HEALTH CARE REFORM and auts/asps

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I'd also like to know where this information is coming from. There is just so much "scaremongering" going on. Instead of rational debate, there is just a lot of fear and anger, words screamed over more rational voices. Most of the rumors about the healthcare plan aren't true and few have really read it. If anything, the disabled will enjoy more protection.

I live in Oregon where the state health plan pays all co-pays medicare doesn't cover. My quality of care has not been compromised by my being on medicare. If the millions of insured here in America can purchase affordable health insurance then I'm sure they will be happier.

Like Obama said, UPS and Fed-Ex are doing just fine without the competition of the post office!

In the UK, there is half the rate of heart attack and stroke as America and the healthcare cost is also HALF as much. Americans blindly proud of our healthcare system are often not fully informed of these things.

One reason why healthcare is too expensive is due to the fact that there are government sanctioned monopolies. There are also tpp many regulations, rules, poliies, etc that prevent competition among insurance companies and medical providers. One such rule, at least in my state, is the certificate of need requirement in order to open a new hospital. This certificate of need states that a company who wishes to open a hospital must prove to the state that there are not enough hospitals to server the current population. In other words, the decision to grant permission to open a new hospital is based upon a hospital to population ration. As long as the ratio is near a certain number, a new hospital is not allowed no matter how expensive the current hospitals in the area are or how good or bad the quality of care. The existing hospitals have a monopoly. Innovation, cheaper fees, etc. do not determine whether a new hospital is allowed to open.

Another area that needs to be addressed is the price fixing that the government forces medical providers to engage in. A doctor cannot charge me less money for a medical proceedure than she charges Medicare or Medicaid. If she does, she risks being either prosecuted or dropped from the government programs. An innovative plan would be for doctors to offer prepaid subscription plans for medical care. A doctor can collect a fee each month from a patient and that fee would cover vistis, proceedure, etc.

Governments also put obsticles in front of new players in the insurance industry. If the people here on Wrong Planet wanted to start our own insurance fund, pool, or cooperative, we are affectively prevented from doing so by local, state, and federal governments. State mandated coverage of certain conditions or proceedures prevent many of us from getting insurance at all. For example, Florida requires many insurance programs to cover autism related treatments. I don't receive or need autism treatments, yet because of this requirement, insurance won't write me a policy that allows me to be covered for cancer or other conditions I might develop in the future.

I can go on and on about all of the government interferences in the healthcare market that stifles innovation, competition, etc. I agree that the healthcare system in the United States needs fixing, but a government monopoly or more government interference is not going to make things better. It will just give this government more ways to steal from the taxpayers. It will also give the government yet another way to abuse power.

Id recommend that if that happens, go to a country like Canada, get a Canadian friends address and get a Canadian Drivers license and insurance in Canada.The US gov't cant take away a CANADIAN drivers license and insurance...cuz then theyd have to fight with the Canadian beaureaucrats and the Canadian government...we have more red tape up here ....or just get an address from another state and do the same...I know of people in Alberta who get British Columbia addresses to get BC licenses and insurance and registration because it is cheaper than Alberta's

Canada has STRICT privacy laws in regards to health information.Insurance companies have NO access whatsoever to your information and neither do employers.NOBODY can access it without YOUR consent

I suppose you do have an issue with seizures or other such event. I don't know of AS being a disqualification for driving.

As someone pointed out earlier, AS is a neurological condition and not a mental one, but if you see a head doctor about AS, what's to stop the government from saying you also have a "mental" problem? I can't find a doc who is qualified and willing to give an AS diagnosis. What are the odds of the average doc the government sends me to distinguishing AS from some form of mental illness? What will it cost me to undo a bad DX?

And to those who think comparing this stuff to Nazi Germany is hyperbole, keep in mind that if it happened before, it can happen again, and the "eugenic" mentality of the Germans was here in the USA as well and has grown over the years. Hitler was supported by many Americans before he became a butcher. He did what many envisioned doing, but never dared to.

Tracker,

You did not read the links.

In the first, the woman was not given hospice care, she was given the option of Doctor Assisted SUICIDE.

As far as the second link, you did not read the whole article. You just read the abstract. He states that health care delivery options should be reserved for THE NON DISABLED, and of those only those age 15-40 because that is where our social investment in a human life that is producing has paid off. He makes an algebraic equation of human life like a Nazi and he is in a prominent position.

Read the articles first. And be civil. It is not paranoia. Where do you live anyway? Sweden?
In the our world let me tell you how it is.

The poster who said private insruance co's also screw the disabled is correct. Private, public, you are screwed by both.

Yeah we need reform. And it shold be something where insurance is not linked to our productivity (i.e. work) so that the disabled are able to partake.

There are times when subjugated peoples need to realize that they are being systematically singled out. There are no death camps built at present, but don't be an idiot. They do not value our lives, and that is the beginning.

That is the first step: Wow look at those people who are intrinsictly marred or defective...they do nothing. They make us angry.
Then: Let's make sure they CAN'T do anything...we need to control them.
Then: Once we have assured their unproductivity and dependence on us: Hmm, now the unvalued persons are COSTING too much.
Then let's make it hard for them to function; pull their funding, now that they are dependent on us and put them in special categories. Make them stand out and sit here, wear this.....
But when they keep holding out: let's make their demise a little easier/swifter....like Dr assisted suicide. Not forced, but just an option.
Then: Dammit these people just don't die. We'll do it. Resources are scarce.

It is incriments. We are already at: Let's make it hard for them to function or move up.

Not this administration, but imagine one that is much more unfavorble to "useless eaters..." Inagine resources get more and more scarce. Watch the news. Imgine things get worse, not better. What the heck do you think they are going to do to us? Give us a car and a boat and let us go fishing?

Do you really think that this man would be for health care that singles out and denies coverage to the disabled WHEN HIS OWN SISTER HAS CEREBRAL PALSY?

http://blogs.tnr.com/tnr/blogs/the_trea ... eform.aspx

I'm not convinced that the kind of health care reform that we are being offered (whenever it gets established) is going to be hugely better than what we currently have. I'm skeptical as well. But there are too many people without health care, and as a society if we don't have concern for those people, then we are less than human.

I am not one to believe all the hyperbole that is being fed to us by the republicans, as they will do anything to make sure that the democrats look bad. BUT, having said that, I don't think the democrats are totally free of their own hyperbole, either. We need to keep a real close eye on our elected officials, and make sure that the health care we get is the health care we need.

I read an article in Time magazine yesterday that showed the difference in health care costs at various hospitals across the country. The Mayo Clinic consistently has lower costs than other places (UCLA medical Center, Boston, etc.) precisely because they have an integrated data program that is shared across the board with doctors, so that they have instant access to information about patients, and it isn't conflicting information. Their patients report better care. They save money. Less time is spent in the hospital. Data has shown cosistently that where there are more beds available, more equipment available, and more tests available to doctors, they use all of this -- often whether it is necessary or not.

As a patient, when I first started having children through C-section 23 years ago, the hospital stay was a full five days. 18 years ago, the hospital stay for a C-section went down to four days. With the last child, 13 years ago, the hospital stay was three days. Did I recover the same? YES. Obviously those two extra days were unneccessary 23 years ago. I was an otherwise healthy woman, and did not require the extra time. This is a good cost-cutting measure, and the kind of thing that (hopefully) will be part of the new health care reform. Will I still have my own insurance? Yes. Currently, with my own insurance, has it done ANYTHING to help me with the raising of my child on the autism spectrum? NO. A big fat NO. The insurance companies, and we have had multiple ones over the years, have offered NOTHING to help my son, and would have denied us if we had asked for anything. But state government, on the other hand, has provided wraparound services, behavioral services, and social skills classes. Hhhhmmmmm, if that's socialized medicine, I'll take it.

Oh shut up, I truly hope you are joking, for your sake.

I want to say one thing. I'm not Republican either. I hate the Republican Party. It is a party of hypocrisy, but I don't see where replacing one monopolistic system with another is gong to do anyone any good. I'd like to see a system with real competition. If insurance companies refuse to provide people with the services they need, then the people should be allowed to form a cooperative that will. Get rid of all of the stupid rules that stifle competition and innovation in both the insurance and medical industries.

The Mayo Clinic seems to be more innovative than UCLA, Boston, etc. They should be allowed to open medical centers around the country if they want without bureaucrats' rules, policies, etc. stopping them. I am also in favor of TREATMENT providers sharing information with OTHER TREATMENT providers. However, what I am NOT in favor of is treatment providers disclosing information to non treatment providers such as the DMV or other regulatory agencies.

With state services, just be glad you live in a favored area and that the bureaucratic dice rolled in your favor. I'm glad the dice rolled in your favor. With state services, that sometimes happens. Just imagine if it didn't. Where would you go then? In our area, the state pays very little for behavorial services. In some areas, the state does not pay for braces and other needed items. Do you want decisions about your child's medical treatment to be made by a state agency? If so, you are taking a huge chance based upon the area you live and the bureaucrats in charge.

We didn't "happen" to live in a state with good services for kids on the spectrum, we MOVED to one. Specifically for the autism services. And because of the good school system. There was no dice involved. Yes, we were lucky to be able to find a way to do so -- but we also worked hard to do so, and sacrificed to do so. We lived in California, where the state-provided services were great, but the school district was archaic in it's services to special needs kids. So we moved back to Pennsylvania (where we originally came from). We have also lived in Utah, where services AND school districts would have been less than stellar.

Are you kidding? Like these decisions of treatment haven't already been made by the insurance companies for us already? Yeah -- NO TREATMENT! That's it! NONE! They were NO HELP AT ALL. Like I had ANY deciision in that. I don't really see how a state-run system could be any worse. It is most definitely a risk -- but let's put it this way -- I have a high-functioning child who gets some help from the current state system. A family with a lower-functioning kid gets MORE help from the current state-run system than our family does, and I'm ok with that. It's only fair, because their need is greater. Neither family gets ALL that we would like from ANY system -- insurance or state-run -- but at least we get something. So, if somebody has an existing medical condition, and no job, but gets a job, they aren't insured because of the prior existing condition. How fair is that? It's OK for them to DIE (if the condition is fatal) just because their condition showed up while they were unemployed?

I've actually lived where there was socialized medicine. Was it a perfect situation? No, but that was also over 20 years ago, and the socialized medicine in that country has improved. I'm an advocate of choice too -- I would like to keep insurance, and my choice of doctors, etc. But I don't think what is being proposed is going to be socialized medicine -- at least not right away. The shift right away to that kind of system would probably bankrupt this country. BUT, providing care to more people is the goal. I don't understand quite how this would work -- the hope was that congress would come together to make these decisions -- but obviously it's not going to happen, because politicians on BOTH sides of the aisle can't stop working behind the scenes for the pharmaceutical companies, medical companies, etc. who helped fund their campaigns. AND, I don't want to keep contributing to paying TWICE AS MUCH for my medical care as EVERY OTHER COUNTRY IN THE WORLD! That's not just hyperbole -- that is FACT.

I'm glad your state provides good services to the children. I happen to live in a state that does not provide so much and essentially ZERO services for adults. As far as an insurance company making a final decision and giving you NOTHING in return for your premium, I agree. That insurance provider SUCKS! Most insurance companies are a bunch of greedy b*****ds. You should be able to pick another one out of the thousands that should. However please be aware that insurance companies are basically state blessed MONOPOLIES. They have to have the government stamp of approval on them in order to operate, and this is a roadblock to new providers. My solution to that would be for people to be allowed to form their own insurance pools or cooperatives in order to receive affordable care. Take away the insurance companies power, and you will have affordable medical care. When insurance companies refuse to provide what their customers need, then they should be fired and replaced with other options. New players should be allowed to compete against the giants.

Other options that should be available is subscription based medical care available through medical providers. The government already has its hands way too deep in the healthcare system. The governments, local, state, and federal decide who becomes doctors, what kind of treatment doctors can offer, what prices doctors charge, etc. The healthcare system should be between patients and providers.

If a single payer system eventually takes hold, a bureaucratic decision of, "no!" would be effective across the entire nation. There would be no other choice. It would be like one insurance company making all the rules about who gets covered and who doesn't, and get this, regardless of whether you like the decision, you would still be forced to pay the premium (tax or otherwise).

I have had my experience with the governmental system. None of them were positive or in my favor. I DONT'T want the system to have yet mnore power over me. I want it to have much less power over me. I've applied for help and was of course denied. This has happened not just once with one agency, but with many different ones at different times. In addition, my private medical information was reported to another government agency that has NOTHING TO Do WITH MEDICAL TREATMENT. This agency is going to very likely take my drivers license away. I was under the impression that private medical information was, well, private. I now still have no insurance and will soon have no way to make a living, no thanks to the government. Under a government system, your and you family's private information is passed from one agency to another. If you don't like the way this information is used, tough sh**. The agencies have the force of "law" behind them. With the government hands even more in the medical or healthcare system, there will be less and less accountability and more fraud and abuse.

A government run or paid system may be attractive and may work in some countries for the good of the people, but that will NOT be the case in this country. The government has proven itself time and time again to be untrustworthy. Do you honestly think that after years and years of incompetence, waste, fraud, and abuse that the government will all of the sudden get it right? No it won't!

I also want to say that there is no phrase or clause in the Constitution that gives the federal government the power to interfere or pay for health care. The Constitution is the highest manmade law of the land, and if we want the government to have the power to pay for and decide peoples' healthcare, then we should first work to amend the Constitution. Doing so can make Medicare and Medicaid both lawful. By the way both Medicare and Medicaid are going bankrupt. If the government wants to try some grand experiment, it ought to fix these before granting itself more power over peoples' medical care.

If this is an example of government run healthcare. then I do not want it!
http://apnews.myway.com/article/20090814/D9A2V7D00.html

Yeah-something tells me all the 'rabid right-wingers' had a reason to do this...

I want people here to know that I have disgust at the big insurance industry. They suck the lifeblood out of people and small business as much as the governments here do. What I dislike about the health care debate is that it is being presented with only two choice. The Republicans want to bleed us dry by siding with the big insurance agencies. The government wants to bleed us dry by taking control of the health care industry and using it to tax us even more and provide less.

I want the people to be in control and not the government or big health insurance industry. Both have given me ZERO! Currently, there is little choice offered to autistic people or any other people with pre-existing conditions. I would like to see BOTH removed from the equasion.

Health Insurance companies are pure evil. We need a Single Payer System like in Canada.

What happens if the "Single Payer" decides that paying for a proceedure does not fit within its policies? You don't get the medical treatment, that's what. I'm sure that some governments may have the best interests of the people at heart, but that is not the case within the United States. You say that the insurance companies are pure evil. I agree. I also say that the governments are pure evil as well. I can guarantee that a single payer system will never pass in the United States unless some very big players get a sizeable chunk of the cash.

If you want to see affordable health care, then work at your states level to get rid of the rules, policies, regulations, and "laws" that prevent newcomers from entering the market. Work to get rid of the mountain of regulations governing doctors offices and the prices they must charge. Work to get the original term of patents and copyright restored. Work to get rid of the monopolies that prevent or stifle new players. If you do that and win, healthcare will be affordable once again.