These articles are from various places around the web. Some draw parallels between the healthcare bill being debated right now and Massachusettes' healthcare system, which already undertook many of the same reforms in the Senate bill, and which is failing miserably.
How Obamacare is like the failed Romneycare in Massachusettes.
"In the past three years, insurance premiums in Massachusetts have increased by 8-10% each year, nearly twice the national average."
Yes Mr. President, A Free Market Can Fix Healthcare
"As [free] markets make health insurance more secure and medical care more affordable, fewer people will fall into this vulnerable situation [of not being able to afford care], and it will be easier to care for those who do."
Medicare denies the most claims
"Critics of non-government insurance complain that such companies deny claims, and imply that this would never happen with government-run insurance such as Medicare. According to the American Medical Association’s 2008 Health Insurance Report Card , the health insurer that denies the most claims is Medicare. This is compared to Aetna, Anthem, Cigna, Coventry, Health Net, Humana, and United Health care. 21% of Medicare’s claim denials had the following “reason code description”: “These are non-covered services because this is not deemed a ‘medical necessity’ by the payer.” It was the 2nd most common reason."
Poor face greatest difficulties getting care in Massachusettes
"One in five adults said they had been told in the last 12 months that a doctor or clinic was not accepting new patients or would not see patients with their type of insurance. The rejection rates for low-income adults and those with public insurance were double the rates for higher-income residents and those with private coverage."
Obamacare is Economically Unsustainable
"This bill adds a new health care entitlement at a time when we have no idea how to pay for the entitlements we already have. The full 10- year cost of the bill has a $460 billion deficit. The second 10-year cost of this bill has a $1.4 trillion deficit."
Obamacare is constitutionally suspect
Patients waiting up to a year to see a family practice doc for a routine visit in Massachusettes
“It’s a recipe for disaster,” Dr. Sereno said. “It’s great that people have access to health care, but now we’ve got to find a way to give them access to preventive services. The point of this legislation was not to get people episodic care.”
Although supporters of the Massachusetts plan had hoped it would save money, the opposite has occurred. The state expects to spend $595 million more in 2009 on its health insurance program than it did in 2006 — a 42% increase.
Showing posts with label 1984. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 1984. Show all posts
Friday, March 19, 2010
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Ehhh.... I just can't help myself.
This article over at the Gold Coast Chronicle is one of the best succinct arguments for why Congress needs to go back to the drawing board with the healthcare bill. And while you're at it, check out the 50 Fallacies on Healthcare. Look, obviously we need to do something, but the direction they are headed now is just WRONG in my opinion. Quoting from the article:
Instead of “universal health care,” America needs free market reforms such as allowing patients to purchase insurance across state lines and using Health Savings Accounts for routine expenses.
Insurers should be allowed to sell inexpensive, catastrophic-only policies to cover rare but expensive events.
States should repeal laws forcing insurers to offer (and patients to purchase) unwanted “mandatory benefits” such as in vitro fertilization.
Such reforms would respect individual rights, greatly reduce insurance costs, and make insurance available to millions who cannot currently afford it.
Do we want to enlarge an already-bloated welfare state so that it can further violate our rights in the name of “universal health care?”
Or do we want a limited government that will respect our rights and allow individuals to prosper and thrive? America’s future is at stake.
Not to mention using legislative gimmicks like reconciliation to jam through one of the most important pieces of legislation in memory... it's a major process foul, Obama. And now the Slaughter Solution on top of it? What happened to the democratic process? It's bad enough all the pork and ridiculous horse-trading that has already been done, but now to try to bulldoze over the opposition by bending the rules? It's sickening. Quoting from here: "The Democratic Majority cannot deny that they are turning the process of our democracy on its head in an effort to achieve a highly unpopular, partisan objective."
I urge you, if you disagree with the chocolate mess Pelosi et al are trying to shove through Congress, to write your Congressmen and tell them to vote NO on the healthcare bill. They are still short of the votes they need for a majority. If your Congressmen are on the fence, it's even more important to write and tell them your views!
Instead of “universal health care,” America needs free market reforms such as allowing patients to purchase insurance across state lines and using Health Savings Accounts for routine expenses.
Insurers should be allowed to sell inexpensive, catastrophic-only policies to cover rare but expensive events.
States should repeal laws forcing insurers to offer (and patients to purchase) unwanted “mandatory benefits” such as in vitro fertilization.
Such reforms would respect individual rights, greatly reduce insurance costs, and make insurance available to millions who cannot currently afford it.
Do we want to enlarge an already-bloated welfare state so that it can further violate our rights in the name of “universal health care?”
Or do we want a limited government that will respect our rights and allow individuals to prosper and thrive? America’s future is at stake.
Not to mention using legislative gimmicks like reconciliation to jam through one of the most important pieces of legislation in memory... it's a major process foul, Obama. And now the Slaughter Solution on top of it? What happened to the democratic process? It's bad enough all the pork and ridiculous horse-trading that has already been done, but now to try to bulldoze over the opposition by bending the rules? It's sickening. Quoting from here: "The Democratic Majority cannot deny that they are turning the process of our democracy on its head in an effort to achieve a highly unpopular, partisan objective."
I urge you, if you disagree with the chocolate mess Pelosi et al are trying to shove through Congress, to write your Congressmen and tell them to vote NO on the healthcare bill. They are still short of the votes they need for a majority. If your Congressmen are on the fence, it's even more important to write and tell them your views!
Friday, November 20, 2009
More evidence that Obamacare is a terrible idea
Dr. Paul Hsieh: Mafia-style health insurance: An offer you can't refuse
By: Dr. Paul Hsieh OpEd Contributor
November 16, 2009
washingtonexaminer.com
Suppose the mafia came to your town and forced everyone to purchase all their meals at mob-approved restaurants. The mafia would also select the menu items.
If you liked broccoli but their vegetable choice was spinach, then tough luck. Everyone would also have to purchase dessert, whether they wanted it or not. And if some customers couldn't afford the high-priced meals, the mafia would force you to "contribute" to cover their bills.
Most Americans would be outraged at such violations of their basic rights. But this is precisely what the president and Congress want to do with health insurance.
Read the rest right here. (It's very interesting as it discusses the state of health care in Massachusettes, where residents are required to purchase health insurance... *hint* - the plan is failing miserably, costs are skyrocketing, and it's becoming harder to get care, not easier.)
By: Dr. Paul Hsieh OpEd Contributor
November 16, 2009
washingtonexaminer.com
Suppose the mafia came to your town and forced everyone to purchase all their meals at mob-approved restaurants. The mafia would also select the menu items.
If you liked broccoli but their vegetable choice was spinach, then tough luck. Everyone would also have to purchase dessert, whether they wanted it or not. And if some customers couldn't afford the high-priced meals, the mafia would force you to "contribute" to cover their bills.
Most Americans would be outraged at such violations of their basic rights. But this is precisely what the president and Congress want to do with health insurance.
Read the rest right here. (It's very interesting as it discusses the state of health care in Massachusettes, where residents are required to purchase health insurance... *hint* - the plan is failing miserably, costs are skyrocketing, and it's becoming harder to get care, not easier.)
Sunday, March 09, 2008
The Year of Optimum Well-being
I didn't really want to displace that sweet picture of me and Adam from the top of my page cause I like lookin' at it, but it's time to update!
Yesterday I turned 28 - gawd it sounds so OLD. I totally thought - when I was younger - that I would have my life all figured out by this age. Married, kids, dog, minivan, etc. WRONG. How wrong I was! If you had told me in high school that on my 28th birthday, I would be living in Washington D.C. working a "front-page"** job for the State Department, missing my sweet boyfriend who I'll be separated from for the next two years and preparing for my first whole body scan after having CANCER, well... Well, I would have laughed in your face!! Haha. That's not MY life! In high school I still thought I was going to be some kind of a writer or, you know, someone who somehow gets paid to be deep and interesting. I thought I would NEVER work a desk job, never conform, never give in to The MAN! Especially not WORKING for The Man... no way! Are you kidding?! I read 1984!! Haha, my poor parents. Sigh. Sorry ma. I know I was incorrigible. But just look how I turned out! See, it all worked out in the end. It alllllways does.
No matter how bleak things seem, no matter how many doors slam in your face, no matter how much you worry and struggle, everything always works itself out in the end. I've been though my fair share of trials and tribulations and usually no amount of struggle on my part improves or changes the situation. Often when we can't see our way out or through, when we want and wish and strive, the thing we really have to do is wait. As the fates weave their tapestry all around us, finally other people and events will play themselves out, and a new door will open and we can move forward again.
I had a great birthday. I got a ton of gifts to unwrap from my sweet mom - some clothes and girly things. She always makes me feel like a princess on my birthday. I went to Ching Ching Cha, a Chinese tea house in Georgetown with my 3 best girlfriends here in DC. We ordered flowering teas and chatted and it was perfect weather for it, being damp and gray and chilly and rainy.
One of the girls is my cousin, Cara. She got married last year and she and her husband moved to DC right afterwards. We are the same age and our dads are identical twins, so our families have always been close and we grew up together. As much as she is like a sister to me, I admit I am a little resentful and jealous of her. We've walked the same path in life, even to our careers in international realtions (she's getting a PhD in political science). We've done basically the same things... but it's always seemed like she does them just a little bit better, has an easier time, always gets what she wants. My path has led through the thorny brier thickets, quicksand and mud holes and she's traveled on the paved superhighway.
Anyway, yesterday she was talking about starting a family in the next couple of years and I felt an intense pang of jealousy and bitterness. It's completely irrational and ridiculous... having kids is not a competition! But part of me wants to be FIRST, at that at least! I don't want to follow in her footsteps! And god forbid we get pregnant around the same time and go through it together. Cause I know how that will go. She won't have any morning sickness, she will stay thin everywhere except her stomach, the baby will pop right out and she'll put on her pre-pregnancy jeans the next day. Her baby will sleep through the night from day one and get a scholarship to Harvard before its first birthday. Who can compete with that?!
Why am I thinking about babies all the time?! Who knows. There really is something to the biological clock thing - my ovaries have a mind of their own. But it also symbolizes what I want most right now - to move on to that phase of my life, to be married, to even be in a position to think about having my own family. And I can't have that right now in the world that I've created for myself. Even if Adam and I get married before he finishes his assignment in Hawaii (in November 2009) it will still be almost two years from now before we can even think about building a life together.
These are the thoughts that keep me up at night. It's an inner struggle. Because I could easily leave my job and go to Hawaii and start that life I want so much. Seriously, how great would that be?! Hawaii, y'all. I don't even particularly like DC that much. The only thing holding me here is my career. If I only had 5 years to live... or, if I had terminal cancer, for example, I sure as heck wouldn't be sitting here in DC waiting. But if I'm not being fatalistic, then it's foolish to leave a good job, especially when it's entirely possible that Adam and I would come back here after he's done in Hawaii anyway.
See, this is the kind of situation that makes you want to struggle. To try and strive and work to change things, to figure SOMETHING out... but as I said before, I know from experience that what I probably have to do is wait. I have to open my eyes and my heart and my life to possibilities. To the possibilities and lessons of being apart from Adam, of it not being time yet.
My goal for this year is to be healthier and happier on March 8, 2009 than I am today. My 28th year is going to be the Year of Optimum Health and Happiness. The Year of Optimum Well-being. I am so grateful for everything in my life - for my family, for Adam, my job... I am the luckiest girl in the world. It's hard to imagine there could be more than this, but somehow I know this year will bring more abundance. Even if I don't have what I want now and don't get what I want now in the end, somehow I feel like things are going to keep getting better and better. Amazingly, impossibly better.
**...as in front page of the newspaper...I work. On those things.
Yesterday I turned 28 - gawd it sounds so OLD. I totally thought - when I was younger - that I would have my life all figured out by this age. Married, kids, dog, minivan, etc. WRONG. How wrong I was! If you had told me in high school that on my 28th birthday, I would be living in Washington D.C. working a "front-page"** job for the State Department, missing my sweet boyfriend who I'll be separated from for the next two years and preparing for my first whole body scan after having CANCER, well... Well, I would have laughed in your face!! Haha. That's not MY life! In high school I still thought I was going to be some kind of a writer or, you know, someone who somehow gets paid to be deep and interesting. I thought I would NEVER work a desk job, never conform, never give in to The MAN! Especially not WORKING for The Man... no way! Are you kidding?! I read 1984!! Haha, my poor parents. Sigh. Sorry ma. I know I was incorrigible. But just look how I turned out! See, it all worked out in the end. It alllllways does.
No matter how bleak things seem, no matter how many doors slam in your face, no matter how much you worry and struggle, everything always works itself out in the end. I've been though my fair share of trials and tribulations and usually no amount of struggle on my part improves or changes the situation. Often when we can't see our way out or through, when we want and wish and strive, the thing we really have to do is wait. As the fates weave their tapestry all around us, finally other people and events will play themselves out, and a new door will open and we can move forward again.
I had a great birthday. I got a ton of gifts to unwrap from my sweet mom - some clothes and girly things. She always makes me feel like a princess on my birthday. I went to Ching Ching Cha, a Chinese tea house in Georgetown with my 3 best girlfriends here in DC. We ordered flowering teas and chatted and it was perfect weather for it, being damp and gray and chilly and rainy.
One of the girls is my cousin, Cara. She got married last year and she and her husband moved to DC right afterwards. We are the same age and our dads are identical twins, so our families have always been close and we grew up together. As much as she is like a sister to me, I admit I am a little resentful and jealous of her. We've walked the same path in life, even to our careers in international realtions (she's getting a PhD in political science). We've done basically the same things... but it's always seemed like she does them just a little bit better, has an easier time, always gets what she wants. My path has led through the thorny brier thickets, quicksand and mud holes and she's traveled on the paved superhighway.
Anyway, yesterday she was talking about starting a family in the next couple of years and I felt an intense pang of jealousy and bitterness. It's completely irrational and ridiculous... having kids is not a competition! But part of me wants to be FIRST, at that at least! I don't want to follow in her footsteps! And god forbid we get pregnant around the same time and go through it together. Cause I know how that will go. She won't have any morning sickness, she will stay thin everywhere except her stomach, the baby will pop right out and she'll put on her pre-pregnancy jeans the next day. Her baby will sleep through the night from day one and get a scholarship to Harvard before its first birthday. Who can compete with that?!
Why am I thinking about babies all the time?! Who knows. There really is something to the biological clock thing - my ovaries have a mind of their own. But it also symbolizes what I want most right now - to move on to that phase of my life, to be married, to even be in a position to think about having my own family. And I can't have that right now in the world that I've created for myself. Even if Adam and I get married before he finishes his assignment in Hawaii (in November 2009) it will still be almost two years from now before we can even think about building a life together.
These are the thoughts that keep me up at night. It's an inner struggle. Because I could easily leave my job and go to Hawaii and start that life I want so much. Seriously, how great would that be?! Hawaii, y'all. I don't even particularly like DC that much. The only thing holding me here is my career. If I only had 5 years to live... or, if I had terminal cancer, for example, I sure as heck wouldn't be sitting here in DC waiting. But if I'm not being fatalistic, then it's foolish to leave a good job, especially when it's entirely possible that Adam and I would come back here after he's done in Hawaii anyway.
See, this is the kind of situation that makes you want to struggle. To try and strive and work to change things, to figure SOMETHING out... but as I said before, I know from experience that what I probably have to do is wait. I have to open my eyes and my heart and my life to possibilities. To the possibilities and lessons of being apart from Adam, of it not being time yet.
My goal for this year is to be healthier and happier on March 8, 2009 than I am today. My 28th year is going to be the Year of Optimum Health and Happiness. The Year of Optimum Well-being. I am so grateful for everything in my life - for my family, for Adam, my job... I am the luckiest girl in the world. It's hard to imagine there could be more than this, but somehow I know this year will bring more abundance. Even if I don't have what I want now and don't get what I want now in the end, somehow I feel like things are going to keep getting better and better. Amazingly, impossibly better.
**...as in front page of the newspaper...I work. On those things.
Sunday, August 19, 2007
"They"
Everyone jokes about who "They" are - you know, "they say such and so," for example. Who are "They"? Depending on the context, They are the Man, the Machine, the Government, the Experts, etc. - in general, The Establishment.
I was just reading over on Kyra's blog that "They" finally sent her passport back and that "They" stapled her new picture in her old passport so the two pics are side by side. LOL!
I have become the establishment.
People, I am They.
For some reason this amuses me immensely.
I was just reading over on Kyra's blog that "They" finally sent her passport back and that "They" stapled her new picture in her old passport so the two pics are side by side. LOL!
I have become the establishment.
People, I am They.
For some reason this amuses me immensely.
Monday, July 30, 2007
Day One of Resocialization... um, I mean Passport Training
I survived my first day of passport adjudication training. It was actually kind of nice to be in receiving mode instead of output mode. Class today lasted a total of about 4 hours they let us out at 3:00. Yippee!!! I love passport training. !! passport processing itself may be another story... it takes an average of 2 minutes to process a passport application... that's ... 30 an hour x 8 x 6... ugh, I don't do math, but that's a LOT of freaking passports.
Just so you all know how seriously the government is (now) taking this problem (after the fact), my girlfriend is up at the National Passport Center in New Hampshire (where they sent most of the unfortunate PMF's to do their duty while living out of a hotel for two months) and she is processing passports IN THE GYM. I am not kidding you, her workstation is right next to the fly machine. LOL.
I have learned that my workstation will be in the hall.
Sweet.
Just so you all know how seriously the government is (now) taking this problem (after the fact), my girlfriend is up at the National Passport Center in New Hampshire (where they sent most of the unfortunate PMF's to do their duty while living out of a hotel for two months) and she is processing passports IN THE GYM. I am not kidding you, her workstation is right next to the fly machine. LOL.
I have learned that my workstation will be in the hall.
Sweet.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)