<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><rss version="2.0" xmlns:content="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/" xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/" xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom" xmlns:sy="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/syndication/" xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" > <channel> <title> Comments on: Medicare for anyone who wants it </title> <atom:link href="https://dangerousintersection.org/2010/03/16/medicare-for-anyone-who-wants-it/feed/" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml" /> <link>https://dangerousintersection.org/2010/03/16/medicare-for-anyone-who-wants-it/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=medicare-for-anyone-who-wants-it&utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=medicare-for-anyone-who-wants-it</link> <description>Human Animals at the Crossroads of Science, Religion, Media and Culture</description> <lastBuildDate>Wed, 17 Mar 2010 14:39:51 +0000</lastBuildDate> <sy:updatePeriod> hourly </sy:updatePeriod> <sy:updateFrequency> 1 </sy:updateFrequency> <item> <title> By: Erich Vieth </title> <link>https://dangerousintersection.org/2010/03/16/medicare-for-anyone-who-wants-it/comment-page-1/#comment-68666</link> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Erich Vieth]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Wed, 17 Mar 2010 14:39:51 +0000</pubDate> <guid isPermaLink="false">http://dangerousintersection.org/?p=11784#comment-68666</guid> <description><![CDATA[Alan Grayson on DemocracyNow: <blockquote>I’ve introduced a simple three-and-a-half-page bill that opens up Medicare to anybody who wants it. If you want it and you pay for it, it’s yours. It’s that simple. It’s open to everybody under the age of sixty-five, whether or not you’re handicapped. And you pay the same amount as other people your age would pay. And the reason to do this is because we need a public option. We need an option that doesn’t involve putting us at the tender mercies of insurance companies, particularly if there’s a mandate to do so. A lot of people feel that there is a fundamental conflict of interest between themselves and private insurance companies. The private insurance companies make money by denying you the care that you need to be healthy, and sometimes to stay alive. And a lot of people are just sick of it. So the way to get beyond that is to open up Medicare, which is now available to only one-eighth of the population, to anybody who’s willing to pay for it. And it makes perfect sense when you think about it. I mean, we don’t say the federal highways are only open to senior citizens. And the Medicare provider network is an enormously valuable, expensive thing that we’ve created with federal tax dollars that ought to be open to everyone, not just seniors. </blockquote> <a href="http://www.democracynow.org/2010/3/17/rep_alan_graysons_medicare_you_can" rel="nofollow">http://www.democracynow.org/2010/3/17/rep_alan_gr...</a> ]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Alan Grayson on DemocracyNow:</p> <blockquote><p>I’ve introduced a simple three-and-a-half-page bill that opens up Medicare to anybody who wants it. If you want it and you pay for it, it’s yours. It’s that simple. It’s open to everybody under the age of sixty-five, whether or not you’re handicapped. And you pay the same amount as other people your age would pay.</p> <p>And the reason to do this is because we need a public option. We need an option that doesn’t involve putting us at the tender mercies of insurance companies, particularly if there’s a mandate to do so. A lot of people feel that there is a fundamental conflict of interest between themselves and private insurance companies. The private insurance companies make money by denying you the care that you need to be healthy, and sometimes to stay alive. And a lot of people are just sick of it.</p> <p>So the way to get beyond that is to open up Medicare, which is now available to only one-eighth of the population, to anybody who’s willing to pay for it. And it makes perfect sense when you think about it. I mean, we don’t say the federal highways are only open to senior citizens. And the Medicare provider network is an enormously valuable, expensive thing that we’ve created with federal tax dollars that ought to be open to everyone, not just seniors. </p></blockquote> <p> <a href="http://www.democracynow.org/2010/3/17/rep_alan_graysons_medicare_you_can" rel="nofollow"></a><a href="http://www.democracynow.org/2010/3/17/rep_alan_gr" rel="nofollow ugc">http://www.democracynow.org/2010/3/17/rep_alan_gr</a>… </p> ]]></content:encoded> </item> <item> <title> By: Erich Vieth </title> <link>https://dangerousintersection.org/2010/03/16/medicare-for-anyone-who-wants-it/comment-page-1/#comment-68664</link> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Erich Vieth]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Wed, 17 Mar 2010 09:16:32 +0000</pubDate> <guid isPermaLink="false">http://dangerousintersection.org/?p=11784#comment-68664</guid> <description><![CDATA[In reply to <a href="https://dangerousintersection.org/2010/03/16/medicare-for-anyone-who-wants-it/comment-page-1/#comment-68662">NIklaus Pfirsig</a>. Niklaus: I assume that the big package gets more overall consensus, since most folks can find something they like in a big complex bill. I do like many of the features in the Obama proposal (as described on the White House site). I would not leave the payment system in the hands of for-profit insurers, however. There's not need to scoop profits off of these hard earned premium dollars. We'll see if Congress has the guts to rip the antitrust exemption from the health insurers. We'll also see whether we as a nation can have a rational discussion about the most financially efficient ways to promote overall health. Many countries have better health (broadly defined) than the U.S. but they spend a lot less money achieving this. <a href="http://dangerousintersection.org/2009/10/05/the-twelve-countries-with-the-highest-quality-of-life/" rel="nofollow">http://dangerousintersection.org/2009/10/05/the-t...</a> ]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>In reply to <a href="https://dangerousintersection.org/2010/03/16/medicare-for-anyone-who-wants-it/comment-page-1/#comment-68662">NIklaus Pfirsig</a>.</p> <p>Niklaus: I assume that the big package gets more overall consensus, since most folks can find something they like in a big complex bill. I do like many of the features in the Obama proposal (as described on the White House site). I would not leave the payment system in the hands of for-profit insurers, however. There's not need to scoop profits off of these hard earned premium dollars. We'll see if Congress has the guts to rip the antitrust exemption from the health insurers. We'll also see whether we as a nation can have a rational discussion about the most financially efficient ways to promote overall health. Many countries have better health (broadly defined) than the U.S. but they spend a lot less money achieving this. <a href="http://dangerousintersection.org/2009/10/05/the-twelve-countries-with-the-highest-quality-of-life/" rel="nofollow"></a><a href="http://dangerousintersection.org/2009/10/05/the-t" rel="ugc">http://dangerousintersection.org/2009/10/05/the-t</a>… </p> ]]></content:encoded> </item> <item> <title> By: NIklaus Pfirsig </title> <link>https://dangerousintersection.org/2010/03/16/medicare-for-anyone-who-wants-it/comment-page-1/#comment-68662</link> <dc:creator><![CDATA[NIklaus Pfirsig]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Wed, 17 Mar 2010 06:57:41 +0000</pubDate> <guid isPermaLink="false">http://dangerousintersection.org/?p=11784#comment-68662</guid> <description><![CDATA[The reasons the house bill is so large is that it is comprehensive and contains language that specifically targets various abuses of medicare by corporations. This is not only limited to insurance companies, but also to such practices as "dumping" by corporate employers who, rather than contribute to a private health-care benefit plan for their employees, they employ part timers, and used medicare and medicaid waiver programs for medical coverage, effectively using the public option to subsidize their payroll and increase profits. This practice is is so unethical on so many levels it is difficult to describe, but is a common corporate strategy in the fast food and discount retail industries. The remedy for dumping in the bill is to levy additional taxes to corporations who dump their employees as a means of recouping the additional cost as well as a disincentive to corporations. This is just one example for the reason why the house bill is so complex. A better strategy however would be to pass specific simpler bills that address individual problems such as medical repricing by insurers, "dead peasant" insurance, and standards for a national medical record database instead of a comprehensive package that tries to fix everything in one fell swoop. ]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>The reasons the house bill is so large is that it is comprehensive and contains language that specifically targets various abuses of medicare by corporations. This is not only limited to insurance companies, but also to such practices as "dumping" by corporate employers who, rather than contribute to a private health-care benefit plan for their employees, they employ part timers, and used medicare and medicaid waiver programs for medical coverage, effectively using the public option to subsidize their payroll and increase profits. This practice is is so unethical on so many levels it is difficult to describe, but is a common corporate strategy in the fast food and discount retail industries.</p> <p> The remedy for dumping in the bill is to levy additional taxes to corporations who dump their employees as a means of recouping the additional cost as well as a disincentive to corporations. </p> <p> This is just one example for the reason why the house bill is so complex. A better strategy however would be to pass specific simpler bills that address individual problems such as medical repricing by insurers, "dead peasant" insurance, and standards for a national medical record database instead of a comprehensive package that tries to fix everything in one fell swoop. </p> ]]></content:encoded> </item> <item> <title> By: Erich Vieth </title> <link>https://dangerousintersection.org/2010/03/16/medicare-for-anyone-who-wants-it/comment-page-1/#comment-68587</link> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Erich Vieth]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Tue, 16 Mar 2010 20:37:00 +0000</pubDate> <guid isPermaLink="false">http://dangerousintersection.org/?p=11784#comment-68587</guid> <description><![CDATA[For comparison, a bill currently being considered by congress is 2,300 pages long. <a href="http://budget.house.gov/doc-library/FY2010/03.15.2010_reconciliation2010.PDF" rel="nofollow">http://budget.house.gov/doc-library/FY2010/03.15....</a> ]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>For comparison, a bill currently being considered by congress is 2,300 pages long.</p> <p> <a href="http://budget.house.gov/doc-library/FY2010/03.15.2010_reconciliation2010.PDF" rel="nofollow"></a><a href="http://budget.house.gov/doc-library/FY2010/03.15" rel="nofollow ugc">http://budget.house.gov/doc-library/FY2010/03.15</a>…. </p> ]]></content:encoded> </item> <item> <title> By: Erich Vieth </title> <link>https://dangerousintersection.org/2010/03/16/medicare-for-anyone-who-wants-it/comment-page-1/#comment-68585</link> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Erich Vieth]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Tue, 16 Mar 2010 20:34:03 +0000</pubDate> <guid isPermaLink="false">http://dangerousintersection.org/?p=11784#comment-68585</guid> <description><![CDATA[President Obama made a backroom deal last summer with the for-profit hospital lobby that he would make sure there would be no national public option in the final health reform legislation. <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/miles-mogulescu/ny-times-reporter-confirm_b_500999.html" rel="nofollow">http://www.huffingtonpost.com/miles-mogulescu/ny-...</a> ]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>President Obama made a backroom deal last summer with the for-profit hospital lobby that he would make sure there would be no national public option in the final health reform legislation. </p> <p> <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/miles-mogulescu/ny-times-reporter-confirm_b_500999.html" rel="nofollow"></a><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/miles-mogulescu/ny-" rel="nofollow ugc">http://www.huffingtonpost.com/miles-mogulescu/ny-</a>… </p> ]]></content:encoded> </item> </channel> </rss>