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« Opinion
We need a better system
We need a better system
EDITOR:
The American health-care system is not working. American families and businesses are desperate for a resolution. The current private model relies on the sales of a product. This product is health insurance. It is mostly being sold to healthy working Americans and their families. This fails to address Americans with greater health-care needs. Our health-care system is decades behind other sectors of the U.S. economy and foreign health-care systems. In order to keep up, the medical community must adopt the use of computers, electronic health records and productivity producing information-sharing technologies.
There were 46 million uninsured Americans in 2007, before the start of the current economic recession. This number continues to increase as the economy continues to deteriorate. Sixty-two percent of Americans believe that during this current economic crisis, now is the time to reform health care.
Insurance premiums have increased four times more than wages since 1999. However, companies that have adopted consumer-directed plans have actually seen premiums increase slower than wages and inflation.
Medical expenses cause half of all personal bankruptcies.
President Obama hopes that Congress will pass health-care reform in 2009.
Invest in preventative care to reduce costs and improve efficiency. Citizens, not companies, need to fuel reform.
Every American should be given the right to choose the health-care plan and doctor that is right for them. This right to choose should include a public insurance option.
Affordable, high-quality health care needs to be ensured to every American. All Americans, regardless of income, ought to be guaranteed access to high quality health care coverage with reasonable premium limits.
Real heath-care reform must pass in 2009.
Many people have been personally touched or have a loved one who has been touched, by high costs, restrictive plans, and/or insufficient coverage. Many of these effects are negative. Despite its often negative stigma Medicare positively affects many families every year. There is no reason why health care should be available to the rich and the poor, but absent to the middle class.
MEGAN VUTECH
Youngstown
YMCA triathlon a success
EDITOR:
I would like to congratulate the Youngstown YMCA for another successful completion of the Adult and Youth Triathlon. The YMCA is a jewel in a city that is drowning in daily news about murders, joblessness and blight. The programs offered at the “Y” allow families in the Youngstown community to come together for the common goal of improving their mind, spirit and body.
I would also like to commend the many volunteers who came out at 6 a.m. on a Sunday morning, as well as the positive cooperation of the Youngstown Police Department. Many officers also participated in the event in our downtown area. In addition to this event, many members have also completed the Tour de Spin, which is a 20-day spinning/cycling event that simulates the 21 stages of the Tour de France.
As a resident of Youngstown, I am glad to be part of one of the strongest YMCA programs in the country. Come and see what the YMCA has to offer you.
MARY JO NAGY, YMCA member
Youngstown
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Comments
I'm tired of hearing about this healthcare crap... just because our current health care system isn't perfect doesn't mean we have to listen to the propaganda Obama spews out of his mouth. We don't have to turn into a socialist country to fix healthcare, actually government is really the problem not the solution. I think we've all become a broken record on this and public opinion is strongly against the crap that they are trying to pass, so can we all just drop it. The whole plan Obama is pushing is toast, its done... it's not going to pass. Go back to the drawing boards and come up with something that doesn't remind me of other government failures we've created.
That bill is toast let's stop acting like its actually going to get passed.
Search....have you read the plan they are working on? Please explain your plan.
Who are the uninsured?
Approximately one-fifth are illegal aliens, nearly three-fifths make $50,000 or more a year and can afford insurance, and just under a third are eligible for Medicaid or other government programs already, but just haven't enrolled.
No one has read the plan they are working on, its over a thousand pages. "My plan" is to have health insurance really be insurance like auto insurance. Allow insurance companies to compete, promote catastrophic insurance coupled with tax free health savings accounts, you could even have employers that participate put money into the savings accounts. After a certain amount of expenditure your health insurance kicks in.
The best way to have the healthcare system become more consumer oriented is to have the actual consumer pay in most cases.
The way it is currently done is much like prepaid health care. Think of it this way when you get auto insurance do you expect them to pay for a blown tire? Why do we then expect health insurance to also cover vision, dental, and other lower expense medical care?
http://www.insurance.com/article.aspx/Pr...
I'm not claiming this to be a cure-all solution but I like this idea much more than government healthcare. It makes a lot of sense to me, especially at this point of my life I go to the dentist twice a year and that's about it. A health savings account coupled with catastrophic insurance in case something does happen makes perfect sense for me, much more than the typical health insurance or government health coverage.
I wish that everyone would quit reacting to the proposed healthcare reform out of their fears that are perpetrated by polarizing forces intent on feeding on the uninformed's fears and biases. People need to actually read or at least review the proposed document. It is easily found on line. That way people can discern what is true about the proposal without just reacting to arguments against the plan that are put out there by political groups with an agenda instead of actually taking the time to acquire knowledge based on the actual document.
In my opinion, health care reform will not make this a socialist country. If people are concerned that this would be the case, if government were to be involved with healthcare, than perhaps the same could be said for the entire VA system, social security, etc. Government at times must be involved, that's why it exists. This is my opinion and I advise that people educate themselves to form their own opinions.
So many people are so eager to mimick whatever they hear on their favorite talk radio show or television news show without taking the time to actually make themselves truly knowledgeable by studying the actual source document. Individuals will spend countless hours listening and watching polarizing talk programs but complain that the document is too long for them to read.
Let's all become truly educated and not just parrot back the opinions of others after reading someone else's opinion. At least then an individual opinion would be worthwhile.
Don't base your opinion on what someone else would like you to believe to serve their own political agenda, take the time to go to the source documents.
Additionally, the AMA has endorsed the proposed healthcare reform (this can be researched at their website) and the bill can be found in its entirety on the Ways and Means website.
Yeah let's get rid of social security too!!! I agree with that point kellie.
The democrats say they want a public option, I don't. The obama sheep democrats say it'll save money, the cbo says it won't. I think we can all realize why there's issues with this, the program is costing what a trillion we don't have. Plus, I don't even listen to Rush Limbaugh or Hannity or watch tv at all.
I make judgements based on what I've learned in school and in life, not by what Rush Limbaugh says, whatever he says.
Search....I see you favor a health care system that kicks in when a person is ill with a catastrophic illness. That's where we differ. I would rather see a health care system that focuses o prevention. Just my opinion.
NonSocialist....illegal immigrants are more than just a drain on health care. The only fix for that problem is to fine and/or jail employers of the illegals. They come here for jobs. Eliminate the jobs and they will leave on their own.
Good point Cam, I've said the same thing about illegal immigrants, if they don't have jobs they will leave. And employers who hire them should be responsible for their medical costs in addition to fines and jail. Basically the governement has created this mess by not allowing insurrance companies to compete in a free market arena.
Cambridge (Police Dept),
I agree with you....both on the Catastrophic Insurance and the potential solutions re: illegal aliens. Are you sure you aren't a closet O'Reilly fan?
Kellie,
Where to begin...
The AMA is one of several groups that represent physicians. Check out the positions of another group, Sermo, re: HR3200.
I'm not sure how one could think that the government take over of yet another private industry is not socialism. Here is the Dictionary.com defintion of socialism:
so⋅cial⋅ism –noun 1. a theory or system of social organization that advocates the vesting of the ownership and control of the means of production and distribution, of capital, land, etc., in the community as a whole.
2. procedure or practice in accordance with this theory.
3. (in Marxist theory) the stage following capitalism in the transition of a society to communism, characterized by the imperfect implementation of collectivist principles.
I could go on forever here. I invite you to read my multiple prior entries on this subject. I'll just say that the consequences of having a politician decide the fate of your health has been tried and every time has been disastrous.
NonSocialist....You need to read my post again. I'm against catastrophic insurance.
I'm as far from being an O'Reilly fan as you can get.
Everything that disagrees with your point of view is not socialism. You make some good points from time to time but you ruin it with the socialism crap. If you just make your point and end it there you will seem much more credible than when you are labeling people. For what it's worth, DoctorGonzo is someone who even though I disagree with at times I consider very credible because he doesn't call people names or put them in a category if you disagree. He might mix in a little sarcasm and humor with his insults that give it that personal touch which to me is easier to deal with. If that makes any sence. The constant socialism comments make you seem nuts.
Cambridge,
Why so sensitive about the word "socialist"? You do have the option of not reading my posts.
The subject at hand is the government takeover of a formerly private enterprise...that's socialism at it's purest form..deal with it.
The socialist are coming, the socialist are coming.
Nonsocialist, hey I'm with you dude. I don't like how there seems to be this game where people who believe in all the principles of socialism don't want to see to accept that they're socialist.
There's a big movement building against big government mounting. Trust me, especially on college campuses there is a movement building against big government. I've been seeing a lot of graffiti on walls saying things like "socialism is tyranny" or "welcome to communist America". It might seem hidden now but as things keep progressing it will show.
I had to do a presentation on a group I believed in, I chose Campaign for Liberty. The teacher tried to take me on saying that the free market caused this and saying things to the effect the government can solve all your problems. In a class of 20 I had 3-4 other people arguing on my side against the teacher. Trust me, there is a lot of frustration mounting and there are a lot of people that are on your side and you don't even know it.
My best advice is read up on books that you can trust, question those books, and learn. Some of the best books are the 5000 year leap, the revolution: a manifesto, as much as I dislike beck sometimes common sense is an ok start.
S4A,
I believe that these "socialists" are good but badly misguided people. A person I work with is a devote communist but a good friend and an amazing person. She's proud of it and she "owns it." I've long ago learned that 1+1 does not equal 2 to everybody. They want a better world, but somehow feel that torching it is a good call.
There is a minority of those who still believe in the principles of our founding fathers. I agree, this minority is being roused and awakened with each new tax increase and spending frenzy.
Knowledge is freedom. Knowledge is power. I've recently read Thomas Paine's Common Sense, as well as other works of our founding fathers. The Declaration of Independence could've been written today...mind blowing.
Yep,
They aren't bad people but they are caught up in a utopian fallacy rather than reality. They believe in a "greater good" for the collective but fail to realize how oppressive it is to the individual. It's all about the collective, not the individual.
I didn't know graffiti was an information source. 3 or 4 college kids think they have all the answers. Now there is a new concept. The socialist are coming, the socialist are coming.
Down with socialism! More of the public need to watch Glenn Beck. The liberal college professors with their six-figure salaries, tenure, and union labor contracts are serving to poison the mind of our youth by constantly teaching the favorability of socialism. The subsidized families with their entitlement mentalities are continuing to produce illegitimate children to further clog the prison system. The liberal attorneys are loading up the social security system with thouands of individuals whose only disability is that they are too lazy to work. Then the bleeding-hearts expect us all to feel sorry for these people.
All who are interested in learning more about government-run medicine should DVR/TiVo or watch the ABC news program 20/20 at 10 pm ET tonight.
When we repeat the same little phrase over and over on a forum, it is a sign that we have run out of facts but still need to try to irritate the other posters.
This has become boring! Goodnight!!!
Run out of facts or the truth is all too clear?
Since the current health care system is insurance companies focused on maximizing their profits by denying health care I welcome a government option. If the option is not better than what people currently have they will stick with their current coverage.
Why does anyone think the insurance and drug companies are spending millions so some in Washington will fight to block any option for the American people.
When people are afraid to take a better job because they have a preexisting condition that won't be covered if they switch coverage, that's not freedom. When your insurance decides not to cover you just because, that's not freedom. When your doctor considers his business more than your treatment or when the insurance company makes the final decision and not your doctor, that's not freedom. When people with insurance are forced to go bankrupt and lose a lifetime of work because they can't cover their copay, that's not freedom.
Fixing health care in this country is long overdue.
When a bureaucrat decides that you condition is not worth the people's money, that is not freedom. When you are forced to share in the misery, that is not freedom.
THE government......RUN Banksget BAILOUTS,and SWEETHEART DEALS(Senator Dodd),RUN Car Industry and get Cash for Clunkers that ran out of money and Car Czars( who don't know cars)RUN Health Care and get Co-ops like Michele Obama ran in Chicago(Patient Dumping which is illegal). Where is his Highness Tim Ryan who should be talking to the people and getting our response to what is going on?He is a coward, and is afraid to have a OPEN TOWN HALL MEETING to hear from us!