At least Romney stalled the slide.

We can certainly agree that the idea of price controls on premiums is totally idiotic, but I’m not seeing how this statement is at all true:

Under former Governor Mitt Romney, the state of Massachusetts undertook the largest single step towards single payer health care of any government entity in the United States to date.

The Federal government has taken leaps towards single payer (Medicare, Medicaid, VA). Other states have done just as much or more regulating coverage.

Say for example I was a very wealthy individual living in Boston. I have more than enough money to self insure for basic needs and even most catastrophic care. I want to go out and buy a policy with a $1M deductible and no copays on anything. I can’t do that in Massachusetts. I now have to waste money on a policy that I don’t want. I am required to purchase what the government says I have to or I am penalized.

That may not be “single payer” but it does accomplish the same purpose. Everyone pays at least the same amount for a product that they don’t necessarily want or need.

And yes, the auto insurance market does function the same way. For whatever reason, there isn’t the same pressure on that market to continually raise the standards of what qualifies as insurance.

To me – that guy Madoff that stole the money in the ponzi scheme is no different than Medicare and Social Security – all operate as ponzi schemes – take new investors/tax payers and pay for original investors/tax payers.

It is not something that could be done overnight but it could be done. Fire most hospital administrators and get conservative leadership – ex. Michelle Obama was a hospital admin. in Chicago (does that tell you anything?). She made what something like $400,000/year (after her husband becomes Senator) to teach culture diversity – how many aspirins would that buy? And you wonder why an aspirin costs $50/aspirin. Alot of hospital administrators resemble our Congress and the Big 3 Auto Execs. and AIG – but don’t worry hospitals have been being bailed out by taxpayers for many years – they were the original bailouts!!!

If you take Hillary, Obama, or Romney’s plan and change our current system (flaws and all) and change it to any of their systems you will get what Massachusetts is getting right now. That was the point of my comment.

I agree Medicare is a ponzi scheme just like social security and all other liberals programs but if it were changed to any of the above mentioned plans it would be like giving Medicare steroids – it would completely finish our system off. It would cause rationing as mentioned before.

Sounds like we agree, because I believe in minute clinics (I would use one), HSA’s (I have one) and other free market solutions to our current mess – and you are right it may be too little too late (I pray not).

I certainly agree that government is the problem. Starting all the way back with the wage controls after WWII, which resulted in employers providing free insurance, which resulted into nobody paying doctor’s bills any more, which resulted in out of control health care costs.

Minute clinics are good, HSAs are also good, but I am afraid it is too little too late at this point. I don’t see a way back that people would even tolerate politically, much less embrace.

We do still have free market involvement – the minute clinics at the pharmacies – run by Nurse Practitioners are a great example of how if the government gets out of the way the system is successful and much better than the red tape we have to go through when dealing with Medicare and other government programs.

What I am saying is we are close to socialized medicine because of the liberal programs in place – but currently we do not have complete socialized medicine. Our medical system has areas that need to be fixed – mainly dealing with the current government problems like you mentioned – reimbursements, etc…

Massachusetts is the best example out there as to NOT going ahead with liberals plans.

Following Massachusetts plan is like giving a diabetic a candy bar and then a balanced meal and then saying well your blood sugar is up anyways – just eat candy from now on and let us see if that makes it better.

Massachusetts took our problems that we currently have and put those problems on steroids.

We need reform (good reform – not more government involvement).

Health care is a mess in Mass, but it’s also a mess in every other state of the union. I don’t see insurance mandates as the fix for it, but I can’t really say I got a lot of other politically feasible ideas on how to fix the system, either.

That won’t be enough eventually, then we’ll just have to straight up ration care with lines like other countries do.

Why I as a Registered Nurse will NOT work in the healthcare system IF socialized medicine (under any name) is put into place:

1) I cannot ethically and with good conscience stand by and watch people not get treatment because the government decides the financial benefits outway the risks of helping a person.
***example – my 95-year-old great-grandmother still lives at home and cooks and able to take care of herself with slight assistance by our family. Last spring she fell and broke her hip – under our current system she had her hip replaced, went to a rehab center, and returned home to home health (for less time than most of our younger patient’s stay under our care) and back to cooking and able to live comfortably in her home.
***so let’s take this to scenario #2 – under socialized medicine my great-grandmother wound meet one of two fates – either she would have to wait 6 months or more for hip to be replaced and SUFFER with a broken hip and not be able to return to home, OR the most likely scenario she would not qualify for hip surgery, the decision would have been taken out of the hands of my great-grandmother and our family and into the hands of the government – she would have suffered until she dies.
*****THANK GOD we have the system that we have – I know our system has problems but trust me socialized medicine is NOT the answer.
***under scenario #2 – young people (legal or illegal citizens here in the U.S.) would have received treatment at no cost and my great-grandmother who worked in the Mill and raised 4 girls and has always taken care of herself would not have received treatment – see anything wrong with that? I do!!!

As a nurse I would not be able to live with myself and practice under those conditions – Medicare/Medicaid and all of the other government programs have a big enough hold on us now – government is NOT the solution – government is the PROBLEM and if Americans let them take total control of our healthcare system then we will be heading south to somewhere to get our care like the Canadians do now (from their socialized medicine) – if it is so great why do Canadians come to America for treatment? Where would they go if America becomes as foolish as their system?

He deserves to be brought into this discussion!

I mean Come on!