DemocRats Guessed Wrong on Healthcare
By mattic
@mattic (282)
United States
September 25, 2010 8:16am CST
That's the headline of an article posted this week in Politico (www.politico.com/news/stories/0910/42588.html). Here's an exerpt:
Rarely have so many political strategists been so wrong about something so big. But when it comes to the health care bill, everyone from former President Bill Clinton on down whiffed on some of the more significant predictions.
Democrats would run aggressively on the legislation? Nope. Voters would forget about the sausage-making aspects of the legislative process? Doesn't seem that way, as the process contributed to the sense that the bill was deeply flawed.
And Clinton's own promise to jittery Democrats that their poll numbers would skyrocket after the bill was finally passed also didn't pan out, as the party is fighting for its life in the midterms.
What can explain the terrible miscalculation? Has the country awakened from its 70 year kool-aid binge on big government solutions? Tell me what you think.
3 responses
@strikeshado (61)
• Canada
26 Sep 10
I'm not American, but the concept of not having public healthcare is a confusing one. Private healthcare only benefits corporations and rich folks who don't care to wait in line. With public healthcare, you can go into a hospital knowing that you're covered, no matter what's bothering you, be it out of an ambulance from a car crash or because your kid has an especially stubborn upset stomach. There's just more security.
@mattic (282)
• United States
26 Sep 10
Americans are not going without health care and were not going without health care under the previous system. That is a myth fomented by the political left who desire to control every aspect of our lives.
A free market, void of government overregulation and controls, would keep costs down via supply and demand. Take group insurance, provided by an employer, as an example. Company xyz has seven single male employees, state and/or federal regulations may require that their employee provided group insurance include maternity coverage. That is an unnecessary cost. Those same low deductible, low co-pay coverages drive up costs through over use by policy holders. The third leg of the high cost issue is the influence of tort lawyers' endless civil suits.
Doing away with employer provided insurance (which actually costs employees money in salary), removing silly legislation on what must be covered under insurance policies, and reforming the tort process to "loser pays" system would reduce the cost of health care dramatically.
As to "security" - Benjamin Franklin said it best, "Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."
@dark_joev (3034)
• United States
25 Sep 10
The people read the bill and noticed that it didn't deal with Health Care it dealt with Insurance Companies which if anything we need to follow Japan in and make all insurance companies Non-Profit as they do. It would fix the health care system because the Hospitals would be able to remain for profit companies and they would have to work with non profits to get paid.
In japan who runs on the above mentioned system it cost $75 dollars to pay for a MRI.
The health care bill was 1000 pages of om my god they are going to tax what now? I mean they basically created as system that will make the health care system even worse because people who are WORKING have to pay for the insurance in the form of Income tax at the end of the year because if your employer pays for it it is going to be added to your gross income and will be forward to you net income so you can be taxed on the value of your plan so everyone who has insurance will have to pay for people to get covered this is causing many people to hate an idea they as a majority where and still are behind many where hoping that congress would go back through and re edit the system but so far hasn't happened.
@bobmnu (8157)
• United States
26 Sep 10
As I understand it even the experts that read the law can not agree what is and is not covered or taxes or how different provisions would apply. One of the thigs I just read was that they forget to include the military.
Health Care Reform is needed but not a law that includes every politicians idea of how to fix it without seeing that it works together. This is a bad law and should be repealed and start over.
@bobmnu (8157)
• United States
26 Sep 10
Almost everyone agreed that something had to be done to fix the rising cost of health Care. To correct the problem we need to change issue at a time. Most Americans want to keep their present Health Insurance.
-We need to address portability of insurance so that people keep their coverage when they change jobs.
-Figure out how to insure people with pre existing conditions.
-Allow more competition between Insurance Companies.
-Allow Insurance Companies to be creative in the plans they offer.
-Allow people more options to form groups to reduce the risk.
These are just a few suggestions and as we have learned all too often One Size does Not Fit All.
