Comments on: Small companies begin terminating health care benefits in Massachusetts

By: sammy22

sammy22 — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 13:36:20 +0000

Sounds like nothing is “good”, not even tax credits to “help” small businesses.

By: brianh

brianh — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 02:02:52 +0000

David R…Most of the $2.3T is borrowed from China et al, since we spent all the payroll deductions for the Medicare “trust fund”, deficit spend for Medicaid, et al. Employers pay the next biggest chunk.

By: David R

David R — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 00:53:32 +0000

Great question: where does the money come from now to pay the $2.3 trillion annual tab? Somebody is getting hosed.

By: Jim Vicevich

Jim Vicevich — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 23:44:45 +0000

And where does the money come from to pay the credit Sammy? And what happens when the government runs out of that money? And what if the credit still does not make the insurance affordable? And who foots the bill at the large companies for the more expensive plan? And can I cut your pay Sammy to pay for the higher cost government plan? And, oh never mind.

By: sammy22

sammy22 — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 15:35:48 +0000

According to the Courant (OMG), 3 out of 4 small businesses in CT will be eligible for a tax credit to reduce the amount they pay for health insurance. Is that bad? Meanwhile UnitedHealth Care posted much higher than expected 2Q profits. Is that good? And no matter how you spin it, the US spends more per capita on health care than the rest of the industrialized countries ( and not as good care).

By: David R

David R — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 15:08:19 +0000

Dims: an interesting idea about requiring employees to buy healtcare insurance. Would it be a legal requirement? How would it be enforced? How would minimum and low wage earners be able to buy health insurance? How about people who work a couple of part time jobs? Along those lines, I’d like to see if inducements from insurance companies to buy generic as opposed to brand-name drugs would help lower costs. Re. your objections to the current health care bill: the old saying goes about making laws is like making sausages. It’s a messy process that includes the messy bits. This bill like many others will get fixed as time goes on, impeded by the corporate interests that want to maintain or increase their advantages.

By: Dimsdale

Dimsdale — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 01:29:10 +0000

“The US spending is 16.2% of the GDP compared to 10% for Canada.”

Now factor in actual access to timely care. Would you pay a little more to get the care you need when you need it, or wait interminably in a line?

The WHO stopped doing these comparisons in 2000, due to the complexity. Comparing countries with no accounting for the different populations is almost pointless. For example, how does the influx of illegal aliens affect our rating, when they bring whooping cough, small pox, dengue fever, tuberculosis etc., into the country, all disease that were effectively eradicated? Can you compare that to Canada’s relatively homogenous population and less porous southern border? The parameters of life expectancy, preventable deaths etc., are all inextricably linked in part to the uncontrolled influx of illegal aliens.

The real problem with costs? Linking health care to the employer. The employee doesn’t see it, much like the exorbitant amount that the government extracts from us in taxes. Their income is reduced by the amount it costs the company to buy coverage. If the employee was simply required to buy their own insurance with an appropriate increase in their salaries, they would exercise due diligence, shop around, compare and buy what is most economically feasible for them, with appropriate deductibles. In this case, the employee/patient would only use medical services when necessary versus whenever they feel like it. Costs would automatically be cut. Administrative costs would be minimized, probably one of the biggest money pits around. Standardized forms would help too.

These are the kinds of reforms that government should have been making rather than jamming the whole thing into the crusher. Maybe they could even have taken the time to learn from other’s mistakes, but they are too busy making their own, and reinventing the square wheel.

By: Dimsdale

Dimsdale — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 01:01:24 +0000

“Simply can’t afford” relative to the penalties. Øbamacare looks cheaper for now. If the feds really wanted private insurance to continue, they would make the penalties severe.

By: Steve McGough

Steve McGough — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 00:52:46 +0000

And what does this have to do with the post subject?

By: PatRiot

PatRiot — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 23:39:31 +0000

P.S. We know this Is called Obamacare because he is the guy in the big chair. Like Bush took the heat for the failings of ALL of Congress.

We know this healthcare plan is unconstitutional. And if the Republicans were truely upholding thier oaths and working for the American people, they would have laid claims of unconstitutionality already and SHOULD HAVE charged a fellow Congressman with treason. Hence they are complicit.
We have all been duped by our parties.