Saturday, March 07, 2009
Just imagine government-run healthcare
Republicans have an alternative to Obama's socialized medicine proposal:
From the weekly GOP radio address by Rep. Roy Blunt:
"Americans are worried about their access to quality, affordable health care and they are looking for responsible solutions. Republicans agree, and we are committed to developing new and innovative solutions to fix what's broken, while making sure that we keep what works.
"Republicans are committed to access, affordability, competition and a quality system that puts patients and doctors in the driver seat.
"Just imagine a health care system that looks like a government run operation most of us are all too familiar with -- the local DMV. Lines, paper work, taking a number. Or how about another government agency -- the IRS.
"I don't want our health care to resemble that system and you probably don't either. That's why real competition is the key -- it encourages innovation so that the health care treatments and services available to you are the ones that you need and you want. Republicans are committed to common-sense solutions that promote competition and innovation.
"Not surprisingly the government never gets the price right: overpaying for some services, underpaying for others. It's also a system that leads to unfair rationing of care.
"Part of that comes from the backward way the government looks at problems. Washington is the only place that tells you how much they care about something based on how much it costs, instead of how well it works.
"America has the best doctors, health care providers and hospitals in the world. Republicans will lead the effort to make health care work for Americans. We'll also lead the fight against any proposals that undermine your ability to get the treatment the doctor you choose recommends."
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Wow, where does one start. A wonderful string of Republican cliches.
How simple it was for the GOP to destroy the confidence people had in government by putting unqualified campaign contributors and cronies in control of major departments. I guess government is bad, if you do that....
Name one country that provides health care and runs it like the DMV. Do we have long waiting lists to see doctors in this country? Yes. I don't know about you, but setting up an appointment usually means waiting 1 to 5 months. Of course, the fact that EVERY industrialize country has single payer care doesn't mean it's good, right?
"Real competition" is the cure? As a small business owner for the last 30, I was exposed to the competitive "private" sector, the one where prices increase 10 to 20 percent a year. You know, where insurance companies tell me what doctors to see, and what treatments are covered. It's strange how different the real world sounds to someone like Blunt who has no clue, and receives government run health care. If we had single payer coverage, I could go to any doctor in the country, because I have a federal insurance plan. How does that limit my doctor choices?
Oh yea, I never had an opportunity to buy into a government plan. Blunt and most conservatives act like the current system needs to be more private. NEWS FLASH: It already is.
As far as the government never getting the price right and overpaying; Republicans backed Medicare's prescription drug plan, the one where the government CANNOT NEGOTIATE lower prices for drugs. Democrats didn't like that idea because in a free market, a major purchaser of drugs, like the government, should be able to compete for the best price. What a novel concept. COMPETITION. So it would appear to be just "big talk" coming from Blunt, who seems to be against competition.
I would assume you're happy enough with the cost of premiums to be against the government competing with the private sector in offering its own plan to Americans who want it. Sure the government plan might be dramatically cheaper, but providers will have a CHOICE of contracting with the more expensive insurance companies that build in their own profit margins or deal directly with a not for profit government carrier.
Competition, right? Unless it's alright for the private sector to compete with the government, like schools, but unfair for the government to compete with the private sector. Competition has a certain set of rules that bar the really big players, like the government and Wal Mart, from participating in....oops, did I say Wal Mart? Their okay according to the Republican rules of competition, but government is excluded. I forgot. Sorry.
"Unfair Rationing" is cute, because I'm sure Blunt wasn't referring to the insurance companies turning down care, refusing to pay health care bills and keeping people out with pre-existing conditions. This would never happen in the private sector. It's "customer health first" in the insurance industry.
One final note: Blunt's promise to fight against any proposal that undermines your ability to get the treatment the doctor you choose recommends, is the ultimate BS. As I mentioned above, families have been bankrupt and left to pay the cost of treatments because our current system of private insurance allows companies the ability to deny coverage and pay for treatment. Blunt hasn't lifted a finger against the insurance industry. Correct me if I'm wrong.
Don't bother addressing the issues I've put out here, I know that I will get the same warmed over cliches.
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