are already getting pissed at him because they don’t understand it and they think it’s going to cost them out the ass. Ignorance ftw! And probably some closet racism.
I for one am saddened to learn that Crotanks supports Government Death Panels.
Thank God! We will finally have healthcare for everyone!
dies of a health complication in 2013 because none of the reforms actually go into effect for 5 years
Sweet, now my FB news feed with be further spammed with anti-obama/anti-health care reform garbage from all my obama hating friends.
Maybe you should have smarter friends. Then again, it doesn’t surprise me than most people in Janesville, WI would be rabid anti-Obama mouth breathers (no offense to your hometown but it’s basically the most run-down backwater redneck-infested place in Wisconsin).
No, that would be Delavan/Elkhorn. Actually the whole state if fiercely republican, but Walworth County even moreso. And it’s nothing against them. I never get into political debates with them. And it’s not like I’m 100% pro-bama, I just get sick of seeing the same links, videos and comments almost every day. If I wasn’t, I’d still get sick of seeing it.
Edit: Everyone I know in J-ville are probama so the Dem/Repub ratio isn’t as low as it is in other places. And seriously, there are far more redneck places in WI than J-ville, even though there are a fair share of dirties there, not as many as Delavan/Darien/Allens Grove.
I don’t think that US health care will become what people think it will become. There will be a trend towards what people want it to be, but it will take a few years for things to settle. For one thing, people WILL have to pay higher premiums on insurance because they’ll have to subsidize poorer people with worse health. I also wonder if it will influence the way resources are used right now in the health care system, if there will be greater demand. This bill also does not lower the cost of health care in itself, which is one of the major problems of the US system. This isn’t over by a long shot, it will take years.
Re: Canadian health care.
I could say a lot of bad things about the current state of US health care (though the current bill will change things tremendously), but believe me when I say that the Canadian system is just as bad, just in different aspects. In Canada, the state controls the number of doctors at every department in every hospital. All doctors are employees of the state. There is a massive shortage of doctors at all levels and to blame it on the brain drain (like Sin going south when he graduates, wheee!) is wrong. If the state wanted to deal with the shortage, it would prevent physicians from leaving, improve working conditions for family physicians and increase the number of positions at all hospitals so specialists wouldn’t take MONTHS to do a cancer diagnosis (very bad - not an exaggeration, I have friends that do this for a living). The nice thing about Canada is that you don’t need to worry about costs per person. The problem is that health care is rationed out. It can take months for someone to get necessary surgery for blocked heart valves or hip replacements, by which time people DO die and it goes in the newspapers - this happens frequently. There is also a nurse shortage because their working conditions are so bad, that most people who give a damn about doing their jobs leave within a couple years out of frustration and exhaustion, creating a vicious cycle. In the end, you end up with a system where no one gives a shit about their jobs because all the people who gave a damn left. Put this on top of a lack of accountability because of an umbrella of protection by the state, if something bad happens because of negligence, or if you get poor care, too bad!
Canada is nice when you have an emergency that requires you to be taken in by ambulance, provided you’re not facing this situation: all Quebec installations are extremely old and poorly maintained. I had a friend who worked in the ER of Montreal’s trauma center. The power went out and the back up generators didn’t turn on. He was called to the ICU to bag patients who still needed a ventilator at the same time ambulances arrived with car crash victims. They told the ambulance driver to go to the next (shitty) hospital 1 mile away because they obviously couldn’t take them. The other hospital said it was not their problem and SENT THEM BACK. That’s Canadian health care. Decrepit installations, lack of resources, lack of accountability, people don’t give a shit. But hey, its free*.
*By free I mean you’re heavily taxed for it. Taxation without representation FTL.
I thought they had elections in Canada. I’m pretty sure they piss about the results.
Wow, Obama actually got something done that wasn’t murdering people.
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In regards to shitty places in Wisconsin, Jefferson is the worst. That whole town smells like cat food.
Heh, still haven’t been out there yet. I have no real reason to either.
Ah yes, the reform bill…already I’ve heard people having a stroke over it. Mainly because they don’t wanna pay for it. >_>
Surprisingly my news feed has been bitch-free since this was announced.
What is the income range of the people who will have to pay for this?
Everyone, basically. Either directly through taxes or indirectly when their premiums rise.