When Kaitlin was young one of Andy’s favorite sayings was,
Smart people are a dime a dozen. You have to learn to be effective!
It’s too bad Obama didn’t learn that earlier. Apparently he’s trying to undo the damage from his lie about people being able to keep their old insurance policies. He’s now proposing that people who have been canceled can keep their old plans for a year. Congress and the insurance companies have problems with that idea, and the fact is there is no easy solution to the mess. We’ll be hearing a lot more about the matter as time goes on.
Is anyone profiting from the debacle? I did see an ad saying
The government may not be able to build a great website, but you can.
There may be hope for America yet.
I don’t see how this improves anything. He’s still not keeping his promise. This isn’t directly “letting” people keep their plans. The administration is “allowing” insurance companies to temporarily keep people on their health plans that don’t meet the requirements of the law and I can’t see many insurance companies taking him up on it — or even being allowed to by state insurance regulators. Insurance companies have been preparing for the implementation for three years, preparing to comply with the law. There are 31 working days left in the year. I don’t think there’s enough time left for the companies to implement this change, which may not even be legal without congressional action.
There is no way it’s going to fix things — it reminds me of trying to put toothpaste back in the tube. But at least he’s no longer saying the system will be fixed by the end of November.
I did think the ad was clever.
Politicians tend to say what people want to hear.
Yes, they’re primarily salesmen.
I don’t properly understand what the problem is with rolling out the new healthcare arrangements, but I’ve seen plenty of reports saying what an unholy mess it’s turning into. Just glad I’m in the UK where I can still get excellent healthcare (more or less) for free and don’t end up bankrupt if I develop some serious medical condition.
Yes, you’re luckier than a lot of Americans. It will be interesting to see how it all turns out.
Health insurance is not compulsory here either. If you have it you can fast track medical/similar treatment by going private. And I guess if you went to doctor/dentist/other you could claim back your costs.
But you can also just turn up to a public hospital – urgent things like broken limbs get reasonably fast treatment (depends on numbers at ER) – or go on a waiting list. That might turn out be short or long depending on a whole lot of factors.
Treatment costs are in ranges, free if you are certain very young age, through to varying amounts depending on your circumstances and the business providing service.
Same with prescriptions where there are similar range…
An example of something free that I’m entitled to because my health issues: the annual flu’ jab! It isn’t necessarily the strain roaming the streets but it usually keeps me from getting anything like actual flu’ 🙂
Andy and I always get a flu shot too. I think it’s harder here for people to get health care at a reasonable price without insurance. The uninsured tend to get charged a lot more than the insurance companies do for the same services. It’s a mess.
One fellow we know was treated for a heart attack and the bill was $36,000. He couldn’t pay the whole thing but offered to pay $300 a month. The hospital said they would drop the price to something like $30,000 if he paid right away. The fellow said, no, he didn’t have the money. He would pay $300 a month. About a year later they said if he paid right away they would lower the price to $6000. He didn’t have it. He would pay $300 a month They said no, so he stopped paying and they forgot about it. Of course, there’s no guarantee all hospitals would do the same thing. The pricing here is completely irrational.