North Carolina's Blue Cross Blue Shield Trying to Kill Key Plank of Obama Plan

Of course, there might be a real laugh by anyone watching those commercials who might have been put on hold by, say...BlueCross BlueShield.

Q: Who pays the enormous costs of making & advertising these videos? A: Unless the North Carolina Insurance Commission is truly an independent body (doubtful), such costs be buried in premium rates paid by BCBS/NC's insureds, and by doctors & hospitals in lower reimbursements. Will investigative reporters be digging into this matter in Raleigh?

It is even worse than that. Blue Cross Blue Shield North Carolina is a non-profit that receives its own special tax treatment under state law. It pays its CEO Bob Greczyn $3.99 million in 2008, a $750,000 raise from 2007. Blue Cross is one of the biggest campaign contributors to state legislators campaigns and has a $100 million a year contract to administer the health plan for state employees. We need some storyboards for that.

The ONLY logical approach, from a patient's point of view, is SINGLE PAYER. I have used ONLY the military's TRICARE system until I reached 65, and have used MEDICARE with TRICARE for Life (TFL) as second payer, since then. I have NEVER been denied ANY SERVICE AT ANY TIME, and have gone to the doctors that I wanted to go to. In fact, since 2005, there have been over $125,000 in bills presented to MEDICARE for my health care, including prostate cancer and several on-going problems related to that. It is hared for me to imagine that I could get better insurance from anybody else. SINGLE PAYER really needs to be at the table, and it is a GREAT CHOICE. Enough. .

Blue Cross / Blue Shield is absolutely criminal about not paying or providing care for its members who really need it. The next thing Congress should do is prohibit "non-profits" from spending money on political advertisements, donations to political campaigns, or advocacy of any political cause lest they lose their non-profit status. And that goes for the outrageous pay and benefit packages for the swine whose only interest in the public welfare is to furnish their own pig pens (sorry pigs, you have more dignity than that!). Cap the pay and benefit packages NOW. They deserve to be replaced -- either with single-payer, or more reputable HMO's.

"We can do a lot better than a government-run health care system" Ok a s h o l s DO BETTER - We're All Waiting...

"Blue Cross is one of the biggest campaign contributors to state legislators campaigns and has a $100 million a year contract to administer the health plan for state employees. We need some storyboards for that. Posted by: chris68 | May 18, 2009" Do you mean "waterboards?"

To Swaziaz: You are very uninformed if you think that hospitals and physicians could survive on Tricare reimbursement. Tricare/HealthNet pays hospitals less than 80% of Medicare and the same is true for physicians. Providers would go out of business if rates were lowered to that level!

Congress should supoena medical records coders who work for the insurance industry to testify as to the pressure they are under to rip apart medical claims in order to deny coverage. Health reform should definitely focus on how "insurance" has controlled healthcare (or the lack of) and has driven up costs. I was hired by BC/BS of FL and could not, in good conscience, justify the denial of claims to protect the profits of the company against honest, deserving consumers and resigned what I thought would be an honorable position. I now need a job but not bad enough to work for the "mafia mentality" of the big insurance companies.

Blue Cross is only saying what most people familiar with Obama's plans have been saying for months. Obama's plan will dump an additional 50MM people onto our existing health care system overnight. It will immediately overwhelm the system, and the system will never be able to catch up. Services will be rationed and many services that most of now take for granted will be totally unavailable, and thousands of people will die unnecessarily because of it. Obama's plan is patterned after the Canadian plan, and Canadians HATE it! A large percentage of our medical facilities in the Northern parts of the country service mostly Canadians who can't get health care services in their own country. The only winners under Obama's plan are the Service Employee International Union, that will have the mandate to unionize the entire national health care system making them the largest and most powerful, union in the country, and General Electric that has been promised the $138BB contract to manage the entire system. It is all about Obama paying back companies and organizations that got him elected. SEIU contributed $60MM to Obmam's campaign, and GE dedicated its news companies NBC and MSNBC to getting Obama elected.

"Obama's plan is patterned after the Canadian plan, and Canadians HATE it! A large percentage of our medical facilities in the Northern parts of the country service mostly Canadians who can't get health care services in their own country." -------------------------------------------- Bull. Show us the numbers. (crickets) You can't because you are spinning the same tale of deception that the industry has peddled for years.

If the Insurance Companies hate, and the Lawyers hate, it must be good! :) Right now, we spend a trillion dollars on health-care every year, and most of it goes to the paper pushers and big-bonus-execs of the insurance companies. Although government run systems will have problems, but at least, they will have to be 'open', we can review their records. The 'secret' health insurance companies just have to influence appropriate law-makers by a process known in the US as Lobbying but known elsewhere in the world as Bribing. So, if the insurance companies hate it, we should support just because of that reason alone. Sanoran Triamesh.

I worked as a health care provider in Canada (Montreal) for 14 yrs. Left, not because of the health insurance system but because of the politics and missed the US. Not only would I gladly have imported the health insurance system but the Canadian malpractice system should be here as well. It is run by physicians and results in Canadian physicians paying much lower malpractice premiums. In the US the unconscionable profits of health insurers is predicated on denying payment of services to patients or denying payments to physicians for delivered services. This results in a system where 35-45% of a physician's income is required to cover the cost of billing & rebilling insurances. This is something that my group accomplished for 5-10% of our group income in Canada. Whatever the wait lists, the vast majority of Canadians get generally better overall health care than Americans.

insurance companys.. lets see.. top 5 Industrys for 2007-2008.. bohner has connections to insurance companys, Securitys and investments pharmaceutical companys, health products, lawyers, law firms, and commercial banks.. any connections here?

Thank you! It's time we stop the lies that Canadians hate their health service. I have never met a Canadian who would be willing to trade their system for an American style system. For that matter, I've never met anyone who has a national health plan who would trade it for ours. The truth of the matter is that while no system is 100% perfect, the people who have national health plans are vastly better off than even those Americans who have insurance (not to mention the millions who don't). How many Americans who have insurance have been denied legitimate health services because of profit motives of insurance companies? Please stop spreading the lies about national health plans in other countries.

eff blue cross and those hick mofos from NC

I'd like to see a "Harry and Louise: 10 years later" commercial, where Harry's lost his job with benefits, Louise needs cancer treatment, and they've had to sell the house and move in with their kids because of their crushing medical bills. Tag line: "We'd like to apologize to America for that ad we did in 1993. Millions of Americans would be much better off today if we'd taken a national health care plan when we had the chance."

It's important to note: BC/BS, Kaiser Permanente, and all the others are NOT "insurance companies"; they are HMOs. Insurance companies, by law, are *required by law* to pay out when the contingent loss insured against occurs (i.e., for life insurance, death; for auto insurance, a collision; for medical insurance, illness or injury), unless they can prove it was caused deliberately. Insurance companies make money based on the law of averages. HMO's, on the other hand, are "subscription services" that reserve the right to not pay out for funds at their sole discretion. In other words: if you get sick or injured, they get to decide if your bills get paid for--even though that was presumably the only reason you paid their bill every month. Look closely at your next HMO statement. It doesn't say "insurance" or "premium" anywhere on there. It says, "plan", "subscription", "charges", instead of "insurance" and "premium". You are not buying insurance with an HMO. You are paying someone whose job it is to deny you care.

The top ten executives of BCBSNC make a million plus a year. Then this ad campaign. Oh and the expensive U.S. Open Golf Party. They have a no bid contract with the State of North Carolina for a Health Plan. The State is auditing its members but it will not audit BCBSNC. I grew up with Military medical and had great care. The truth is the insurance companies and their greed will be there demise. Very soon they will have a product no company or individual can afford. The State of NC is in the Spiral of Death with there Health Plan. Only dependents pay in and they keep cutting the plans and raising the premiums, copays, and deductables. More dependents then drop out so they have to raise rates. If they don't want a single Health Care system they better get real and make there health insurance affordable.

We have three doctors in the extended family. All have loans in six figures so they can be pediatric oncologists, cardiologists, ob-gyns. They don't have time with family and spouses so they can be on call providers. They drop what they are doing to handle crisis care. The have massive malpractice premiums, and get less than pennies for per/hour care they provide in compensation from the insurance companies. Cut their compensation, and we lose doctors, we lose doctors and we lose access to health care. If we can't see a doctor, we can't be treated in a timely manner. I am not a doctor, nor married to a doctor, and most of you don't have the determination it takes to become a doctor and give to other people the way they do. I defend the freedom of people in the United States to pursue the education they are willing to work to achieve, and their right to the compensation they have earned in taking on the commitment to learn what is necessary to provide competent care for others. A nationalized healthcare system will smother the incentive for people to work to become doctors; and, ultimately, the standards for admission to medical programs will be lowered to admit anyone. The quality of care will stagnate and decline. We will look back at the twentieth century as a golden era of medical advancement, and wonder why that doesn't happen any more....

So let me see if I have this straight. The State Health Plan, administered by Blue Cross Blue Shield is in huge trouble with rates going through the roof. They've decided to set GROUP insurance rates based on BMI and smoking status. In the meantime their CEO was paid just under $4 million dollars last year and they have a no look contract with the state that they are refusing to allow legislators to see. And we're supposed to trust them? Single payer is the only way, then let these companies sell supplemental policies. Kate@ http://www.aftercancernowwhat.com

There is no denying that we have problems with our healthcare system. My husband and I pay right at $1000 a month for our insurance premiums because we have a small business. I would love nothing better for it to be cheaper but the insurance is excellent. I have never been denied any coverage whatsoever. I would trust myself to this insurance company before I would the government anyday. Medicare and Medicare will go broke soon because of government mismanagement, Social Security has been robbed. They can't even keep the US Postal Service above water. The solution is in the free markets not in the government. More government is never the solution.

So let me see if I have this straight. The State Health Plan, administered by Blue Cross Blue Shield is in huge trouble with rates going through the roof. They've decided to set GROUP insurance rates based on BMI and smoking status. In the meantime their CEO was paid just under $4 million dollars last year and they have a no look contract with the state that they are refusing to allow legislators to see. And we're supposed to trust them? Single payer is the only way, then let these companies sell supplemental policies. Kate@ http://www.aftercancernowwhat.com

Bully for you, debmcl37. You're "I've got mine" attitude is not only incredibly selfish but also extremely short-sighted and wishful thinking. One day you either won't be able to afford your health insurance, or your health insurance company will deny your claim when you need it the most - or, most likely, you will just go out of business and then goodbye health insurance. So good luck with that.

mike85 -- do you have any actual facts to support your claims; or is it the usual gop tactic of pulling it out your behind -- esp this: "Canadians HATE it! A large percentage of our medical facilities in the Northern parts of the country service mostly Canadians who can't get health care services in their own country." courtesy of gallup: Looking at the other side of the coin, 44% of Americans are very dissatisfied with the availability of affordable healthcare, and nearly three-fourths (72%) are either somewhat or very dissatisfied. The 44% in the United States who are very dissatisfied with healthcare availability is significantly higher than corresponding figures in either Canada (17%) or Great Britain (25%). heh. with proponents such as mike85, who clearly have issues with facts, obama's healthcare plan should prevail.

Only 2-1/2 month wait? I volunteer at a free clinic in South Carolina. The wait to see a doctor for urgent care is so long we have temporarily stopped screening people for eligibility and asked them to call back in June to see if we are able to ask them to wait to be put on a list to wait for eligibility screening so they can wait for being put on a list to wait for appointments.

While I believe we need to reform health insurance. I do NOT agree that it should be run by the government. They mess up just about everything they touch, why would we want them in charge of our healthcare? And I HAVE met people that have dealt with national healthcare, that's one of the reasons they live in the states now.

As far as I could tell Obama is not trying to dismantle private health insurance plans - he just wants to add a government run option to the mix so we could actually choose the plan we like the best. If HMO's are afraid of the competition then they can't be honestly saying that they embrace marketplace. Granted, the government's plan by it's sheer size an the ability to negotiate lower prices will be able to drive out of business inefficient providers but that never stopped Walmart from being a beacon of capitalism while changing the face of retail shopping. I would love to have other government sponsored options btw. - like access to the municipal wireless high speed internet network or cable TV - choice is good.

Canadians hate their health care???? North Carolinians hate Blue Cross Clue Shield of NC........... Someone recently suggesting calling a Canadian area code and your home number, then ask them what they thing about their health care. Go watch sicko again......

First, californicationdude, relax with the name-calling. North Carolina is NO backwards state. Second, NCBCBS is definitely afraid of something--competition from anyone. My employers recently chose to cut our benefits rather than pay this year's rate hike of >30%!! After one of the worst economic years on record, NCBCBS had the nerve to increase rates on businesses by 30% in a single year. My employers easily took the rate & benefit cut citing that there is no other real option for decent health care in NC. What NCBCBS has, and what MANY other BCBS have, is a virtual governement-sanctioned monopoly on the system. No More! I don't care if the federal government runs the new competition or if the governement funds startups in every state in the union, as long as these health-care providing "non-profits" start seeing some real competition, they'll have to increase efficacy and decrease prices. Ask your "local friendly" right-winger what he thinks about competition and how come he's so afraid of any kind of competition for the current non-profits (& for profit) HMOs out there. We get taken to the cleaners by our health-care every year. I say it's time to fight back the good old fashioned American way, with healthy competition!

Here's the rub. These corporate providers don't want anything free to compete with their over price options. Call them...ask them about their free insurance for those who cannot afford to pay premiums. When they are done laughing at you and can breath well enough to talk again, ask them what their solution is for the millions of Americans who cannot afford health care from private companies and who don't qualify for Medicaid. Their laughter will be replaced by silence or an embarassing fumbling for words.

What part of the Constitution guarentees you health insurance? Those of you that are pushing for goverment run health insurance: Who do think is going to pay for it? The rest of us are, with our tax dollars, that's who. Why should I be forced to supply YOU with health insurance? Spend your own money on it? What's the problem...all your money tied up in toys and cars and cell phones and whatever? Step up to the plate dammit and take some responsibility for your own health care costs. And if you think the insurance companies are a rip-off, don't get insurance...go ahead and pay your medical bills out of YOUR pocket.

More power to BC/BS! Perhaps they can do something to stop this mad attempt to bring "change" that is going to destroy our hope for life. Everything Obama has done thus far (in only 4 months) has begun that destruction, and today his environmentally extreme policy is going to outlaw my car and force me to purchase the car he chooses. Universal health care will bring the destruction to a head. There will be no hope! We already owe our soul to China, so perhaps we'll become the United States of China. I think it is Obama's plan to destroy the USA. He's using my hard-earned money to do it. Yours, too!

HEY: debmcl37 I don’t necessarily intend to have such a condescending tone but I’m not sure of how else to make this point….Have you ever traveled out of the country and witnessed National Health Care or at least read a book or article on the subject? It’s honestly, people with your point of view that scares me. Do some research and get all the facts before you make uneducated dim opinions. Just because you haven’t had to deal with any misdealing or tragic consequences due to insurance companies (and I honestly hope and pray you never do)…How dare you. And since you mentioned Medicare and Medicaid please do some research there as well, and please don’t all inclusively compare these programs to social security. Universal health care is implemented in all but one of the wealthy, industrialized countries; guess which one! The United States life expectancy of 77.8 is three to four years lower than that of Norway, Switzerland, and Canada. Over the past two decades, the country's rank in life expectancy has dropped from 11th to 42nd in the world the infant mortality rate of 6.37 per thousand likewise places the United States 42nd out of 221 countries, behind all of Western Europe. In 2005, 46.6 million Americans, 15.9% of the population, were uninsured, 5.4 million more than in 2001. The main cause of this rise is the drop in the number of Americans with employer-sponsored health insurance.

BC/BS a non-profit organization? CEO gets paid 3.8 Million a year? Political contributions? Greed. Avarice. Immoral. I kept my enrollment with BC/BS after I retired because my wife is not yet qualified for Medicare. My deductible is $2,000.00. BC/BS has never paid for any of my medical bills. They are paid by Medicare and TriCare. I hope to live to see the day when there is universal insurance in this country.

To solsticebelle I have insurance because I take responsibility for myself and my family. I do not rely on the government and do not want them in charge of my healthcare. It is called self responsbility!

Thirteen, Your ignorance about this subject is amazing. Do you realize that you already pay for people who are uninsured since they are forced to go the emergency room with a common cold turned pneumonia? You may think you are fine with your insurance, but I would venture to guess that most people who cannot afford insurance also cannot afford "toys and cars and cell phones." So, lets do a thought experiment. Say you pay $300 a month for health insurance currently. Under a government plan, with a larger pool, they can get your premiums down to $200 a month while still letting you have your choice in doctors. Also, you wouldn't get denied coverage since the government wants you to be healthy, whereas the "insurance" would rather keep your money and will likely say no if you ask its permission to have a procedure done. Then lets say, you had to pay an extra $100 a month under the government plan to cover the people who cannot afford insurance. Your net outcome would be $300 dollars and everyone would have insurance. But you'd rather keep your current insurance and "avoid higher taxes"? Taxes and fees are the same thing, and we can be doing a lot better with our money than giving million dollar bonuses to HMO execs...we could be helping people. Its called human decency.

To Swendt1 Yes, I have read and listen to alot of both sides of the healthcare debate. My uneducated dim opinion is called self responsibility. Medicare and Medicaid will go bankrupt just like Social Security. The government cannot keep spending it doesn't have. SELF RESPONSIBILITY!!!

BCBS is *NOT* too big to fail... no institution critical to the health, welfare, and central to the economic health of this country is too big to fail. Just the term "too big" is... telling of the failure to regulate and protect. The US government has failed to stand up to the big guys, lobbyists, payoffs, deals and promises. I'm SICK of not having medical CARE (who gives a flip about "insurance" - medical care is the real need).

Hmmm... Health Care for All Americans is Simple! 1) Merge Medicare with Medicaide into one single "Income Based" system for elderly and poor citizens. 2) Require insurance companies to provide the same basic coverage for all Non-Medicare/Medicaide citizens, regardless of health status, at affordable rates. 3) Allow insurance companies to profit by offering additional benefits and options to those who qualify and are willing to pay the difference. As for Funding... 1) Changing from an "Emergency Treatment" to a "Preventive Care" system will save local communities billions, maybe even trillions of taxpayer dollars! 2) Small business will be able to compete globally and hire additional taxpaying employees! 3) Wealthy seniors will pay their fair share! 4) The tremendous burden on future generations will be greatly reduced!

We really need to keep a clear head and put aside politics. We need facts and not opinions. Both sides are guilty of putting in their own opinions. First of all, I know people personally from Canada. They complain about the rationing of health care. Each state has insurance available for uninsured, even if they have pre-existing. It varies from State to State,typically it will be referred to as a health pool. Ridiculous law suits push up malpractice for Doctors and hospitals, thus raising the cost of health care and health insurance. Hospitals are forced to care for illegals and others that cannot or won't pay. Their is the price for foolish compassion, even when it destroys everything else. At the same time, there are insurance carriers that do not pay claims as they should. Their are legal alternatives and several places to complain and seek assistance. Most States have a Department of Insurance that keep track of complaints and usually can give advice on how to pursue unethical treatment by an insurance company. The U.S. still has the best Medical treatment available. Probably the smartest consideration is to get the Government out of anything related to Effiency. This is based upon the Governments poor track record. How many of you have heard of Social Security? Set the American people free and you will see better care at affordable options. Get rid of all the regulations protecting special interests on both sides and allow the free market to do its thing. By the way, if the majority of our government officials are attorneys, why are we surprised by all the outrageous lawsuits and the double standards?

BCBS of South Dakota is another BCBS company that exemplifies the worst in BCBS plans, and the need for Obama's universal health plan option. For 3 years they denied claims, avoided coverage of state mandated cancer screenings and refused to discuss or negotiate a 2 year exclusion on a policy that was supposed to be reviewed every 2 years. As a retired individual with no access to group health insurance or cobra benefits and too young for medicare I have only private insurers to choose from for health insurance. They are few and far between, and even when you can afford their premiums you are still grossly underinsured because of their exclusions for pre-existing conditons and refusal to play by the rules that they themselves set. Why shouldn't I have an opportunity to purchase fair and comprehensive coverage?

Hey sindby, What part of my first question didn't you understand? What gives the government the right to take my money away from me to pay for your health care? This country is becoming a welfare state where everyone wants everybody else to pay their bills by having someone else (the IRS) confiscate their money. I'm not arguing that if we pooled our money we'd all be able to afford more things, including health care. My question is: What gives the politicians the right to decide who gets what? And do you REALLY believe that a government run ANYTHING can be more efficient than the private sector? Talk about ignorant!!

For those who say no to health care reform, please tell us exactly how you would fix it, or else please listen more closely to those who do have a plan. So much time has been wasted by people not listening, but rather forming their opinoins in advance of the facts. Why can't we suspend all news operations for all newspapers, radio, tv, etc until we do have all the facts, and everyone can agree on certain fundamental facts, like: the current system is not a good one and we need to make it better. Please refrain from repeating what your fav. pundit has already said. The fact that he or she has not helped to fix it should be evidence they do not know how. We need a new way to make policy choices; simply repeating statements made earlier by others hs not seemed to be much of a help - so why keep doing that?

To "thirteen": I would love to pay less taxes in exchange for an optional fire department in my neighborhood. Since I'm a renter I couldn't care less if the property I'm occupying burns to the ground. Why not let the property owner buy individual insurance? Constitution does not guarantee the protection from fire (however I'm sure someone will remind me that the 5th amendment offers protections to our "life, liberty, or property"). And, while we're at implementing "to each his own policies" and dismantling the government, why not let the drivers pay for every highway and traffic light? I take the train to work. We could go on and on with examples of the government performing a role in improving our quality of life in exchange for taxation. Somehow these functions are never questioned. Yet when it comes to health and well being of US citizens, we stop being a community and become a group of individuals forced to fend for themselves. It's really not just about money and who pays for what and how much but about what kind of country do want to be. I think that's what this health care discussion is really about.

BCBS, Kaiser, WellPoint ==> PAYERS Hospitals, Doctors ==> PROVIDERS BCBS is not a provider nor has it ever been. They provide little to no help to their consumers, they low ball the providers that they are supposed to be paying (who have already provided the services to the end user) and then they take 30, 60, 90 days to pay the providers. They can't even tell the providers the net amount owed by the consumer. So they do a disservice to the entire spectrum of Healthcare... not just the consumers. With today's technology there is no reason for this...unless, of course, taking consumers money and holding on to it longer then is needed allows you to profit more then "doing the right thing" does. How they can even contemplate an ad campaign that suggests they provide services to the consumer is ludicrous.

"We can do a lot better than a government-run health care system," Oh yeah? Then why HAVEN'T you?

All you people who talk about how YOU are responsible because you buy your own health insurance....most likely you are on an employer-subsidized health plan. You get good insurance cheap and don't have to worry about pre-existing conditions or denied claims. Guess what? At some point, you are going to lose that insurance because nobody stays with one company until they are 65. Then, if you have ever had anything that looks like it might cost the insurer money, they will turn you down flat. They don't just turn you down for cancer, diabetes, and heart disease, but for things like moderate acne, depression, or migraines. And what if your employer goes out of business? No Cobra for you. Find another job quick, but what if the employers are only hiring independent contractors now? More and more are discovering this easy way out of having to give you any benefits at all. And if you are able to get a (very expensive) individual policy, you have to constantly live in fear that they will deny your claims now that you no longer have a group behind you. They will wait until you submit a big claim and then look for some forgotten doctor visit from 20 years ago that you didn't list on your application, and then stamp your claim "Denied" for fraud. They have a special department dedicated to weaseling out of paying individuals' claims.

To visitor13, Fire Departments are formed at the local level. A community decides when it's time to move from a volunteer fire department to a paid fire department, and then voluntarily pool their resources to hire firefighters and buy equipment. Locally funded services and programs are MUCH different than national programs. There's just too many politicians involved at the national level. As for homeowner's insurance: we homeowners DO purchase individual policies. We shop around, we pick an insurer, and we pay for it. The 5th Amendment, nor any other amendment, protects you from life and reality. Drivers DO pay for highways and traffic lights thru vehicle taxes, registration fees, inspections, tolls, etc. If you don't have a vehicle, you don't pay those taxes and fees, therefore you don't pay for what you don't use. The fact that politicians raid these accounts for other pet projects is another topic in itself. I'm not against sharing the expenses for the services I use (in fact, I expect to pay my share), I'm against inefficient, politician administered, government programs that take money from one group of people to pay for services supplied to another group of people, who think they're entitled to those services and YOUR money. Especially when that service is controlling MY health care. I have NO desire for some politician to be making decissions about what my doctor can or can't do for me.

In 1965, my ad agency was called to the National Blue Cross Association's HQ in Chicago -- the central organization for all state-chartered Blue Cross Plans. The new president of NBCA briefed us. Paraphrasing, the trends in health care show that in 20 years, most Americans won't be able to afford it. His strategy: don't position Blue Cross as the best insurance provider... position Blue Cross as the institution most trusted to administer a single-payer system for US health care. The strategy was never rolled out... because too many Blue Cross Plans (think Big State) were paying too much to execs and had too many limos parked outside. They didn't want anyone to call attention to their "non-profit" status. Today, $1 out of every $3 we spend on health care in this country is wasted... by paper-shuffling bill and payment "aggregators" between the medical providers and insurers. A single hospital or doctor bill may be passed through 6 of these middlemen between billing a service to you or me and getting paid... and may take 6 months to a year to process. The Obama initiative provides $20 billion to get all hospitals, doctors and other medical providers into electronic medical record systems... the next step is a centralized, computerized clearing system for medical payments (just as we have a centralized clearing house for the all checks we get and cash). This step alone will save all of us 1/3 of all medical cost. Today, all of those millions of dollars are simply wasted -- not providing more or better care, not profiting doctors or hospitals, not paying insurance company execs or stockholders. That's easy. That's a no-brainer. That's step one. Who pays the bills is another question. Maybe the government will turn out to be better for all of us. Maybe the insurers will prove themselves more efficient. I have no problem letting two systems compete for our healthcare dollar. May the best system win. But in either case, let's cut the overall cost by 1/3 RIGHT NOW... thanks President Obama. You got it right.

So we should spend $20 billion dollars to get all our medical records on a government data base? Sounds like the first step in signing over control of your health care to the politicians.

Any fool who thinks the government always does a shabby job should consider the US military. The M-I complex and CIA want a good one, so we have a good one. Our military and CIA are courtesy of the US taxpayers, SOCIALISM, in otherwords, morons. (The best in the world, they brag all the time) All about priorities-when you get old and needy, health-wise, you will want single-payer, excellent care without going bankrupt and losing your home. We could have it but THEY don't want the working class to have it 'cause they want the cream off the top for themselves. If you think otherwise, you are an idiot. Ask Canada to trade their system for ours. No way, eh.

I currently live in the UK, and I’m covered by the national health insurance system here. The care I have received in England has far surpassed my previous BCBS coverage! So many Americans point to socialized medicine in other countries as evidence of the ills of government-run health care, but Western Europeans think the American health care system is horrifying! BCBS denied me coverage, billed me for routine medical procedures, and enmeshed me in bureaucratic nightmares. I suppose it’s good to know that others here have never had issues with their medical care. But I know many people who have, and with the recession sinking in, things are only likely to get worse. You lose your job, you lose your health care? What kind of country has America become? Europeans I’ve spoken to don’t look at the socialization of medical care as a matter of people shirking their "self responsibility." They see it as a matter of fraternity, as a matter of people caring for their fellow citizens. Privatized American health care has led to a cumbersome, exorbitantly expensive system that leaves many Americans without access to decent care. And it’s not that these Americans lack “responsibility.” It’s that the current system has gaping holes in it! As a student studying abroad and no longer eligible to be under my parent’s insurance, I have to take out accident and travel insurance everytime I visit home. If I were to become acutely ill while in the UK, I would not be able to return to America. How would my family afford my medical coverage? How could they even secure a plan for me considering I’d have a “pre-existing” condition? I would not be able to return to my home. It’s a state of affairs that makes me sad to be American. I suppose some would still believe that they shouldn't have to pay for my health care coverage. But we all pay for education, for postal services, for roads, for colleges. Why are people so adamantly against taxation when it comes to health care, a matter that affects people's lives?! As mentioned above, ideas of community break down when it comes to health care. I gladly pay my higher taxes and enjoy my well-run national health care here in London, contentedly knowing other families aren't re-financing their homes to try and afford crushing medical costs. Why is it so infeasible for the same to happen in America?

To thirteen: I think our points of view represent pretty much two different directions we want this country to go - I see more value in a community and believe that by improving the health of all members, the community/nation as a whole will be healthier, more prosperous and as a result more pleasant to be a part of. You want YOUR money to pay for YOUR health insurance, generally believe in individual responsibility and - as compassionate as you may be - don't much care about healthcare of others - at least not when it comes to paying for it. Legitimate. So far it looks like my POV is being shared by a majority of voting Americans - let's see how we'll fare during the next election cycle :)

Healthcare Insurers in COLLUSION WITH CORPORATIONS TO DISCRIMINATE SICK AND THOSE OVER 50! I am a 56 year old technical professional with master degrees and many years of experience in my industry and for 19 years plus I worked for the same large corporation that just terminated me from all associations with their employment because I was diagnosed with a blood cancer. My family and I have lost medical coverage because of this and at a time when I need it the most. I would like to continue buying the same insurance even with the termination but I can not do so because I am excluded from group employment. I have lost all my rights to buy insurance like everyone else and with pre-existing medical problems nobody will insure me (or my family which depended on me). At the very least, because I worked all my life and have never been unemployed, I should have been allowed to keep my insurance that I had while I was healthy. When I tell my friends overseas what my employer, Sun Chemical Corporation has done with me, they all say it is illegal in their country and it is a total horror that our society has chosen to discriminate so savagely against the sick and those unfortunate to lose their employment. It is a travesty that corporations and health insurance companies collude to cleanse their ranks of those that are sick and those that are getting old as it has happened at Sun Chemical Corporation a multinational division of Dainippon Ink & Chemicals a Japanese conglomerate. email: onemorecolor@gmail.com

Blue cross blue sheild is/was a scam. Its not the same company it was in the 60s. You know its bad when the doctor refuses to treat you because & I quote "They wont pay me for that, they'll call it a pre-exsisting condition". I had to go home to Pa. for surgery because of that kind of crap, AFTER I paid for the top tier of choices my company had from BC/BS for months. After years [20+] of empty promises from HMOs about how they would "cost less" & be better for the health care systems AND the patients, alot of us no longer trust them, period. I know it seems counter-intuitive, I had a relative at a large local hospital & she didn't get rich working there, so its not the medical staff getting the money. I wish we could apply simple business thinking to this subject, but it hasn't worked yet, & America is tired of waiting. I do find it interesting that everytime theres a ground swell of support for everyone having coverage these companies all break the piggy bank to fight it, & they aren't doing that for "The Country".

My wife is dying but not fast enough for BC/BS. At the end of June her 180 day Hospice benefit will be exhausted until, absurdly enough, next year when she would be eligible for another six months of hospice care. Had she been on Medicare, her six months of care would be extended based on need. This system is in dire need of over haul.

I've been a provider of physical therapy in private practice for 30 years, working with many different insurance carriers. Medicare is by no means the biggest problem as they have contracted out to a private company to manage reimbursement in a timely fashion and though it is lower than I'd like its survivable. Blue Cross and Blue Shield on the other hand (among others) are nightmares to deal with. They reimburse in a cascade fashion with illogical rationale for how they value certain treatments with little care about the expertise delivering a particular service or the outcomes of the office. Obfuscation and obstruction and wearing you down is their game. We were told by an claims adjustor who has left the industry and now is working for medical professionals, that claims adjustors have a list posted at their work station of 150 reasons not to accept a claim the first time around. Apparently 20% of the providers find it too difficult and time consuming to fight them. The single largest reason for Bankruptcy in the USA is crushing health care bills from illnesses and injuries which wipe out families. A spinal cord injury leaving one quadriplegic costs well over $500,000.00 the first year following the injury! To all those who are so smug with their employer health insurance or private individual plan please recognize that: 1. you can be laid off your job and lose your health care 2. COBRA is exhorbitant especially if you have a family and it only lasts for 18 months. 3. You are not eligible for Cobra if you work for yourself and become disabled. 4. IF your company goes out of business there is no COBRA. 5. If you are involved in an accident and you lose your ability to provide for your family, and can not work you will soon realize that you do not have the means to pay for that outstanding health care or any health care. 6. When you try to get private individual coverage the reasons for denials WILL SHOCK YOU. In some cases, if you have seen a doctor in the last 18 months, that alone will knock you out of certain plans EVEN IF IT WAS FOR PREVENTATIVE TREATMENT such as a physical! 7. God for bid your child, wife, or yourself has an illness that shows up while you are insured and then you lose the insurance, as you most likely will become ineligible for coverage. 8 Try paying for medicine that costs $10,000 a month. My sister was on chemo medicine that cost more than that each month. My office manager was on meds that cost $46,000 a month. And, to those that think we have such a fantastic health situation in this country. Look again. We are 14th in mortality in the industrialized world. Want to live longer? move to France. One more thing. Please ask yourself this, if this was your family member, would you still feel that it's just up to the

Don't know much about Tricare, but I agree with swanieaz. During his end of life cascade of health issues, we never once had trouble with Dad's Medicare. Mom is old but healthy, and although she's had a run-in with an incompetent surgeon, her Medicare has paid for second opinions, therapy, anything she felt would help. Meanwhile, because I work (like a dog mostly) for six tiny, broke arts organizations and have self-employed income from clients who are losing their jobs right and left, I have no insurance. Wouldn't know what I was buying if I had to get it. Interesting posts about malpractice. I think my grandfather practiced dental surgery for six decades without it. They didn't have that when he started and he trusted his patients to be fair. He charged his orthodontia patients $10 for adjustments in the late 70's. Some of his patients paid in produce. I don't think he fooled with insurance paperwork. No one needed that to pay his $ for rootcanals. Think about it. (And nightingale, get a grip. My TWENTY year old car already gets better mileage than what Obama is mandating for new standards. It's big enough to wedge a boxed sofa into, so don't imagine a toy. He's so extreme..sure.)

"So far it looks like my POV is being shared by a majority of voting Americans - let's see how we'll fare during the next election cycle :)" visitor13 "A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves money from the public treasure. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates promising the most money from that treasury, with the result that a democracy always collapses over loose fiscal policy followed by a dictatorship, usually after approximately 200 years." Alexander Tyler Yes...I'm afraid we WILL see.

thirteen: What does that quote have to do with health care? Have you considered the ramifications of it? Why even have a democracy if you believe it will just devolve into dictatorial rule? I'll refrain from even delving into the fact that the origins of that quote are indefinite and unverifiable, and it's just a piece of tripe circulated on the web after the 2000 election. I don't understand Americans who believe that everyone should fend for themselves. Maybe we should stop looking at taxpaying as the government stealing our money, but as a patriotic duty that entitles us to rights: namely, how tax money should be spent and what services we value. As an American, I happen to value the lives of other Americans. My fiance is French. Our retirement plan? Move to France. No deductibles, no excessive prescription costs, no denial of care, no chance we'll lose our insurance if a recession hits again. It's shameful (completely shameful!) that America is the only industrialized Western nation WITHOUT a form of universal health coverage. Let the private insurers compete with the government plan.

["So far it looks like my POV is being shared by a majority of voting Americans - let's see how we'll fare during the next election cycle :)" visitor13 "A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves money from the public treasure. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates promising the most money from that treasury, with the result that a democracy always collapses over loose fiscal policy followed by a dictatorship, usually after approximately 200 years." Alexander Tyler Yes...I'm afraid we WILL see. Posted by: thirteen | May 20, 2009 8:20 AM] -------------------- The quote above is falsely attributed - radical right-wing propaganda - see here: http://www.lorencollins.net/tytler.html and http://www.snopes.com/politics/ballot/athenian.asp So a "socialist" military is fine, but screw the health of your less fortunate neighbor or fellow citizen!

If France is so much better than the US, why wait?

The quote above is falsely attributed - radical right-wing propaganda - see here: http://www.lorencollins.net/tytler.html and http://www.snopes.com/politics/ballot/athenian.asp So a "socialist" military is fine, but screw the health of your less fortunate neighbor or fellow citizen! Posted by: jsbraine OK, so Lord Wordhouselee said it, not Alexander Tyler. The authority to raise an army is granted to the Congress by Article 1 of the Constitution. Since National Health Insurance is not an authority granted the federal government, it is in violation of the 10th Amendment. What government sanctioned indoctrination center (public school), did you attend? By the way, this is also an area the federal government has no authority to be medling in.

thirteen: Maybe I won't wait to go to France. That depends on a number of things, and that's my choice. But I don't appreciate the attitude that if I don't like the way things are done in America, I should just leave. That's a shameful attitude, and you should be embarassed to have mentioned it in the spiteful manner you did. I'm American, and even if I'm living in France, I have a right to express my views and argue for coverage for those Americans who are not fortunate enough to have the options I do. If you don't find it disgraceful that my moving to another country that offers quality, affordable health care is my only and necessary contingency plan, then I'm just at a loss. I brought up the matter of coverage in France because it illuminates how America lags behind other Western nations in its philosophy on health care coverage. Private insurance companies run like businesses. They care about profit. You aren't willing to trust the government with your health care but you'll trust corporations are driven by profit motives?

Ok folks, why on earth do you think health insurance should be any different than auto insurance. If I drive like a maniac, drunk, high speed going down the highway and get into a wreck or get a ticket, guess what my auto insurance goes up. It should be the same for health insurance, if I sit around smoking, eating twinkies all day and become a fat arse, in my opinion my health insurance rate should skyrocket. This is the problem, too many people in this country sit around on their fat arses not taking care of themselves and run all our rates up. Why should I have to pay for your fat arse when I take care of myself and hardly ever have to go to the dr. I think everyone should have to get a physical once per year if they want health insurance. If you don't take care of yourself well guess what, you pay a higher rate than me. There should be a high reward for people taking care of themselves in this country. Talk about a good incentive to stop the obesity epidemic in this country, thats a good one

edb229, I'm not embarassed that I asked a question. You clearly stated that you believe you will be better off in France. I'm simply asking why you are waiting until retirement. Is it because you can't earn as a good a living in their socialist environment? Will you be dependent on you US supplied Social Security check? I'm just asking? And as far as my health care: I trust that to me and my doctor, not the insurance company and not the government. I expect my insurance company to pay benefits according to the policy I pay for, and I expect the government to do what they were formed to do.

I only mentioned I'd wait until retirement, as that's when health care coverage as it presently exists in America breaks down and weighs people with debilitating medical costs. I don't live in America now, I live in the UK, so it's not as if I plan on living the high life in the States until it's ready to head for socialist medicine in Europe! I can't earn as good a living in their "socialist environment"? Are you joking!? Stop contributing to the political myth propagated by the right that socialism is a dirty word. I'm in my 20s. I don't survive off any social security checks, and I don't intend to nor am I even eligible to! I earn a salary comparable to my American equivalent in Europe, and that's my point. No one in Europe is waiting months for doctors appointments or finding their financial prospects stifled by the ills of socialist health care policies. But there are plenty of Americans losing their homes trying to pay off exorbitant medical bills. I can't help but believe that you have a dim, if not ignorant understanding of the political structure and health care systems of other nations. As others have mentioned, I hope you never have to face losing your health insurance or becoming ill because it's something no individual should have to go through. But if you did, I'm sure your views would change and the holes in our present system would become painfully apparent to you.

Personally I would love to have a public healthcare option. There is a great PBS special called Sick Around the World that is very informative and I recommend it for anyone interested in the healthcare debate. The program looks at healthcare programs in developed nations and how they cover all their citizens. I have been a nurse for 28 years so I have a special interest in healthcare for all. Our system doesn't work as anyone can see so it must be fixed. If we can take control of the situation and reduce costs, let's give it a try! I'd rather cover a small percentage of losers and misfits than give my money to insurance company moguls to spend on million dollar homes and toys. Sure there will always be people who don't deserve free healthcare but I'm not willing to cut off my nose to spite my face just to deny them care. Even with a 10% unemployment rate that means 90% of us are working and I believe if you work for a living you should earn a living and that includes basic healthcare benefits. Everyone can't make $50K a year but that doesn't mean they shouldn't be able to meet their basic needs. We live in a society and are interdependent whether you like it or not. If you have a successfull business it is because you depend on your fellow man to buy your goods or services. Without them you'd have nothing. In my line of work I see many folks who are ill because they neglect their health so maybe a little healthcare rationing would be a good thing. Use cigarette and alcohol and fast food taxes to help subsidize healthcare. If we want to indulge in those things to the point of bad health we can pay for the extra care we will need. Legalize drugs so we can tax those and pay for the inevitable rehab and mental healthcare. I know that some folks just hate to be told how to spend their money. Good, generous people can seem selfish and greedy when they are forced to pay for something against their will. It might be help to know that it really is true that nobody wins if we all don't win. Canada isn't perfect but they do a better job of caring for all their citizens and the pay off is that they don't have the rampant crime that we American's spend huge amount of tax dollars trying to control.

Blue Cross is the same disgusting organization that repeatedly harassed my step mother while she lay dying in bed from a very painful cancer. They called her several times a day, threatened to make things difficult for her children once she passed away (collections), and showed absolutely no compassion for a dying woman -- they just wanted to scrimp and bully my family into believing they were not entitled to the coverage they had paid for. It was hard for my dad to watch the woman he loved slowly pass away, but Blue Cross was right there to make it all the more miserable. A class action lawsuit followed, which Blue Cross was forced to settle, but I think it's impossible to put a price tag on the pain and suffering these insurance companies cause. How many horror stories do we have to hear before the government steps in and puts a stop to these greedy predators?

Thirteen - A mindset like yours doesn't belong here, it is far too harmful for this great country. Educate yourself, see a community/culture other than yours, walk in someone else's shoes, and most importantly have compassion for the less fortunate. What would your life be like if you hadn't been fed from that silver spoon....? What will happen if you lose it? Education is the key!

(1) My aunt in Canada recently died after living with diabetes for over 30 years with much complication in the recent years. My relatives are grateful to the Canadian medical system and said she would not live as long were it not for the care she had received. She got the most sophisticated treatment. Though a homemaker herself, her lengthened life helped launch an orphaned young man into productive career, and brought much joy to the family. (2) In this economy, you can lose the job, your company can go out of business (look at the empty store fronts and your local banks changing names), or benefit being cut, then you would find out that not many companies offer health insurance for individuals and for those that offer the plan, they would only insure the very healthy, and would not offer any insurance for person with only minor health issues that come with normal aging. (3) The free clinic cited in one of the postings here was being crowded was because it was the only one of its kind available. If there is a comprehensive system with multiple providers, and participants have to pay a little to use the service to prevent unnecessary abuse, then the system should be able to handle the flow. Even if you can afford the premium, the insurance company does not want to bother. (4) It is important to have online digital medical record. My daughter recently died of medical complication because the top-notched doctors in a world-class medical facility were not communicating. There was no overall medical care management, with each expert just minding his/her field with tunnel vision and limited information, e.g. the pain doctor increased her morphine even though her pain had gone away, suppressing her immune system aggressively while her infection was still active... A promising young life was ended prematurely, mourned by her Headmistress as a loss to the human race.

Blue Cross Blue Shield is itself a loose confederation of independent state BCBS independent companies. They are the biggest bureaucracy themselves. They are all connected by an antiquated, obsolete 50-year-old computer system. They have not been reimbursing their providers (i.e. Doctors, Hospitals, etc) in Texas (see http://www.ftc.gov/os/adjpro/d9312/040113ntspresponsetobcbs.pdf). AND NOW THEY HAVE THE GALL TO SPEND MORE MONEY ON AN AD CAMPAIGN AGAINST THE PRESIDENT OF THE US? Despicable!

thirteen: I have read every single commment and those directed towrads you, and I have one single word to label you as: idiot. Your thoughts on how a country's health insureance, our stance with other countries in terms of health care, and basically all the other nonsense you've been typing is total garbage. Honestly, I think you deserved to get punched in the mouth. Immature? Yes. But think about that nyou say before you go and waste everyone's time, k? =)

blogarama, that is an OUTRIGHT LIE. I would hope that washingtonpost.com would stop censoring my posts. It is not an insurance company that would send you to collections. It is healthcare providers but no one wants to ever blame their doctor. Its a shame. do people realize what many doctors are doing now? they OWN surgi-centers that purposefully don't participate in health insurance plans so that they can get even MORE MONEY. And do they tell these patients of theirs that they will have high costs becuase they don't participate, NO. Their office staff lies and deceives these patients and the insurance co takes the blame. go ahead and get rid of pre-existing conditions, i agree with that whole-heartedly. AS long as there is an individual mandate that ALL have to be covered.

Thirteen has also neglected the implications of leaving his fellow Americans uninsured. Diseases do spread, and they're not all curable. He can be infected by his unhealthy (i.e., uninsured) neighbors. Also, a healthy economy requires a healthy workforce. Firm productivity (thus, stock prices and 401k performance --i.e., your retirement funding) suffers with health-related absenteeism and mortality.

It now becomes clear why BCBSNC, one of the 5 wealthiest Blues in the US (there are 28 Blues) has been stockpiling its money. It is in order to use the money, taken from almost half of NC citizens, in order to continue their lack of treatment. This is what I do not get reimbursed for as a BCBSNC insured person who pays $750+/ month/ for 3 healthy family members: 1. NO SCREENING COLONOSCOPY AFTER AGE OF 50 2. NO SCREENING MAMMOGRAMS 3. NO MENTAL HEALTH PARITY (in a state that passed mental health parity in 2008: BCBSNC, overseen by the NC State Legislature, was 'allowed' to opt out). Marsha V. Hammond, PhD, Clinical Psychologist, Asheville, NC blog about these problems re: specific to BCBSNC: http://madamedefarge2scutinizingbcbsnc.blogspot.com/

I don't know who they are kidding - try getting into a specialist - that appointment will be in 2-6 months and I live in an area with very good health care and have very good insurance. A few months ago my primary doctor said that if they couldn't get me in sooner to find out why I could barely walk, he would hospitalize me so the specialists would have to deal with the situation. It's amazing- they found an opening in the schedule within a couple of days. Watch Michael Moore's movie on Healthcare and see what nationalized health care in France is like and why Americans there get better care than they do here. Our healthcare costs are so high because of all the uninsured - get everyone insured and the costs will actually go down!

Guess what happened to the extra "stimulus' money in my paycheck? It went to BCBS - NC for a rate hike. I guess BCBS - NC needed the extra money to pay those FAT BONUSES that their CEO and others in their organization received this year - or maybe to pay for these commercials.

Thirteen - A mindset like yours doesn't belong here, it is far too harmful for this great country. Educate yourself, see a community/culture other than yours, walk in someone else's shoes, and most importantly have compassion for the less fortunate. What would your life be like if you hadn't been fed from that silver spoon....? What will happen if you lose it? Education is the key! Posted by: k7e9d _________________________________ Typical socialist. Other people are only allowed an opinion if it's the as yours. YOUR KIND is what is already destroying this country.

Blue Cross is the same disgusting organization that repeatedly harassed my step mother while she lay dying in bed from a very painful cancer. They called her several times a day, threatened to make things difficult for her children once she passed away (collections), and showed absolutely no compassion for a dying woman -- they just wanted to scrimp and bully my family into believing they were not entitled to the coverage they had paid for. It was hard for my dad to watch the woman he loved slowly pass away, but Blue Cross was right there to make it all the more miserable. A class action lawsuit followed, which Blue Cross was forced to settle, but I think it's impossible to put a price tag on the pain and suffering these insurance companies cause. How many horror stories do we have to hear before the government steps in and puts a stop to these greedy predators? Posted by: blogorama _________________________________ Please supply proof. I don't believe you.

thirteen: ....I think you deserved to get punched in the mouth. Posted by: katanamaster013 ________________________ When you have nothing intelligent to say, resort to violence. If you can't deal with other peoples opinions in a mature way, please stay out of the conversation.

I don't it's particularly mature to derisively throw around terms like "typical socialist" or "your kind." Perhaps it would be more constructive to elucidate what exactly you find "socialist" about the user's comments and beliefs, or why you find socialism so despicable, particularly when it comes to health care reform. As far as I'm concerned, Obama's policies are far from sweeping socailist reform. He is simply offering a public policy to compete with private insurance policies. His policy rests on the idea that a public plan not reliant on amassing excessive profits (the sort large enough to pay exorbitant CEO salaries) would lower costs enough to allow uninsured Americans access to health coverage. One of the key planks of his health care policy is that everyone will still be able to choose their doctor, whether they are on a private plan or a public plan. It's a matter of private and public in competition with another and existing alongside one another to create an better overall system, not a matter of massively socializing health coverage and having the government intrude in your health care. If you don't like the government plan, you are entitled to keep your private insurance. BCBS argues that a public plan will force them to raise private rates and run them out of business because the government plan will underpay providers. But BCBS already underpays or denies payment to providers! If they can't adapt to changes in the health care industry or attempts to make health care affordable, why would you put their faith in them? BCBS and other private insurers keep demonstrating an obstinance to change because the status quo serves their interests. Bottom line.

In response to thirteen: "What part of the Constitution guarentees you health insurance?" It doesn't. Nor did it count blacks as full citizens or allow women the right to vote, so I'm not sure what the Constitution has to do with this other than allowing US citizens the opportunity to make the system the way they'd like to see it. "Who do think is going to pay for it? The rest of us are, with our tax dollars, that's who. Why should I be forced to supply YOU with health insurance?" Perhaps because the cost of allowing millions to have inadequate health care WILL have a negative impact on your own health and cost YOU more in the long run, unless you happen to live on your own island with no contact to other human beings. People with inadequate care spread infections much more easily and rapidly than those with proper care. "Step up to the plate dammit and take some responsibility for your own health care costs." I agree with you here, but first we have to do everything possible to make health care accessible and affordable to every American. At the present there are significant barriers preventing any of us from being responsible for our own health care costs.

I agree to the extent that people need to take responsibility for their health. Eating food that is bad for you, smoking, and sitting on your butt watching TV is not the best way to use your body, designed to be moving. HOWEVER (and I am directing this at gtwarren as most everyone has had a good slam at thirteen) YOU cannot use an Automobile to compare to human body. Auto insurance is a requirement for people who own cars. If you can't afford insurance on the car, take a bus or carpool. OBVIOUSLY, if you can't afford health care you don't have the option of not using a hospital or a doctor if you are deathly ill. And the way you make it sound, all people who are sick make themselves so. Even the healthiest person ages and needs a doctor. Younger people get bizarre diseases in the prime of their life and health. I spent a year paralyzed with a disease that cost my parents insurance company over 40,000. THAT was in 1985. I was in Karate tournaments, ran 6 miles a day, and cross country skied nearly every other day..(I live in Portland Oregon, lots of Mountains) Had I been one year older, that 40,000 would have been on me and I would not have had a way to pay it. I was a college kid. As for Canada. Oh Canada. It gets such a bad rap. My in laws are Canadian. They use the system for everything from runny noses to end stage luekemia. A child actually had to air lift out of a rural community when diagnosed with initial stages of Luekemia and they took him to Vancouver BC Children's hospital . He spent over half of his last 4 years there (he died at the age of 10) but his family was very happy with his care and responsiveness of the medical teams. My own family received care when we became ill with food poisoning (my sister in law and tuna fish!) and all had to go on IV's to replenish liquids. Our insurance was billed but they were only billed 400 bucks a person. (we had to pay 50 each for being out of country) . We were actually overnight in the clinic, with a doctor and a nurse. Both had to come in on call. I think perhaps people ought to study these systems more before they bad mouth them, and remember that we all will die at some point in life no matter how healthy we live. But do we want to die with some dignity and hopefully able to control pain and destiny, or do we want to die scared and destitute?

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