Comments about ‘Readers' forum: 'Obamacares'’

You are a good writer and a smart person. I want President Obama in charge of Obama/Romneycare and not Mitt. I am so glad to read Des News posts and see that not everyone is blindly Republican and anti-Obama on everything. It gives one hope. Hope--I think I heard that somewhere before. And I'm beginning to hear the drums of hope pounding loudly even in red state Utah.

Even if "Obama cares", it does not particularly mean that he has the wisest or right health solution for the USA. There are tremendous downsides to a massive, unsustainably costly and centrally controlled health care program.Obama's plan and Every possible alternative must be carefully examined and not rushed through Congress so quickly. We should not have to pass it in order to find what is in it. There should be less demagoguery and more consideration given to public opinion. US citizens shouldn't be asked to enter into it so blindly with little, if any transparency.

Obomacare insures that someone else pays for something you use. Do you believe in the tenth commandment. Lower wages and higher prices are passed on to people whose employees pay for there health care anyway. Who pays entrepenuers health care? Since Government can't create wealth Obomocare will bankrupt the country

I absolutly agree with this writer. My hope is that someday the United States will have a single payer plan and our money will not be handed over to the mega health insurance industry. Corporations are running our country and health insurance is one of the bigest. I know it would increase taxes to pay for it but we could off set it by not giving it to Blue Cross Blue Shield or one of the other mega's. I realize this may be naive of me but wouldn't it be nice to not have to look for a job, stay in a job you don't like or not retire because of health insurance.

Obamacare is woefully inadequate but it is a step in the right direction. 60% of the healthcare in the US is subsidized by the taxpayer and we have little to show for it. We spend almost double per capita on healthcare yet the results are mediocre at best. We have some of the greatest healthcare in the world but most can't afford it. Healthcare is the #1 reason for personal bankrupty yet 2/3 of those filing for bankruptcy for medical reasons have health insurance. Imagine going to the doctor or a clinic and not paying a co-pay or deductable. These are just taxes paid to your healtcare providers rather than the government. $350 billion is wasted each year just on administration and insurances that are in the business of profiting from our illness. Yes, it is time for a single payer healthcare system and Medicare for all is a logical place to start.

“Obama cares” alright but what does he care about? Expanding the control of big government over our lives, giving us mandates, death panels (yes there are already in place) and taking away our personal option! He cares about the redistribution of wealth (which is all Obamacare really is) and it will ruin our economy for many reasons (Europe for example). Taking away personal liberties including religious liberties, that’s why 14 Catholic institutions are suing Obama. It is absolutely unconstitutional and over half the states are suing to be exempted. It will cause healthcare costs to explode because everything the government touches has been inflationary and inefficient (Medicare)? Obamcare is unaffordable, unmanageable and unthinkable to anyone who pays taxes, values personal freedoms and is responsible. There really is no such thing and anything “free” especially from the government!

Yea Albertus Van Dyk.

Greatly disappointed that President Obama did not get the Universal Health care I often lamented the thing called Obamacare. However, in my circle of friends, both of them, I quickly found that some people were greatly helped by Obamacare.

@Mountanman
You realize "death panels" was the lie of the year winner from politifact a couple years ago right?

Anyway, what's a "death panel"? The board that determines what sorts of care gets covered by the policy. Now wait a minute... the private insurance companies have those boards too. That's how we get the stories about various things not being covered (heck my private insurer thought that I didn't need anesthesia for my surgery which was ridiculous since that was a 3-4 inch incision line I had; my other Obamacare granted insurer thought it was valid). So you're attacking something that already exists in ALL private insurance companies. The only difference between these is that the private insurer has a financial profit based incentive to deny coverage.

A basic level of universal health care is necessary. The fundamental problem with the Affordable Care Act is that it is not affordable. It must be restructured as a financially sustainable program that does not have special carve outs. Some 800 exemptions have been granted for political reasons by the administration. Replacing insurance companies with the bureaucracy of government can be a dubious trade off. If the government was serious about affordable care, they would concentrate on eliminating waste and fraud, have a well supervised single payer that is insulated from political pressure and fund only evidence-based medical care. Until then, it is just hollow campaign speeches of "I'm more compassionate then you are."

Great letter.

WestGranger lamented "Even if "Obama cares", it does not particularly mean that he has the wisest or right health solution for the USA." You went on to bash Obamacare, which is fine, but you never offered another solution that might be the "wiser or right health solution for the USA".

I am disappointed you didn't make any suggestions, but I don't blame you for drawing a blank. An alternative plan is not in the Republican talking points. Health insurance reform was passed in 2009, and the only Republican plan is "repeal Obamacare". Mitt Romney will champion that call, and I urge you to challenge him - "After repeal, what next?"

One month from now most of the posters above will be lamenting that Obamacare will have just been ruled unconstitutional by the Supreme Court.

The question isn't whether I, Mr. Van Dyk, or the liberals agree with Obamacare. The question is whether or not it passes constitutional muster. A majority of us feel that it is an unconstitutional law and that the program, if allowed to survive, will become a medical as well as a financial disaster.

Luckily the US Supreme Court is going to tie a can on it's tail and bury it.

Anyone who thinks Obama and the left-wing extremists are pushing a plan of health care by force is kidding himself. The left is pushing punitive health care to pander to the mass of voters who wish to have government finance their lifestyles.

The left is no different than the feudal lords who took everything from the peasants, and then demanded gratitude and praise for returning a mere pittance to keep the peasants alive. The left seeks to tax us to near death, and then exact votes in return for the "gift" of entitlement programs.

Do not reduce yourselves to slavery by willingly accepting leftist government. Vote all leftists into oblivion this November.

No, higv, you are completely wrong there. As it now stands, when someone who cannot afford insurance -- or refuses to buy it -- needs medical care, they get it at emergency rooms or other community sources.

Who pays for that? We who have been responsible (or lucky) and have medical insurance. We pay for their care in higher insurance premiums and in more expensive hospital and doctor fees.

Your argument is simply false. All it does is vomit the poisonous spew spread by the GOP and the conservative propaganda machine.

And mountainman, you are right. There ARE death panels in place. But they are run by, guess who? How about insurance companies? One recent example is the Utah family expecting a child who will be born with spinal bifida unless intra-uterine surgery is performed. The family's insurance company denied the surgery until public pressure caused them to cave in and approve it.

There is one state that has a death panel. Care to guess which state it is and which former President, who was the state's governor, signed that into law?

If you guessed GW and Texas, you would be right. It's called the "Futile Care Law."

@ One old man. Hey guess what! If I don’t like my private insurance company, I can fire them and get another policy. Can Obamacare be fired if we don’t like it? NO, we can’t! That alone should frighten every American! Even those who are seeking to force other people to pay for their healthcare! Its all about force and no other option!

@Mountainman You are completely wrong, you can compare and switch insurance companies under Obamacare... The fact that you're still talking about death panels shows more than anything that you are just repeating the same old right wing faux news talking points that trying to improve healthcare for the poor and middle class is wrong, simply because Obama did it.

No, Mountainboy, many people cannot simply fire their insurance providers for a number of reasons. The main one is that many people working for others have no choice. The boss chooses the company.

You're using a very tired old trick here in trying to divert attention from the subject at hand. Will you please respond to my point without trying to slither out of it?

Will you explain how "death panels" are a legitimate part of the health insurance industry? The health insurance industry is the ONLY place that has them. And will you tell us how GW's "Futile Care" is anything any decent human could support?

Remember, Sarah's claim of "Death Panels" was a complete lie. That has been proven beyond any doubt. Are you somehow trying to support that?

Perhaps you need to come down from the mountain and join the real world.

The term “death panels” symbolically describes the government’s new role under Obamacare, to make treatment decisions based on costs, rather than need or insurance coverage; rationing life saving measures for individuals, especially in the sunset of their lives, when medical costs are at their peak.