I’m sorry, but I wasn’t aware that this bill was going to solve the problems (or even begin to solve the problems) that you claim they will. There’s nothing that’s been written to show me that this will not cause more harm than good.I find some comments on this site to be so far from being Catholic, let alone Christian. How can you be “pro-life” yet not care what happens to that life after it leaves the womb? As Catholics aren’t we supposed to care for our brothers and sisters? Isn’t that what Jesus taught? You are all so focused on abortions that have yet to take place, but seem to care little about those who are actually dying today because they lack the resources to be able to afford healthcare. In a rich country like the US, that is a sin. According to the teachings of Christ, it is our moral oblibation to care for one another. This health reform bill is not perfect, but it is a start. http://www.bustedhalo.com/features/for-i-was-ill-and-you-cared-for-me/
The absence of health insurance creates a range of consequences, including lower quality of life, increased morbidity and mortality, and higher financial burdens. This paper focuses on just one aspect of this harm—namely, greater risk of death—and seeks to illustrate its general order of magnitude. In 2002, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) estimated that 18,000 Americans died in 2000 because they were uninsured. Since then, the number of uninsured has grown. Based on the IOM’s methodology and subsequent Census Bureau estimates of insurance coverage, 137,000 people died from 2000 through 2006 because they lacked health insurance, including 22,000 people in 2006. urban.org/publications/411588.html
The blatant hypocrisy and hatred in the messages here leave me wondering what happened to the values our religion once held as important.
And after spending over a decade and hundreds of thousands of dollars on their education, would you call that fair?Oh come on, that many physicians will not leave their practices. This is like yelling the sky is falling. They won’t leave because there is still money to be made in the business, albeit perhaps not as much. Maybe they will be closer in income to the rest of us.
People who plan on being a doctor for only 10 years ought not to take up seats in medical school, in my opinion. True, you don’t have to work 60-80 hours a week your entire career (though you might), but considering there are three qualified applicants for every seat and the ongoing physician shortage . . . go do something else if you want to retire at 40. If that’s your goal, med school (and it’s attendant debt load) is not for you.True, the number 46 is probably higher than the actual. Many doctors will have 2nd thoughts. But what about
a) those who planned on being a doctor for only 10 more years or so? This can be enough to push them into retiring a lot quicker.
b) those in school who are chased off into another degree plan. I’ve heard two young adults tell me they are planning their future AROUND this plan.
So, how many other entitlements have EVER been rescinded by Congress?
I’m sorry, but you may have misunderstood me. I meant doctors who have 10 years left in their careers. These doctors may choose to retire earlier than to put up with all the new cr*p that this bill will shovel down their throats.People who plan on being a doctor for only 10 years ought not to take up seats in medical school, in my opinion. True, you don’t have to work 60-80 hours a week your entire career (though you might), but considering there are three qualified applicants for every seat and the ongoing physician shortage . . . go do something else if you want to retire at 40. If that’s your goal, med school (and it’s attendant debt load) is not for you.
I’ve got a nephew who is entering med school this year. And I worked with teenagers putting on retreats. I keep in touch with these kids. These kids are paying attention to what’s happening in Congress.The vast majority of freshman pre-meds are chased off to another degree plan, but it has everything to do with not making the grades and/or maturing into the realization that they are better suited to something else. I’m a college senior, deep in the heart of conservative land, and I haven’t heard anyone make a comment like that.
Indeed! As for the “clunkers” program, I feel that it was one of the stupidest decisions in history.My brother-in-law, a heart specialist, has already bought a house in his country of birth. He plans to move back there if “Health Care” passes.
The government cannot even run “cash-for-clunkers:” How do they expect to run “Health Care?” I do not think that the government could run a hot dog stand without losing money.
What about the polls among physicians that do not bear out your contention. There are still doctors around that care very much for the welfare of their patients and have already had enough of government interference in their practice of medicine.Oh come on, that many physicians will not leave their practices. This is like yelling the sky is falling. They won’t leave because there is still money to be made in the business, albeit perhaps not as much. Maybe they will be closer in income to the rest of us.
Doctors have bigger problems with government interference than insurance companies. Any doctor would tell you this.It isn’t government interference that doctors are tired of, its interference by insurance companies. They are the ones who decide everything about your care.
And people, this isn’t a PRO-abortion health care bill. Abortion is legal in our country. Just because you find it morally wrong and a sin, does not mean that everyone else does.
Isn’t the lack of care and concern for the millions who are sick and dying due to their lack of healthcare just as important for we Catholics to be concerned about? Aren’t we supposed to care for and help those less fortunate than us? Or does your interpretation of our religion tell you only to attack those with whom you disagree?
Perhaps you should all go and read your bibles again, especially the verse about the one without sin casting the first stone, and also judging one another.
I doubt anyone posting on this site is without sin.
This sounds like the new scare tactic, along the lines “death panels”. Strange that if the health care proposal were that unpopular with doctors, the AMA (made up of, uh, doctors) would endorse it.Washington, DC – A new poll that should cause significant concerns for backers of the pro-abortion Senate health care bill finds nearly half the nation’s physicians would consider quitting if the bill becomes law. The New England Journal of Medicine survey indicates 46 percent of doctors would consider leaving their practice.
LifeNews.com/nat6137.html
I have been on Medicare A and B for nine years. I have had at least two major hospitilazations, one for two months and one for ten days. My daughter was hospitalized and treated for cancer and then for viral pneumonia. Her total stay was for more than 3 months. She was on a state supported medical plan for the indigent. The most problems for me has not been Medicare or my doctors, but with the insurance companies that I carried supplemental insurance with. They are two of the big ones. Between that insurance provider and my drug insurance provider and the billing departments at the hospitals and clinics involved life becomes one long travail in trying to get them to get it right the first time.Doctors have bigger problems with government interference than insurance companies. Any doctor would tell you this.
It seems like it is the “secondary” carrier that is the problem. For instance, your insurance company (the secondary carrier) determines what to pay, only after the primary carrier has paid. If the primary is late in paying (like medicaid is notorious for), then of course you would have problems with the secondary carrier, for they don’t know what they are liable for.I have been on Medicare A and B for nine years. I have had at least two major hospitilazations, one for two months and one for ten days. My daughter was hospitalized and treated for cancer and then for viral pneumonia. Her total stay was for more than 3 months. She was on a state supported medical plan for the indigent. The most problems for me has not been Medicare or my doctors, but with the insurance companies that I carried supplemental insurance with. They are two of the big ones. Between that insurance provider and my drug insurance provider and the billing departments at the hospitals and clinics involved life becomes one long travail in trying to get them to get it right the first time.
Medicare, a single payer system has been almost a dream to work with after a pre-retirement struggle with Insurance Companies. The biggest mistake Obama and the Democrats are making is sucking up to the insurance industry and not creating a single payer system like Medicare for everyone. At least then, one is not exposed to the whims of the for profit insurance industry. They are blood suckers, free enterprise blood suckers. With medicare, I could pick my doctors, hospitals, drug provider and not have to worry about being “out of network.” I have more control over my health care under Medicare than I have ever experienced with the insurance industry. Those blood suckers are the prime example of the “death panel” providers.
A minority of doctors in the US belong to the AMA, maybe 28%, possibly less. Many doctors do not belong because they believe the AMA no longer represents them. When your professional society becomes more intoxicated with its own power than performing its job to represent you, you drop your support. Which is a lot more significant than it appears, because the AMA is about the ONLY voice doctors would ordinarily have in Washington. Better to have no voice, than a voice that would (and did) screw you over.This sounds like the new scare tactic, along the lines “death panels”. Strange that if the health care proposal were that unpopular with doctors, the AMA (made up of, uh, doctors) would endorse it.
It depends on the reasons why these medical students decided to study medicine. If a person chooses a profession like medicine, it should be because they like to help people, to treat and cure patients, therefore, this bill does not have to do anything with their decision to follow such a career. Now, if those students decided to study in order to make money, that is a different purpose and therefore for sure, they will start quitting their medical studies.Hmmmm… and we have a shortage of doctors now? What’s going to happen then? I understand numerous students are debating whether they should continue in their medical degrees if the “healthcare” bill passes.
I certainly believe that insurance companies have made big money out of healthcare and that they have twisted the goals of what a medical insurace should be. We are living in a place that everything is about: who get more money. Medical insurances have been in the position of denying coverage because of pre-existing conditions, leaving those infortunate ones with a lot of disadvantages and if they do accept them, they charge quite a bit more besides you paying higher premium own your own for at least one year before they start covering those preexisting conditions. So, the insurance companies take quite a big of our money, hospitals also, doctors also, pharmacies also, therefore, the patient is the one left with no money in their pockets. I certainly believe we are better off, having national healthcare coverage like the UK or france. It is time that our government care more about their own citizens than investing in war issues which is a waste of money and against our religion.Doctors have bigger problems with government interference than insurance companies. Any doctor would tell you this.
BTW, did you notice that Walgreens (and other companies) in some areas are no longer taken prescriptions from new Medicare patients?
I know its easy to demonize the insurance companies - our president has done an admirable job of doing that to any group that he opposes - but let’s be honest. Its hard to convince me that an insurance company that has a 3% operating margin is gouging the hell out of everybody.I certainly believe that insurance companies have made big money out of healthcare and that they have twisted the goals of what a medical insurace should be. We are living in a place that everything is about: who get more money. Medical insurances have been in the position of denying coverage because of pre-existing conditions, leaving those infortunate ones with a lot of disadvantages and if they do accept them, they charge quite a bit more besides you paying higher premium own your own for at least one year before they start covering those preexisting conditions. So, the insurance companies take quite a big of our money, hospitals also, doctors also, pharmacies also, therefore, the patient is the one left with no money in their pockets. I certainly believe we are better off, having national healthcare coverage like the UK or france. It is time that our government care more about their own citizens than investing in war issues which is a waste of money and against our religion.
And why is this? When did this become the guidelines for any career? I person should have the right to pursue any career for any reason, unless its detrimental to someone else.It depends on the reasons why these medical students decided to study medicine. If a person chooses a profession like medicine, it should be because they like to help people, to treat and cure patients…
There have been fantastic doctors who originally got into their careers for (by your standards mentioned above) all the wrong reasons. I don’t care; a good doctor is a good doctor, no matter his original intentions. You and I both know that any job is a good job UNTIL the problems outweigh the benefits.… therefore, this bill does not have to do anything with their decision to follow such a career. Now, if those students decided to study in order to make money, that is a different purpose and therefore for sure, they will start quitting their medical studies.