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Here is an article about Obama's low approval concerning Healthcare. Thoughts?

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/07/19/AR2009071902176.html?hpid=topnews

It is my opinion that his approval rating on health care is low because most people polled don't approve of his ideas on healthcare.

How's that for a dodge? Maybe I should be the politician.

I think the United States has such an abysmal system it'd take a lot of effort to make it any worse.

What do you expect? There's nothing in there about the specifics of the health care reform about which to shriek, and the fact that there was a drop in approval is just some random factoid. Even the reasons behind the apparent drop in popularity aren't that pointed or discussion worthy: "Uh oh, he might spend money and raise taxes!"

So... cool story bro.

The biggest problem with our nation's democracy is that we treat corporations like they're people that deserve representation. And more representation than average citizens even, because of all the money being bounced around.

I asked for a mai tai MyTie, and they brought me a pina colada, and I said no salt, NO salt for the margarita, but it had salt on it, big grains of salt, floating in the glass...

Yeah, I see that now. I will change the way I make OPs.

My opinion, if it isn't to late, is that a capitolism, although flawed, provides a more affordable form of healthcare than government provided. I think that goes for just about anything.

As far as I know, the standard expectation of a board of directors of a private corporation is to achieve 15% profit a year.

A government organisation has no obligation to make any such profit from (ill) people. It merely has to live within it's planned budget. That's a 15% savings in costs right there.

In healthcare, the statistic is that one dollar of early prevention saves $20 of cure down the line.

Doctors in Government healthcare organisations usually merely need to determine if and how someone is ill, and order treatment accordingly. In this way they catch and treat problems early. In private systems, doctors on behalf of insurers have to consider how much tests or treatments cost against the income they bring in, or if they are recoverable at all from the patient. Needed tests and treatments can fall away, causing greater costs to individuals and the system later when untreated patients become sicker later.

Government systems usually fully cover the poorest individuals, who can walk into doctors and hospitals at any time, without fear of cost. Not only does that mean they get the short term treatment that prevents the longer term hideous cost of worse illness down the line, it means that the poor are kept as healthy as they can be, which means that they are kept as work ready as they can be.

In conjunction with a welfare safety net that requires proof of job seeking activities from working-age, non-disabled people, fully taxpayer funded healthcare for the poor gives both individuals and the tax system the best chance that unemployed people can achieve a job and start paying taxes, instead of falling into disability.

I believe in the productive flexibility of the private market, and the choice that private businesses offer to consumers. I believe in investments and profits. I don't think Government has any business trying to run everything in the whole world. But when it comes to ESSENTIAL infrastructure and systems that are, or always d/evolve into natural monopolies, then I think Government has an obligation to provide all citizens with that essential infrastructure. Some huge networks just don't make sense to be duplicated. Those networks are also essential to the collective wellbeing and economic productivity of a population. From a national perspective essential infrastructure that is provided universally act like investments, that reap higher tax revenue down the line.

When it comes to healthcare, I'm content with the dual government/private system here in Australia. If you've got extra money, you can choose to use a private hospital, that's more like a nice hotel than a clean, bare, functional classroom of a public hospital. Most people don't bother, because the quality of medical treatment is the same. As for GPs (family doctors), the poorest are fully covered by the government, and for everyone else, the government pays a certain set fee. It's up to you if you see a doctor who charges above the government fee. For outpatient specialist visits, again the poorest are fully covered, and everyone else is usually 85% covered. If they have reached $1000 total for the year in personal co-payments to doctors, then the government starts paying pretty much all the specialist's and GP's fees.

Edited, Jul 21st 2009 6:39am by Aripyanfar

I think the poll itself is not very interesting despite the hype it has gotten on the radio. At least, it doesn't really prove what the radio hosts want it to prove. People who are pleased with Obama's efforts in this still outnumber those who don't. Also "displeased" doesn't mean "We don't want reform", it means that they're unhappy with how its been handled. Perhaps they wanted a firmer approach or whatever. Hell, I'm not entirely "pleased" with how its been handled; I think the House has misstepped a few times and think that Obama's August deadline was pretty unrealistic & only provides a "victory" for the opposition when it passes. I think there should be some tort reform in there if it can help lower the cost of insurance overall. But my being displeased about these things doesn't change the notion that I still think we need radical reform over the current system.

More tellingly, when asked who people trust more to handle the healthcare debate, people in the poll overwhelmingly choose Obama over the GOP by twenty points (54/34). This is after six months of solid noise about how Obama's gonna socialize your medicine and steal your doctor and destroy healthcare in the US until the standard of living is like that in Somalia. Obama's approval numbers for handling the debate seem to reflect a general weariness with the topic as a whole moreso than a massive rejection of Obama and his healthcare plans.

Kavek,



Obviously you havn't needed healthcare outside the US. Thanks for playing.



Jophed,



LMAO...Want to know how good Obamacare is call your representative and ask them why they voted to exempt themselves from it. Obama is lying his as* off to get this thing passed. Do you really think passing this plan is going to reduce the deficit and create jobs? Wait look who i'm asking, of course you do.