The Health Care Reform Address Thread

[JoeRedskin]

Learning a little as I go here. Tell me what you think of the validity of this study. http://www.citizen.org/documents/NPD...port_Final.pdf

I am not a numbers guy and this is a very statistic heavy study but it argues that the majority of malpractice costs are essentially due more to rising costs of care and lack of doctor disciplinary actions ("only 18 percent of doctors have been responsible for even a single malpractice payment" - yet only 33% of those doctors who have had 10 or more claims paid have been subjected to discipline).

The study relies on data collected by the "National Practitioner Data Bank" are you familiar with this entity? If so, do you believe it to be a credible data base?

Just from a general skimming of the information on the internet turned up by my search for "malpractice awards punitive percentage" seems to suggest that this is another one of those areas where stats don't support intuitive/common thought. Many states have capped punitive dams (~20), five don't allow them at all. PUNITIVE DAMAGE AWARDS, CAPS, AND STANDARDS. Even so, malpractice costs increase.

Not sure what all this means except that we are back to "no easy answers".

[firstdown]

Ok, this has nothing to do with health care but I did not feel it was worth another thread. Obama did the right thing yesterday and gave the OK to hit a terrorist which we have been trying to track down.
Key al Qaeda operative killed in U.S. strike, Somalia says - CNN.com He also imposed new punitive tariffs on all car and light truck tires coming into the U.S. from China which was also a good move. I just thought I would post this for our friends on the left who seem to think we can never say anything good about OBama.
Obama imposes tariffs on Chinese tires; Beijing calls move 'protectionism' | StarTribune.com

I also used their talking point news source CNN.

[dmek25]

thats because it probably wasnt news on fox( haha)

[firstdown]

If health care is so important to help lead us out of this economy and so good for everyone why does it take 4 years before the plan would go into effect?

[firstdown]

Man things are getting pretty bad when they need Jimmy Carter to jump in and start playing the race card for Obama. The Dems are doing a fine job of turning people against them on their own now.
YouTube - Jimmy Carter Obama criticism racist

[dmek25]

first, what does Carter have to do with health care?

[firstdown]

Originally Posted by dmek25

first, what does Carter have to do with health care?

I was not going to start a thread about JC just wanted to post what he said either today or yesterday about people who disagree with Obama's health care plan.

[dmek25]

i have ask before, so ill try again. what do you propose we do about health care?

[FRPLG]

Originally Posted by dmek25

i have ask before, so ill try again. what do you propose we do about health care?

Why is it that some people think that a lack of alternative ideas necessarily disqualifies someone from being allowed to disagree? Aren't those two notions mutually exclusive? I mean I can tell you it's a bad idea to use plexiglas for the windshield of the space shuttle but I don't have a clue what they really use. I know you may not be getting at the whole "don't talk unless you have solutions" argument but you're wandering down that road with that question and I have definitely seen that argument around here more than once.

[djnemo65]

Originally Posted by FRPLG

Why is it that some people think that a lack of alternative ideas necessarily disqualifies someone from being allowed to disagree? Aren't those two notions mutually exclusive? I mean I can tell you it's a bad idea to use plexiglas for the windshield of the space shuttle but I don't have a clue what they really use. I know you may not be getting at the whole "don't talk unless you have solutions" argument but you're wandering down that road with that question and I have definitely seen that argument around here more than once.

Well given that health care costs are expected to balloon to as high as 25 percent of total GDP in the next 15 years, creating a massive competitive disadvantage for American companies vis a vis other industrialized nations, I think said some people are starting with the premise that the current system is economically unsustainable. This is of course a completely different argument than the moral question of guaranteeing insurance. Anyway, if you accept as true the idea that significant measures to control costs are needed, it is reasonable to demand more than criticism right? That doesn't mean you can't challenge any of the current plans without a detailed alternative I suppose, but leaving things as they are doesn't seem like a serious choice.

[firstdown]

Originally Posted by djnemo65

Well given that health care costs are expected to balloon to as high as 25 percent of total GDP in the next 15 years, creating a massive competitive disadvantage for American companies vis a vis other industrialized nations, I think said some people are starting with the premise that the current system is economically unsustainable. This is of course a completely different argument than the moral question of guaranteeing insurance. Anyway, if you accept as true the idea that significant measures to control costs are needed, it is reasonable to demand more than criticism right? That doesn't mean you can't challenge any of the current plans without a detailed alternative I suppose, but leaving things as they are doesn't seem like a serious choice.

Not sure if you saw the last Presidents address but if you remember that when he mentioned that the rep. have not helped several help up their plans they have proposed but ignored. From what I have read the dems have also rejected all or most of any of the rep. amendments to the proposed bills. Where did you get the number that health care could hit 25% of total GDP in 15 years?

[djnemo65]

Originally Posted by firstdown

Not sure if you saw the last Presidents address but if you remember that when he mentioned that the rep. have not helped several help up their plans they have proposed but ignored. From what I have read the dems have also rejected all or most of any of the rep. amendments to the proposed bills. Where did you get the number that health care could hit 25% of total GDP in 15 years?

The Long-Term Outlook for Health Care Spending

Did you try google? It's a widely reported figure.

[over the mountain]

Originally Posted by djnemo65

Well given that health care costs are expected to balloon to as high as 25 percent of total GDP in the next 15 years, creating a massive competitive disadvantage for American companies vis a vis other industrialized nations, I think said some people are starting with the premise that the current system is economically unsustainable. This is of course a completely different argument than the moral question of guaranteeing insurance. Anyway, if you accept as true the idea that significant measures to control costs are needed, it is reasonable to demand more than criticism right? That doesn't mean you can't challenge any of the current plans without a detailed alternative I suppose, but leaving things as they are doesn't seem like a serious choice.

dude you totally sound like will farrell when he answers the debate question in old school! nicely done sir.

go skins!!

[dmek25]

i was just wondering if we are in agreement that something needs to be done... people that disagree just for the sake of disagreeing are a different story.

[firstdown]

Originally Posted by dmek25

i was just wondering if we are in agreement that something needs to be done... people that disagree just for the sake of disagreeing are a different story.

I totally agree that something needs to be done but I perfer to start with fixing the private market and if that cannot be done then maybe look toward goverment plan or some type of single payer system. The problem with starting with a goverment plan if it fails from the begining or anytime for that matter they will not scrap the plan and will just keep dumping more money into and expanding it more and more.