I do believe we should help the poor. And this country does do a lot to help the poor. We always should.

By financially strapped ..I mean we are paying our bills ..sometimes juggling and not a lot of room for extras at this time. But our ins premiums are automatically deducted from husband’s pay and we would pay our insurance before breakfast. Not an option ..it is a necessity. We are not financially strapped because of our insurance premiums. More like the high energy bills (oil,electric and gasoline) and and whatever. And even with insurance ..medical bills.

But hearing how these premiums are escalating even now, hearing some people are already having to leave *their* doctors because they couldn’t afford the increasing premiums and switched to an HMO that *their* physician does not participate with. I watched Obama when he adamantly stated that people will not lose their doctors. And yet it is happening. How he can make blanket statements like that without knowing what is in the bill is beyond me. ? When a patient bonds and trusts a doc and they are familiar with the patient and their med hx ..it is a loss to lose that care.

Regarding “Cadillac” plans, I believe the criteria for that is if it also has an eye plan, dental plan ..that kind of thing. I just consider that an insurance plan ..period. We’ve always had that and thought that was built into most plans.

You are right ..there are people who can’t get those things ..that don’t have insurance. One night at work ..I saw a patient sign himself out ama because he didn’t want to be admitted over night for observation because he wasn’t insured. That is sad. And he worked but, no insurance.

But the last stats I heard were that 75% of Americans ARE insured. And so is it fair to now make it more expensive for them and cause their care to be compromised in the future?

How do two wrongs make a right?

Again ..I am not saying things did not have to be fixed. There are some good things in the bill. We should help our poor.

BUT…they should have looked at what they *COULD* fix or do away with systematically ..and not throw the baby out with the bath water. There are good things in the bill. I wrote more about this in the post put up after this.

Why couldn’t they just enact separate smaller bill that said people stating pre-existing conditions don’t matter, college kids can stay on parents ins,etc. And why couldn’t they encourage free enterprise by opening state borders for product competition for lower premiums and quality of care? Why didn’t they write tort reform into the bill? Why didn’t they go after tort reform anyway ..before the bill? And I will ask that about republicans too? Why didn’t they do something about it?

And as WC pointed out ..having insurance ..does not guarantee access.

WC ..delete any of these things I’ve written if you wish. Repetitive Novellas.

FORTY PERCENT!!! (Except the favored union is exempt from it)

My husband has worked hard all these years and like many Americans we are already financially strapped. I do not want to have to give up this insurance. I am livid. Seriously!

My point was not to say it is emergent as something life threatening ..but that to the person in pain ..in that kind of pain it *feels* emergent to them.

We have always been able to schedule and get the surgeries we need in a timely fashion in this country. I loathe the idea that we may end up rationed and waiting for tests and procedures that we could always have when we were ready to schedule. I am extremely upset that we could end up with an inferior medical system in which we are denied prompt access to care or possibly denied altogether because of signing this debacle of a HC bill into effect. They did not read it. They do not understand it ..because they did not read it and because they did not read it, thus don’t understand it they also don’t know the long term effects of this bill and it is wrong that our availability of medical care should be compromised in anyway.

I cannot believe the things I am hearing about regarding what will be the new HC over time in this country.

I’m not sure what you mean about the gathering data and so perhaps I missed part of that story?

But, I think the death panels are based on how Greece and Europe allocate care.

I have read in medblogs where medical professionals do think we waste billions of dollars in keeping people alive on machines, etc, that do not and will not have any quality of life and would’ve died of natural causes ..old age, etc. I understand that.

I read a comment by a doc from Greece last year who said that they do not spend money on keeping people alive who are severely injured or elderly and the prognosis is bleak, because the government does not have the money for that. I England ..there are women who have breast cancer, but not allowed to have certain drugs because they are too expensive and they die. maybe they would have ..but maybe not. Also, and I don’t recall the country ..but people can be diagnosed with colon cancer but then have to wait to have the surgery..cancer spreads and they die. In US, patients can get in quickly. Not wait 6 months.

And is is foreseeable that for the sake of budget ..people empowered to make decisions to approve of expensive treatments will weed people based on certain criteria, age, preexisting conditions, etc., and one just has to hope they make the grade for approval. Subjective thoughts at this point .. but as WC pointed out ..having insurance with this plan does NOT mean one will have ACCESS to medical care and if they do ..it may not be QUALITY care.

This is so disturbing and surreal ..I can hardly believe this has happened.

The catch is that European doctors don’t report nonviable fetuses as dead babies, but American doctors do.