" "Health savings accounts?" That's right. People making minimum wage, or out of a job, should just SAVE UP that money they don't have for the medical procedures they need. Brilliant, Miller.
In fact, the health savings account is a scam that benefits only the wealthy, the healthy and the companies that then jettison much of their group health insurance.
John Goodman, president of the National Center for Policy Analysis in Dallas and the so-called "father" of the health savings account, actually had the gall to say: "If a mother wakes up in the middle of the night with a sick child, we want her to think about the cost of the emergency room visit."
That's right. When your child is desperately ill, what you should really have to think about above all else is whether you can afford any medical care, or just have to let your child suffer.
Brilliant, Miller. You're always brilliant. "

" Malpractice costs are less than one percent of the nations health care
expenditures. Actually, the true number is .0062 of national health care expenditures. Less than 12 cents of every dollar collected from doctors in insurance premiums is actually paid out in the form of settlements.
Citizen Watch-

The Bush administration did it's best to make trial lawyers the boogie man with it's propaganda claiming that lawsuits are the culprit in the rising costs of health care. It's obvious from reading this letter that some have bought into this distortion of fact.

The funny thing is that the despicable actions of the giant insurance companies and obscene profits of the major drug companies are being ignored for the most part in the ongoing debate over health care.

Eli Lilly has paid out millions to those who now suffer from diabetes, as a result of taken Zyprexa. Guess what, they still manufacture that drug, even though it's connection to diabetes has been proven. What's wrong with that picture? By the way, the Bush family is a major stock holder in Eli Lilly.

Perhaps some of Miller's frustration needs to be directed toward the drug and insurance companies, and not toward those trying to correct the wrongs in our health care system.

I'm happy that this letter writer has good health coverage, but the fact remains that millions of folks don't.

Some of those arguing against reform seem to be saying, we're in the boat and those that aren't just need to swim. "

" Leonidas is on his usual anti-government rant. I don't know why he doesn't just move to a S Pacific atoll where there is no one but him and he wouldn't have to constantly fight ANY government. Wouldn't even have to write letters for there would be no newspapers.....

First, "Will cancer patients have such good care available to them in the future? At age 71, maybe I am among the last of the lucky."

Leonidas I have a form of cancer and under Medicare I receive full and complete care, no restrictions, while you sit around, depressed, assuming the WORST of all possible outcomes.

Leonidas then climbs on the weary conservative horse and rides off in the dark re TESTS. LEONIDAS, had it ever occurred to you the physicians, if their group has a laboratory, MAKE MONEY OFF THEIR SHARE OF TESTS. I'll give you an at-home example from several years ago, I was taken to SBL for a certain condition, and a test was made. My physician read the test; the specialist in my condition read the test. Both agreed on the interpretation. A month later I got a bill from a THIRD doctor, one I had never heard of one, who had NO RELATIONSHIP TO MY CONDITION, MY DIAGNOSIS OR MY TREATMENT. I called his office and asked what the charge was for and it was for READING THE TEST. I asked WHY since he was not involved with my treatment, and the answer was "BECAUSE IT WAS ***HIS TURN*** THAT WEEK TO READ TESTS" -- and charge for them. He was NOT INVOLVED IN ANY DAY IN THE DIAGNOSIS AND TREATMENT OF MY CASE -- and you think he read the test for protection from malpractice????? DUUUMMMMMMMM.

And then you praise "health savings accounts". Leo, when I get my Medicare statement, I find that Medicare has NEGOTIATED fees CONSIDERABLY BELOW the standard rate. They pay their 80% and inform me I am responsible only for 20% of the negotiated rate.

With a health savings account you stand naked in front of the accountant (I shudder to think of the scene) and, with no one of power to negotiate for you, YOU PAY THE FULL PRICE.

Congratulations!! You've found a way to reward the medical community with the non-negotiated price. Meanwhile you're paying for a high level of insurance that you may never need. Leo, if you needed a liver transplant today, could you NOW, THIS MORNING, write a check for the amount up to the rate at which the disaster insurance takes over??

Oh another thing you probably don't know about the Drug Company Bill -- or the one Baucus is writing for them (rewarded by something like $2 million in contributions): it includes a new, longer period, 15 years in some drafts, of delay before generics can be offered to the public.
If you take any generic drugs -- and I take 3 -- you will suddenly find that some are not available. After the drug companies bring out a new drug, no company can offer a generic form for 15 years. [And as I'm sure you know, already the drug companies are PAYING OFF generic companies NOT to bring out a generic drug: "Look, let us charge the folks the HIGH PRICE with no general competiton and we'll split the difference and you don't have to do anything but cash the checks". As you surely know THAT'S GOING ON NOW.

Well, Leo, I'm growing weary; I know nothing will convince you ... so I give up. Good Luck; you'll need it. "

" One will have to go before a health board to see if they are worthy of health care. If you are productive in life and contribute to the comman good you will get health care. If not,too bad sucker,Next? Who's next step forward.As Sara Palin put it "Obamas 'death panel' "so his bureaucrats can decide, based on a subjective judgment of their 'level of productivity in society,' whether they are worthy of health care. Such a system is downright evil." "

" If your worthy of health care we might help you! Obama's board of death. people to sit and judge over your case to see if your worthy of saving.. LOL figures.I like my health insurance the way it is. The only fixing that needs to be done is the $10.00 BANDAIDS,the $12.00 Gause Bandages.The excesive charges made by the hospitals $25.00 to give a shot, the list goes on and on and on. Get ride of the insurance sucking dry machine as we all know it. Get ride of the greed and graft,and maybe the costs would come down. A bandaid doesnt have t be $10.00.No over sight no honesty or truth. This is just as bad as the government being charged 10 Grand for a hammer,100 thousand for a stool seat. People have to be held accountable for these excessive costs, that have driven up costs that have chocked the system to the max.It is out of control and Big Government isnt the answer.We dont need a nother government agency to stick it's nose in our private affairs. "

" Just curious, do you beleive the company that spent the money to have the people to research and test and re-research and re-test and refine and implement and market and develop and finally make the life-saving drugs available deserve to get compensated and recover the costs of all that effort? "

" "The government would decide more than doctors and patients about health care, using piles of government agencies, providing more barriers to health care than deliveries of it."

So... what you are saying is, what is good enough for active duty military, veterans, and congressmen isn't good enough for the average citizen?

Where, oh just where, was this outrage 2 years ago when our soldiers and veterans were getting such poor service?

Most Americans see through the so-called arguments made by Leonidas and others. "

" Hammbone:"Get ride of the insurance sucking dry machine as we all know it. Get ride of the greed and graft,and .."

So Hammbone is just going to RIDE his insurance company until he has a big bill and is thrown from the health horse.

Interesting, he complains about the prices of bandaids ... Hammbone, hasn't your insurance company negotiated with the hospital for lower prices -- just as my Medicare has. [Incidentally, Hammbone, Medicare IS a "government" program, even though George Bush -- and you, apparently, don't seem to think so. "

" Hammbone:"As Sara Palin put it "Obamas 'death panel' "so his bureaucrats can decide, based on a subjective judgment of their 'level of productivity in society,' whether they are worthy of health care. Such a system is downright evil."

Sara Palin is as ignorant of the health care bill as she is about seeing Russia from her back porch.

There IS no such provision in any of the bills; this is a "strawman" set up by the insurance company to keep you paying their outrageous premiums .... until you need their help very badly -- and THEN they will dump you. "

" All The Way " Just curious, do you beleive the company that spent the money to have the people to research and test and re-research and re-test and refine and implement and market and develop and finally make the life-saving drugs available deserve to get compensated and recover the costs of all that effort? "

AW, let's not get carried away......
How many of the drugs are truly life-saving in the sense you would die without them. In such cases you can be sure they are REALLY cashing in. You've never heard of those special drugs that are $5,000/month -- and you're ready to pay that much?? and is your insurance company ready????

Don't forget some drugs are
"accidental"; I believe they were looking for a cure for something else when the people doing trials happened to mention they were getting extra eractions!!!

In some cases when a drug doesn't seem to work, they invent a new disease. Ever hear of Restless Leg Syndrome until the last year or so???

Note also that the cost of MARKETING drugs is GREATER THAN all the other costs you mention. Until drug companies got the law changed -- 10? years ago -- it was illegal to advertise drugs on TV. And I'd a lot rather have MY DOCTOR decide what drugs I need than a PLAY DOCTOR, who is really an actor, telling me the drugs I need. "

" " So... what you are saying is, what is good enough for active duty military, veterans, and congressmen isn't good enough for the average citizen?

Where, oh just where, was this outrage 2 years ago when our soldiers and veterans were getting such poor service? "
--------


So uh Locke.....you admit that the veterans were getting poor government ran health care...and then you assert that that level of crappiness should be good enough (or crappy enough) for the rest of us?.....or something? What?

Oh and Locke, if ObamaCare is so wonderful- then why isn't Congress going to enroll in it for themselves and their families?

And one more thing Locke- if saving money is Obama's principal stated rationale for reform, and yet The Congressional Budget Office says that ObamaCare will actually *increase* health-care spending- then what's the point again? And why the hurry? "

" Actually, Cognitus, I take a drug that you do not see advertised anywhere. If I were to pay cash for this prescrption, $2400 per month. Availability through Canada, $4000 Canadian. Mexico, not at all.

So, now that you are completely discredited, at least with me, learn a little before you spout off more nonsense.

By the way, Sarh Palin never said she could see Russia from her porch. That was Tina Fey on Saturday Night Live. "

" What I'm tring to convay is that Both the hospitals AND the insurance providers have to reel in the $10.00 bandaides,the $12.00 gause bandage.eight days after I was born a kidney was removed.My family couldnt get insurance on me for any price till I was 12yrs. 3 back surgeries later,constant nerve pain from back surgery leaves me on pain meds all the time.So dont whine to me about your petty problems.I'm shure I'm not the only one that has a bag to drag along behind themselves.I'd be dead without health insurance,but when I see a bill for a proceedure or surgery I cant help but to see the expences and the over inflated costs of care.If you dont see it your an idiot or obtuce to the fact that theses costs are so far out of line it's laughable.Big government needs to dial down the costs of health care.Maybe an over sight board would be in line instead of government backed health care. They will ignore the cause of hi costs and NOT be apart of the cure!!! "

" The Question wrote on Aug 8, 2009 4:59 AM:
" "Health savings accounts?" That's right. People making minimum wage, or out of a job, should just SAVE UP that money they don't have for the medical procedures they need. Brilliant, Miller.
In fact, the health savings account is a scam that benefits only the wealthy, the healthy and the companies that then jettison much of their group health insurance."""""


you nailed it TQ HSAs work for the healthy people who have cash to pay for high deductibles.

most working class americans can't afford the risk. "

" LEONIDAS H. MILLER, Mattoon
This puts me among the 70 percent who are satisfied with their terms of care.""""



Great! you won't have to change and your coverage won't be affected! "

" " Great! you won't have to change and your coverage won't be affected! "
-------------

Absolutely FALSE.

ObamaCare will effectively shut down the individual private health care insurance market. You will lose your private coverage.

HERE'S PROOF:

Investors Business Daily (July 21 2009) When we received a copy of the House's 1,018-page health care reform legislation, it didn't take us long to find a passage that made us wince. On Page 16, the language indicated to us that once the bill became law, insurers would no longer be permitted to sell new private individual coverage. While we were expecting the worst out of this legislation, we really didn't anticipate anything quite so radical. Had we simply misread the bill?

Not fully trusting our own interpretation, we asked for confirmation from the House Ways and Means Committee. Sources there agreed: The bill would indeed shut down the individual private health care insurance market."
----------------

The Bill in question is intentionally written in a deceptive and vague manner. And who can blame them. This clusterfark is a disaster. "

" All The Way wrote on Aug 9, 2009 10:27 PM:
"So, now that you are completely discredited, at least with me,""""""



ROFLMAO!!....you talk of discrediting someone.... and then mention the moron mrs. moose in the same post????

NOW THAT's slapstick comedy!! you can't pay REAL money for entertainment like this!

this new comedian is good....really good! "

" Cognitus, it's good to see that you have actually read the bill. You HAVE read the bill, right? You opine on it so you surely must have read it. Anything else would be dishonest. Right? Right? Anyone? Bueller? "

" ILLINOISANS NEED HIGHER QUALITY, GREATER VALUE, AND MORE PREVENTATIVE CARE

* The overall quality of care in Illinois is rated as Weak.
* Preventative measures that could keep Illinoisans healthier and out of the hospital are deficient, leading to problems across the age spectrum:
o 21 percent of children in Illinois are obese.
o 22 percent of women over the age of 50 in Illinois have not received a mammogram in the past two years.
o 41 percent of men over the age of 50 in Illinois have never had a colorectal cancer screening.
o 68 percent of adults over the age of 65 in Illinois have received a flu vaccine in the past year.

The need for reform in Illinois and across the country is clear. Illinois families simply cant afford the status quo and deserve better. President Obama is committed to working with Congress to pass health reform this year that reduces costs for families, businesses and government; protects peoples choice of doctors, hospitals and health plans; and assures affordable, quality health care for all Americans.

~CMS~ "

" All The Way wrote on Aug 9, 2009 10:27 PM:
" I take a drug that you do not see advertised anywhere. If I were to pay cash for this prescrption, $2400 per month. Availability through Canada, $4000 Canadian. Mexico, not at all."""""



so what the name of this "golden" drug? "

" " ILLINOISANS NEED HIGHER QUALITY, GREATER VALUE, AND MORE PREVENTATIVE CARE "
--------

Oh really bob?

You mean the Democrat controlled State of Illinois?

You mean the home State of Senator Barack Obama?

That Illinois- bob?

Is your solution ObamaCare, bob?

Because the Congressional Budget Office says that ObamaCare will raise health care costs- not lower them, bob. "

" People like you have had a stronghold on America more often then not. But my friend your run is comming to an end. And we're (you included) are going to be a lot better off.
You're just too misinformed to realize it. "

" Hammbone wrote on Aug 10, 2009 7:10 AM:
"when I see a bill for a proceedure or surgery I cant help but to see the expences and the over inflated costs of care.If you dont see it your an idiot or obtuce to the fact that theses costs are so far out of line it's laughable.Big government needs to dial down the costs of health care.""""

i'm with ya there man....

i had a test performed 2 weeks ago. i git my EOB a week later. the coded text was billed at $1147.00 and the doctor was in network so my insurance was billed $310.00 for this procedure and the doctor "wrote off" $ 837.00. this as an average example of how the public gets ripped off. if you didn't have insurance you be stuck for $1147.00. if you had health insurance that wasn't contracted, or "out of network" you'd also have to pay an inflated rate, but not the full $1147.00. the people falling through the cracks are the ones getting hit the hardest. "

" Father bob, if you were to actually comprehend my earlier comment, I said Sarah Palin DID NOT say the quote often attributed to her. The line about Russia and the front porch was said by Tina Fey parodying Palin in a skit Saturday Night Live. ROF all you want, but if you weree to use a quote to mock someone shouldn't it be an accurate quote?

And the drug I take is an injection of Glatiramer Acetate, commercially known as Copaxone. Help you much? "

" "As Putin rears his head and comes into the air space of the United States of America, where where do they go? It's Alaska. It's just right over the border." -- Sarah Palin, explaining why Alaska's proximity to Russia gives her foreign policy experience, interview with CBS's Katie Couric, Sept. 24, 2008. "

" "Will cancer patients have such good care available to them in the future? At age 71, maybe I am among the last of the lucky."

Well Mr. Miller, at 71 you are on medicare, right? A government run health care program and you said you've recieved excellent care. So, what's your beef with everyone else getting the same excellent care? "

" If all Americans were united into one group under one plan, then no one would have to sue anyone any more over who has to pay the medical bills. They would all be paid because we would all chip in and pay them together...kind of like the Amish do only better.

The only choice anyone wants or needs as far as care is concerned is to be covered if we need it. Then we do want to be able to choose what provider we use. Private health insurers limit both choices.

If we were all in the same group under the same plan, we could go to any licensed provider and create the type of competition that we need in the marketplace but don't have now. "

" The Question wrote on Aug 11, 2009 7:31 AM:
" "As Putin rears his head and comes into the air space of the United States of America, where where do they go? It's Alaska. It's just right over the border." -- Sarah Palin"""""



yeah....i think there was some discussion about the moronic mrs. moose confusing russia with canada. a simple mistake anyone could make!! (i love to revisit those precious palin moments!) "

" OK all the way, if you didn't care for fb's Palin quote, how about this quote from Palin:

"in which my parents or my baby with Down Syndrome will have to stand in front of Obama's 'death panel' so his bureaucrats can decide, based on a subjective judgment of their 'level of productivity in society,' whether they are worthy of health care."

Would you care to hear more? They're coming out daily now.


And as you're probably aware of by now, this outragious claim by Palin has been thoroughly debunked, just as most of her ill informed comments have been.

The more this ignorant woman spouts off the more the far right salivates. lol! "

" All The Way wrote on Aug 10, 2009 10:46 PM:
" Father bob, if you were to actually comprehend my earlier comment, I said Sarah Palin DID NOT say the quote often attributed to her."""""


see i was commenting on your credibility, not the snow queen...if you'd bother to read my comment! "

" Father Bob and Harry Potter: I could careless about Palin quotes, they do not mean much to me as I am not a fan. How would pointing out a mis-qote by someone else effect my credbility? Apparently comprehension is not your strong suit. I did not bring Sarah Palin into the conversation. I did read your comment, fb, and I realize you were attempting to impune my credibility, but you failed. In my using "the moron mrs. moose," (nice way to get attention by the way, are you twelve?)I was not invoking her, I did not quote her nor praise her. I merely pointed out a mis-quote by someone else. Discredit her all you want, it matters not at all to me. Just actually use her own words, of which there are plenty, to do it with. Not those of a comedienne on a tv show. "

" BTW, Bob, any luck researching my "golden drug?" "

" That obama wants to run our healthcare, and obama wants to control us, yada yada yada.... I think Bart Simpson nailed it. For some people on the right, the election of Barack Obama has just "broke their brains". "

" All The Way wrote on Aug 11, 2009 10:51 PM:
" BTW, Bob, any luck researching my "golden drug?" """""


yep....it's $2499.00, but i can get it through my healthplan via Medco for $30.00...should i ever need it.

it would be nice if everyone regardless physical condition, income or age could say the same. "

" sister wrote on Aug 11, 2009 11:56 PM:
" That obama wants to run our healthcare, and obama wants to control us, yada yada yada.... I think Bart Simpson nailed it. For some people on the right, the election of Barack Obama has just "broke their brains". """""


you said a mouthful there sister! "

" All The Way wrote on Aug 11, 2009 10:51 PM:
" BTW, Bob, any luck researching my "golden drug?" """""


so are you very rich, very poor or have a good health plan? "

" Not the point, Bob. We were discussing actual drugs that cognitus thought didn't exist. My personal situation is not part of this "conversation." "

" I don't give a damn if the government does control health care.
As long as I've got health care.
Everyone of us is just an extended hospital stay away from being broke. "

" All The Way wrote on Aug 12, 2009 3:52 PM:
" My personal situation is not part of this "conversation." """""


when you go out of your way to make it a part, be prepared to answer questions. "

" father bob wrote on Aug 12, 2009 5:00 PM:

" All The Way wrote on Aug 12, 2009 3:52 PM:
" My personal situation is not part of this "conversation." """""


when you go out of your way to make it a part, be prepared to answer questions. "

Sorry, no. My response was to a question about medicines that apparently some believe do not exist. I said they did and gave the name of a drug I take(which is more than I cared to do) as a way of saying they do. My financial situation, insurance situation, or other personal situations I share with those I choose to, not some anonymous names on a newspaper forum. Kind of the point of being anonymous. It's none of your, or anyone else's business.

So no, I do not have to be prepared, nor do i choose to be prepared to answer your irrelevant questions, but thanks for playing. "

" Julio, we are all just a year away from the Obama economy having us all broke. "

" All The Way wrote on Aug 12, 2009 11:56 PM:
"So no, I do not have to be prepared, nor do i choose to be prepared to answer your irrelevant questions, but thanks for playing. """"""



as i said earlier...you have no credibility. thanks for playing! "

" father bob wrote on Aug 13, 2009 12:22 PM:

" All The Way wrote on Aug 12, 2009 11:56 PM:
"So no, I do not have to be prepared, nor do i choose to be prepared to answer your irrelevant questions, but thanks for playing. """"""



as i said earlier...you have no credibility. thanks for playing! "

Sorry, you failed again. My credibility remains intact. The relevant questions were answered. The irrelvent, immaterial, and childish questions were not.

If Ihave no credibility with you, Father Bob, I actually think many people would say that boosts my credibility.

Just curious, why are you so interested in my income and health plan? It suits me fine and does not effect you. I just want to be forced to change it. "

" typo in my last: I DO'T want to be forced to change it "

" government control "

" "All the way" So glad you put old FB in his place. you better watch out because he'll call his Chicago buddy "Bongo Ears" and rat you out making you a right wing extremists. I've seen loonies before, but nothing like him!!!!!! "