Thread: Wooo Obama. Yeah! (healthcare reform)

To be honest, I'm not really sure what to make of this. But then I've been sitting in the middle of it for a bit over a year now being blared at by anyone with a microphone.

I do worry about what it will cost. This debt thing has me more than a bit concerned. And I don't know if there are any price controls in it for insurance agencies. As the only nation that has a lightly regulated for profit system in the world, price controls would be a great thing. Especially since they've risen an average of 17% a year for about 15 or so years now. Well except this year. I think they went up about 25% this time 'round.

The nature of the system hasn't really changed. It is baby steps that is for sure.

I'm a bit ambivalent. I am glad that something was finally done. Took them forever, but something is finally going to Obama to sign. It's not really the bill I, and many others, wanted. But it is a beginning. So at least there is that.

It'll be nice when healthcare stops being a fucking for-profit system. The Republicans take on healthcare is basically "Be born rich, if not, go sit over there and get sick and die." Anyone who doesn't think health care should be reformed has never had a chronic health problem or been forced to pay thousands in health care.

It's really bizarre to me how the nicest people I know have the most horrible things to say about all this. It's kind of freaking me out.

I just don't get the backlash.

Say you owned a shop and you were in there working one day when someone outside fell over and broke their leg and they needed you to help them get to a hospital and get fixed. Do you say 'fuck you buddy! I know you broke your leg but I'll lose money if I close the shop down to take you to the hospital'. No, of course you don't (or at least most people don't) and the common rules of society would say that you go and help the dude outside. However, this idea just completely falls on it's arse when you scale it up (in America). So if the guy falls down and breaks his leg, you hear him screaming but you just put it down to birds or something, pretend nothing ever hapenned and then get on with running your shop. It's sad.

Three things:

1. Budget estimates says it will actually SAVE money in the long run with the various fees and taxes that come with it.

2. For-profit systems aren't the issue. We've essentially got one here and it works fine. I get kickass coverage for $20-30 a week, which is fuckall. You just have to regulate it so you can't get screwed over or charged to hell.

3. The legislation is still shit. But it's marginally better than nothing and can hopefully be built on later.

Ugh. I'm ready to abandon facebook for a while until this all blows over. It's obnoxious. "I might as well go apply for welfare!" And this: "You can quit your job if you want. I'll stop shaving my armpits, cholesterol shmolesterol. If it gets bad, we go get our free, mediocre healthcare."

I feel like I need to move to a different state or something. I clearly live in the wrong area. I'm all alone.

My friends seem to be less upset about whatever economic ramifications there are, and more upset about the fact that this bill would require most Americans to be insured. The argument is, basically, that if someone chooses not to be insured, they should have the right to make that decision and not be taxed extra for it.

Though that doesn't address the concern that uninsured Americans put a financial strain on other taxpayers etc. But it's at least a concern coming from a rights standpoint and not an economics standpoint.

Since people always think they know what they're talking about and then like to argue about it- here's an actual list of what the bill will do and when:

WITHIN THE FIRST YEAR OF ENACTMENT

• Insurance companies will be barred from dropping people from coverage when they get sick. Lifetime coverage limits will be eliminated and annual limits are to be restricted.
• Insurers will be barred from excluding children for coverage because of pre-existing conditions.
• Young adults will be able to stay on their parents' health plans until the age of 26. Many health plans currently drop dependents from coverage when they turn 19 or finish college.
• Uninsured adults with a pre-existing conditions will be able to obtain health coverage through a new program that will expire once new insurance exchanges begin operating in 2014.
• A temporary reinsurance program is created to help companies maintain health coverage for early retirees between the ages of 55 and 64. This also expires in 2014.
• Medicare drug beneficiaries who fall into the "doughnut hole" coverage gap will get a $250 rebate. The bill eventually closes that gap which currently begins after $2,700 is spent on drugs. Coverage starts again after $6,154 is spent.
• A tax credit becomes available for some small businesses to help provide coverage for workers.
• A 10 percent tax on indoor tanning services that use ultraviolet lamps goes into effect on July 1. WHAT HAPPENS IN 2011
• Medicare provides 10 percent bonus payments to primary care physicians and general surgeons.
• Medicare beneficiaries will be able to get a free annual wellness visit and personalized prevention plan service. New health plans will be required to cover preventive services with little or no cost to patients.
• A new program under the Medicaid plan for the poor goes into effect in October that allows states to offer home and community based care for the disabled that might otherwise require institutional care.
• Payments to insurers offering Medicare Advantage services are frozen at 2010 levels. These payments are to be gradually reduced to bring them more in line with traditional Medicare.
• Employers are required to disclose the value of health benefits on employees' W-2 tax forms.
• An annual fee is imposed on pharmaceutical companies according to market share. The fee does not apply to companies with sales of $5 million or less.

WHAT HAPPENS IN 2012

• Physician payment reforms are implemented in Medicare to enhance primary care services and encourage doctors to form "accountable care organizations" to improve quality and efficiency of care.
• An incentive program is established in Medicare for acute care hospitals to improve quality outcomes.
• The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, which oversees the government programs, begin tracking hospital readmission rates and puts in place financial incentives to reduce preventable readmissions. WHAT HAPPENS IN 2013
• A national pilot program is established for Medicare on payment bundling to encourage doctors, hospitals and other care providers to better coordinate patient care.
• The threshold for claiming medical expenses on itemized tax returns is raised to 10 percent from 7.5 percent of income. The threshold remains at 7.5 percent for the elderly through 2016.
• The Medicare payroll tax is raised to 2.35 percent from 1.45 percent for individuals earning more than $200,000 and married couples with incomes over $250,000. The tax is imposed on some investment income for that income group.
• A 2.9 percent excise tax in imposed on the sale of medical devices. Anything generally purchased at the retail level by the public is excluded from the tax.

WHAT HAPPENS IN 2014

• State health insurance exchanges for small businesses and individuals open.
• Most people will be required to obtain health insurance coverage or pay a fine if they don't. Healthcare tax credits become available to help people with incomes up to 400 percent of poverty purchase coverage on the exchange.
• Health plans no longer can exclude people from coverage due to pre-existing conditions.
• Employers with 50 or more workers who do not offer coverage face a fine of $2,000 for each employee if any worker receives subsidized insurance on the exchange. The first 30 employees aren't counted for the fine.
• Health insurance companies begin paying a fee based on their market share.

WHAT HAPPENS IN 2015

• Medicare creates a physician payment program aimed at rewarding quality of care rather than volume of services.

WHAT HAPPENS IN 2018

• An excise tax on high cost employer-provided plans is imposed. The first $27,500 of a family plan and $10,200 for individual coverage is exempt from the tax. Higher levels are set for plans covering retirees and people in high risk professions.

(Reporting by Donna Smith; Editing by David Alexander and Eric Beech)
Source

I actually think that Obama is the first decent president you guys have had since JFK. Go, Obama, go!

Originally Posted by FinalEclipse06

I just started reading about the health care bill, although I wish I'd looked into it sooner. Moot point now. Anyways, one thing I've read is that the bill says that people who don't have health care by a certain point will be fined. Does that mean that people who already have health care will be required to purchase this new health care system, or can they just keep using their current health care provider if they're happy with it? Also, does anyone know where I might be able to find an actual copy of the bill to read? I've looked on CNN and MSNBC online but I'm not sure if what I've read there is word-for-word from the bill, and that's what I'm looking for.

Please go ahead and try and read this. Because I'm sure Reuters and all of the other sites (non-biased) are trying to pull one over our heads.

It's not a human right. It's just something that the state should ensure is provided, one way or another.