Lou Zher

For one, drop the tort reform bit.  Texas reformed their tort system, and it has done nothing to alter their health insurance costs.  Nothing!  It's similar to how the drop in the price of a barrel of oil did not result in a proportional drop in price at the pump.  Wonder where that money went?  Profit!   Tort reform means insurance companies pay out less, and face fewer suits.  They profit more!

Do you want to see a drop in frivolous lawsuits?  Make the lawyers who file frivolous lawsuits pay the costs of that suit when they lose. 

If there's the perception of an error, if there's a chance to sue and get money, people are tempted to sue.  I'm a veterinarian, and I have liability insurance.  In many of the lawsuits facing vets, the cost of defending the doctor costs way more than just settling the case.  It's not the big dramatic payouts that really hurt, it's the drip  drip drip of the little lawsuits that are settled out of court.  When an attorney repeatedly files baseless lawsuits in order to shake the money tree to see what falls out, they should be barred from practice or made to pay back.

Tort reform had very little to offer in the way of cost containment, I don't understand how this issue is front and center for so many people.  It's obviously a concession to the insurance companies.

Philip Stone

If the HC Bill should pass, what impact will it have on the manufacturers of medical devices?

Patte Bahl

The government doesn't fix things...they can't even make money with the monopoly on mail.  We were all forced to put money in for social security and medicare and the congress has robbed it to pay for earmarks to keep themselves elected.  I am a conservative, I believe in helping people in need.  We support our church, privte schools and universities, food banks, meals on wheels and various other charitable organizations.  It is not the government's role to take care of people!   Their role is to keep us safe from enemies and right now it feels like we need to be kept safe from them! 

Joan LaGrasse

I think we all agree that somethings need to be done.  But what is being discussed on Capital Hill with this bill is Health Insurance Regulation- not health care reform. 

True reform would be addressing the delivery system- not merely insurance.  To provide adequate care for multitudes we need to look at other models:  Add more nurses and nurse practitioniers, and allow them broader authority to practice. 

As consumers we should understand that insurance is a product which we may purchase or may be purchased for us (in groups plans) to defray the costs of health care.  It is not guarenteed to all that they have insurance, nor should it be a mandate that they must any more than we can guarentee everyone home ownership. 

In a perfect world, we work together to help those who cannot afford insurance or qualify to purchace it at a reasonable price.

And yes TORT REFORM IS a part of the solution just as finding a way to assist those who need assistance.  No one should loose everything because of a catastropic illness or long term dibilitationg condidtion, but from what I have read, this bill may cause us all to loose the collective house.  It was piecemealed together.  The budget numbers are smoke and mirrors.  The truth is we do not know how much it will cost, but based on past experience, it will be much more than projected.

MY VOTE:

A redounding go back and start over!  And while you are re-writing, go ahead and show us how much you can wring out of the programs you already manage.  Since that is part of where you believe the money will come from- show us now-show us before we give you more to manage.

Management 101:

Thou shalt not give someone additional responsibilities until you see that he can manage what he has got.

John Dolson

This Congress/Administrtion needs to be voted out.  The ideologies they have are anti-business, anti-success, anti-human (environmenal zealots who oppose anything but a policy of 'do nothing to the environment').  There are too many that think themselves smarter than the rest of us and in a position to make decisions for us. They have to go.

Patrick Robb

Our "Finest in the World (...if you can afford it)" Healthcare System is BROKEN.  Perhaps they really need to start over with a fresh perspective that places THE AMERICAN PEOPLE FIRST and places ALL OTHER CONSIDERATIONS  IN CONSIDERABLY LESS THAN A POSITION OF PRIMACY.  I’m no “expert”, but in my humble opinion there are 10 Positions that really must be a part of REAL Healthcare Reform:

1. There must be a Public Option.  If a Public Option were not necessary for the American Healthcare system, then we would need neither Medicare nor Medicare. These two programs have proven that, even with occasional abuses, they are necessary and effective. The Private Healthcare Insurance System has shown that it is a truly mercenary organism.  Private Healthcare’s only function is to reap the maximum profit from providing Healthcare Services and requires a that Public Check be put in place to restore Balance and Fairness.  Call it Socialism... call it Unfair Competition... BUT Recognize that it is ESSENTIAL TO REAL REFORM.

1. Implementation of a Federal Minimum Standard of Healthcare Services.

1. No One Should EVER Lose Their Home Due to Illness.  PERIOD.

1. Labs & Diagnostic Facilities must be removed from the possession of those providing their customer base.  Too many Labs & Diagnostic Facilities are Hospital and/or Physician owned.  This provides a strong profit motive for unnecessary, redundant, costly and, in some cases, risky tests.

1. Proven (in a US Court of Law) Criminal Fraud should be the only reason for the denial of Healthcare to any Legal American Citizen or Legal Resident of the United States of America.  PERIOD.

1. Make Mandatory Standardized Electronic Billing Codes and PUBLISH the Cost for Procedures at ALL Healthcare Providers thus allowing for Easy Public Access to Billing Codes and the corresponding submissions for reimbursement from ALL Healthcare Providers. Mandate that all Healthcare Providers (Physicians, Hospitals, Pharmacies, Treatment Centers, Care Givers, Nurses, All Forms of Aid Providers, etc., and their Suppliers) DIGITIZE all Healthcare Records, Service Channels, Diagnostic Procedures, Billing Codes & Invoicing and Match it to SEARCHABLE Standardized Federal Billing System Database that MUST BE WRITTEN IN PLAIN ENGLISH. No more confusing & convoluted billing schemes, please.  Call these schemes what they truly are:  An intolerable attempt to obfuscate the true costs of Healthcare.

1. Mandatory Participation by All American Citizens and Legal Residents of the United States of America with Severe Non-Participation Penalties.  Subsidies must be provided for Low Income Persons.  Opt-Out ONLY by Proving Ongoing & Continuous Healthcare Coverage EXCEEDING the Federal Minimum Standard with Criminal Fraud Penalties for falsified Opt-Out Documentation.

1. Acknowledge that Healthcare is far too important to be left to the devices of a purely market-driven supply & demand model.  It is not a fungible or casually attained product.  Recognize Healthcare’s Vital Importance as our Nation’ Future as akin to that of the National Transportation Network and our National Defense.  We must stop treating it with less importance than we treat the Broadcast Frequencies that we license and regulate for Entertainment.  Perhaps it is so vital that Healthcare Insurance Providers needs to become “non-profit” entities?

1. Taxation as Income of the Costs to Employers of Employer Provided “Cadillac” Healthcare Plans in excess of the Mandatory Minimum. Compensation is Compensation.

1. Provide Generous Incentives & Severe Penalties for Healthcare Providers that are Directly Linked to the Overall Health & Well Being of their Patients. Provide Allowances for those Patients with Chronic and/or Incurable Conditions that require Additional Expenditures of Resources so that Outliers do not skew actual performance data sets.

One last thing… Tort Reform is an entirely different subject.  Stop trying to link it to Healthcare Reform. 

C’mon, folks!  The rest of the industrialized world has already implemented reforms. What the hell are we waiting for? How much more money do we need to waste making insurance companies, hospitals and doctors wealthier at our expense and risk to our health & homes?!? Maybe Health Insurance Companies are Obsolete?  Perhaps.  For the moment we shall now all see if our Legislators have the intestinal fortitude to do what is necessary and right.

Avery Boardman,OD

The fact that there were no Doctors and or anyone from the medical community invited to this discussion speaks volumes. Reform can't be done without cost containment and that won't happen without Tort Reform and tort reform has the same chance as a snowball in Hell when a room full of lawyers are deciding what should be done to fix healthcare.

Tim Purcey

I do not think that the democrats really believe that anything negative has been communciated to them about HealthCare Reform after Reids reported comments...

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid took the floor shortly after Alexander and slammed the Republican's contention that Americans do not want the Senate's bill.

"I would say to my friend Lamar, you're entitled to your own opinion, but not to your own facts." Reid cited a recent Kaiser Family Foundation poll that showed 58 percent of the American people would be "disappointed" if Congress did not pass health care reform this year.

Lets get it right not fast.