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This is too hilarious! Stephen Colbert is a genius satirist! I’m sure we all have our insurance horror stories. If anyone cares to share, please, feel free!
I just wanted to add, the idea that offering end of life counseling, via hospice, is akin to euthanasia is despicable and completely false! I have a news flash, we will all face that cycle of life, being treated with dignity is NOT suggestive of murdering our senior citizens.
Genius Satire, huh. You’re my kind of girl, Elena…..lloooooowwww expectations!
Sorry Slow, I did not meant to insult you if you could not understand his humor, do you need me to explain it to you 😉 hehehehehe
No, Dear, no need to explain anything. It’s not exactly a subtle brand of humor.
Hey–I tried to post the AARP statement about healthcare this morning but t didn’t go through. Is it in moderation?
Oh, and while I’m on the subject, the notion that there will be savings in Obamacare, the notion that companies won’t pay an 8% tax penalty to dump their employee health benefits, and the notion that this whole discussion shouldn’t have begun with tort reform are all three despicable and completely false!
slow, the idea that torte reform is somehow the root cause of our health care crisis is not credible. Is it a component? Yes, but the epicenter where health care reform should evolve from….no.
I am all for discussion, that is great, it’s imperative, but to outright lie to scare people, THAT is simply unproductive. I don’t know how to reform healthcare, I’m a middle school counselor, but I do wish that both sides would clearly explain their ideas so we COULD have a credible debate.
Maybe that’s why I like you slow, I have low expectations ;)(just kidding)@Slowpoke Rodriguez
Pinko. No and I don’t know. If I can’t see it, probably it went to spam.
Try again.
AARP Statement:
The internet is flooded with emails spreading crazy rumors about health reform so I wanted to share some facts from AARP about what’s really going on. Please join me in forwarding these facts to everyone you know. Print them out and pass them around at your social gatherings and other places where people are discussing the issues of the day.
FACT #1: Medicare will not be ended, and no benefits or services will be cut.
Your services will not be ended, nor will your benefits be cut. AARP’s position on this could not be clearer. And we have sent this message loud and clear to Congress. While the current proposals include savings in Medicare by cutting out fraud, abuse, waste, and inefficiency, we’re standing up and making sure benefits for Medicare recipients are not only fully protected, but are improved.1
FACT #2: No legislation currently in Congress would mandate the rationing of care. Period.
Our staff has read all of the legislation circulating in Congress and there are no provisions in these bills that would ration care for our members. None. If any ever did, we would vigorously fight to stop that legislation.2
FACT #3: There is no provision of any piece of legislation that would promote euthanasia of any kind.
The rumors out there are flat out lies. Right now Medicare does not cover counseling for end-of-life care. The portion of the bill in question would simply provide coverage for optional end-of-life consultations with doctors, so that the patient can be aware of all of the treatment options on the table. It is not mandatory and it has nothing to do with euthanasia.3
FACT #4: We have not endorsed President Obama’s plan.
In fact, we haven’t endorsed any plan. We are supporting reform of our health care system, something that AARP has pushed for many years. We’re working closely with Republican and Democratic members of Congress to lower health care costs and to ensure quality affordable coverage for older Americans – and we want reform legislation passed and signed by the president this year.4
So what is AARP fighting for in health reform?
Stopping insurance companies from charging older Americans unaffordable premiums because of their age.
Ending the practice of excluding people from insurance because of pre-existing conditions.
Holding down health costs and making insurance coverage more affordable for all Americans.
Making prescription drugs more affordable by narrowing the Medicare doughnut hole, bringing generics to market faster, and allowing Medicare to negotiate better drug prices.
Find out more and take action at HealthActionNow.org.
Thanks,
Gene Kelly
Actually, I believe that tort reform should also not be minimized. There are many components but the problem with litigation is that it has a domino effecct. Ridiculously high awards lead to either higher malpractice or higher liability coverage for doctors, hospitals and drug companies. and who benefits? Much of it does not go to the victim. On the other hand, what happens to the cost and who is it passed on to?
I am all for reasonable compensation but when awards are trying to be punitive in a civil case, rather than dealing with appropriate penalties in a criminal case or in license issues, it skews the result. What most people want is some form of controls on the awards to ensure that the case is handled fairly for both the victim as well as the offending party. In the end, the victim should be adequately compensated for the injury so that, if need be, they never have to work again. If it is not something that prevents future income, then the award should fit the injury. I think it is wrong for attorneys who specialize in this form of litigation shouldn’t have an unlimited debit card at the public expense.
The reluctance to deal with this major component will doom the cost of health care to continue to be outrageously costly. And, then the health insurance is costly, leading businesses to be reluctant to take it out for employees and the house of cards falls again.
Certainly deal with the high cost of R&D for drugs, the unnecessary testing (mainly because again with malpractice)and the myriad of other things that lead to higher cost. When those root costs are controlled, the cost of health care naturally becomes more affordable.
In other words, the issue is more than greed by large corporations.
OK, tort reform is not all of it, but look at Texas since 2003. They capped awards, changed a couple of other things, and malpractice insurance went down by a considerable amount, as did most other aspects of health care. I’m just saying, that while Obama and his lib-zombies chant “get the rich, get the rich”, the trail lawyers are sitting back laughing their butts off at us because their best buddy Obama took tort reform off the table during his first health care “teleprompter of power” speech. And I hold Republicans accountable too for not proposing a common sense approach to health care reform, and I won’t argue that Bush didn’t do squat about it either (it wasn’t his platform, though). Are we ever going to have a balanced debate about health care? Good Lord no. It’s too late, both sides have twisted things to the point they can’t be straightened out. There are lies and disinformation on both sides, but here’s the rub: the fact that “death panels” are absurd doesn’t make the Democrats’ plan a good one. And on and on we go!
Oh, and I hear CIR is getting pushed to next year…an election year. HeeHeeHee!! 🙂
Oh, BTW, did anyone see Specter’s town hall today? As much as I’d like to bad-mouth Specter, he manned up and faced his constituents. I thought he handled himself pretty well.
I saw Specter and I agree with you. He really kept his cool. Many years in politics ought to enure a man to such attacks.
Agreed re Spector. Although I am fairly horrified at seeing people hollering and screaming and verbally abusing people on the news.
@Moon-howler
That was one nutbag at the very start of the meeting. His whole premise was wrong “you didn’t let anybody speak”, then acknowledged 30 such “anybodies”.
What is all this fussing about supporting Youth In Asia?
I say let’s take care of our own kids first.
You liberal twits need to watch more FOX-TV!
Poor, you and 10 millions illegals are asking the same question! ; )
I don’t consider myself a liberal twit.
I do watch Fox news quite often. However, I do it to see what the hot topic of the day is. It truly should be named ‘The Republican News Channel.’ It really isn’t a good channel for Independents.
Which Youth in Asia?
Have you heard about an amendment to HB 3200 called Senior Care – Required Euthanasia With End-of-life Diagnoses (SCREWED)? The colloquial name for the program, SCREWED, refers to the plight of senior citizens for whom expensive medical treatments are no longer cost effective due to their relatively short remaining life span. Although this amendment seems to be very popular with liberal democrats (who want to cover illegal aliens rather than the elderly), there has been considerable debate regarding the name of the amendment, since it could accidently reveal the true nature of the healthcare plan.
Okay, this isn’t really true, but it is just funny as Colbert.
M-H,
Euthanasia = Youth In Asia (A poor attempt at Colbert humor).
Kelly,
just a suggestion, but don’t quit your day job 😉
Poor Richard, Thanks, I have finally caught up. doh me. Too much multi-tasking. I was going to sneak in there and take it down before my social disgrace was known all over town. Ooopppsss…to late.
And to confess to even greater stupidity, that is what I thought it was called when I was a kid–youth in asia.
An interesting article from a physician about healthcare reform at http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=130392827800&ref=nf
He lays out some interesting long term ramifications – I don’t know how true or realistic they are.
No argument here. I had the exact same reaction to the Colbert video, except that of course it is his day job.