You are correct. The American consumer does not act like a consumer when it comes to healthcare. We have been conditioned to never ask how much something costs or even question if we NEED to go to the doctor or have a procedure done.

Health care needs to have some free-market consumerism introduced to the industry. Reduce the cost of doing business by reducing the amount and the reasons for legal awards in courts. Medicine is not an exact science for crying out loud. Bad outcomes happen. Eventually the doctors really screw up and we actually die no matter what we do.

Why wouldn’t this work? Oh, it’s personal responsibility that nobody wants anymore, that’s right! Nationalized health care will just further divide classes, as the rich will then go to “private clinics” that will be established by doctors that are looking to make more money than they could through the government reimbursements. The rich will then be able to get quick healthcare, and the poor and middle class will be waiting months to see the doctor.

Really? The rich hoard their own money? How dare they. Why do you attack the rich for being rich when they pay the majority of the taxes in this country. Does your book “Journey Home” reference where your Journey home takes you? I assume a socialist country.

The republicans have used reconciliation on health care before plenty of times – heck they created the whole CHIP program – via reconciliation. Dear lord stop swallowing the kool-aid – this isn’t a sporting event my side versus your side (do you think the status quo might be aware of the concept of divide and conquer – don’t be such dupes)

People, people, people – this is about getting our dollars back from the richest 1% that hoard them at the top (there is no such thing as trickle down) or For Profit insurance wouldn’t be killing the middle class, driving people with health insurance into bankruptcy, and tying a dead weight around small business and even the bigger national corporations – this has to get done – our politicians are playing games to get elected….

They are not “governing” but manipulating voter sentiment to whip up turn out to try and win elections – not based on any specific philosophy of governing but for plain old self interest.

Actual governing takes a huge back seat to “will I get re-elected” – the easiest way to solve the health care debacle of for profit health care is simple – but handing a success to the other party – isn’t how the political “game” is played.

Unfortunately our lives are caught in the cross fire of their STUPID GAME. And because of game playing we deregulated everything and created the global financial meltdown – ooppps – maybe proper management would have prevented that – but politics has never been about properly managing our resources – its about GETTING RE-ELECTED.

Healthcare is easy – here’s how –

“Use Senate reconciliation and expand Medicare via the Senate’s buy-in provisions. The CBO has already signed off on this as a means of saving money.

More importantly, if more Americans can do a buy-in with Medicare, it creates more cost control (because there’s a genuine competitor to for-profit healthcare).

It also helps to solve the problems of pre-existing conditions, because Medicare does not deny coverage on this basis.

Allowing a Medicare buy-in to Americans under 65 would give people a genuine alternative to private insurance and thereby render the pre-existing question moot.

It would also lower Medicare costs by expanding the risk pool of patients (the great bulk of medical expenses are accounted for by a small number of people, mostly the elderly, requiring very expensive treatment).

And it would substantially enhance the global competitiveness of American corporations. After all, in what other country in the world is health care a marginal cost of production for business?” – Roosevelt Institute Marshall Auerback

Now get out there tell your neighbors, your friends, pick up the phone and email your representatives – because whether you like it or not we are all in this together – and it’s us versus the politicians – not each other.

Paul Burke
Author Journey Home
Democracy For America