I generally agree with your other points. The biggest problem is that I don’t see in your or congress’ plans any meaningful way of curbing health care costs. Without that we are on a course for a train wreck whether we have “health care insurance reform” or not. There are a lot of people in the health care industry making a lot of money. Yea, tort reform would help a little bit but not make a major impact. So that is the nut that needs to be cracked and it won’t be easy…..

One thing we could do is stop allowing drug companies to market prescription drugs directly to the public. We take way too many drugs.

“The system could be fixed easily with a couple minor adjustments”. It seems “couple is now defined as “10″, give or take.

In looking at the 10, it’s not clear to me how they slow down the skyrocketing costs of health care and in turn, health care insurance rates.

Once we have #1, a cost will be arrived at by the insurance companies. If it exceeds some threshold, the government will some how subsidize the payment. I’m not clear how this process insures that people shop for lower rates unless the gov. forces people to the lowest cost provider.

Everyone has to purchase but I’m not sure how we enforce but later I see that we will buy it for them and it’s not clear how that is done or paid for.

Several of your proposals sound good to me including tort reform and nationwide purchasing of insurance. What confuses me though is how they are a “couple minor adjustments”. How are they any less simpler than just expanding Medicare for that paltry 10%? How do your changes insure that taxpayers aren’t paying for the continuation of multi-million dollar pay packages for insurance company execs or insurance company bureuacrats deciding what care an individual should receive?

All that said, I’d take your changes over what we have currently. That’s because I can afford insurance, I just can’t get it – pre-existing condition. But I truly do not believe that they would magically be agreed to by the GOP. This argument is like gun control, abortion, gay rights, etc. – don’t give an inch!

BG is correct that what is being shoved down our necks now is another LIE. We can cover the 10% of Americans (it’s less than 10% if you require proof of citizenship) that currently don’t have any insurance without messing with the current system. Expand Medicaid, add a percent or two to the FICA taxes that everyone pays.

The Democrats are fixated on taking over the system. The system could be fixed easily with a couple minor adjustments, but the Democrats need to be honest and quit LYING about what they are doing.

1) Government sets a minimum standard for a ‘basic’ policy. Insurance companies must offer this policy, but can offer additional policies that have additional coverage.

2) Insurance companies have to charge the same rate for everyone at every level of policy.

3) Insurance companies have to accept everyone to every policy with no “pre-existing” conditions.

4) Everyone has to purchase insurance.

5) Insurance provided by employers is taxed as income to the individual.

6) Tax credit for a certain amount each year.

7) Extra tax credit for low-income individuals (same as other welfare programs).

Tax penalty for not buying your own insurance (it will be bought for you as opposed to a criminal penalty.

9) Insurance can be bought from any company anywhere in the United States. It doesn’t matter where you live. If you find a cheaper rate anywhere else, you can buy it.

10) Tort reform that ends the frivolous lawsuits that are treated as a lottery winning. Actual damages aren’t capped, but punitive damages go to the government and not some trial attorney.

I believe 90% of Americans would be on-board with these changes – which would cover every American, reduce costs, provide better care through competition, and not have a “public option (read government program)”. It is the left-wing of the Democratic party that is stopping these changes. When the Republicans held power as the Democrats do now, every one of these was proposed and stopped in the Senate by the minority.

1. You imply that you shouldn’t be any taxes at all since you sound like you shouldn’t be paying Social Security. I believe what Foos was saying earlier is that Social Security was not created as a forced retirement plan. It is a tax. It is a tax you pay now to proivde a basic level of income to the current elderly. It was intended to be like insurance. The not paying taxes reminds me of my farmer friends who don’t feel they should pay taxes so that “welfare moms” get a basic level of support but when the conversation later gets around to commodity price supports, they are entitled to them. You make a joke about food but we actually do that. Your taxes go to pay for food stamps.

2. “We became the country we are by NOT relying on government programs”. Where did that come from? In reality, we became the country we are BY relying on government programs. Programs like Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, FDIC Insurance, Unemployment Insurance, Commodity Price Supports, Corporate Subsidies, Food Stamps, SCHIP, TARP, just to name a few. Like them or not, we are a country of government programs.

You want solutions, not platitudes? Fine, let’s take a step back, and look at what is right in our system, our medical system. What works financially? What provides the best service? Medicare has largely provided good service, but is in dire straits financially. We became the country we are by NOT relying on government programs. Your hollering about our needing to join the rest of the civilized world is about as grounded in reality as those who believe in the death panels.