Beagle Mafia

This debate is like the song that never ends. It goes on and on my friends. I think for the most part the one thing that most of us agree on is that reform needs to happen. We certainly cant keep going in the direction we are now because it will bankrupt this country and more lives will be lost. People without insurance should be able to get it affordable health insurance and people who cant afford it should be able to go to the government to get it. No one should be without coverage or be afraid to enter an ER or doctor's office without worry if they will lose their homes due to the cost.

I think the major debate is how we go about reform. I am NOT on board with universal health care/single payer system Yes, it may work in other countries but I do not think that is the answer for us. The main reason I am not ok with this is that the govt does not run Medicare/Medicaid very effectively or efficiently. Waste has been going on forever in those systems. I would like to see those areas corrected so maybe the American people can have a bit more faith before they take on a much bigger venture such as UH.

I was very excited to see President Obama's speech on this topic last night, and actually watched it several times before I made heads or tails of what he said. I thought he effectively explained what the plan is, he discussed the current debates, debunked the non sense coming from the right BUT he in no way shape or form, told us how he plans on paying for this plan.

The only thing he said was that he would not sign a plan that would add one more dime to the deficit and correcting the waste in Medicare and Medicaid would help fund this plan. Really? So he plans on correcting Medicare/Medicaid FIRST? That needs to be done anyway but I am having a hard time believing that cleaning up those programs first is going to foot the bill for the massive plan. To me it seems that we are going all be paying more taxes which is one thing, but just say that. Why dance around it? Anyone with a brain knows that is exactly what is going to happen. Say what you need to say.....

Secondly, if the plan is to penalize businesses for not covering their employees by charging a 8 percent fee, would it make sense for some businesses to take the 8 percent penalty then to cover their employees? I mean would that not make business sense to do that? That would mean people like my family would have NO choice but to either pay for their own private insurance or go to a govt run program. That scares me.

I am all about choice. If I choose to pay and arm and leg for my premiums(and we do) to have private insurance through my husband's employer then I should have that right to do so. Just like if you choose not to be covered by insurance and want to go to the govt run coverage. Don't take my right to choice. You could say, you would still have a choice to go out on our own. Yes, but what if the private insurers raise their premiums even more since now they are going to be forced to take patients with pre existing conditions. What if they private insurers all go under because most people start jumping ship to the free insurance? Then I wont really have a choice and we would then all go into a single payer system and be left with no other option. That is SCARY!

This other business about mandating that everyone have some sort of coverage. Really? How are we going to police that?

The only plan that I can get totally on board with right now is this market plan. Where WE not the govt, can shop around and make insurance companies compete with one another for our business. They would have no choice but to start lowering their rates since people will have other options. Right now, we personally are stuck with one carrier and we get a choice of four different plans to choose from. I hear we are lucky we can even do that. I am all for shopping around and making the private insurers work for their business instead. Market plan GOOOO!

The bottom line is this. Something needs to be done sooner and not later but that does not mean that we all need to jump on the "lets give this a shot" band wagon. We need to first clearly think about the cost of doing this and where the funds are really going to come from. We need to evaluate if the govt can really handle this huge undertaking.

People with preexisting conditions need coverage too. Its not fair that they are turned away and this is where I think the govt needs to step in and either cover those people with pre existing conditions or offer a subsidiary.

I am just really afraid that we are headed to a single payer system with a govt that cant handle what is already on their plate. I cant imagine any other outcome if this bill gets passed.