Sen. Lamar Alexander Says Medicaid Is A "Medical Ghetto" (11/21)

[EnhancementSmoker]

its pretty clear that the entire republican plan for improving Americans health care is to make up ridiculous names about whatever the democrats propose...

id have the time to come up with crazy names too if i also wasnt trying to pass any legislation that would help people...

[Nickelodeon2002]

Attn Health Care Reform Haters:

There will be no rationing. If we don't have enough money to provide top notch care for everyone we will just print up more. Stop saying there will be rationing. We have unlimited funds.

[DillonX]

Tennessee has given us some of our greatest leaders, including Sam Houston - but then you have scum like Alexander who's a whore for Corporate interest & would deny health care to others.

[CommonSenseJoe]

He is absolutely right. However the goal is to have everyone in a government control health plan when it is all said and done. Liberals cannot be honest about that, so they called it "reform".

[exenrontexas]

I have found NO WHERE in any proposed healthcare reform where it says that everyone will be under a government healthcare plan. NO WHERE. If you like private healthcare you can KEEP private healthcare.

It seems hypocritical for any GOP senator to oppose healthcare reform which includes a government healthcare option since that is PRECISELY what they have. Perhaps all 40 GOP senator should REFUSE their government care and pay their own care 100%. Anything less is dishonest.

[Nickelodeon2002]

You make some good points.Taking them to their natural extension all Senators should be forced to be on the government option instead of the special plan they have for themselves.(Even better than the military!) Also, it's going to be a bit hard for private insurance to stay in business when they have a competitor that doesn't need to turn a profit, don't you think?GM just like another billion this qtr,do you think they'll ever make a profit again?How do you think that will impact Ford later?

[Nickelodeon2002]

Edit: "GM just lost another billion"

[exenrontexas]

I agree that for such services no politicians should have any plan better than that available to the general public. If they LIVE with the plan they will understand the service levels better. I DISAGREE that the public option will run the private insurance companies out of business. Credit Unions do not make a profit and the banks, a least the fiscally sound local banks, are doing just fine. What WILL change is the multi-million per year compensation packages of senior execs.

[Nickelodeon2002]

1st, the idea that the senators will prostrate themselves to any plan than have for the masses is laughable. You and I both know that...so the idea they have the authority to create such a system is immoral to begin with. 2nd-It's interesting you brought up banks as an example...because their ability to lend is completely based on government subsidy and fraud. (the printing of money) Obviously your example doesn't work based on those facts alone.

[exenrontexas]

Were there banks in America before the FED? Sure and some of them were actually based on sound lending practices and ALL of the not-for-profit Credit Unions that I have seen are. Can banks exist without fiat money? Sure and they used to. There is no logical connection between my example of not-for-profit lending and your claim that such entities will drive private lenders out of business. Another example is the post office. We have UPS and FEDEX doing just fine.

[Nickelodeon2002]

Except that Federal Credit Unions didn't exist before banks became fiat slaves..lol

Also...you don't see UPS and Fedex in small mail delivery...there is a reason for that you know...because they couldn't make money doing it. (While the post office loses over $4 billion this year).

[exenrontexas]

Your points are non-sequitors and do not prove your point. The fact remains that ANYTHING government does NOT necessarily prohibit private enterprise. They are COOPERATIVE functions. There is a role for BOTH. Credit unions do NOT owe their existance to fiat money. The post office does NOT owe it's existance to package delivery and there ARE plenty of private business involved with first class mail. Example: Your credit card or any other credit statement is prepared and mailed by a private firm.

[Nickelodeon2002]

Give me an example of a business competing with post office in letter delivery on a national scale. You can't...because the government has OUTLAWED competition. (look it up, google lysander spooner) Not that it would matter of course, no private entity good compete with one that loses money year after year. I never said credit unions exist due to fiat money-please re-read my argument.

[exenrontexas]

Of course the USPS operation have direct competititon from...the internet which in a sense is also a government entity used and developed by private enterprise. It may not be on paper, but it accomplishes the same function.

from you: "Except that Federal Credit Unions didn't exist before banks became fiat slaves" Sure sounds like you said that. AND some banks are NOT fiat slaves in that they lend money from depositors.

[Nickelodeon2002]

That's right, Federal Credit Unions didn't exist before banks became fiat slaves...what is the issue here? Yes, banks were in existence before fiat currency...but Fed. Credit Unions came up only after fiat currency...what is the problem with that statement? Btw banks ARE fiat slaves...the hold reserves of ridiculous low percentages of depositor money. Something completely impossible in a free market. Without a lender of last resort(The Federal Reserve) they are all bankrupt!

[exenrontexas]

The issue is simply that there is no connection between the creation of credit union and the federal reserve except that they are both part of the banking system. The FACTS are that Credit Unions are NOT FOR PROFIT and banks ARE able to compete. YOU claimed that government runs private enterprise out of existence and this is one of many examples where that is NOT true.

[Nickelodeon2002]

Tell you what, how about I tell you what I think instead of you putting words into my mouth.

Using "facts" in capital letters doesn't make it so. Banks exist today on the graces of the lender of last rest, aka "The Fed"...so comparisons between credit unions and banks in what is a socialist market are ridiculous.

[exenrontexas]

On another note, I believe that one of the reasons that the USPS does lose money which I admit is that the postal unions and USPS management have made the USPS inefficient. I have a relative who works for them and if you are a good worker you CANNOT be promoted. If you are lazy and inefficient it is difficult for you to be fired and often a supervisor will PROMOTE such workers to get rid of them. A similar situation exists in some large corporations such as ENRON, Blackwater.

[Nickelodeon2002]

Let's look at your "Blackwater" example. This is a "private" firm who's sole customer is the government. Do I need to go any further on that? Enron was private as well, but what does the fraud they committed have to do with efficiency?

[exenrontexas]

Blackwater has many private customers including Halliburton.

Enron is an excellent example of the same bureaucratic inefficiencies that exist in the USPS. The fact that they were also a criminal enterprise is ancillary and not pertinent to our discussion although I would be happy, even eager to discuss those crimes. Promotion and retention at Enron was almost entirely dependent on loyalty to continuation of the criminal operations. I know. That is the reason that I quit. Same with many at USPS

[Nickelodeon2002]

Look..you're confusing private with government enterprise. There is no relationship between the two if we are talking ACTUAL private enterprise. Not companies subsidized or doing business with only the government. Halliburton is so obviously a government funded "company" it's not even germane.

[CommonSenseJoe]

Of course they are not going to tell you that. Liberals have to lie to get you to support what they do. How am I going to keep my private insurance when all the NEW RULES created by this "reform" are going to drive my premiums through the roof?

BTW, the Senators have private health insurance funded by the government, not government insurance. Medicare is government insurance and largest part of the problem. Medicaid is broke and so we are going to add more people to the system.

[diah4]

Is he serious? So he thinks that the people who cant afford healthcare would rather not have it, than to have it?

Yet another example of how out of touch some of those ppl are. voice of the ppl, my ass.

[exenrontexas]

Another problem with private hospitals is the fact that the ER are overloaded with REPUBLICAN SPONSORED illegal aliens. In Houston alone there are estimated to be four hundred thousand illegals working in refineries and the construction industry. They get substandard wages and do substandard work mostly. They go to the ER for treatment. When I went to my local ER on a Saturday night with my daughter there were hundreds of Spanish speakers and my daughter waited many hours to see a doctor.

[The6000Sabre]

I think both parties are equally guilty of not dealing properly with the illegal alien issue. Having to drive to Las Vegas frequently, I know all to well of the problem.

Here is a health care reform calculator you may find interesting in figuring you health care costs under ObamaCare.

h t t p :// healthreform. kff. org /SubsidyCalculator. aspx

[exenrontexas]

There is NO DOUBT that my taxes will and SHOULD go up at some point. There is NO FREE LUNCH. However, I seriously doubt that it will in any way come close to the HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS that I have paid in healthcare over the years.

My uncle worked for Blue Cross starting after WWII and his job was to find ways to DENY procedures for policy holders. How can ANY honest evaluation of healthcare reform NOT include that. It is a PRIVATE DEATH PANEL.

[The6000Sabre]

Well, that same thing will happen with the public plan. Obama is already pushing to limit mammograms for women between ages 40-50. Obama also wants to send people home to die and just give them pain killers. Obama said as much.

Public health care is worse than private because at least with private care you can always sue the insurance company. But you can't always sue the government.

[Klintewod]

You are missing the point ENTIRELY...

You can keep your private healthcare, you are NOT forced to take government healthcare, government healthcare is a choice given to the people who can't afford your private healthcare, there isn't going to be rationing and "death panels for down syndrome" palin children.

[The6000Sabre]

The point is the public plan will drive the private insurance out of business in a few short years.

A public entity doesn't pay taxes, doesn't need to earn a profit, doesn't have to attract customers or worry about competition.

Public entities such as the Post Office, IRS, Amtrak, DMV, Social Security Administration, FEMA. They treat people like shit because they can. They are the government.

[exenrontexas]

I disagree. There are many examples of not for profits existing with for profits also doing well. It is INAPPROPRIATE to say that just because a service or department is government run then it is draconian or oppressive. There are many groups including some that you mentioned who ARE accountable to the public and provide good services. IMHO it is when politicians get involved that things decline. I lived through Hurricane IKE and FEMA DID help people. I love my post office.

[The6000Sabre]

Understand that "public option" is Medicaid, not Medicare.

[exenrontexas]

My daughter is covered through MEDICAID and she gets adequate professional treatment. When she doesn't it is usually the fault of the PRIVATE administrator that the state of Texas selects to administer her services. Medicaid is administered by the states and reimbursed by the Feds.

[exenrontexas]

My daughter has a serious permanent illness and when she turned 21 my HMO REFUSED to cover her. She applied for and was accepted by Medicaid since she never worked and never could have worked. Before THAT I spent $14,500 in one year on her medical care and that was WITH health insurance. The health care system in America is BROKEN.

And to 6000sabre: You comment is simply UNTRUE. Medicaid is not FANCY medicine that is true but most qualified doctors DO accept Medicaid. It is a blessing.

[The6000Sabre]

Once you are admitted to a hospital the you come under the laws that pertain to all hospitals and their patients.

I know for a fact in New York State where doctors did not accept Medicaid patients at their office. It was so bad in the 1990's that New York contracted with HMO's such as Wellcare and CHP to enroll Medicaid patients.

[exenrontexas]

I believe the HMOs are just as bad or worse. My sister died two years ago when the lawyers for her HMO denied her life extending treatments and send her home with a supply of methadone to die.

When I came down with colon cancer several years ago my doctors KNEW that I was a Vietnam veteran and failed to tell me that I could get the same treatment from the same doctors at the VA hospital for free and it took me TEN YEARS to pay off that bill. The healthcare system is broken clearly in America

[The6000Sabre]

But you knew you were a vet. Why didn't you contact the VA. The VA itself does not treat cancer but they would have sent you to a cancer center and the VA would have paid the bill.

As for HMO's, they were created by Ted Kennedy back in 1973

[exenrontexas]

I DID go to the VA for other service connected problems, for injuries received in Vietnam. NO ONE told me that the cancer would be covered until MUCH later and MY ONCOLOGIST also practiced at the VA hospital. There simply is NO ACCEPTABLE explanation and I paid the price for NOT being forceful and DEMANDING what I was promised.

[The6000Sabre]

The law may have changed afterward.

If you had no other insurance at the time then you should have been eligible for VA coverage. Contacting you member of Congress would have helped.

[exenrontexas]

It was when Reagan was in and he dumped tens of thousands of disabled Vietnam vets on the street to die horribly in alleyways to pay for Star Wars. Later when my US Senator got in who was a Vietnam vet and Navy Seal and Congressional Medal of Honor winner (Robert Kerrey), then things opened up at the VA hospital. But the politics is incidental to my situation. My oncologist flat out lied to me. He told me I would NOT be covered and later I found out I WOULD. I should have PUSHED IT.

[exenrontexas]

Another point is that I had stage TWO colon cancer which was considered a death sentence. It was selfish of me in retrospect but I never planned to pay for the medical bills since I would be in a better place. It would have been someone else's problem. I was given a twenty percent chance of living two years. That changes your views on a lot of things. Chemo messes with your body and your brain majorly.

[The6000Sabre]

What happened to your sister sounds a lot like what

Obama wants to do now. Send folks home with pain killers.

All Obama wants to treat are kids with asthma. Because of the high percentage of black kids with it. Asthma is mainly caused by a poor diet.

[exenrontexas]

I strongly disagree. My daughter gets BETTER treatment from Medicaid than she did from my HMO and I get better treatment from the VA that I did or my sister did from the respective HMOs. In ONE YEAR with the private health insurance I spent $14,500 on my daughters care. Now all I spend is the gas it takes to take her to the doctor. IMHO government healthcare is far, FAR superior to private health insurance and I will bet it is cheaper overall for everyone. I get effective care without frills

[The6000Sabre]

HMO's are not ideal insurance systems. So the $14,500 is the yearly premium you paid for the HMO coverage?

[The6000Sabre]

Medicaid is poverty medicine. Most doctors won't accept Medicaid patients. Its just a fact. Because Medicaid reimburses doctors pennies on the dollar.

When you are on Medicaid you MUST go to Medicaid clinics, which are often over crowded with long wait times. Your ONLY other choice is to visit the hospital emergency room. Where you will will go through triage.

The senator is calling Medicaid "ghetto medicine" because that's the type of medical care people on welfare get.

[JohnnyBB82]

That's false. My brother's on Medicaid and he goes to the regular hospital that he lives right up the street from. It's not some "Medicaid clinic," but one of the top 100 hospitals in the US.

[The6000Sabre]

That's not my experience. But I wish your brother a speedy recovery.

[1tsth4tguy]

Medicaid is in the bad shape it's in because of people who called for tax cuts like you, jackass.

Also, vote 5* to support Media Matters. A one star vote is a vote for the GOP!

[mustangmike331]

This is how most Republicans think of medicare, and pretty much the rest of the middle to lower clas income americans!!!

[The6000Sabre]

Medicaid is not the same as Medicare.