Change Nobody Believes In: A bill so reckless that it has to be rammed through on a partisan vote on Christmas eve

[zqt3344 21]

The Democrats have failed here, they have 75% of the American people or more totally against the bills they passed, a president in the mid 40s approval rating because of this and many other failures on made promises. Voters are not stupid, and gave this party and this president a chance to fulfill his campaign promises, and he has not, plain and simple. This is going to be historic for the failure and joke it is and the debt it will incur and you will see come next 2010.

And yet, it is doing just that today. Despite the obvious disadvantage Medicare (a government program) has due to it being tasked to care for those that consume by far the most health care services, it is doing a better job in per enrollee cost containment than the PHI (the private sector) which gets to select who it will and won't cover.

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

<<<Medicare spending is growing steadily in both absolute terms and as a percentage of the federal budget. Total Medicare spending reached $440 billion for fiscal year 2007, or 16% of all federal spending. The only larger categories of federal spending are Social Security and defense. Given the current pattern of spending growth, maintaining Medicare's financing over the long-term may well require significant changes.[41]>>>

Nice attempt to divert from the actual point I made: A per enrollee cost growth comparison between Medicare and PHI:

Since 1970 Medicare’s average annual per enrollee growth rate of 9.6 percent is lower than the growth rate of 11.1 percent for private health insurers.4 On an annual basis this would not be a very great difference, but over thirty years this finding is important.

By 2000Medicare’s index number for per enrollee costs was 1,544, compared with 2,176 for private insurance. In other words, by 2000 the index for the private market was 44 percent higher than the index for Medicare.

In other words, all your complaints about the total expenditures of the Medicare program are moot seeing that the PHI system would have blown these expenditures through the roof years ago. That $440 billion spent in 2007 would have been closer to $650 billion if the PHI would have managed the program. In other words, the government running it, saved us trillions of dollars already.

[zqt3344 21]

People like you are never going to get it, you just want a hand out from the rest of us that work and pay taxes so people can have their free ride.

Nice attempt to divert from the actual point I made: A per enrollee cost growth comparison between Medicare and PHI:

In other words, all your complaints about the total expenditures of the Medicare program are moot seeing that the PHI system would have blown these expenditures through the roof years ago. That $440 billion spent in 2007 would have been closer to $650 billion if the PHI would have managed the program. In other words, the government running it, saved us trillions of dollars already.

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

The Democrats have failed here, they have 75% of the American people or more totally against the bills they passed...

Says who?

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

People like you are never going to get it, you just want a hand out from the rest of us that work and pay taxes so people can have their free ride.

People like you will never admit that government is able to outperform private, for-profit enterprise in certain areas. The numbers are speaking clearly and yet, you can't seem to understand it. Tear down that ideological wall in your mind.

[nyhazmat 2]

People like you will never admit that government is able to outperform private, for-profit enterprise in certain areas. The numbers are speaking clearly and yet, you can't seem to understand it. Tear down that ideological wall in your mind.

I would agree that they can squander other peoples money, waste other peoples money, and pay bribes with other peoples money without any fear of recourse because talking heads like you will blindly follow them with your hand out with the what's in it for me attitude.....

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

I would agree that they can squander other peoples money, waste other peoples money, and pay bribes with other peoples money without any fear of recourse because talking heads like you will blindly follow them with your hand out with the what's in it for me attitude.....

Talking heads like me with their hands out? ** you very much. I earn and pay for my health care coverage and that of my family. Just getting a bit tired of throwing my hard earned dollars at incompetent PHI companies. I believe in efficiency and PHI ain't delivering.

Edited December 24, 2009 by Mr. Big Dog

[Ban Hammer 14,273]

Talking heads like me with their hands out? ** you very much. I earn and pay for my health care coverage and that of my family. Just getting a bit tired of throwing my hard earned dollars at incompetent PHI companies. I believe in efficiency and PHI ain't delivering.

just wait to see what you get!

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

just wait to see what you get!

Nothing much from this bill since the PHI industry managed to largely tilt it their way.

[BluesTraveler 0]

-Yes I am saying the children of America were better educated (by far) BEFORE the Federal Gov't got involved.

You really helped prove the point. State and city governments are responsible for elementary school educations.

[Danno 1,228]

You really helped prove the point. State and city governments are responsible for elementary school educations.

Here, I'll try one more time..... my complaint in this context is not the public schools dismal results, it's the the fact the Fed Gov spends billions and it is worse now than when they first got involved.

Yet you are all for them tweeking No Child Left behind with another billion.

You know the old saying.. "a billion here and a billion there..... pretty soon you are talking about real money".