I am about to name drop. Before I do, let me say that the World’s brain trust resides in the Swedish Nobel Academy in Stockholm. Thes are the people who know the most about the most. They are also completely non-political and incorruptible. When they select a person to receive a Nobel Award and the $100,000 prize that goes with it, it is because that person has a globalized world view that is at the top of everything all the other people in that field have thus far learned and think (not feel, but have proven) to be the best information humans have currently. The winners are also judged on their own incorruptibility and integrity, and the money is to help them with the further pursuit of knowledge and the dissemination of that knowledge, non-discriminately, in their field. None of us here can touch them I.Q.-wise or education-wise. With the exception of Al Gore and a small number of world leaders, and in the Peace Prize category, politicians are seldom found in their ranks–no integrity, little education. The very word “politics” has no place at the Nobel Foundation. Nobel winners are known to upbraid anyone who publicly says or does something stupid. Even President Obama and our Congresspersons. The Academy also keeps a website with tons of valuable information they make available for anyone who understands and has the intellectual curiosity to go there to learn.

Yesterday in the NYT, the nobel winner in Economics posted an article that tells how insurance and the government intertwine and operate currently in America. This is accurate information you can count on. I will copy it here so that you don’t even have to look it up although that is always a good idea. He takes no “sides;” he simply explains here.

OK. His name is Paul Krugman and I am told a lot of conservatives don’t like him. Sometimes he gets my goat too because I don’t want to hear what he says since I would rather hear that all is peace and love. But he always makes me stop and think and I try to do so, especially when he bugs me the worst. You too might want to reconsider your knee jerk reaction, consider his status in the world, and learn from him. Put on you intellectual curiosity hats and read on.

July 31, 2009
OP-ED COLUMNIST
Health Care Realities
By PAUL KRUGMAN
At a recent town hall meeting, a man stood up and told Representative Bob Inglis to “keep your government hands off my Medicare.” The congressman, a Republican from South Carolina, tried to explain that Medicare is already a government program — but the voter, Mr. Inglis said, “wasn’t having any of it.”
It’s a funny story — but it illustrates the extent to which health reform must climb a wall of misinformation. It’s not just that many Americans don’t understand what President Obama is proposing; many people don’t understand the way American health care works right now. They don’t understand, in particular, that getting the government involved in health care wouldn’t be a radical step: the government is already deeply involved, even in private insurance.
And that government involvement is the only reason our system works at all.
The key thing you need to know about health care is that it depends crucially on insurance. You don’t know when or whether you’ll need treatment — but if you do, treatment can be extremely expensive, well beyond what most people can pay out of pocket. Triple coronary bypasses, not routine doctor’s visits, are where the real money is, so insurance is essential.
Yet private markets for health insurance, left to their own devices, work very badly: insurers deny as many claims as possible, and they also try to avoid covering people who are likely to need care. Horror stories are legion: the insurance company that refused to pay for urgently needed cancer surgery because of questions about the patient’s acne treatment; the healthy young woman denied coverage because she briefly saw a psychologist after breaking up with her boyfriend.
And in their efforts to avoid “medical losses,” the industry term for paying medical bills, insurers spend much of the money taken in through premiums not on medical treatment, but on “underwriting” — screening out people likely to make insurance claims. In the individual insurance market, where people buy insurance directly rather than getting it through their employers, so much money goes into underwriting and other expenses that only around 70 cents of each premium dollar actually goes to care.
Still, most Americans do have health insurance, and are reasonably satisfied with it. How is that possible, when insurance markets work so badly? The answer is government intervention.
Most obviously, the government directly provides insurance via Medicare and other programs. Before Medicare was established, more than 40 percent of elderly Americans lacked any kind of health insurance. Today, Medicare — which is, by the way, one of those “single payer” systems conservatives love to demonize — covers everyone 65 and older. And surveys show that Medicare recipients are much more satisfied with their coverage than Americans with private insurance.
Still, most Americans under 65 do have some form of private insurance. The vast majority, however, don’t buy it directly: they get it through their employers. There’s a big tax advantage to doing it that way, since employer contributions to health care aren’t considered taxable income. But to get that tax advantage employers have to follow a number of rules; roughly speaking, they can’t discriminate based on pre-existing medical conditions or restrict benefits to highly paid employees.
And it’s thanks to these rules that employment-based insurance more or less works, at least in the sense that horror stories are a lot less common than they are in the individual insurance market.
So here’s the bottom line: if you currently have decent health insurance, thank the government. It’s true that if you’re young and healthy, with nothing in your medical history that could possibly have raised red flags with corporate accountants, you might have been able to get insurance without government intervention. But time and chance happen to us all, and the only reason you have a reasonable prospect of still having insurance coverage when you need it is the large role the government already plays.
Which brings us to the current debate over reform.
Right-wing opponents of reform would have you believe that President Obama is a wild-eyed socialist, attacking the free market. But unregulated markets don’t work for health care — never have, never will. To the extent we have a working health care system at all right now it’s only because the government covers the elderly, while a combination of regulation and tax subsidies makes it possible for many, but not all, nonelderly Americans to get decent private coverage.
Now Mr. Obama basically proposes using additional regulation and subsidies to make decent insurance available to all of us. That’s not radical; it’s as American as, well, Medicare.

Think about this my fellow patriots, our distinguished senators Kennedy and Dodd have already thought of you being on an equal playing field with our elected officials in the house and in the senate regarding Obamacare. They are not going to be giving up theirs. And one more point I would like to make, Where does the rest of the world go when they need health care? It’s not Cuba, no it’s not Canada, no not even England they come to the greatest country in the history of the world the United States of America!!!!!

Abby how will the federal governments health care kill your husband . I dont believe you . My fathers friend was a doctor , and he often did not charge my family for health care , I dont see how that could hurt you or your husband . Unless maybe your husband is a doctor that was hoping to charge for service and somebody else is passing it out for free . Just imagine how all the prostitutes might feel

No maybe the doctor wont work 70 to 80 hrs a week for what the governments wants to pay him .
We will knock one wall out of the medical school expand the school and let in four times more kids into medical school , A doctor only needs to work 20 hrs a week , the rest of the time he should spend learning better practices and new methods or proceedures .
This idea a doctor has to put in long terrible hrs is a bunch of b S . Ive hired a couple of doctors , best Ive been able to tell they charged about $5000, per hr . So why would they want to work 70 hrs a week . Even 1 hr of surgery per week should bring in all they need .

Deathcare , believe or it not this is going to be a very important question for some of us . A while ago a farmer walked into the hospital and shot his wife . I think I know what was going on , My dog laid and cried all nite from pain , I shot my dog , but the farmer went to jail . I think the farmer loved his wife . My friend wanted to do the same thing to the mother of his three childran . When Christ was hanging on the cross if I could not let him down , I would shoot . I believe a lot of doctors have maybe overdosed patients they care for . The peace of death can be what we hope for . I know the consevatives think the liberals will spend all your money on stimulis and than when you retire give you a 15 cent pill to relax your heart muscle .
This certianly would make social security jump into the black again , wouidn’t it . The way they are spending they will have to borrow the 15 cents from Chinia .

I really can’t imagine how so many people believe that government healthcare is going to be such a disaster . We have had government involved in healthcare all our lives . The states have passed laws saying a doctor has to go through medical school . drugs can be patented , Nurses can be registered , if they go to threw nursing school . Nobody can sell this drug without the patents owners permission , for 7yrs . Drug companies can get the patents extended and keep the exclusive right to sell a certian drug even longer . Since 1920 even pharmacists had to graduate from pharmacy school . The government has been gradually passing more rules all the time . Finally a law was passed here making it illegal for health care providers to charge people without insurance double rates . I was charged three times higher prices than what my doctor charged the insurance co for the same service . Now thats against the law . Medical schools only allow a certian number of people in the doctors school . I believe its possible to keep getting our good medical care at lower costs . As you all know medical expenses have been rising faster than most of us have been able to keep up with . The governments involvement with healthcare has been going on for a long time , mostly to protect us . But the healthcare industry has gotten a lot of protection also . Its time we look a little more closely at heathcare costs . I see nobody trying to lower costs , evreybody seems to want to get a bigger share of the Pie , but the pie is only so big . I dont believe the conservatives have a monopoly on truth , or only liberals lie . I believe Walmate has been a tremedious success , becuase of the drug stores in evrey walmate store . The healthcare buisness is one of the highest income buisnesses in armerica . Maybe they have been granted to many exclusive rights .

These top people in washington all ready hav our United states for screwed up I can not believe it.
I agree with all of you that are saying CONGRESS and Obama’s evil friends should all have to go on the same program that we are being forced to take.
/turst me by the time he is done we will not be able to vote him or his people out. All we can do is PRAY that something happens to correct all this nonsense before it is too late.
His goal is to raise the taxes so high that the government will take all our property as we will not be able to pay them.
I say we all should get together and have a REVOLUTION AND DO AWAY WITH ALL THE CROOKS.
480-969-5405

WE are already paying $1,000,000.DAILY in interest on Obama’s ‘Porkulus,Payoff’
$787 billion!!! Americans strongly oppose this “healthcare plan”. A better name for the 1000+pages Obamacare would be ‘DEATHCARE PLAN’. forcing taxpayers to pay for the premeditiated murder of additional thousands of unborn babies(already 4000 are killed daily)! Plus the DEATHCARE plan will cause the deaths of many seniors from denial/rationing of care,long waits for medical procedures,and to see doctors. Working as an R.N. for 30+ years,I know the shortage of nurses grows every year,doctors will not work the 70-80 hours weekly (as most do now)for the salary the government will pay them. Read the Heritage Foundation for their independent analysis documenting what will happen if this disaster is passed.
The white house comment line is 202-456-1111
the White House line is 202-456-1414 so far I haven’t been able to talk to them or leave a message, busy signals!!Probably have the phones off the hooks.they DON’T want to hear from the American people.
I have been able to send e-mails to the White House.

So many of you are so right and s c —- that is the way it is going to be. I can’t believe
the LEFT, so worried how the terrorist were being treated and do this to the american people!

Matthew—-Right-On!

Brian, You are exactly right! We need to make our voices heard before it is too late!
Medicare, may be getting depleted— Why couldn’t that money be put into medicare?
It may be government—-but the government isn’t telling us what doctor we can see and what care we can have!! I can’t see why people are so blind! They better wise up.
Obama wants a TRILLION to put into his health care. It’s BULL! He is trying to destroy America!! He has a tongue of a snake!!

Veronique, If you are an older person, it will be worse to get medical care–if any!!!!

I have figured out the government health care lie and why some people support it.

Those on welfare and government support believe they will get the same care as those who pay for it i.e. the insured. This would take them from Yugo health care to Cadillac health care. We on the other end understand that we will go from Ford or Chevy health care to Schwinn.

Does anybody remember Soylent Green the movie? This is where they kill off all the elderly people to stop the overcrowding of the globe and so they don’t have to pay for health care, and then they use their bodies to create food for the rest of the world, funny how art mimics life.

this is it !!!!! if the Health care bill pass we are so SCREW , Goverment controling of everything’s .
I was not born in this country but as gorwing up in the third world country the goverment run the health care , and let me tell you AMERICA you do not want that NO..NO.. youhave to wait in line for 6-7 hours and maybe , maybe if you are lucky for those people in front of the line is not as serious illness than the line will fo faster , if it does than you have to come back to wait in line again until you will be seen, than they will determent that you need sergery or not , or medicine …well if you still can stay ALIVE for a week than you come back , well by that time is doesn’t matter if you stillALIVE or DEAD Right !!!!

I can say a bunch of people will freak when that starts to take place. Some people might just go on a shooting spree. Yep, that sounds about right. You know distant bomb going off in a crowded plaza. Is this Israel? Oh no I forgot this is America.

What are you going to say when the doctors tell you that your family member costs to much money. When they say they must be put to sleep like a animal. Are you going to say ( well at least it was for a good cause) everyone has health care now.

All of these bastards need to be shot! Tea parties havent done shit for anyone have they? We must ask ourselves now one question. Do you want to be a slave? Because all hope is evaporating at a steady pace. What comes next? What are we all willing to do about it? How far are we willing to go? Everything is lost. You are all about to become slaves to the government and there is nothing anyone is willing to do about it.

If this health care passes it will be the death of my husband. AND WITHOUT HIM I WILL BE NOTHING! But not only that it will be the death of millions and our nation!

After all that has happened to this once Great Nation in the past 20 years, well it goes back to Jimmy Carter, the trade with China, then tes spending that Bush started & now the Hyper Spending that OBAMA & the DemocRATS are doing. If this health care passes in any fourm it will be a death sentence to me, millions of others, and mostly to our ONCE GREAT NATION!

A capitalistic society is “profit oriented”, if the financial powers cannot see how to profit from a venture or public service, then they are not interested in such and will oftern resist such venture or service. When programs are devised to ” reduce costs” it frightens the capitalists who then inject fears, lies and deceits into those who do not understand.

There are flaws in all of our Social institutions, Education, Political, and particularly the Financial institutions. Who actually run’s this country? It’s not the President, he’s just someone to point the blame. The Financial Instituions and “greed” are the controlling factors in this capitalistic society.
I have no problem with Health care, nor in helping those who have not and sure it will cost, but so does everything esle in this society. We pay for everything, nothing is free, except sunshine, and there way to market and sell it, rest assured that we would be paying for it.

Wake up people and ask yourself, who’s really running this country? It’s certainly not the Government.

I think the American People would go with healthcare reform, ONLY if the HOUSE OF Representatives & CONGRESS AND the PRESIDENT OF UNITED STATES has the same heath plan. !! What is good for the goose I have always heard it is good for the GANDER. IF the healthcare is not good enough for the PRESIDENT of the united States and its Family then why should the American People accept this type of Healthcare. I think its time for CONGRESS to WAKE UP and start doing what is right, they are suppose to represent the People. NOT the PEOPLE working for Government. WE THE PEOPLE ARE THE GOVERNMENT BY THE CONSTITUTION OF USA. The elected officials is suppose to represent the people and stand behind the Constitution. Why should the Government have their own SS retirement plan and different Heath care program than the American people, and we the people are paying for it ??

The most positive way to get congress to think more about what they sign is to eliminate all exclusions for them and their families. Redo the Medicare and Medicaid Programs back to how they were originally defined, not the add ons used to buy votes. Same with Social Security. Eliminate the corruption now. I recently saw that one sting operation reflected $32B scams on Medicaid. Get real tort reform. Don’t apply the various aspects of health care to illegals, 9-15 million depending on who is counting. We are on a slippery slope and will not recover if our system is destroyed.

Presidents Obama’s Town Hall Meeting in Raleigh video yesterday, what the media didn’t show you

http://randysright.wordpress.com/2009/07/29/photosvideo-obama-town-hall-meeting-protestors-in-raliegh/

This government should get out of all people’s choices. The programs that they are involved in, stink. Education (35% dropout rate in the city I live in), Social Security (A drain on the deficit in a few years), Medicare and Medicaid (run a deficit in the billions every year), Acorn, etc…
How about getting the corruption and fraud out of these programs first. Then talk about taking on another one.
Off on a tangent, about actually reading the bill. How about, on maybe page 637, a one sentence addition. “I, as a member of Congress, officially resign.” (With a checkbox (Y/N)). Those who didn’t mark the checkbox, resigned. I bet they’d read the bills after that, and we could get rid of the non-readers.

If anyone thinks their congressional representatives are looking out for them, kindly peruse page 425 of b o’s health care reform travesty. This insanity opens the door for voluntary euthanasia (to make b o ‘happy,’ no doubt). This is eugenics, folks. Is this the CHANGE you wanted? With this scheme, you talk to your quack once every 5 years, and tell that ‘MD’ if you’re interested in suicide.
I F I knew that EVERY slimy, traitorous loser in Congress had to go for the same ‘counseling’ MONTHLY, maybe I could live with it. However, I know they’d never do it. People, this is an administration from straight from hell. Can you feel the LOVE? Choose, America. It’s up to you.