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HK

wrote:
On Tue, 26 Aug 2008 10:43:53 -0400, TJ wrote:

hk wrote:

You're hopeless. What are the Republicans going to do to help you
resolve your health issues?

Here's the answer:

Nothing.

But you concern yourself with your false little issues, fella. That's
what's important to you.
And how are the Democrats going to pay for helping me with my health
issues, hmmm? I'm still waiting for an answer from you on that one, but
I think I know what it is. They'll do it by picking my pocket through
additional taxes, probably for more than my health insurance is costing
me now.

Still looking for a little substance,
TJ

We are already paying for the best health care system in the world. We
just aren't getting what we are paying for. We don't need more money,
we just need to spend it on a system that works. We can take care of
everybody with excellent care for about what we are spending right now
on health care that helps just a portion of the population. We have to
fix the health care system itself. I believe that is the Democrat's
ambition.

Now you've done it...you've let the cat out of the bag! Dammit!

From Obama's site:

Barack Obama's Plan
Quality, Affordable and Portable Coverage for All

* Obama's Plan to Cover Uninsured Americans: Obama will make
available a new national health plan to all Americans, including the
self-employed and small businesses, to buy affordable health coverage
that is similar to the plan available to members of Congress. The Obama
plan will have the following features:
1. Guaranteed eligibility. No American will be turned away
from any insurance plan because of illness or pre-existing conditions.
2. Comprehensive benefits. The benefit package will be similar
to that offered through Federal Employees Health Benefits Program
(FEHBP), the plan members of Congress have. The plan will cover all
essential medical services, including preventive, maternity and mental
health care.
3. Affordable premiums, co-pays and deductibles.
4. Subsidies. Individuals and families who do not qualify for
Medicaid or SCHIP but still need financial assistance will receive an
income-related federal subsidy to buy into the new public plan or
purchase a private health care plan.
5. Simplified paperwork and reined in health costs.
6. Easy enrollment. The new public plan will be simple to
enroll in and provide ready access to coverage.
7. Portability and choice. Participants in the new public plan
and the National Health Insurance Exchange (see below) will be able to
move from job to job without changing or jeopardizing their health care
coverage.
8. Quality and efficiency. Participating insurance companies
in the new public program will be required to report data to ensure that
standards for quality, health information technology and administration
are being met.
* National Health Insurance Exchange: The Obama plan will create a
National Health Insurance Exchange to help individuals who wish to
purchase a private insurance plan. The Exchange will act as a watchdog
group and help reform the private insurance market by creating rules and
standards for participating insurance plans to ensure fairness and to
make individual coverage more affordable and accessible. Insurers would
have to issue every applicant a policy, and charge fair and stable
premiums that will not depend upon health status. The Exchange will
require that all the plans offered are at least as generous as the new
public plan and have the same standards for quality and efficiency. The
Exchange would evaluate plans and make the differences among the plans,
including cost of services, public.
* Employer Contribution: Employers that do not offer or make a
meaningful contribution to the cost of quality health coverage for their
employees will be required to contribute a percentage of payroll toward
the costs of the national plan. Small businesses will be exempt from
this requirement, and will receive a new Small Business Health Tax
Credit that helps reduce health care costs for small businesses.
* Support for Small Businesses: Barack Obama will create a Small
Business Health Tax Credit to provide small businesses with a refundable
tax credit of up to 50 percent on premiums paid by small businesses on
behalf of their employees. This new credit will provide a strong
incentive to small businesses to offer high quality health care to their
workers and help improve the competitiveness of America’s small businesses.
* Mandatory Coverage of Children: Obama will require that all
children have health care coverage. Obama will expand the number of
options for young adults to get coverage, including allowing young
people up to age 25 to continue coverage through their parents' plans.
* Expansion Of Medicaid and SCHIP: Obama will expand eligibility
for the Medicaid and SCHIP programs and ensure that these programs
continue to serve their critical safety net function.
* Flexibility for State Plans: Due to federal inaction, some states
have taken the lead in health care reform. The Obama plan builds on
these efforts and does not replace what states are doing. States can
continue to experiment, provided they meet the minimum standards of the
national plan.

Lower Costs by Modernizing The U.S. Health Care System

* Reducing Costs of Catastrophic Illnesses for Employers and Their
Employees: Catastrophic health expenditures account for a high
percentage of medical expenses for private insurers. The Obama plan
would reimburse employer health plans for a portion of the catastrophic
costs they incur above a threshold if they guarantee such savings are
used to reduce the cost of workers' premiums.
* Helping Patients:
1. Support disease management programs. Seventy five percent
of total health care dollars are spent on patients with one or more
chronic conditions, such as diabetes, heart disease and high blood
pressure. Obama will require that providers that participate in the new
public plan, Medicare or the Federal Employee Health Benefits Program
(FEHBP) utilize proven disease management programs. This will improve
quality of care, give doctors better information and lower costs.
2. Coordinate and integrate care. Over 133 million Americans
have at least one chronic disease and these chronic conditions cost a
staggering $1.7 trillion yearly. Obama will support implementation of
programs and encourage team care that will improve coordination and
integration of care of those with chronic conditions.
3. Require full transparency about quality and costs. Obama
will require hospitals and providers to collect and publicly report
measures of health care costs and quality, including data on preventable
medical errors, nurse staffing ratios, hospital-acquired infections, and
disparities in care. Health plans will also be required to disclose the
percentage of premiums that go to patient care as opposed to
administrative costs.
* Ensuring Providers Deliver Quality Ca
1. Promote patient safety. Obama will require providers to
report preventable medical errors and support hospital and physician
practice improvement to prevent future occurrences.
2. Align incentives for excellence. Both public and private
insurers tend to pay providers based on the volume of services provided,
rather than the quality or effectiveness of care. Providers who see
patients enrolled in the new public plan, the National Health Insurance
Exchange, Medicare and FEHBP will be rewarded for achieving performance
thresholds on outcome measures.
3. Comparative effectiveness research. Obama will establish an
independent institute to guide reviews and research on comparative
effectiveness, so that Americans and their doctors will have the
accurate and objective information they need to make the best decisions
for their health and well-being.
4. Tackle disparities in health care. Obama will tackle the
root causes of health disparities by addressing differences in access to
health coverage and promoting prevention and public health, both of
which play a major role in addressing disparities. He will also
challenge the medical system to eliminate inequities in health care
through quality measurement and reporting, implementation of effective
interventions such as patient navigation programs, and diversification
of the health workforce.
5. Insurance reform. Obama will strengthen antitrust laws to
prevent insurers from overcharging physicians for their malpractice
insurance and will promote new models for addressing errors that improve
patient safety, strengthen the doctor-patient relationship and reduce
the need for malpractice suits.
* Lowering Costs Through Investment in Electronic Health
Information Technology Systems: Most medical records are still stored on
paper, which makes it hard to coordinate care, measure quality or reduce
medical errors and which costs twice as much as electronic claims. Obama
will invest $10 billion a year over the next five years to move the U.S.
health care system to broad adoption of standards-based electronic
health information systems, including electronic health records, and
will phase in requirements for full implementation of health IT. Obama
will ensure that patients' privacy is protected.
* Lowering Costs by Increasing Competition in the Insurance and
Drug Markets: The insurance business today is dominated by a small group
of large companies that has been gobbling up their rivals. There have
been over 400 health care mergers in the last 10 years, and just two
companies dominate a full third of the national market. These changes
were supposed to make the industry more efficient, but instead premiums
have skyrocketed by over 87 percent.
1. Barack Obama will prevent companies from abusing their
monopoly power through unjustified price increases. His plan will force
insurers to pay out a reasonable share of their premiums for patient
care instead of keeping exorbitant amounts for profits and
administration. His new National Health Exchange will help increase
competition by insurers.
2. Lower prescription drug costs. The second-fastest growing
type of health expenses is prescription drugs. Pharmaceutical companies
are selling the exact same drugs in Europe and Canada but charging
Americans more than double the price. Obama will allow Americans to buy
their medicines from other developed countries if the drugs are safe and
prices are lower outside the U.S. Obama will also repeal the ban that
prevents the government from negotiating with drug companies, which
could result in savings as high as $30 billion. Finally, Obama will work
to increase the use of generic drugs in Medicare, Medicaid, and FEHBP
and prohibit big name drug companies from keeping generics out of markets.

Fight for New Initiatives

* Advance the Biomedical Research Field: As a result of biomedical
research the prevention, early detection and treatment of diseases such
as cancer and heart disease is better today than any other time in
history. Barack Obama has consistently supported funding for the
national institutes of health and the national science foundation. Obama
strongly supports investments in biomedical research, as well as medical
education and training in health-related fields, because it provides the
foundation for new therapies and diagnostics. Obama has been a champion
of research in cancer, mental health, health disparities, global health,
women and children's health, and veterans' health. As president, Obama
will strengthen funding for biomedical research, and better improve the
efficiency of that research by improving coordination both within
government and across government/private/non-profit partnerships. An
Obama administration will ensure that we translate scientific progress
into improved approaches to disease prevention, early detection and
therapy that is available for all Americans.
* Fight AIDS Worldwide. There are 33 million people across the
planet infected with HIV/AIDS. As president, Obama will continue to be a
global leader in the fight against AIDS. Obama believes in working
across party lines to combat this epidemic and recently joined Senator
Sam Brownback (R-KS) at a large California evangelical church to promote
greater investment in the global AIDS battle.
* Support Americans with Disabilities: As a former civil rights
lawyer, Barack Obama knows firsthand the importance of strong
protections for minority communities in our society. Obama is committed
to strengthening and better enforcing the Americans with Disabilities
Act (ADA) so that future generations of Americans with disabilities have
equal rights and opportunities. Obama believes we must restore the
original legislative intent of the ADA in the wake of court decisions
that have restricted the interpretation of this landmark legislation.

Barack Obama is also committed to ensuring that disabled
Americans receive Medicaid and Medicare benefits in a low-cost,
effective and timely manner. Recognizing that many individuals with
disabilities rely on Medicare, Obama worked with Senator Ken Salazar
(D-CO) to urge the department of health and human services to provide
clear and reliable information on the Medicare prescription drug benefit
and to ensure that the Medicare recipients were protected from
fraudulent claims by marketers and drug plan agents.
* Improve Mental Health Care. Mental illness affects approximately
one in five American families. The National Alliance on Mental Illness
estimates that untreated mental illnesses cost the U.S. more than $100
billion per year. As president, Obama will support mental health parity
so that coverage for serious mental illnesses are provided on the same
terms and conditions as other illnesses and diseases.
* Protect Our Children from Lead Poisoning. More than 430,000
American children have dangerously high levels of lead in their blood.
Lead can cause irreversible brain damage, learning disabilities,
behavioral problems, and, at very high levels, seizures, coma and death.
As president, Obama will protect children from lead poisoning by
requiring that child care facilities be lead-safe within five years.
* Reduce Risks of Mercury Pollution. More than five million women
of childbearing age have high levels of toxic mercury in their blood,
and approximately 630,000 newborns are born at risk every year. Barack
Obama has a plan to significantly reduce the amount of mercury that is
deposited in oceans, lakes, and rivers, which in turn would reduce the
amount of mercury in fish.
* Support Americans with Autism. More than one million Americans
have autism, a complex neurobiological condition that has a range of
impacts on thinking, feeling, language, and the ability to relate to
others. As diagnostic criteria broaden and awareness increases, more
cases of autism have been recognized across the country. Barack Obama
believes that we can do more to help autistic Americans and their
families understand and live with autism. He has been a strong supporter
of more than $1 billion in federal funding for autism research on the
root causes and treatments, and he believes that we should increase
funding for the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act to truly
ensure that no child is left behind.

More than anything, autism remains a profound mystery with a
broad spectrum of effects on autistic individuals, their families, loved
ones, the community, and education and health care systems. Obama
believes that the government and our communities should work together to
provide a helping hand to autistic individuals and their families.

Barack Obama's Record

* Health Insurance: In 2003, Barack Obama sponsored and passed
legislation that expanded health care coverage to 70,000 kids and 84,000
adults. In the U.S. Senate, Obama cosponsored the Healthy Kids Act of
2007 and the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP)
Reauthorization Act of 2007 to ensure that more American children have
affordable health care coverage.
* Women's Health: Obama worked to pass a number of laws in Illinois
and Washington to improve the health of women. His accomplishments
include creating a task force on cervical cancer, providing greater
access to breast and cervical cancer screenings, and helping improve
prenatal and premature birth services.

For More Information about Barack's Plan

Read the Plan
Read the Frequently-Asked Q and A
Read the Speech

Read the HIV/AIDS Agenda