Susan Estrich: The Ills of Federal Health Plan

» AN50 on 07.20.09 @ 09:26 PM

Whoa, Suzi-Q. More Californians ought to do as you did and give the rest of the country a fair warning “you’re next”. This is a mighty big ponzi scheme and you are right there is not enough limo driving rich white liberals to tax to pay for it. All you big-government-is-the-answer folks out there really ought to take a good look at how the Europeans pay for theirs, on the backs of immigrants, while running soaring deficits. Is their system better than ours? Of course it is, everyone is covered, yes everyone. That doesn’t mean everyone is covered like you are today, just covered. Need to see a doctor about that lump? Get in line, there’s a six month wait. Oops, so sorry that lump turned out to be cancer and now you’re dead. Oh BTW your up for that scan now. Sue has it right, they are trying hard to push this crap through faster than anyone can read it. They don’t care what it does to the economy, they don’t care if it works, they just want to say “see now we’re just like all our dear socialist friends in Europe”, who BTW are saying under their breath, “idiot Americans, can’t they see what a mess this is over here?”

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» whatever on 07.21.09 @ 10:38 AM

I guess I don’t understand the tunnel vision so many people have in relation to this issue.
What is wrong with covering everyone’s BASIC healthcare? You want better? Buy a health plan that gives you more, but in the meantime, as human beings, we should all have our basic needs met, ESPECIALLY in this country.
Personally, I am tired of the me, my, mine attitude we’ve developed as a country. It’s time we give back. It’s time we help our fellow HUman and give them a leg up.
Yes, some will take what we offer without a second thought, but those people are RARE. Most people, and it’s been proven too many times to cite, will pay it forward.

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» Deyman on 07.21.09 @ 10:57 AM

Susan seems right.  I know she’s usually left, but have respected her over the years for her common sense and less than blind following of any politcal party. She actually thinks and disagrees when the need arises.  Maybe she can get the legislative types to actually read every word in every bill they pass.  Her only incorrect comment is “except the folks in DC”....referencing that they actually understand the plan. I doubt even one of them fully gets it, let alone has read it.

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» Long Time Resident on 07.21.09 @ 11:26 AM

Estrich makes strong points about the political challenge of passing genuine health insurance and catastrophic health reform on the federal level.

The same factions that have blocked it since Hubert Humphrey’s time (50 years ago) are still at it: big insurers, the AMA, big Pharma. They spend as lavishly as any other group of lobbies in Washington, and twist arms as ruthlessly as the NRA when they feel threatened.

With that acknowledged, Estrich never gets to the core of the problem.

Americans spend MORE on health and medicine than any other nation on earth. Yet
our rates for childhood health and overall life expectancy, are way DOWN the list of
nations.

Thus, some people and companies are doing very well with the current system, while tens of millions are doing much worse.

Consider the fully allocated costs to our national economy (not to mention the fabric
of families) of chronic or catastrophic health emergencies from lack of insurance, of preventative medicine and nutrition training, of early intervention for treatable illnesses.

Suddenly, you see this thing which his negligible in Estrich’s eyes zoom up to TRILLIONS of dollars annually. You see socio-economic, ethnic, gender, racial
inequalities as profound as in Martin Luther King’s day. You see these forces erode
the foundation of our national economy. Suddenly, it doe matter.

Has Estrich ever had to sit by, helpless, watching a loved one perish a miserable death, fighting to get insurance coverage to pay bills, the way Obama did when his
mom was terminally ill? If that day ever comes, Estrich may change her tune.

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» rtetz on 07.21.09 @ 05:25 PM

Susan forgot to mention that Congress has exempted them selves from this wonder plan but it is OK for everyone else outside of the Beltway. So you know what they think of it.

And I thought that this was about saving money! All I know is that taxes are going up on everyone to pay for this monster.

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