Barack Obama

[raconteur]

Originally Posted by transjen

So how is this any differnt from a HMO? Where a pencil pushing accountant who is not a DR decides wheather or not you recive a needed treatment, All the scare tactics that those agianst healthcare reform claim will happen already happens every single day by ins companies who can care less about your health they only care about profits and are scared to death that there gravey train my be coming to an end.
Jerseygirl Jen

Well, I belong to a HMO and I get whatever I need or want, so I have no complaints. If anything, there may be a few too many referrals to specialists for concurrences! Were it not for the very attentive staff at my HMO, I surely would be dead now, or, slowly dying in agony from terminal cancer!

I volunteered for a while at a VA hospital and I can tell you, firsthand, that the care given is awful. I wrote complaint letters to the VA and my legislators which got me banned! My cat gets better care from his Vet!

Ask the Canadians who have to come to the US to avoid death what they think of the "public option"!

Robbing elder care to fund folly is insanity! But then, none of us will ever grow old, so why should we worry ... NOT!

Go volunteer at the VA, or a charity rest home, and you'll gain a new perspective! You need to try to walk a mile in the shoes of the neglected to have any real feeling for how badly our Congress is trying to screw us!

I now return you to your regularly scheduled program, already in progress ...

[randolph]

I belong to the Kaiser HMO in California. They saved my life when I had a burst appendix. Their health care has improved dramatically over the years and I now consider excellent. I believe one of the reasons it provides excellent health care at competitive cost is that it is a NONPROFIT CORPORATION. It is run by doctors not accountants for the benefit of their members, not investors.
Other countries, like Holland can have excellent health care without breaking the bank. Unfortunately the US is so politicized and dominated by corporate interests that good health care for everyone seems impossible.

[The Conquistador]

Originally Posted by randolph

Unfortunately the US is so politicized and dominated by corporate interests that good health care for everyone seems impossible.

The thing that really bites us in the ass is that we do have "universal healthcare"; it's called the ER. The fact that people walk into the ER for all sorts of problems regardless of whether or not it is life threatening is what hurts us. Since it is the policy to not turn away anyone who comes in and alot of those people don't have the money to pay for their stuff, the cost gets passed on to those who can. Those who pay end up covering the costs so that their neighbor can pop Prozacs like Bon-Bons.

I can choose what type of vehicle I buy, I can choose what kind accessories come with it, I can choose my own insurance provider, so why can't I choose who I want to buy my healthcare from?

[raconteur]

Originally Posted by raconteur

I volunteered for a while at a VA hospital and I can tell you, firsthand, that the care given is awful. I wrote complaint letters to the VA and my legislators which got me banned! My cat gets better care from his Vet!

CORRECTION:

Saying, "the care given is awful", was unfair of me. I should have more correctly said that a lot of good people at the VA hospital were woefully underfunded and tried very hard to help, though their resources were very limited. It is difficult for them to endure knowing that a few more bucks would make such a real, positive difference. They do what they can with what they're given to work with. (Our Congress strikes again. )

Our injured fighting men and women deserve better, for sure!

[The Conquistador]

Originally Posted by raconteur

CORRECTION:

Saying, "the care given is awful", was unfair of me. I should have more correctly said that a lot of good people at the VA hospital were woefully underfunded and tried very hard to help, though their resources were very limited. It is difficult for them to endure knowing that a few more bucks would make such a real, positive difference. They do what they can with what they're given to work with. (Our Congress strikes again. )

Our injured fighting men and women deserve better, for sure!

Actually it is rather shitty; I don't use it any more for that exact reason.