I don’t care which party has the solution to the health care problem but I do trust MD politicians more to find real world solutions.

No U.S. or state government owns our private health records or us.

Private citizens who agree must resist government health care by refusing to allow government’s unauthorized confiscation of our records.

We must find or create a legal document or letter template private citizens can use to prevent physicians, insurance companies, etc. from releasing our health records to any government entity without each individual’s express, informed and written consent.

If medical/insurance providers throughout the country receive millions of these documents, they will take note. Sending a copy to federal/state legislators, the president and governors will reinforce this message.

It will take nationwide participation, but it can be done. It might be the only way to stop the release of our private records to the government and put a stop to government health care.

If this makes sense to you, pass it on! Better yet, how do we work together to make it happen?

Call their bluff. They can have what they want if the vehicle is a universal health savings account. HSA would be consumer/family administered and could be left to heirs.

The VAT would be a HAT, (Healthcare Added Tax) would be a dedicated pass through to people’s HSA’s.

Offer this pragmatic compromise and the American will love it. End Medicaid and Medicare with universal HSA!

But if you think employer-funding is bad, please call Aetna, Blue Cross, or a few others that offer private Individual Health Insurance … or ask your HR department for the current COBRA premium (what you’ll pay for 18 months if you lose your job).

Please note that the employers’ cost for “benefits” is far north of 30% of your salary … probably more like 100% … and lower-paid employees benefit far more (as a percentage) than executives.

You are right that “more bodies” means “more costs.” Every body takes its cut except the patient pays for it all one way or another. Doctors make a profit, hospitals make a profit, insurance companies make a profit … each adding to the actual cost.

And note especially … even the Government continues to make a profit on Medicare, although they will no longer in a few years.

The hot summer night fell like a net
I’ve got to find my baby yet
I need you to soothe my head
Turn my blue heart to red

Doctor, doctor, give me the news

Government health care is not the answer. I know Americans that have spent days in Britain or a then-Soviet country waiting for “free” medical care. Canadians come here for care!

But Doctors and insurance companies are also to blame, and Congress lets them get away with it.

Why is it that Doctors set their rates based on the recommendations of consultants, rather than their costs?
. “Inflation” has been well under 5% for years, but medical charges have risen more than 10% annually.
. Even my dentist admits he raised his rates 30% one year, but didn’t match that increase when it came to staff’s salaries. I didn’t buy the explanation about catch-up … his rates had been rising steadily for years.
. When insurance stopped covering it, the cost of Lasix-like eye surgeries dropped from $4,000 to under $1,000!
. A clinic charged me $50,000 for less than two hours in an Operating Room … not for major surgery, but to put four screws and a plate into an ankle! [to the Doctor's credit, he charged less than a tenth of that for the actual surgery.]
. A simple physical generated a Doctor’s line item charge for my wife’s “Prostate Exam.” Think about it.
. I continue to hear complaints about liability insurance, but we capped liability in Texas, and even a lawyer friend says that there is no point in suing anymore!

Insurance companies keep raising their rates, but their profits are exorbitant.
. I’ve watched my Individual Health Insurance premiums rise to more than my mortgage payment.
. The same company has reduced “earned premium” (the ratio of premiums received versus payments made) from 70% down to 61% … that means that almost 40% of insurance premiums go to expenses (that have been reduced) and PROFIT!
. Yeah, and a former company didn’t even bother to challenge the “prostate exam” … they paid it.

So , while opposing national health insurance, Doctor, heal thyself.

Incidentally, zoltanne, good questions. A few answers:
. Many states cap lawsuit awards … not in actual expenses, but in penalties
. As soon as you take the patient out of the payment equation, rates can rise as much as insurance will bear.
. States’ Rights remain in very few areas, but insurance is one of them: every state has its own insurance bureau; the Feds control only Medicaid/Medicare and policies for at least 2 million civilian and over 1 million military employees.

LA now counts three M.D.s, all Republicans, among its seven member Congressional delegation.

The equations governming two-body problems are solvable, but once you turn it into a multibody problems, the equations turn chaotic. Our current system is a four body problem: patient, medical professional, reimbursement party, and employers. It’s not surprising then that our system is chaotic – its inherent in the system.

Adding a fifth-body – government – will be even worse and almost certainly result in collisions. We clearly agree on that.

Rather, we at least need to remove employers from the picture combined with the ability to include everyone in groups and better incentives towards appropriate utilization (e.g. co-pays). We’ll still have instability as a three-body system, but there’s better hope preventing collisions that with four or five bodies.

The real elephant in the room though is affordability.

It includes people who are changing jobs and are temporarily uninsured while transitioning from 1 employer’s plan to the other. Though technically uninsured for a brief period, they are not at much risk and don’t need government assistance.

It includes people who are covered under various government health care programs. These people are technically uninsured though they don’t have to worry about health care since it is being provided by the government.

It includes illegal aliens who though uninsured, can get free medical care at just about any hospital or clinic in the country.

The real number of uninsured people who NEED insurance coverage is much lower than the oft quoted 47 million.

We need to formulate a plan for health incurance which will follow employees, even across state lines. Probably some insurers would go out of business with the increased competition. But if they’re not meeting the needs of the consumer, then they will change or be gone. That’s free market.

Also, how many of those people in those stats are willingly uninsured? These numbers drive me crazy. The majority of people have insurance and love it or at least are happy with it. Can we please have some reality in Washington?

Otherwise, binge on your own Kool-Aid and and sprinkle your own pixie dust where it makes you feel good about yourself.