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Saturday, March 24, 2012 | 2 a.m.
In response to Ray Lillehaug’s letter, “What’s good for the goose is ...,” asking conservatives to deny men coverage for Viagra, etc.:
I want companies and insurance companies to have the freedom to cover whatever conditions they choose and not have the government force them. This whole discussion is not about birth control; it’s about freedom and whether individuals or companies have the freedom to cover whatever medical conditions they deem appropriate.
My son is in his late 20s. He needs a policy with coverage for catastrophic illnesses but not illnesses that strike older people. Unfortunately, the state where he resides has minimum requirements for health plans, which mandate coverage he doesn’t need or want. He pays twice as much as necessary for his coverage because he has to pay for services he won’t use for the next 30 years. This is not the American way, but this is our future if we do not rethink the size of our government.
Well stated William. I just cannot ride with any type of government mandates concerning my healthcare insurance. We are supposed to be a nation of people that has choice. "Obamacare" is certainly going to make this right obsolete. Since the socialist styled "Obamacare" was passed, legislatively, I even see family practice physicians becoming more commanding towards their patients instead of providing a patients rights to choice in all options available in their medical treatment.
This is certainly not a good trend.
Gee, we all have something we don't want to pay for. Childless homeowners pay for schools through property taxes. Others pay for parks they never use. We pay for alot of garbage on TV that we don't want. The list goes on.
Your complaint is nothing new. It has gone one for decades, even before minimum standards.
Under Obamacare your son has less choice and is now covered for birth control pills and abortions. congratulations.
Nobody know why Obamacare eliminates the high deductible plans. Which million want and use.
The letter writer states that his son "..needs a policy with coverage for catastrophic illnesses but not illnesses that strike older people". I submit that they are one and the same. Cancer for example. There is no particular age when cancer strikes, and with few exceptions, it can become quite catastrophic and very expensive to treat. It is interesting to note that the STATE where his son resides imposes mandates regarding what type of coverage he must purchase. If that's the case, that state has ALREADY chosen to mandate coverage even as the SCOTUS has yet to decide the legality of that mandate federally under Obamacare. Mandates are alive and well here in Las Vegas. Caesars Entertainment currently MANDATES several preventive/screening procedures that their employees MUST submit to, or lose their medical insurance. It would seem to me that all the wailing and gnashing of teeth over the Obamacare federal mandate is a tempest in a teapot.
Amen. Right on correct.
Obamacare is 2 years old and the same majority of Americans want it repealed now as when House Speaker democrat Nancy Pelosi said we have to pass it to see what's in it. It's bad policy and bad law. Preemies are hearing arguments for and against starting this week. The only thing Preemies need to know is Americans don't want it. Period. End of story.
Carmine A. DiFazio
Re Carmine. The Supremes will approach the issue from Constitutional Law, and not some popularity poll. Of course any judicial body that would rule as they did on Citizens United is suspect.
If your 20 year old son is in good health, then the very low risk he presents to his insurer should be reflected in his premium.
Then again, insurance companies exist for the sole purpose of squeezing every last penny they can out of policy holders for the benefit of their shareholders, so his premium may not be a true reflection of the risk he actually presents.
"Re Carmine. The Supremes will approach the issue from Constitutional Law, and not some popularity poll. Of course any judicial body that would rule as they did on Citizens United is suspect."
Mr. Lind:
You sound a tad bit like Rep. Pelosi who recently said Preemies decision on Obamacare is irrelevant. She already knows that Obamacare is consititutional. She already decided. What more is there for us to say/do? The Queen has spoken for us all.
At least going with the popular opinion as reflected by the majority of Americans in every single poll before and since Nov 2010 on Obamacare is "democratic." [Small d.]
Carmine A. DiFazio
People complain that government is to big. With the new mandatory health care law for all It's citizens, Is getting even bigger.Guess what with 48 million people without health insurance guess who gets stuck paying the bills for the uninsured the American taxpayer. Of course nobody talks about this as being a part of the big government.Wake up and see things as they really are.
The writer is probably opposed to ovarian cancer coverage because half of us will never use it. Same for prostate cancer coverage. The claim that his son's premiums are twice what they would otherwise be is equally incredible but good ror the b.p. (bithchin' points not blood pressure)
Re gogowhitesox. I'll break it to you gently. Medical insurance is ALREADY one size fits all. It's not some ala cart buffet where you can pick and choose what you will be covered for and what you won't. The letter writer clearly points that out. You do have a choice though. Drop all your medical insurance, and pay your way out of pocket
I don't care what Pelosi opines on this or any other subject and never cited anything she may have said on the health care insurance as a premise for my comments. She has a right to her opinions just as you and I do.
Re Carmine. Another comment somehow linking my posts with Pelosi's opinion on the matter. If laws were passed or not passed on the basis of opinion polls we could do away with the Supreme Court, Congress, the Senate and the office of the President. My comment on the Citizens United decision was meant to point out that no governing body is right 100% of the time. The Citizens United decision was wrong. That is my OPINION, and you are entitled to yours.
The letter writer points out that his young son has to pay for coverage he does not need at this time. He also states that most of the coverage that he has only pertains to older people. Guess what he will be a older person one day and need this coverage. It's like saying I'm finished with my public school education and now that I'm working I don't need to pay school taxes any longer.The younger pay for what they will need later on In life.Just like the older have been paying since they were young.School taxes and health care will always be with us.
DOWN WITH AUTO INSURANCE!!!!!!!
Settle claims with gunfights!
Moreland hit the nail on the head when he wrote that the mandate isn't about health insurance - it's about widening the power of government over our choices and freedoms. Even in his dopey way, the functionally illiterate Simmons acknowledges that government is the problem - not the answer - by interfering in the free market. Why shouldn't health insurers be able to offer their policies nationwide? We buy auto insurance, life insurance and homeowners insurance from national companies, why not health insurance? When we go to a restaurant, we have a whole menu of choices. Why not the same in choosing what we want to be protected from when we are looking into buying health insurance? The only role for goverment drones in the health insurance industry is to see to it that the companies are honest, financially viable and not to "mandate" anything. As for dipstick. He's a typical, hypocritical liberal. Frugal as all get out with his own money; prolifigate with everyone elses. Why should he care what anything costs as long as someone else is footing the bill? He's all for letting his grandkids pay tomorrow for his selfish needs today!
How many of you realize and understand a mandate is a Republican idea?
It was Republicans who insisted on it which is why it's part of Romneycare.
Of course as usual, once anyone left of far right ideology suggests something similar, the right switch positions doing a 180, often commenting "I never said that."
As a cancer survivor, free and clear for 8 years..I cannot buy a policy on the open market at any price. If the car insurance industry worked this way in regard to traffic tickets or accidents, you guys would be rioting in the streets. "what do you mean I can't buy car insurance for 10 years after an accident"
"I want companies and insurance companies to have the freedom..."
I really want to return to the days when people had at least as many freedoms as corporations and businesses.
The whole premise of William's article is in question IMO. His son only wants coverage for health issues pertaining to his age? Does this man not understand how easily this can backfire? You can't try and time you health insurance coverage. I'd be interested to know exactly what coverage his son doesn't want. Let him go without testing for colonoscopies until he hits 50 and then sign on for that coverage? Colon cancer can hit at 49 and a lot younger. Good luck.
You can't time your medical and insurance needs.
Mr Lind is absolutely correct. OLD people utilize about $500 billion in medical services out of nearly $3 trillion in expenditures. Young people are putting emergency rooms out of business with reckless behavior. 123 million emergence room visits last year and there are just over 1700 emergence rooms. 2500 in 1990. People under 30 are the most likely to end up in one.
The problem with giving insurance the ability to deny coverage is that they will refuse coverage to those who are the sickest. They could care less about contraception. Its cancer and heart disease that is killing them.
Truman tried bringing single payer to the US. The AMA and UAW came out against and he dropped it. Unions and special interests created this mess.
The use of "nicknames" or the use of what might be considered desciptive phrases to modify another user's name is not appropriate.
It is disturbing to remove what would otherwise be a fine comment because it contains a single objectinable item, which is why some comments remain when weighed in their entirety. But the truth of the matter is that the practice of refering to other users by way of an altered name violates the Reader Agreement in many cases.
Please exercise proper judgement or comments will be removed that are otherwise valid.
http://www.politifact.com/subjects/healt...
I terms of the new law and healthcare in general there have been hundreds of lies. The above link goes over them all.
The bottom line is people are losing employer Based insurance in record numbers. It is very difficult to get comprehensive individual insurance. The consequence being massive wealth destruction from medical costs, and soon 100 million will be on medicaid, medicare, SSDI with 60 million uninsured.
The Tom Coburn GOP solution. Have people eat better and more insurance options, in addition to the 5000 or more plans we currently have....give me a break.
The US and Mexico are the only two countries with profit based medical care. Get rid of it. Charging people trillions for medical when most folks can't come up with a grand is rich.
If you don't want to pay for someones else's health problems, then don't buy insurance. After all, that is the definition of insurance - spreading the cost among many people. If you only want coverage for catastrophic illnesses but not illnesses that strike older people, fine. But you are still going to be paying for other people's catastrophic illnesses and they are going to be paying for your illnesses. It's just that there will probably be a lot less people to share the cost with.
""The bottom line is people are losing employer Based insurance in record numbers. It is very difficult to get comprehensive individual insurance.""
Exactly. I cannot buy an individual plan at ANY price because I had a tumor removed 8 years ago. The health insurance companies care about one thing. Profits. If you have an accident or ticket on your driving record, you can still buy car insurance. You may be in a high risk pool, pay more, etc. but you'll be able to buy it. If you had a cancer removed and it's within 10 years...you will not be able to buy insurance. At the very least Obamacare addresses some of these issues.
"What's your point, Vernos, because in the nineties the Republicans had a bad position and then came to their senses?"
In a conversation I had with a rational buddy who was raised in a steadfast Republican family, he said, "they would rather be crazy than wrong."
http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/...
The Obamacare cost estimate you refer to is a complete fabrication. MADE UP!!!!
The conservative right thinks they can get cost containment by getting people to eat better. Conservative states are the most obese in the country ...good luck!
As of 2008 about 85,000 people had exceeded maximum insurance limits which are typically $1-2 million. Obamacare isn't perfect but it is more viable than telling people to eat more vegetables.
Mary Brown was the lead plaintiff in the healthcare suit. She didn't have insurance, didn't want it, and she said she should't be forced to buy it. She went bust because of medical bills and had to pull out.
Thanks Mary now the rest of us get stuck with your f.....g medical bills.
http://www.care2.com/causes/lead-plainti...
"Re Carmine. Another comment somehow linking my posts with Pelosi's opinion on the matter. "
Mr. Lind:
No offense intended by me to you or Pelosi, who I admire as a savvy politico. If you take such by having your words compared to hers, then it's entirely on you.
Carmine A. DiFazio
"As usual Carmine can provide NO facts as to their radical..."
The only thing that is usual is you being wrong. Call my views conservative, not radical.
Carmine A. DiFazio
If the republicans had a plan, then they should have pushed it thru while they had some control in Congress and a Republican president. Apparently the Democrats are the only ones who can pass something? In-action isn't going to cut it. People can complain all they want, but these are the people they elected. Republicans should have taken the bull by the horns when they had a chance. The reality is that most likely Obama will be re-elected and Obamacare will hold up in the courts. I don't think Romney has a chance in hell.
Again if the republican plan is that much better, then get it passed. Talk is cheap.
http://www.gallup.com/poll/150692/Employ...
Mr Schillmoeller....all due respect employers have been dropping people for years. That is one of the reasons only half the country still has employer sponsored insurance. These trends have been in affect since costs started to escalate in the 80s.
In addition coinsurance and deductibles have risen dramatically and coverage has lessened. Currently 60% of bankruptcies have a medical component. 78% of BK. filers have medical insurance.
http://articles.cnn.com/2009-06-05/healt...
"The reality is that most likely Obama will be re-elected and Obamacare will hold up in the courts. I don't think Romney has a chance in hell."
Stranger things have happened in politics. If the election were held today, and it was Obama and Romney, it would be a cliffhanger. By Nov 2012, it's anybody's race to win. That why we have elections. Never ever underestimate the wisdom of the American people, especially those who vote religiously. Do so at your peril.
Carmine A. DiFazio
I thought this was about insurance and now it's morphed into John Corzine and a liberal tirade
from gogowhitesox?
You can spin it 10 ways to Sunday but if there are people out there that have beaten cancer and been free and clear close to a decade and still cannot buy insurance on the open market...the system needs to be fixed. If the car insurance industry worked this way, people would be rioting.
Obamacare isn't perfect by any means but if there's a republican plan that's better and it stands a chance of passing..by all means lets hear it.
Looks like somebody's feeling have been hurt and he needs his security blankie to comfort him as he sucks his thumb. What say you, dipstick? Feeling a bit blue? Joseph & I know how much it must hurt you to be called out with the truth, but, man up, little one. Maybe you'll receive a phone call from your Lord & Master, Osama Obama, telling you how much he feels your pain. Or, you can always shell out $36,000 to meet the man with the Cheshire-cat-like grin. He will be more than happy to lull you to sleep with more of his fairy tales about how good you'll have it when the boot is pressed to your throat by government drones. It's pretty obvious you are naive enough to fall for his clap-trap. Now, grab that little security blankie, curl up with a good thumb-sucking session and get some rest.
"Ryan came up with a plan last year and refined it this year with the help of Ron Weiden - Democrat from Oregon."
It doesn't stand a chance in hell of getting thru. This is the same talk I hear from republicans year in year out. They can never get any of their plans passed, but somehow the democrats can. It starts to sound like whining.
You're problem Joe is you better find a way to take over the Senate, House and Executive office with Republicans. Considering the overwhelming advantage in the Senate towards Democrats, it's unlikely. Obama will most likely be re-elected as well. The democrats know how to use power to get their agenda done. Until you find a way to get "regular" folks to see the "wisdom" of republican policies and vote that way....you're doomed.
The middle class is slowly but surely disappearing. By having this "global economy" shoved down our throats we missed one very, very nasty side effect of this policy. The shipping overseas of any and all jobs that could be done by a class of people used to living on $3/week. This global economy so embraced by so many free market thinkers has brought us to this. Little did they know. Or did they? The end result is you are going to see more and more government help for the disenfranchised poor in this country. The separation is growing.
The republicans want to end "Obama Care" and once again allow insurance companies to be able to deny people health insurance based on pre-existing conditions. Then they want to give seniors vouchers to purchase health insurance on the "open market." But insurance companies will be able to deny coverage based on pre-existing conditions. How is that going to work out? (Talk about death panels.)
It all comes down to the bogus "pre existing condition" denial. If you have been free and clear of cancer for 9 years, the insurance industry still considers you "pre existing" and just denies a policy.
No one is going to tell me the system is fine.
William......
Freedom of choice was what President Obama wanted
with the new health care reform.
President Obama wanted a public option included.
Freedon loving republicans killed the public
option.
So much for freedom of choice.
This is why a mandate had to be added, to cover
more Americans.
The funny thing about this is that every
republican on this post, who crys about Obamacare,
ALREADY HAS FULL HEALTH INSURANCE.
They don't care about Americans that don't have
health insurance.
It's all me me me and I I I.
HEARTLESS REPUBLICAN GREED, AT IT'S BEST.
Obama care is the law of the land and will stand.
And yes, Obama cares and heartless republicans
don't care.
NEVER VOTE REPUBLICAN!!!
And Carmine......
Especially those who vote religiously?
Do so at your own peril?
Are you kidding?
Are you and your religious friends really this
heartless?
Do you not understand what Jesus stood for?
Jesus said that we need to help the sick.
This is what President Obama is trying to do and
what Jesus did.
You need to listen to Jesus and President Obama.
"Render unto Ceasar what is Ceasar's and to God what belongs to God."
Jesus preached to help one another [Sermon on the Mount/aka Beatitudes]. He didn't say pay more taxes so the gov't will do it. Jesus didn't ask the Roman gov't to bring Lazarus back from the dead, He did it himself. Jesus didn't ask the Samaritan woman at the well, to ask the gov't to give him a drink of water in the hot afternoon sun. He asked the Samaritan woman to give him a drink from the well. Jesus didn't ask the Roman gov't to make the blind man, from birth, to see. Jesus gave him sight.
It's called eliminating the middle man [i.e, gov't].
God helps those who help themselves.
Read your Bible and history first.
Carmine A. DiFazio
PS:
BTW, FWIW, voting religiously, as I used the phrase above, has nothing, I repeat nothing, to do with religion. It's about "voting."
Carmine A. DiFazio
And my all time favorite: The first miracle of Jesus at the Wedding Feast of Cana. Recall the celebrants ran out of wine. Mary told Jesus to take care of it. She didn't call the gov't to bring more. Jesus turned water into wine. 6 urns at 30 gallons each.
Now, you may think that President Obama can turn 180 gallons of water into wine. And the President may think so too. But all the taxes we can pay, and all the prayers in heaven, wouldn't make it so.
Obama is going down in Nov. He's history. And so is Biden, Pelosi and Reid. All of whom will retire forever from politics.
Carmine A. DiFazio
Good letter.
Any form of public insurance mandate is another form of sucking from those of us who choose to make a better life for ourselves and enable those who choose to be no good for nothing lazy pathetic people.
Sure there are truly the ones who need medical assistance or help, these ones we have no problem helping or taking care of. It is the career blood suckers that we're sick of paying for along with the illegal immigrants.
Until the system is fixed and stops the enabling, I for one could care a less what happens to any of them, no more freebies for the lazy gene pool and illegal's.
Gentlemen: let's call a truce or the moderator will begin to suffer from writers cramp by having to remove so many inflammatory comments. What did he do to deserve this? Give the guy a chance to catch his breath, okay?
I've been made to wait 4 weeks for a cardiac stress test. Should I have gone to Canada?
Why are health insurance companies in business? To only make money! Unlike doctors and nurses that actually help you get better these companies do nothing but drive up costs. It's a scam! Get rid of the middle-man, Medicare (regardless of age) for all US taxpayers is the way to go!
The insurance mandate will be upheld because........
INSURANCE COMPANIES WANT IT TO BE!
Carmine......
President Obama walks with Jesus.
And Jesus backs President Obama.
Selfish, heartless, republican greed and hate will
lose badly this year.
President Obama will easily be re-elected.
President Obama is on the side of the common man.
republicans only care about the greedy rich.
We common men and women way out number the greedy
rich.
Our simple vote will keep our great president.
LIVE BETTER/WORK UNION.
Jesus walks with all of us and is on the side of all, rich and poor, good and bad, R's and D's and Indies like me. We are all brothers and sisters in Christ. Party affiliation and bank account balances are irrelevant. It's what we do with our time, talents, and treasures for the good of others. Golf playing doesn't count if the taxpayers get the bill. If the funds raised by the players are donated to those in need, then it counts.
Carmine A. DiFazio
Jesus threw the money changers OUT.
republicans=money changers.
republicans=greed.
And Jesus would not back people who say
thay will KILL health care.
Jesus=feed the poor and help the sick.
Obamacare sucks. We should have a choice, not be forced by the government to support other people who can't afford health care.
Finish the sentence and thought. Jesus threw the money changers out of the temple because they were making a market place out of His Father's House of Worship.
Jesus predicted the temple would be destroyed and rebuilt in 3 days. Of course, referring to His impending death on Good Friday and resurrection to eternal life on Easter Sunday.
Jesus' point is that there is a time and place for everything.
Jesus didn't force others to do anything they didn't want to do. He gave them the freedom of choice. Just as a democratic [small "d"] gov't does that is by and for the people.
Read your Bible and know your history first.
Carmine A. DiFazio
It is a fact that R's favored the attributes of the Obamacare policy for dependent sons and daughters up to the age 26 being covered by their parents' healthcare AND no denials for pre-existing physical conditions. These were common ground for both D's and R's that would have advanced the cause. Obama and the dems wanted more and that's where they went wrong and breached constitutional limits.
Carmine A. DiFazio