by Mark Silva
A lot of messages have been telegraphed to the public in the health-care debate underway in Washington for months:
President Barack Obama, pressing for reforms in a system that has left many millions of Americans uninsured, is telling the public that not only will more people find coverage under the overhaul he is seeking, but also those who have insurance will have better protection. And: The growing costs of health care will be contained with more "choice'' and "competition.''
The insurance industry is telling the public that premiums are certain to rise under the most talked about plan in the Senate.
Republican leaders are warning that the owners of small businesses, whose income reaches the levels that the president wants to tax to help pay for health-care reform, will pay more taxes, and that senior citizens will suffer with the cuts in fees for doctors and hospitals delivering care under Medicare will see as part of the plan for paying for the expansion of coverage for all.
Look which message is getting through:
Americans have grown more likely to say that thes prices that their families pay for health care will worsen - 49 percent Americans are more likely to say that the quality of care that they will wee will worsen - 39 percent, up from 33 last month. Gallup also has found that four in 10 Americans say their support for health-care legislation will depend on the details. And among the public that is undecided on the question, people are more likely to think the legislation will worsen their own situation. The Oct. 16-19 survey by Gallup and USA Today finds "no more than one quarter of Americans believing their healthcare situation will improve in any of the four areas: Quality of care, cost of care, health-care coverage and insurance company requirements. Senate Mitch McConnell's office puts the October and September surveys in this context: "Since the president's speech to Congress, Americans are more likely to have negative views of health care legislation than before the speech.'' Nevertheless, Gallup notes, Americans remain "quite open to health-care reform: 25 percent say they will support the final bill an 39 percent say their support depends on the details to be worked out as the House and Senate finish work on legislation this fall. One of the reasons that Americans as a whole expect reform to make things worse is that opponents in particular are convinced of this, Gallup notes - with fears of rising costs and falling quality most acute among those inclined to oppose any legislation. . "Americans are not solidly behind new healthcare legislation at this point, with polls showing at best a closely divided public,'' Gallup concludes. Yet a certain "level of support persists despite the fact that most Americans doubt reform will improve their current healthcare in a number of respects. "It is unclear whether, in order to succeed in passing healthcare legislation, the president and his allies need to convince Americans that their own healthcare will improve after reform is passed -- which is far from the prevailing view now -- or whether it is sufficient just to convince them that their care will not suffer while addressing some of the existing problems in the U.S. healthcare system. '' The survey of 1,521 adults has a possible 3 percentage point margin of error. For more, see Gallup's report.
Comments
I think if you had a "Lying Chest" of $ 500 Million Dollars, aka, the Corporate Kitty Fund, with which to misinform our nation, you would probably, unfortunately, being doing just as good a job of fooling our nation !! That is one of the main disservices the " Infomercial Networks " pretending to be news services, perpetrate against their viewers and our nation. Their agenda is their message and last sound byte is directed at serving that misguided end !! I watch some of their " newsreaders " and their slant on the information they are presenting and it's a wonder the studio, in which they are performing their show, doesn't slide from side to side !! It is silliness to insist on them being referred to as news services, they are propaganda machines and not very good ones, at that !! They offer second-rate talent, in front of the camera and third rate information. That is not a winning combination, it is more like a "whining" combination !!
SUPPORT OUR TROOPS, BRING THEM HOME, ALIVE AND WHOLE. NOW.
Posted by: Don Fitzgerald, IL | October 22, 2009 8:44 AM
I think if you had a "Lying Chest" of $ 500 Million Dollars, aka, the Corporate Kitty Fund, with which to misinform our nation, you would probably, unfortunately, being doing just as good a job of fooling our nation !! That is one of the main disservices the " Infomercial Networks " pretending to be news services, perpetrate against their viewers and our nation. Their agenda is their message and last sound byte is directed at serving that misguided end !! I watch some of their " newsreaders " and their slant on the information they are presenting and it's a wonder the studio, in which they are performing their show, doesn't slide from side to side !! It is silliness to insist on them being referred to as news services, they are propaganda machines and not very good ones, at that !! They offer second-rate talent, in front of the camera and third rate information. That is not a winning combination, it is more like a "whining" combination !!
SUPPORT OUR TROOPS, BRING THEM HOME, ALIVE AND WHOLE. NOW.
Posted by: Don Fitzgerald, IL | October 22, 2009 8:49 AM
Healthcare reform needs a “Parody Option.” Check out “Healthcare Fighting (King Fu Mix)” at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8nc1VwJOb9Y
Posted by: Bruce | October 22, 2009 9:04 AM
Under the headline "Lobbyists expect to rake in cash", "The Hill", a source The Swamp often cribs articles from, has this to say about ObamaCare:
"K Street looks like a winner if healthcare reform reaches President Barack Obama’s desk.
Even though more than one lobbyist described healthcare reform as once-in-a-generation legislation, lobbyists speaking on background predicted a busy 2010 and beyond.
“Every bill we’ve passed in the last 10 years we call ‘The Lobbyist Full-Employment Act,’ ” one lobbyist quipped. “Healthcare’s never going away.”
If healthcare reform passes, lobbyists for healthcare industries will be plenty busy trying to influence the implementation of the bill, both in Congress and in the Obama administration.
Sectors targeted for cuts in the bill will immediately begin trying to claw back the money they stand to lose. And lobbyists representing smaller interests will try to band together to get their perennial issues handled.
“If we were to pass this bad boy, we’re going to be working on this thing for 10 years solid,” a healthcare lobbyist said. “There’s going to be one mother of a fix-it bill before 2013.
“Good God, think about the business that would be generated by this thing,” the lobbyist said."
With the continuing unemployment nightmare, it's good to see that Obama can provide jobs for at least one segment of the economy--DC lobbyists!
Posted by: Hope N. Change | October 22, 2009 9:10 AM
Well now this boondoggle bill has reached the level of 1500 pages with no one reading or understanding what the total cost will be as far as to the nation. One thing is for sure when government gets involved it wont be good and it will cost trillions more than it should. Under this bill so far we know small business will pay huge increases with regular Joes paying another huge chunk right out of the paycheck. If they dont comply the enforcemnt police will be the IRS who will be authorized to fine, with possible incarceration for those who refuse to buckle under. Illegal immigrants are grented benefits if they have a relative who is a citizen, but future bills are planned for immigration amnesty so they can be included. All Socialism leadind to the State as being all powerful. The fist thing Castro did was to bring socialised medicine to Cuba, what a nightmare their system is. And the elites fly into Miami for their procedures or ffly a Miami doc in for them. This will happen here too because Congress and the elite will not be subject to the system. Masterful Obama will lead the lemmings to the promise of a better way, the end of freedom as we know it.
Posted by: Greg H | October 22, 2009 11:02 AM
I see Cut and Paste DonF is at is again. I am for some sort of program such as Medicare being extended to others - at a cost. I paid into Medicare for years and pay about a $100 a month-it is not free. I also have additional coverage that I pay another $120 a month for to cover the gap and lack of coverage in Medicare. Not complaining, but if it was offered out at say 300-500 a month depending on some factors I think it would work. Plus charge a bit more in taxes for Medicare and have people taxed up to 250000 for SSA..
Posted by: BigbadSouthsideJim | October 22, 2009 11:50 AM
I am a health insurance agent in Utah and run two websites that sell insurance www.benefitsmanager.net and www.dentalinsuranceutah.com. I mention this because in Utah it would be great to have a guaranteed public option to put people that the private insurers will decline for health conditions. Plus the way Weiner discribes the public option, it will be priced competitively. So what this means in my industry (I've been at it 18 years) is that all my unhealthy clients that get charged more or declined can be put onto the public option now. All my healthy clients can stay on the private option. Hmmmmm follow me yet???? How long can the public option stay affordable?? Who is going to pay for the losses of a big sick pool of people....taxpayers?????
Posted by: Mike | October 23, 2009 9:33 AM
Hey, " Mike ", quit trying to kid us, the taxpayers are already paying for the sick people, the people " your " Industry refuses to cover, or undercover, but will certainly take the little money, they may still have !! " Your " Industry knows no shame, ripping people off and then throwing them to the curb !! I hope " your " Industry loses it's anti-trust exemption, so " your " Industry has to follow the same rules as all the other businesses in America. That means, no more virtual monopolies, from state to state and no more shell games !!
Here is a sketch of the effects of anti-trust exemptions:
"It was Congress, after all, that in 1945 overrode a Supreme Court ruling that the insurance industry was indeed part of interstate commerce and thus subject to federal antitrust laws. Lawmakers that year passed the McCarran-Ferguson Act; the law has ever since shielded insurance firms from federal prosecution for price fixing, bid rigging and carving out protected markets."
" Your " Industry has earned the privilege of going into the marketplace and competing honestly, instead of, with the protection of our government !! We can't expect anything less, from such a fine example of a Capitalist Corporation !!
SUPPORT OUR TROOPS, BRING THEM HOME, ALIVE AND WHOLE. NOW.
Posted by: Don Fitzgerald, IL | October 23, 2009 11:48 AM
It's been a couple days now, and the White-House-approved Swamp still hasn't linked to the text of the senate ObamaCare bill.
Since the Swamp "news' organization won't, this reader will. Click on http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=34079 and you'll find a link to the pdf of the text.
Read the 1502-page bill and you'll find such gems as:
1. The word "penalty" occurs 79 times.
2. The word "fine" occurs 32 times.
3. The mandatory term "shall" occurs 2,585 times, often in reference to the states or individuals.
4. There are 20 different references to "abortion", including section 2245(a)(2)(B): "ABORTIONS FOR WHICH PUBLIC FUNDING IS ALLOWED.�"The services described in this subparagraph are abortions for which the expenditure of Federal funds appropriated for the Department of Health and Human Services is permitted, based on the law as in effect as of the date that is 6 months before the beginning of the plan year involved."
5. There are 15 references to "excise" taxes, including Sec. 1301. "Excise tax on individuals without essential health benefits coverage." and Sec. 6001. "Excise tax on high cost employer-sponsored health coverage."
No wonder the Obama-approved media don't want citizens to read it!
Posted by: Bruce | October 24, 2009 11:08 AM