Whole Foods CEO vs. Obama's health insurance reform

I like France..........(just thought I'd throw something else out there)

I love French food!

Oh, and I might add that they have the BEST healthcare system on the planet....bloody socialists....!

Sure we need some reforms. Incremental reforms that don't involve putting the whole system through a sausage grinder. Provide tax credits to businesses for providing insurance, etc.

I don't see any way the government can pass policy to improve "outcomes". Things like genetics, life style, basic sanitaion, etc. have as much or more of an influence on health than the medical system. What outcome do you want to "improve"?

Well, since the US system at best is comparable to the outcomes in the remainder of developed nations why not focus our energies in reducing the bloated costs of the existing system. Have doctors practice medicine rather than being paper jockeys, tort reform to reduce the excess costs associated with defensive medicine, end of life counseling to get people (and families) the information they need to make informed decisions regarding their final weeks, days or months. Perhaps we should include life style and its impact on health very early in the education process.
Mark, I would think that as a medical professional, you can provide answers rather than questions.

BP

I I'm not aware that any of the proposals under serious consideration by Congress at this point are favoring, nor suggesting, a single payer approach. The closest proposal is considering a public option alternative to private insurance, but that isn't anyplace close to the single payer options that is in Canada and most of Western Europe..

The government option is the single payer camels nose in the tent.

Do you feel we can have Health Care reforms, that reduce costs and improve outcomes, without a single payer option? If you believe this is possible, what specific reforms/changes would you make to the existing system?

Allow new hospitals and specialty hospitals to open without state approval.

Take the physicians' monopoly away, and allow more clinic run by nurse practitioners, and maybe a new class of providers (medical practioners, MPs perhaps?) can be created between NPs and MDs. There's no reason that front line health care requires 12 years of post graduate medical education and training.

Allow these new clinics staffed by NPs of MPs to open anywhere. The current crop of general practice MDs would have to compete with those folks for the basic stuff, but they could offer more advanced diagnostic services and treatments to them also. This is how you break the primary care bottle neck.

Require health plans to offer coverage for preexisting conditions. This will raise the cost somewhat for everybody.

Encourage HSA, high deductible, and catastrophic plans. The government might be the underwriter of last resort for the really expensive cases. Either way, plans with higher limits must be more expensive for the market to work.

All plans must have co-pays. Patients must have skin in the game to encourage them to actively participate in their health care decisions and judge its costs.

Break the employee/health insurance linkage. Do this by allowing any group or association to acquire group rates for their members. Groups of small businesses could join together to acquire a group plan. Neighborhood associations could do the same. Credit unions could also do it.

Encourage insurance plans that would allow patients to consult with independent councilors about their condition and their health car options. These could be MD's not directly involved with their care. Encourage medical schools to develop training for these professional medical councilors.

Tort reform is important. For complaints against health care providers, I think local investigation and compensation boards might work, if they are required to include patient advocates that don't practice medicine. Monetary damages would still be paid from malpractice policies. There probably ought to be some way to still sue the board (not individual members) if it looks like they're being negligent or biased.

I don't think health insurance companies should be protected from lawsuits.

Thank you!! Lots of ideas that are appealing (to me) and deserving of further exploration. It is amazing how clarity is improved when we all tone down the rhetoric a notch or two.

Hey, not to worry, everyone - the GOP has changed the voting rules in the Senate, as of today - they say they won't support any healthcare reform bill that doesn't get at least 75-80 votes in the Senate: http://www.salon.com/politics/war_room/ ... index.html. So, relax! There won't be any healthcare reform.

I didn't know they could do that! Learn something new every day. Wait, how can they withhold their vote on something based on how many votes it's gonna get if the people who might vote for it won't vote for it because other people might not vote for it?

*head spins 360 degrees*

apologies to my Republican friends and forum acquaintances and those in or retired from the medical field - I'm sorry we disagree to such a degree, and I still love you all!

Hey, not to worry, everyone - the GOP has changed the voting rules in the Senate, as of today - they say they won't support any healthcare reform bill that doesn't get at least 75-80 votes in the Senate: http://www.salon.com/politics/war_room/ ... index.html. So, relax! There won't be any healthcare reform.

I didn't know they could do that! Learn something new every day. Wait, how can they withhold their vote on something based on how many votes it's gonna get if the people who might vote for it won't vote for it because other people might not vote for it?

*head spins 360 degrees*

apologies to my Republican friends and forum acquaintances and those in or retired from the medical field - I'm sorry we disagree to such a degree, and I still love you all!

This is something that the Republican leaders want the Democrats to guarantee them before they agree to support a bipartisan bill. If the Democrats could get their own act together, they don't need any Republican votes to pass whatever bill that they want. Their numbers exceed the 60 vote threshold to stop a filibuster, which wasn't evil when the Democrats were in the minority, BTW. The only carrot the Republicans can offer the Democrats is the fig leaf of a bipartisan bill.

One problem they are having is that Kennedy and Byrd are having health issues, so can't be present to vote.

I like France..........(just thought I'd throw something else out there)

I love French food!

Oh, and I might add that they have the BEST healthcare system on the planet....bloody socialists....!

I guess you could always move to France

Hey, not to worry, everyone - the GOP has changed the voting rules in the Senate, as of today - they say they won't support any healthcare reform bill that doesn't get at least 75-80 votes in the Senate:

That's a "wish," not a rules change. The minority party would have a pretty difficult time trying to change voting rules.

[Robin Garr]

This is a great topic, and I appreciate it that everyone has remained largely civil. It has moved so far from food and restaurants, however, that I'm moving it into the general-discussion forum, leaving a signpost behind in the restaurants forum so folks can still find it.

Whoaaa this is all pretty heady stuff. I'll be the first to admit that I don't understand all of it but some sort of reform IS needed.

Throughout my married life my husband and I had GREAT health insurance. My daughter suffered from severe ear infections and they resulted in a runs to the ER at Bapt. East or on occasion Surburbon Hosp. I always cringed when we got the bills. Even with our great insurance the cost out of pocket would be over $300. One year our vacation took us to Hilton Head where Sarah again got one of her terrible ear aches and had to be rushed to the island hospital. Beautiful hospital. I dreaded getting the bill in the mail from them. When it came it was next to nothing! My husband sat figured out that it would actually be cheaper the next time Sarah got an ear ache, to fly her to the Hilton Head hospital. The cost of an airline ticket and the ER visit would be less than a run to our local hospital. Now what's up with that? That is screwy.

I still stand by what I posted earlier - if you talk with people that have lived in Europe under their health care programs they'll tell you, from their first hand experience, that it is far superior to anything we have here. How embarrassing to be the donkeys butt in health care. Shame on us.

Hey, not to worry, everyone - the GOP has changed the voting rules in the Senate, as of today - they say they won't support any healthcare reform bill that doesn't get at least 75-80 votes in the Senate: http://www.salon.com/politics/war_room/ ... index.html. So, relax! There won't be any healthcare reform.

I didn't know they could do that! Learn something new every day. Wait, how can they withhold their vote on something based on how many votes it's gonna get if the people who might vote for it won't vote for it because other people might not vote for it?

*head spins 360 degrees*

apologies to my Republican friends and forum acquaintances and those in or retired from the medical field - I'm sorry we disagree to such a degree, and I still love you all!

The article does not say "the GOP changed the voting rules". How could they? The Dems control Congress.

If the Dems want to pass a bill (any bill), all they have to do is send it through committee (Dem controlled) and bring it to the floor (Dem controlled) and vote Aye! They have no one to blame for not passing their Health Care Act but themselves. They run the government. No one can stop them from doing whatever they want right now. That is as long as they want to be re-elected.

A lot of those folks are worried about losing their seats.

Another NHS single payer horror story.

Guys, I was being sarcastic. I know they didn't "change the rules" - they're just acting like they have.

Guys, I was being sarcastic. I know they didn't "change the rules" - they're just acting like they have.

OK, duly noted. I should have assumed such!

"Google Chrome does, too. It unedrlines tyops in red to flag them for your attention. Spell-checking is easy to do on the user end."

Robin...I can't spell very well. I made decisions while in school, that impacted this such as going to football practice instead of practicing my spelling. It's not all my fault though. My mom was a bad speller, so part of it is heriditary.

My work provides my laptop. We just have some standard internet explorer and can not download other internet exploeres that provide spellcheck.

Even though my lack of spelling in not your fault, you are financially responsible. It is louisvillehotbytes.com's responsibility to provide me with healthcare, I mean spellcheck.