Comments about ‘Attendees of Chaffetz meeting angry over health care’

Chaffetz was amazing. He is well liked, getting a standing ovation just to start speaking. It is obvious that Chaffetz can get re-elected next year. It is also pretty obvious that others back there need to be worried.

Ummm...Chaffetz works for the fed goverment and he doesn't 'trust' it? What an embarassment, what a joke. Go ahead and elect Glenn Beck--at least his IQ is 10 points higher! Man, as a conservative I wish conservatives could get a person with a decent intellect--I just want to run and hide!!!

I am fortunate have a job that provides me and my family with insurance. My cousin a plumber isn't so lucky. Because of a pre-existing condition of his wife and one of his kids he can't get family insurance.

We need reform. Ability to have health care shouldn't be profit based, in a country such as ours everyone should have access to decent health care.

We can afford to pay CEO's hundreds of millions even when they do a bad job, can't we afford decent health care for the regular people?

I keep hearing we can't have health care.

1) The deficit is too high.

2) It is not the job of Government to help in this area.

3) Why should I be taxed to pay for your health care?

4) The people who don't have it, should get a job that provides it.

What I keep hearing is that we can't. What we need in this country is a can do attitude. We were able to go to the moon and government was quite involved in making this happen.

I don't buy it that going to the moon is more important that health care. I don't buy it that we can't do this or that we shouldn't.

We can and we should, there are real people who are suffering. There are childen who are doing without.

The Democrat's bill will not work.

So ... what might? Well, for starters:

Allow insurance companies to compete anywhere in the U.S. Currently, insurance companies have to be "approved" by each state in order to sell insurance.

Get rid of "pre-existing condition clauses." If companies are selling insurance they have to make it available to everyone. High risk clients can be spread out amongst all the insurance companies.

Tort Reform. We shouldn't be making patients and their families multi-millionaires because of a doctor's mistake.

Should there be some compensation? Absolutely ... but make it reasonable and set a maximum which can be paid in cases of death.

That's the only way to contain costs. Furthermore, if a doctor is so inept that he continues to injure people, he should no longer be a doctor and might be held criminally liable.

Allow patients to sign away their right to sue, in exchange for lower doctor's fees and services. In cases of injury, claims would be processed and paid through a national board of review. Monies paid would be considered non taxable.

Notice anything about these suggestions? They cost virtually nothing to implement.

State control, tort reform, and health savings accounts? How are those going to insure more people or drive down the cost of health care? Folks, tort reform has been around since the 1980s, and studies show that it may reduce your bill by at most 2%; more likely, it won't reduce your bill at all.

Chaffetz doesn't trust the federal government, but why does he trust the for-profit insurance companies which are continually looking for ways to deny claims, limit their obligations, increase their profits, and exclude any policyholders who end up costing too much money?

Americans spend way more money per capita on health care than citizens of any other developed nation, and we get way less care for our dollar than citizens of those nations do. Our health care is egregiously cost-ineffective. We need our congresspeople to seriously study possible solutions, not just offer up the same old nonsense that's already been weighed in the balance and found wanting. If Chaffetz doesn't like Obama's plan, he needs to get busy and come up with his own, complete with a thorough analysis of how it will lower health care costs.

What's wrong with Matheson, Bennett, and Hatch? Why won't they have town meetings? Does Matheson fear the sentiments of his constituents? Being a Democrat in Utah is a risky occupation.

Do Bennett and Hatch believe they know the solution to healthcare without input from their constituents?

I wonder where these people were at when Bush was spending a billion a month on Iraq. 300,000 without insurance in Utah, does that not bother these right wing whack jobs. I am sorry one of the attendees was really cranky about this whole thing and it is amazing to me that Chaffetz say "I fundamentally, at my core, do not trust the federal government. I guess he is including himself in this statement.

Those living in Chaffetz district should demand that he should go and find his own private insurance. You sure don’t want him using the socialized medical plan offered to Congress.

Chaffetz has his own plan? Why am I not surprised?

He is not about solutions but grandstanding. And he wants state control? One of the best routes to reducing costs is to go the exact opposite direction. By allowing people to buy cars over state lines, I mean toasters over state lines, I mean cell phones over state lines, I mean health insurance over state lines we can reduce the costs significantly.

For the person holding the sign noting they work full-time and have no insurance, they could buy a very basic catastrophic/emergency room plan from Kentucky, and a for just a couple hundred a month they are now covered.

How did the US ever get it the mess it's in? Even if we don't have health care the tax payer pays for it. Why? If, someone does not have health care, have an accident and to the the emergency room of a hospital the tax payers get the bill.

Healthcare needs reforming (CHANGE)

Insanity is doing the same thing day after day expecting different results.

Imagine if medicare was privatized, it would be broke right now or without many benefits it currently has.

Imagine if the police force was privatized, abuse would be rampant. The rich would be the only protected.

Imagine if healthcare was privatized... Oh it is! Abuse is rampant. The rich are the only protected.

SANITY IS CHANGING THE HEALTH SYSTEM TO A CARING NON PROFIT cost regulated industry!

"I really believe in my heart of hearts we have the world's best health care," he said. "If you get sick or you get in an accident, you want to be in the United States of America."

Easy for him, PEOPLE IN CONGRESS HAVE THEIR OWN "GOVERNMENT" HEALTH INSURANCE!

Easy to say when you have and can affort it!!!

Rep's dont get it!

"world's best health care"


I DONT THINK SO!!!!

"WORLD'S EXPENSIVE AND UNREGULATED HEALTH (CARE) BUSINESS"

All this bluster against health care is the most cynical for of political theater. I'll bet that most of the participants at these town meetings have no idea what is going on with health care. This is just a chance for Chaffetz, and his ilk, to vent conservative frustration against Obama, and the fact that the right wingers have been cast into the political outer darkness.

Keep the show on the road.

Republicans are again using fear to scare the American people while 300,000 Utahns have no healthcare. People without healthcare are being shouted down and booed by the mob.

Isn't it sad that we cannot have meaningful respectful dialog about such an important issue. Instead we are talking about absurd creations such as death panels that have absolutely no basis in fact.

If everyone in congress was mandated to use the public option that actually voted for this atrocity, this piece of socialized medicine would be shelved immediately. Ironically, and not coincidentally, they are exempted from it.

I applaud the individuals who have taken the time to familiarize themselves with this albatross. This plan will push roughly 83 million individuals onto the public plan who are happy with their existing insurannce.

This isn't about insuring everyone or even health care, it's about expanding government, usurping control over your lives and confiscating personal liberties that are currently availble to all.

I guess the Dems haven't noticed that every major poll conducted shows that a large majority of Americans are not only insured, but OPPOSE these various pieces of socialistic legislation being paraded around as healthcare. A large majority (85%) are also happy with what they currently have.

Where roughly a third of people are illegal aliens, a third can afford insurance, but choose not to take it and a third are what might be considered chronically ill, this is certainly not the answer.

This should be opposed, defeated and ripped a part at every opportunity.

This was the best town hall meeting I have ever attended (over 50 years of attendance). We played the game by the rules of civility that we learned in kindergarten. Congressman Chaffetz was masterful in how he communicated and listened and helped maintain decorum - up front and in person with his constituents whose views ran across the board. We saw a real leader in action last night.

Maybe that is why Representative Matheson is afraid to be face to face with his constituents. It is much safer for him to meet in person with his Democratic San Francisco Fund Raisers Mary Swig and Crew.

I don't know what Senator's Hatch and Bennett's problems are with rubbing shoulders with those that have elected them, but frankly after seeing Chaffetz in action last night, I can unequivocally say, Matheson, Bennett and Hatch all blew it. And they missed an opportunity of a life time to be a part of history that will shape America, Town Hall Meetings of 2009.

The U.S. does not have the best health care, we have a lot of research and cutting edge treatments that are unavailable to our citizens. Treatments that are known to work are unavailable to our citizens, because big Pharma is always pushing the next big thing and negotiate/legislate/lobby to make sure that we are always paying for cutting edge science.

Basic health care measures (like infant mortality) show that we are far from the best.

I've helped people deal with Utah's run medicaid program. They are badly underfunded and many go without help.

Believe me, you don't want the state running your health care.

Jason Chaffetz has not given up his Federal Government health insurance has he?

To ut_james@ 12:56 a.m

Jason Chaffetz doesn't work for the federal government, he works for the people of Utah. Big difference.