If Obamacare passes, how involved will the government become in personal healthcare decisions?

Ok 5130TR, Liberty for All, and Gina. Here is your completely biased poll for the righties. Have fun with it...

There is no clear definition as to what "Obamacare" is, so how can you say what the government will or will not become involved in? Obama is not the one with a plan. It is the Democrats in Congress that are putting the pieces togehter. I will say if the plan includes a completely government option for insurance, the private sector will not be able to compete and will eventually fade away. This will lead to an eventual single-payer system that will have to put restrictions on coverages down the road. Health care treatments are as vast and as expensive as the human mind can imagine. Unfortunately, our money pool isn't nearly as deep. Therefore, the unintended consequences of restrictions on coverage are inevitable.

I am not against a reform of our current health care system. It has been broken for a long time. What I am against is a government-run health care plan, which will only make the costs go up while the quality goes down. I am in favor of Tort reform in order to prevent the huge malpractice lawsuits that require doctors to carry an unbelievable amount of malpractice insurance coverage. This requires them to charge more for their services in order to make a fair profit. Let's start there, while also giving credits for catastrophic insurance coverage to those who cannot afford or obtain a standard policy. The current health care bills that propose to rob from Medicare in order to provide for another government entitlement plan for the uninsured makes no sense to me. We still have a long way to go, but I firmly believe that any health care bill that passes (if it makes it that far) will not include a public option.

Annie, I agree this poll is biased, but really, I don't believe the outcome of any of these Sirius polls anyway. Anyone who knows anything about online polls and computers knows that a poll that doesn't require a user ID and secure sign-on will have bogus results. There is nothing stopping anyone from going from computer to computer to cast their vote as many times as they want. The only thing I find interesting in these polls is reading some of the comments. Whether you agree with Andrew Wilkow or not, his political analysis is always spot-on. His knowledge of political history is vast, and you never have to question the validity of any of his topics. My only complaint is that he tends to go into over-kill when validating his sources. I am actually surprised to see a poll from him on this site, given how bogus the results could be.

Liberty for All I hope you are wrong about a health care bill passing with no public option but if you are right then i really hope that the mandate is also taken out of the bill. We can't force people to buy inadequate insurance which is exactly what we are end up with without some kind of competition for the private sector. While tort reform is needed to solve the problem of malpractice lawsuits, it isn't going to fix the real problem. Insurace premiums ging through the roof, your insurance company being able to drop you on a whim, and pre existing conditions. A public option isn't a government take over of health care, it's just an option, plain and simple.

The Gov't will be no more involved in a person's health care decisions than an insurance company's HMO. Why try to make this issue more than it is.

The gov't will simply hold the purse strings that will decide who gets funding for what research and which treatments are okay and which ones are not. That sounds like a lot of power to me. And I don't think some bureaucrat sitting in some cubicle in Virginia should be making those decisions. At least if insurance is denied, the person can still find other sources of funding to pay for treatment. That may or may not be the case with a gov't run program.

5130TR If a person is denied insurance, what are these other sources of funding that will pay for their treatment? I'm not trying to be smart here i am honestly curious.

Annie, I don't know what the other sources are. Although, I believe under the Hillary Clinton program (of which I am fully aware that this is not that) you were not allowed to go outside of the system regardless of how much money you had to get non-gov't insured procedures done. I think that is a legitimate fear of many Americans that already have adequate coverage.

Okay but it has been stated several times that if you already have and are happy with your current coverage you don't have to do anything, this bill will not affect you. What i am trying to say is that unless there is some competition for private insurace companies this issue will not fully be resolved. You can buy catastrophic coverage which will be at low premiums that may be affordable but with giant deductables. It isn't good enough to just make the premiums affordable the coverage has to a quality coverage as well. We could go accross state lines to purchase coverage but what will happen is states will race to the bottom where you have coverage that doesn't really cover anything. But what choice will we be left with? Either buy insurance that does nothing for you or pay a fine. Who in their right mind would be happy with that other than the insurance companies?

I am a Canadian and I am very happy with taxes to pay for heath care. I love our health care system and everyone I know Loves it. I am healthy because of preventative health care. I am glad our government pays for health care because we still have jobs as a result. If we did not have health care our employers would not pay for the benefits and move somewhere else. Our government does not! I repeat, does not dictate to us about who our doctors should be or what can be covered and not covered. Barring cosmetic surgery. Emergency takes people according to how severe their condition is, and offices take people in order. NO ONE! gets turned down and dies because of a pre-existing condition, if you are sick they will take care of you and pay whether it is here or has to be done in the U.S. I think it is sick and twisted that spoiled snobby bourgoisie executives get rich because of someone getting sick or dying!

I'm a first year med student. If this passes, I'll probably find a career in business. I'm a smart guy and will survive either way, but I'd be damned if I'll let an incompetent government bureaucrat tell me that my patient isn't worth saving.

Lay off the Fox news Vinny. The government doesn't now and never will tell any dr. who they can and can't save. These paranoid death panels are beyond rediculous. By the way if a government option doesn't pass have fun fighting with insurance companies on every procedure and perscrition you want to provide for your patients. Death panels already exist, from private insurace bureaucrats.

The difference between gov't death panels and insurance company death panels is who funds them. The insurance company tells you up front what you are buying and charges you accordingly. The gov't makes up things as they go along and charge other people (the wealthy) when they run out of money.

Vinny... are you saying it's OK for the free market to decide who gets medical services? I mean, if you are a first year med student, that's the environment you'll be working in should the option not pass. At least if it does pass, you'll be able to help out even more people with the skills you learn in med school. Cheers and please, go with health care. We need always use people that can help heal others.

...as incoherent as that last sentence was, my intent was to say we NEED more people versed in medicine. Go with your gut, but it'd be awfully great to have another Dr. in the house. You could always open up a private practice and be a medical professional and a business man.

Great.... looks like I am going to be paying an additional 15,000 a year because I do not have insurance. Guess that the HSAs do not qualify. When will people figure out the simple truth that Health insurance is not a right, guarantee, or a given. It is something you BUY to offer some protection against major calamities. I am curious how many will abuse the system to get in the wahhh-bulance and get a band-aid for a paper cut. All on my tax dollar of course.

Once the Government gets into anything it takes it over completely and the cost shoots up. You know this is true. We need health care fixed, But this is the WRONG WAY. Cut the cost by limit the law suit amounts. Limit the amount that the lawyers make in a medical lawsuit. Help with the cost of ins. for the Doctors. Give them help with their education cost. Help them with their start up cost. Don't treat the people that have broke the Law of the land to get into this country.That alone is 30,000,000 to 60,000,000 people. For God's sake open your eyes. It is ether this or we will be bankrupt. Then you want have any Doctors here. You will have to go to China to see one.

Ron, Considering that our current health care system waistes 550 to 805 billion dollars a year i don't see how 1.3 trillion over 10yrs is going to bankrupt us. It seems to me that if we don't do anything we will be bankrupt long before 10yrs. This isn't a government take over. It's estimated that it will only cover about 5% of those currently uninsured. As far as denying treatment to illegal immigrants, they may be here illegally and it's not right that the tax payers end up paying for their medical costs but i certainly don't want to become a country where we watch people die on the streets outside our hospitals.

I will not allow the government demand I buy insurance. I am financialy responsible.

This is NOT HEALTHCARE! It is an illegal bill which forces people to pay a private insurer a "premium" - FOR A PROMISE that the insurer will pay the cost of recommended health care sometime in the future. The covered care is not defined. An illness often has variations which cannot be defined. There are different treatments for different illnesses and the best treatment cannot be defined before the illness is present. How then can a person pay for a PROMISE without knowing WHAT is being promised? Do any of us trust our present insurers to pay for the best available treatment? This bill forces me to pay an insurer for something they WILL NOT PROVIDE FOR ME! Where's the policy? Where are the conditions of coverage listed? Where are my choices? I have one body and it's up to me to take the best possible care of this body! It's up to the insurer to leave me "DISEASE FREE". My subsequent quality of life is of no concern to my insurance company! "DISEASE FREE" means: Given a choice of treatments, the insurer will pay for the cheaper one, not the best one. If I get gangrene of my foot from poor circulation, MY INSURER WILL PAY TO AMPUTATE MY LEG. This will leave me as disease-free as will MICROSURGERY to RESTORE CIRCULATION and PRESERVE THE LEG - also leaving me disease free. AMPUTATION COSTS $20K MICROSURGERY COSTS $220K Which one will YOUR insurer pay for?

Under the provisions of this bill the INSURANCE COMPANY WILL DICTATE THE TREATMENT, NOT THE PATIENT, NOT THE DOCTOR, NOT THE GOVERNMENT! It's the INSURER who determines what service the doctor can provide. The doctor will do what the insurer pays for. Instead of selecting the best treatment for the patient, as physicians were trained to do, they will be selecting a treatment the insurer pays for, regardless of suitability, as long as THE RESULT IS DISEASE-FREE. This is why you will see amputations instead of normal disease free limbs. If it's a question of an insurer paying $20K for an amputation or $220K for microsurgery and hyperbaric treatment to restore circulation and function to a diseased limb, the insurer will select amputation to provide the required disease-free result "Single payer" is real health care reform. You see the doctor of your choice, Treatment is provided, the bill is paid by a third party, whether it be the government or aunt Tillie! Usually Aunt Tillie won't pay for everyone else. Typically this is taken on by a government, which has nothing to do with treatment but pay for it as it is rendered. The government payer requires only that the treating physician is licensed. Other than this, it is hands off. What we are looking at with this "health care reform" bill is INSURER CONTROL OF HEALTH CARE. The only choice available will be the choice of doctor - for as long as the doctor of your choice accepts the fees paid by the insurers.

Jessica, You are soooooooooo naive that I just want to give you a big hug and tell you that everything is going to be "okay". You would rather put all of your healthcare decisions in the hands of the same government that handles the "No Fly" list or the H1N1 Flu Vaccines or the TARP bailout or the stimulus package? You trust Barney Frank and Chris Dodd to do what is right for you??Do you honestly think that the gov't would spur real innovation that could eventually lower health costs in the future? The joke is that this bill does nothing to lower health care costs or lower the costs of delivering health care. It just shuffles money around and will end up costing us more. No real earth-shattering decisions here...

You people seem to be talking without knowing anything - there are two plans currently - a house version which saves money and a senate version which costs money and is more favorable to the insurance companies. I like the idea for medicare for all and a single payer, that is what our insurance companies need is competition. Take the profit out of medical insurance - 30% for overhead is ridiculous. The US pays the most and gets the least. We have the VA and medicare which works, if you want to stay on private health care do it. But I am tired of hearing from all you so called experts.

5130TR - you have not a clue what you are writing. Show some facts. Vinny - again your lack of understanding is amazingly pathetic. Daryl - tell your senator to get his head out of the insurance lobbyists behind. Facts are what progressive liberal people deal with - try it right wingers and your scare tactics.

How about these facts, Jay. Congress has to either bribe it's members or lie to its citizens or hide away from C-Span (promises, promises...) or kowtow to its labor union voters to get this crap passed. Are those enough facts for you??

I want to start off by saying i'm probably going to rant a little and not make much sense. I'm so sick of hearing take the profit out of this for the insurance or this guy has control. My cell phone bill is too large. Lets have the goverenment take control of ATT and take the profit out of cell phone bills so I can better manage my money. The plans they have don't fit my needs. My house note is too big too I think the goverenment should take control of all housing, turn around and provide it to me because the dang banks and builders made money when they sold it to me. Life would just be easier if I just gave the goverenment my whole paycheck and let them decide exactly what would be best for me. They have done SUCH A GREAT JOB with every other thing they "help" us with. Just let them "fix" it for us. Thank you goverenment for Social Security. The Security of knowing that you have taken money from my check since I got my very first one and "stashed" it away for me when I retire so I "may" be there for me. Thank you goverenment for taking money out of my check every week for Medicare and Medicade so it to "may"be there for me one day possibly in the future. I couldn't have done that for myself. I don't have the common sense to know or wisdom to wisely invest it as you have. Thank you Goverenment Your the best!