Posts Tagged ‘Insurance’

You really know how to hurt a guy, Mr. President! MSNBC on today’s event in Green Bay…

A dispute over Obama’s desire to create a new government-sponsored health plan to compete with private insurers is forming a major obstacle to bipartisan consensus on health reform. So the president, undertaking a new and aggressive push to see legislation enacted this year, worked sell his ideas on health reform directly to Americans.

He described his critics as naysayers.

“I know there are some who believe that reform is too expensive, but I can assure you that doing nothing will cost us far more in the coming years,” Obama said at a town-hall style meeting at a high school here. “Our deficits will be higher. Our premiums will go up. Our wages will be lower, our jobs will be fewer, and our businesses will suffer.”

The president’s warnings come as reservations have been expressed by health care providers, Congress — led by Obama’s fellow Democrats — and the public. The brief ride from the airport to a town hall-style meeting featured a rare sight for the new president: a large gathering of protesters.

Signs held among the several hundred demonstrators lining his route said “NObama” and “No to Socialism.” Source: Obama declares that it’s time to fix health care – White House- msnbc.com

Jerry Bader personally counted over 1,000 protesters and that was from our group alone. MSNBC also missed hundreds of signs and banners reading ‘The Party of Know’…

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Things are slowly returning to normal here in Green Bay and Paul Ryan already has a comment on the President’s townhall today…

I applaud President Obama for bringing national attention to two things I’m passionate about: health care reform and Wisconsin. I am eager to work with the President and Democrats toward a bipartisan solution to health care. However, the Majority has chosen to exclude such collaboration. After reviewing the President’s remarks in Green Bay today, I have one basic observation to make: the difference between the President’s rhetoric and the substance of his plans is nothing short of astounding. In fact, non-partisan experts continue to claim that the President’s “public plan option” will cause as many as 120 million of Americans to lose the health insurance they already have and like. This makes it difficult to keep the insurance they like, underscoring the growing divide between the President’s promises and his policies.

The President reiterated a false choice that is damaging the open, honest health care debate that we deserve. The President frames the debate as: The government must take over the management of health care OR continue with the failed status-quo of today. He continues to challenge his critics by asking, “What is the alternative?” He knows that there are alternatives – better alternatives where the patient, not the government, is at the center of health care in America. He knows that we have introduced the Patients’ Choice Act of 2009. He knows this, and is simply hoping that the American people don’t know it. It should be noted that Democrats haven’t yet introduced a bill – we have. The Patients’ Choice Act is a real proposal with actual legislative text, demonstrating that we can have universal health insurance in this country without the government taking it over.

Another favorite refrain of the President is that entitlement reform is health care reform. With health security threatened by the unsustainable growth of Medicare and Medicaid, serious reform of these programs is no longer an option. Last year, I introduced comprehensive reforms of both programs, and yet again – nothing but rhetoric from Washington. What’s worse, the Administration’s current strategy to fixing our entitlement crisis is to add yet another entitlement program to an already unsustainable fiscal future. You can’t create new government entitlements, impose trillions of dollars of new taxes, and call this cost containment. We already spend over two-and-a-half times any other country on health care. The problem is not that we don’t spend enough money, but that we don’t spend it efficiently or effectively. Source: Journal Times Online >> Paul Ryan Commentary

Please go the source for the rest of the article..

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Michael Reagan reports…

“President Barack Obama has undertaken the expansion of health care to the roughly 45 million Americans who do not currently have health insurance. Having about one American in seven with no health insurance is undeniably an undesirable situation which deserves our attention and concern.

This is not just a matter of compassion either, but also of practicality. About the most expensive way imaginable to deal with routine illness is to provide it in hospital emergency rooms, yet this is the only alternative for millions of people. In addition, the uninsured commonly defer getting needed treatment, and with the looming threat of infectious diseases to all our families, we are all at risk when millions go without needed treatment.

Our problem, however, lies in the dwindling supply of health care providers. Most doctors are overworked, many are underpaid. The number of doctors is increasing at a woeful 1 percent a year, and the number of available nurses has been flat for years. With an increasing population — and one that is aging as baby boomers move into their 60s — who is going to provide health care to 45 million more Americans, even if we make the wildly optimistic assumption that we could afford to pay for it? ” Source: Michael Reagan : Efficient Nationalized Healthcare? Not So Fast – Townhall.com

Michael Reagan was far too kind — I can’t think of one thing government does well besides spending money. Go to the source for the rest of the article…

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Local blogger Steve Prestegaard takes up the issue here…

“In the 80s and 90s, Green Bay was the Center of the Health Insurance Universe. Back in the Day, we led the World in designing, selling and servicing some very, very innovative health insurance benefit plans for small business owners and their employees. The proof of our success was in ALL the Sales we made – we drove the competition absolutely crazy.

Not only were our plans good, they were priced right! It takes 3 things to sell health insurance: Rates. Rates. Rates… We were a low-cost provider with OUTstanding customer service and lots of BIG ideas! We set the bar VERY high from lil old Green Bay.

Thousands, and thousands became employed – and trained – in a highly technical industry; and there were countless spin offs, mergers, vendors and health-related wannabee businesses taking root on the Tundra, too. Agents and customers from around the country constantly flew in to see what all the fuss was about. About 100% of the time they’d go home totally impressed with our knowledge, our craftsmanship and our work ethic.” Source: Marketplace of Ideas Blog – An open health care letter to President Obama

Steve goes on to say…

“Five years ago, my company was leading a huge initiative for UnitedHealthcare. We hosted a series of Town Hall-type meetings with: “The Primary Healthcare Decision Maker in Your Household.” And just like the President, we launched our initiative in Green Bay. (We eventually moved beyond the Tundra to other towns and halls.)

Guess what The Number ONE Healthcare Issue is for The Primary Healthcare Decision Maker? “Well, DUH!,” one said, “The Cost!”

It didn’t take a Town Hall Meeting to discover THAT! It’s always about the Money, isn’t it?” Source: Marketplace of Ideas Blog – An open health care letter to President Obama

Maybe President Obama doesn’t need to spend the money to come all the way to Green Bay?! He could just read Steve’s blog on that BlackBerry of his…

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