tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11093162.post6500659094294318421..comments2024-03-23T19:16:01.555-07:00Comments on Can it happen here?: Health care reform: I wish I were elated ...janinsanfranhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07548452260456734928noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11093162.post-61036411695847034872010-03-23T18:55:11.345-07:002010-03-23T18:55:11.345-07:00I can appreciate what's lacking about the bill...I can appreciate what's lacking about the bill, but let's face it, this is a major accomplishment. For the first time ever in U.S. history we can no longer say health care is just a privilege for citizens who can afford it. Some 32 million Americans will gain access to health insurance. The worst practices of the health insurance industry will end. It's a mistake to underestimate the sea change that the passage of this bill represents and the real change this bill will bring for millions of Americans.Neilhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07604806237737319474noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11093162.post-54191074704299096912010-03-22T22:04:02.472-07:002010-03-22T22:04:02.472-07:00I wish it could be fixed, but the jump in stock pr...I wish it could be fixed, but the jump in stock prices of health care companies following its passage makes me skeptical. I think we have to take seriously the comments of Physicians for a National Health Program:<br /><br /><em>As much as we would like to join the celebration of the House's passage of the health bill last night, in good conscience we cannot ... Millions of middle-income people will be pressured to buy commercial health insurance policies costing up to 9.5 percent of their income but covering an average of only 70 percent of their medical expenses, potentially leaving them vulnerable to financial ruin if they become seriously ill... Insurance firms will be handed at least $447 billion in taxpayer money to subsidize the purchase of their shoddy products. This money will enhance their financial and political power, and with it their ability to block future reform.</em> More in <a href="http://www.pnhp.org/news/2010/march/pro-single-payer-doctors-health-bill-leaves-23-million-uninsured" rel="nofollow">their press release</a>.Rob McBnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11093162.post-79719546312729857132010-03-22T11:12:04.632-07:002010-03-22T11:12:04.632-07:00Thank you for being the voice of reason in a sea o...Thank you for being the voice of reason in a sea of misplaced euphoria!!!! I just heard that there are Medicare cuts in that bill and how many elders can afford that? I haven't had a chance to go over the bill yet but I will.Kay Dennisonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02646717192332313215noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11093162.post-19691418356780909172010-03-22T08:37:40.387-07:002010-03-22T08:37:40.387-07:00With a creature as complex and varied as the Ameri...With a creature as complex and varied as the American populace, it clearly WILL take time to evaluate the effects of the passage of this bill. And it WILL require continuous reworkings and refinements, but that start had to be made somewhere. I have no doubt that the insurance companies will now do triple back flips to hold onto their profit margins, but the American patient/victim has gotten a taste empowering change.Nancehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15166865250789996825noreply@blogger.com