schatsie's Comments (2385)

“The primary cost drivers of the bill are the subsidy to the poor and the inclusion of people with pre-existing conditions into the health insurance pool. The subsidy will be paid for primarily using the progressive income tax. The people with pre-existing conditions will mostly be subsidized by those who do not qualify for the subsidy.

The insurance industries will be making more money mostly because they have more customers. The biggest change for insurance companies will be the additional customers and the MLR cap. No one really knows how effective the MLR cap will be but many believe that the current MLR for insurance companies is around 76 to 78 so a shift to 85 would be a very significant reduction.”

“Amen to that : Your suggestion would sure help bring down the cost of a Universal Health Care. It's unfortunatley not likely to happen. You have to remember that most of Congress are in those brackets you point to and they are major beneficiaries of the status quo. What you suggest is tantamount to shooting themselves in the foot (albeit they have great health care to take care of that thanks to us) ! It really irks me when I hear both Dems and Repub's talking about the defecit and stealing from future generations when there is this kind of waste, fraud and corruption going on ! You really have to start there or you don't get anything else done : prime example is the health care : ooopps sorry : I mean the "Insurance Reform" bill ! A good "health care" system on the other hand is not something you debate : It's something you mandate ! What a dog and phony show this has been ! When they want something for ear marks, pork barrel and give me's : they don't have any trouble finding the money but when it comes to providing health care for everyone equally all of a sudden we're broke or it's too expensive ! WTF ?”

“Yeah. I am fan of David Cay Johnston's but have not read Free Lunch. Just to be clear I'm no fan of Buffett's but used his anecdote.”

“Simple, you pay a higher tax rate on income earned from work than on income earned from owning pieces of paper...
Long term capital gains tax rate is 5% if it would be 15% or lower, and 15% for people who would otherwise pay higher than 15% taxes.
Figure out what your taxes would be if you earned your paycheck in capital gains instead of working if you want to get mad!”

“Yep, California is still reeling from Enron and the Republicans blame the "liberal policies and programs" rather than Enron and Arnold, where the blame really lies.”

“talk about no brainers, they're in process of doing this”

“You are having dreams about the US, that were true 30 years ago...when we had real jobs with real benefits....The Germans are now 70% energy independent and that will also keep their economy cranking along better than ours,,let alone the fact that they spend 8% less of their GDP than we do for healthcare....and they have real education, clean water in their hospitals, and single payer and good pensions....i for one do not mind paying taxes, but I am a fiscal conservative and want to see real value for my taxes,,,,and that is what I decried about Bush, the man took the taxpayer money and 8 billion dollars EVAPORATED In Iraq because he was taking good care of his HAVE MORES.......Our first gay president,,,giving away money to the hos....”

“and it's probably why our economy has grown twice as fast and we're world's economic and military superpower. if you want to be like them, fine. I don't.”

“finally a wise comment on this not-for-profit website. the biggest problem with health insurance and health costs is that most people have no idea how much the product actually costs. is there any other product you buy that you don't know the costs? it would be interesting to see how many people in America know what a doctor charges for a visit. Do they charge by the hour? By the visit? Do they charge different prices if you have insurance or not? I go to a really cheap doctor....it only costs me $30 every time.”

“As long as we believe the "where else are you gonna go?" line, nothing will change.”

“I'll pretend that you are PROHCR and answer your question. If this is basically what you're asking: "what makes you think they will do anything to manage healthcare....",
My answer is: because I READ THE BILL and my family and friends WILL BENEFIT from what's in it.”

“The economy was in free fall when President Obama took office. It has stabilized since then. To me, he made the moves that were necessary. I won't nitpick at his methods.”

“A nice list to drop on Righties when they start lecturing how efficient the market is at taking care of itself and that invisible hand that is responsible for the self-regulating nature of the marketplace. They are compelling reasons for health care insurance companies to be not for profit, if not taken over by the government and run like Medicare.”

“When in doubt blame the Republicans I guess.”