Aug. 24, 2009 issue
Broken health care
By Helen Nachtigal North Newton, Kan.I am getting a stomachache from the misinformation and rude behavior demonstrated at health care town hall meetings.
America spends twice as much per person on health care than the next most expensive country, and we are certainly not twice as healthy. There is no such thing as a “death panel” as former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin has asserted. People are complaining that they don’t want the government in their health care decisions. I assume these people will refrain from accessing Medicare. People want all their health care decisions to be only between themselves and their doctor. At the present time insurance companies are making our decisions and rationing care. Apparently some people like this and want 46 million Americans to continue without insurance.
It appears that many of these outrageous ideas are coming from conservative Web sites that compare President Obama to Hitler and other ridiculous claims. It seems that some folks’ goal is to defeat Obama at any cost, even at the cost of our health care. We cannot afford to miss this opportunity to do something about our broken health care system.
Comments
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If our health care is broken, does it not make sense to fix that which is broken and keep all that is good? Further, why does MC USA ask government to provide health care for all citizens, including illegal immigrants, when MC USA refuses to provide the same coverage for all men, women and children in MC USA?
Like other letter writers to MWR on this subject, it is full of misleading info. Example, 46 million uninsured is frequently quoted without any detail of how the number was determined. It is a bogus number intended to cause people to believe that these people received no necessary medical care. All people who go to emergency hospital facilities receive necessary medical care.
We are told a national health care insurance plan, can insure 305 million citizens, which includes 47 million currently uninsured, plus all the illegal immigrants. The national plan, we are told, will insure more people yet will cost taxpayers less in total than we currently spend on health care.plus health care quality will improve. I would like to see the details of how savings can be accomplished, because I believe rationing is in the mix and senior citizens will not be eligible for health care they are currently receiving.
For some reason, there are those who are unable to keep from demonizing Sarah Palin. Others also beleive that within the current proposals is a rationing plan that in effect is very similar to a death panel. Why is it that Palin, a prolife mother is frequently lifted up to disdain while Obama. a supporter of murder of babies in the womb. is supported by 'people of faith'?
It is my understanding that Peter Singer has contributed to healthcare legislation. Now that is scary. Both Singer and Obama have a low value of life if there is a low 'quality of life" determined by someone. The Obama Administration is now using VA hospitals to order doctors to pressure all military veterans to sign "pull the plug" do-not-resuscitate orders, hastening their premature deaths through mandatory "end of life" counseling.
If government is unable to run a Cash for Clunkers program efficiently, how can we expect government to run health care, especially when we look at the flawed War On Poverty, Education, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, the Post Office, Social Security, Medicare, Amtrak/Conrail programs..
BTW, it was Nancy Polsie who first compared protesters to Hitler. In my opinion, Obama, who pledged transparancy in his admionistration, has displayed extremely secret governing practices starting with the 36 czars he has appointed which he has not been up front with the American people. Further, look how much of his past he refuses to release to the public. Sarah Palin I trust. Obama, Pelosie, Reid and Singer I don't.
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Dale, where is your documentation?
Two booka everyone should read before commenting any more on health care:
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The Healing of America, J.R. Reed (not sure of spelling). The author has toured many other nations, including France which has the best health care in the world. The pharmacist in France chats with you while he fills out the prescription, sends it to the government, the Dr. gets paid in 3 days, the patient reimbursed for her co-payment in 2 weeks. No paper work. No identity theft. We are not #1 in several areas. Documentation? Read the book!
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Money Driven Health Care. I did not get the author's name. The title tells it all.
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Maggie Mahar is the author of Money Driven Health Care. Type in Money Driven Health Care and you will get additional information.
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Dale, I genuinly wish you would think. It grows old when you see fit only to put down others, yet refuse to answer questions posed of you. You accuse others of having misleading evidence, yet produce the most outlandish of tired propaganda as yours.
In your constant attempts to unmask others, you reveal much more about yourself. You illustrate you habe bought into this nonsense about death panels and sold out logic.
Much of what we spend on healthcare is swallowed by the insurance industry. Ergo, a public option will provide competion to the current monopoly and get prices down, all without jeopardizing Grandma's health. Here, one might wonder how industrialized countries around the world are able to gain better over-all results than we while spending less. They certainly are not killing off their seniors--or anyone else.
The END OF LIFE counseling is not about killing off old people, but about a person establishing his or her living will as to what measures ought to be taken to prevent death. Many people do not do this, and then we wind up with a case like that of Terry Shivo, where her husband thought she would refuse further help, her parents thought she wanted it, and the entire family suffered for years. If there had been end-of-life counceling, then perhaps her wishes would have been more clear. And, by the way, such counceling would not be mandatory. It would merely be funded.
Last I checked, Conrail was a success. The railroad is now in private hands again, and its lines rescued, which was the intent. Amtrak ridership is at record levels. Hardly a failure. Social Security and Medicare are cashstrapped, but surviving, helping millions of seniors. Your "government is bad" rhetoric simply does not stand up to the facts.
I am not even going to begin with your slander of Obama, Pelosi, Singer, et. al. It reveals far more about you and your biases than it does about them.
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Jim, you are right on Conrail. It is now owned jointly by CSX Transportation and Norfolk Southern. According to my sources, Amtrak still requires subsidies from the government.
I stand by my other comments.
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I would not expect differently. It is far easier to accept, propagate, and stand by propaganda than it is to do research. Similarly, it is far easier to pose questions of and make digs at the integrity of those one disagrees with rather than to answer questions one is asked.
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I agree with the comments that suggest we are wanting gov't to do something we have failed in developing the way we could have. I worked for MMA for 8 1/2 years and today many of the help programs in providing coverage for all are today missing. Somewhere along the way the real memeaning and message of Mutual Aid has been diluted.
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Helen Nachtigal has summarized the current health care controversy so well. When Christians should be helping lead the effort to guarantee health care for everyone in America, many are engaged in spreading fear, misinformation and false accusations against President Obama. One of Satan's strategies against the church must be to cause suspicion, division and strife. Christians do not love each other the way they should, and the church becomes inssue centered rather than Christ centered.
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