Senate Healthcare Plan Lacks House Bill's Strict Abortion Funding Ban

I believe American citizens should have the right to examine these plans. I have heard rumors Obama's plan would include coverage for illegal immigrants who will not have to pay for the benefits and also do not pay taxes, that individuals will not have the rights to determine what kind of treatment they will receive and families will not decide whether life preserving measures be taken. I do not believe decisions of this nature should be determined by government. It is unfair for every doctor to be paid the same amount as their education, skill, and techniques are different.

I believe the plans will interfere with individual rights and freedoms. Our government has moved from the democratic nation and eliminated almost every idea regarding freedom of religion and we are headed towards a socialist nation. I am very opposed to this. We need to concentrate on the American citizens and forget about giving illegal immigrants citizenship. Our government is attempting to destroy the concept of democracy and is more concerned about non-American citizens than our own people.

While we appear to be fighting in other countries for people's government/democracy our own nation is moving in a direction which is contrary to this.

I have lost much faith in our political leaders and particularly the President. I do not believe they are truly concerned about the American citizens. We have American citizens who are unable to feed their families and maintain a decent living standard but there is more concern for the illegal immigrants than these families. Politicians are more concerned with staying in power than dealing with our own crisis.

Marilyn R. Heniff of IL 12:01PM February 25, 2010

This is really nuts, I think the health care issue is gonna destroy Obama.

Just check out what it says here…

http://ketiva.com/Politics_and_Government/bizarre_debates_over_us_health_care_reform1.html

billy 37 of CA 9:02PM November 22, 2009

In the post by Jaime Boe, an assumption is made that the 848 billion will cover insurance for 31 million for 10 years.

This is not true. In the first three years of the program only 9 billion will be spent. Coverage for the uninsured doesn't start until year 4 or 5 of the 10 year span. The cost per person for the years covered is closer to $4500 per person. The plan cost per year once all 31 million are covered is close to 140 billion per year.

The politicians in the Senate are using accounting tricks to get a bill passed, knowing that it is underfunded and will require massive tax hikes in 5 to 10 years to sustain the program.

If they can't be honest about the costs, what else are they hiding? Its time to be honest about the costs and the tax hikes required to fund the program long term. The accounting tricks used in the Senate bill make millions of Americans fell they are being mislead.

Bob of TX 9:45AM November 20, 2009

First - this Senate bill looks great!

Second - previous comments by Jim lack mathematical rigor.

Just doing some quick back of the envelope calculations on this proposal, ignoring the abortion and illegal immigrant diversions, shows it's pretty close to hitting the mark.

Assume that employers will continue providing the health care benefits to their employees that they do now. Employer insurance now accepts patients with pre-existing conditions, keeping costs high. But with a mandate that all must buy health insurance (including the young and healthy), overall costs should come down because providers won't have to pass on losses from non paying patients.

So, assume that the $848 billion in the Senate bill covers the 31 million uninsured over 10 years. That's $85 billion a year for 31 million people = $2735 per year per person. That's $228 a month. That will buy a lot of insurance for a lot of people!

The best part about this is the unintended consequences of the overall restructuring. It will take a huge load off state budgets for indigent care. People will be able to move more freely from job to job without fear of a health emergency. Launching entrepreneurial projects and small business will be much easier without the high cost of health care weighing them down. And the intangible benefit of knowing you won't lose your house if you get sick - priceless!

This is long overdue - Good work Sen Reid!

Jamie Boe of OR 9:17PM November 19, 2009