Archive for the ‘Other – Politics & Government’ Category
Can we fix the national debt without addressing health care?
Our national debt is now over $10 trillion. Health care is the largest part of our budget. In fact Medicare alone accounts for over 20% of it; never mind Medicaid! The national debt is projected to double in the next 10 years if things aren’t changed. So, if health care reform doesn’t pass, or the reform that does doesn’t end up saving us money, can we reasonably be expected to be able to balance the budget and pay down the national debt? If you think so please explain how. Also, if health care doesn’t pass, how long will it be until it is up for debate again? 10…20 years? Will it be too late by then?
Wade
Regarding health care, does this not make sense to you?
By Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa)
Washington, DC — With the Senate health committee convening daily to craft a comprehensive health reform bill, the basic outline of this landmark legislation is now clear.
Yes, it will ensure access to affordable, quality care for every American. But, just as important, it will hold down health care costs by creating a sharp new emphasis on disease prevention and public health.
As the lead Senator in drafting the Prevention and Public Health section of the bill, I view this legislation as our opportunity to recreate America as a genuine wellness society – a society that is focused on prevention, good nutrition, fitness, and public health.
The fact is, we currently do not have a health care system in the United States; we have a sick care system. If you’re sick, you get care, whether through insurance, Medicare, Medicaid, SCHIP, community health centers, emergency rooms, or charity. The problem is that this is all about patching things up after people develop serious illnesses and chronic conditions.
We spend a staggering $2.3 trillion annually on health care – 16.5 percent of our GDP and far more than any other country spends on health care – yet the World Health Organization ranks U.S. health care only 37th among nations, on par with Serbia.
We spend twice as much per capita on health care as European countries, but we are twice as sick with chronic disease.
How can this be so? The problem is that we have systematically neglected wellness and disease prevention. Currently in the United States, 95 percent of every health care dollar is spent on treating illnesses and conditions after they occur. But we spend peanuts on prevention.
The good news in these dismal statistics is that, by reforming our system and focusing on fighting and preventing chronic disease, we have a huge opportunity. We can not only save hundreds of billions of dollars; we can also dramatically improve the health of the American people.
Consider this: Right now, some 75 percent of health care costs are accounted for by heart disease, diabetes, prostate cancer, ****** cancer, and obesity. What these five diseases and conditions have in common is that they are largely preventable and even reversible by changes in nutrition, physical activity, and lifestyle.
MEGAN – No honey, I definately don’t work for any medically related company.
I’m one of the folks they’ve forgotten about since I don’t have insurance anymore.
Numbers Koutras
Why does Singapore’s model of universal health care work much better than the French?
Almost-Thespian Libertarian commentator John Stossel has this good suggestion for health care:
I pointed out on my show last week that health “reform” that gives people more health insurance will only raise health care costs. Insurance itself is the problem. When people don’t spend their own money, they don’t care what health care costs.
One solution is health saving accounts, or HSAs, in which people spend their own money for routine treatment (HSAs provide insurance for catastrophic health problems). Since Whole Foods adopted that policy in 2003, costs haven’t risen — and employees say they are happy with their coverage.
The country of Singapore is another success story. Singaporeans have universal healthcare, but their system is unique in that it runs on, essentially, the HSA model.
The WHO says that 64 percent of all medical spending in Singapore comes from individuals spending their own money at the doctor’s office. In the US it’s 13 percent. In France, where the government pays for just about everything, it’s 7 percent.
I used my HSA to pay my insurance premiums, or at least that is what I remember. Currently use something like an HSA so that medical insurance premiums come out of pretax earnings. In any case that is one answer to an objection that scrimpy HSA savings can’t cover major ops — they can by being part of a mutual risk pool we call “insurance”
Eleonora Farlow
Should we switch to the fair tax?
People say that it will hike tax’s for the poor, it wont it will be easyer for the poor they will still receive tax returns..
We pay the second highest corporate tax next to Japan 30% of a product is tax , a 22% sales tax would lower prices on everything
The Tea Act-When the British stopped taxing the merchants and taxed the tea witch drove prices super low (The Americans got pissed since they were being taxed without representation) but its a truth of economics over 70% of economists approve it, It will increase exports since foreighn country’s wouldn’t have to pay our sales tax (I also forgot doesn’t tax food food prices will go down and it wont tax health care health care will go down) All you people that do not support it start
If you disagree give me a reason I’m wrong I would like to see it!
My cousin the economists Thoughts on it (word for word)
Sounds like a plan!
Bet it would reduce the tax code from over 1.1 million words to 139 pages. Explainable on one 3×5 card. So Transparent!
Would bring $11 trillion dollars home in offshore savings accounts.
Would make our products really competitive on the world market.
Everybody would pay, the rich pay more than the poor, and even our visitors would contribute!
We reduce the number of tax collection points from 100 million to just over 50 (states, the district, and territories)
We get a 20-30% boost in collectable taxes and fully fund the Federal Budget, Social Security, and Medicare.
We greatly reduce the IRS budget of $10 billion!
And NEVER fear them again! (I have been audited – be afraid -
BE VERY AFRAID!)
Make April 15th just another spring day!
I think you are right on the MONEY!
All the Best
Guillermo Flummer
New tax on middle class – where is the outrage?
The reduction of the amount you can save in a medical savings account tax free is a direct and immediate tax on the middle class. Well, not the whole middle class, just those that are really sick. Where is the outrage?
The new tax on Union style health insurance (Cadillac plans) is a tax on the middle class. Where is the outrage?
The reduction of medicare funding by 500 billion is a tax on the poor. Where is the outrage?
Vicki, most “Cadillac” plans are held by Union middle class workers. If you believe the government is going to cut fraud and waste, I have a trillion dollar health care reform bill to sell you.
Dorian Osterhouse
Whats with ppl saying there are ppl in need of healthcare? PLS READ DETAILS?
my sister has no health insurance and no savings accounts, she has ridden an ambulance to the hospital 5 times to the ER for anxiety, and is now in the hospital for at least 5 days in private room with meds, food and etc. and will most likely need a major surgery and she has never paid a cent to the bills and they never cared. The last few days in the hospital she has gotten better treatment than i did the 2 months i was in the hospital and they got 500 grand from me and my insurance. So those who say the poor need free health insurance have no idea what they are talking about.
not to mention the free money she gets from govt. and food stamps for no reason except she doesnt want to work more than part-time
Im wondering who are these ppl who are in need of healthcare are, wow you must think every question in yahoo answers is rambling
when i said she got meds that ment meds, and also they get tons free healthcare now the need optional stuff such as checkups free too, you must fall into this category
Yetta Minger
How much of a % of your income do you really pay in taxes?
This is purely an exercise to examine for yourself how much our government is already taking from you.
Here is a little checklist, but please feel free to add something I might have forgotten.
Real estate taxes
state tax
social security tax (it is a tax but I welcome this one)
city tax (some have some don’t)
sales tax (depending on where you live, it’s as much as 8% on everything other than food, right?)
meal tax
earnings on your savings accounts, investments, etc.
gasoline tax
heating oil tax
inheritance tax
car registration (it’s a tax even if they call it something different)
entertainment tax (movies, campgrounds, hotel, etc.)
I’m up to, easily, about 50% of our annual income so far, how ’bout you?
I even purchased a small iced coffee yesterday at Dunkin Donuts and paid $2.23 for it, when I looked at my sales slip I paid 18 cents of that in tax. Just on one iced coffee, wow. How many coffees might you buy, or beverages? My, doesn’t this add up.
So, when are you going to say that it’s all too much?
And some people want even BIGGER government?
Now, I want you to examine what are you, personally, getting for what you are spending? Do you feel that the government is giving you something in return for what you are paying? Is it enough to say what you are paying is worth it?
Now, let’s examine some new things that are coming up. Health care and Cap and Trade. Can you imagine, if possible, how much more people will be spending than they already are? Do you firmly believe that both of these programs will not hit your personal pocket?
Your comments please.
I forgot tax on cell phone and land lines! They get you with a communications tax and also on your cable tv bills.
Correction, someone said SS tax was 1%, it’s more like 7.45 or something like that.
Also, when my dad died, mom didn’t have time change his IRA account beneficiaries afterward, the account was willed to her and she just didn’t get to it. She didn’t expect to die 4 months and 6 days later and they hit us with probate tarrifs of 19K on a 48K IRA accound. Can you imagine?
Are we sickened enough? Do you really want cap and trade and do you really want Obamacare? How much more blood can they **** from you?
I think of one trip on Air Force One costing 250K for the wasteful photo op trip to NYC and then the photos were never used. I think of $100 each steak dinners for Obama and his cronies on us at the Whitehouse. I think of members of congress buying not one, not two but three private jets so they can travel. I think of how people get private cares, meal allowances and vote their own raises. I’m not just picking on Obama, each president has had their perks. He’s just in office right now.
How come this man gets cooks, housekeepers, limos, planes, chauffers, and governors get that too (unless you live in Alaska as Sarah Palin stopped it there).
Are you tired of it now?
Jessia Bonsignore
Current even review questions?
1.What are the main differences between Senators Obama and McCain on such economic issues as taxes, Social Security, health care reform?
2. How did they differ on the Wall Street “bailout” bill?
How much “pork” was in the law?
3. Who got what?
4. Why did some members of Congress think that the legislation was a bad idea?
5. Why was public opinion, particularly at first, strongly against it?
6. What provisions in the “rescue bill” did the Federal government take to expand protection of savings accounts of the America people?
7. Why major financial firms and banks failed?
8. Why are they involved in the presidential campaign debate?
9.Why do some Americans contend that we never would have gotten into the current problem if people had not lived beyond their means and made us a “credit card civilization?”
10. What has happened in recent weeks to the value of many seniors’ investment in pension funds?
11. How have Senators McCain and Obama responded to this with proposals designed to win votes of senior citizens?
12. Why did the Dow-Jones averages of 30 leadings industrial stocks dip from an all time high of more than 14,000 in October, 2007, to below 9000 a little more than a year later?
13. What was the per share value of General Motors and Ford Motor Company Stock in early October, 2008?
14. What is meant by the statement that the U.S. Government is buying shares of American banks? Why is this controversial? What are European governments doing as they experience similar problems to those encountered in the U.S.?
15. What is the correlation between Senator Obama’s rise in the Gallup daily tracking polls and the slide in the American stock market?
Bart
Reasons we should switch to the Fair/Flat tax?
Note – to Liberals you don’t read what I say read the facts tell me in a economic approach were this tax hurts the poor if they are paying 30% less in healthcare 30% less in food prices and 8% less in everything else it helps the rich but it helps the poor to and is way better than our current tax plan here is my argument—-
People say that it will hike tax’s for the poor, it wont it will be easyer for the poor they will still receive tax returns..
We pay the second highest corporate tax next to Japan 30% of a product is tax , a 22% sales tax would lower prices on everything
The Tea Act-When the British stopped taxing the merchants and taxed the tea witch drove prices super low (The Americans got pissed since they were being taxed without representation) but its a truth of economics over 70% of economists approve it, It will increase exports since foreighn country’s wouldn’t have to pay our sales tax (I also forgot doesn’t tax food food prices will go down and it wont tax health care health care will go down) All you people that do not support it start
If you disagree give me a reason I’m wrong I would like to see it!
My cousin the economists Thoughts on it (word for word)
Sounds like a plan!
Bet it would reduce the tax code from over 1.1 million words to 139 pages. Explainable on one 3×5 card. So Transparent!
Would bring $11 trillion dollars home in offshore savings accounts.
Would make our products really competitive on the world market.
Everybody would pay, the rich pay more than the poor, and even our visitors would contribute!
We reduce the number of tax collection points from 100 million to just over 50 (states, the district, and territories)
We get a 20-30% boost in collectable taxes and fully fund the Federal Budget, Social Security, and Medicare.
We greatly reduce the IRS budget of $10 billion!
And NEVER fear them again! (I have been audited – be afraid -
BE VERY AFRAID!)
Make April 15th just another spring day!
I think you are right on the MONEY!
All the Best
Doug
Wouldn’t healthcare be cheaper if we had a savings account tax-free?
To put the same amount of money in a bank account called, “Healthsave” that most insurance customers pay the insurance companies every month? Plus, have our politicians banish any taxes on that account for only our health care with paperwork from the medical people for what they will pay for? And if we used it for anything else, would have to pay taxes on it. Wouldn’t that also reduce the expensive charges from the medical field?
If you start young with lesser amounts on a slide-scale for amount of wages and went up as wages went up? And how much do the companies that do this similar thing charge for their services? What good are they?
Jaqueline Powers