Obama's ABC Health Show - Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community

ASU2003 · 06-25-2009, 04:53 PM

Did anybody watch this last night? What did you think?

It did answer my previous question from yesterday a little better. Obama said that the government wasn't going to let companies dump their health insurance on the government, but individuals could shop around and pick a government plan if it would be the best for them.

But, my complaint is with ABC. They had 5 commercial breaks in a one hour show about a huge topic. This wasn't some normal primetime show, and half of the country should have been watching. I can see having some commercials before and afterwards, but to ask the President a question and then go to commercial before he gives his answer is pretty tacky. And they also ran 30 minutes at midnight or something (I DVR'd it)

The next part is I thought it was only going to be about this new healthcare marketplace idea for people 19-65(?) Medicaid/Medicare is an important topic, but that can be discussed at another time. So the questions about end of life care (30% of costs), and if a 99 year old should be given a pacemaker should have been skipped.

Other than that, I think he did a good job explaining it (Rush needed to listen a little better). It keeps the system private, yet at the same time allows for some good competition from the government. The health care industry has a monopoly and they aren't doing enough to self-regulate and improve service. And pretty soon, fewer and fewer people will be able to afford coverage. Pushing preventative programs, fixing the foods we eat, cleaning up the environment, and routine screenings will do a lot to lower costs. Not needing care is the best policy, and it is in the government's interest to make people healthy. Insurance companies, drug companies, and doctors make more money from sick people currently.

I think that this should be setup like the post office. They aren't really the government, but they aren't a private company either. If you have a UPS and FedEx charging $50 to take a package to the next town (when it costs them $5), I have no problem with the government setting up a competitor that will only charge people $10 if they can pay (and $0 for a certain number of things) if they can't.

Are the Republicans going to come up with a plan that would work as well? Do they want to keep their plans low, but have really expensive care? Do they just want to plug their ears and hope the problem fixes itself? I'm willing to listen to what they have to say if they can come up with something that works. Their HSA plan could have worked, but the banks/insurance companies who run it were greedy and it was not consumer friendly (1% interest rate when savings accounts were at 4%, $2 monthly fee, sky high deductibles).

I was disappointed that Obama didn't answer any questions about how a person who had no money (or very little) would fit into this plan.

06-25-2009, 04:53 PM	#1 (permalink)
ASU2003 immoral minority Location: Back in Ohio	Obama's ABC Health Show Did anybody watch this last night? What did you think? It did answer my previous question from yesterday a little better. Obama said that the government wasn't going to let companies dump their health insurance on the government, but individuals could shop around and pick a government plan if it would be the best for them. But, my complaint is with ABC. They had 5 commercial breaks in a one hour show about a huge topic. This wasn't some normal primetime show, and half of the country should have been watching. I can see having some commercials before and afterwards, but to ask the President a question and then go to commercial before he gives his answer is pretty tacky. And they also ran 30 minutes at midnight or something (I DVR'd it) The next part is I thought it was only going to be about this new healthcare marketplace idea for people 19-65(?) Medicaid/Medicare is an important topic, but that can be discussed at another time. So the questions about end of life care (30% of costs), and if a 99 year old should be given a pacemaker should have been skipped. Other than that, I think he did a good job explaining it (Rush needed to listen a little better). It keeps the system private, yet at the same time allows for some good competition from the government. The health care industry has a monopoly and they aren't doing enough to self-regulate and improve service. And pretty soon, fewer and fewer people will be able to afford coverage. Pushing preventative programs, fixing the foods we eat, cleaning up the environment, and routine screenings will do a lot to lower costs. Not needing care is the best policy, and it is in the government's interest to make people healthy. Insurance companies, drug companies, and doctors make more money from sick people currently. I think that this should be setup like the post office. They aren't really the government, but they aren't a private company either. If you have a UPS and FedEx charging $50 to take a package to the next town (when it costs them $5), I have no problem with the government setting up a competitor that will only charge people $10 if they can pay (and $0 for a certain number of things) if they can't. Are the Republicans going to come up with a plan that would work as well? Do they want to keep their plans low, but have really expensive care? Do they just want to plug their ears and hope the problem fixes itself? I'm willing to listen to what they have to say if they can come up with something that works. Their HSA plan could have worked, but the banks/insurance companies who run it were greedy and it was not consumer friendly (1% interest rate when savings accounts were at 4%, $2 monthly fee, sky high deductibles). I was disappointed that Obama didn't answer any questions about how a person who had no money (or very little) would fit into this plan. Last edited by ASU2003; 06-25-2009 at 04:58 PM..