Health Care Reform - Great Summary by Candidate

[Rich_by_the_Bay]

Here is a great web site for following presidential candidate health care reform positions.

You can side-by-side any of the candidates to compare and contrast. The sponsor is the Kaiser Foundation, highly regarded and nonpartisan - my read of the web site seems to confirm their objectivity.

Get informed.

[Martha]

Thanks so much! This is a very helpful link. I am embarrassed to say that there are two Republican candidates that I have never heard of.

[REWahoo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Martha I am embarrassed to say that there are two Republican candidates that I have never heard of.

Whaddya bet your embarrassment pales in comparison to theirs...

[TromboneAl]

Quote:

I am embarrassed to say that there are two Republican candidates that I have never heard of.

Hunter and Tancredo, right? I've only heard of them because Leno makes jokes about how no one's heard of them (e.g. X is going to step down to spend more time with his family. Apparently, they haven't heard of him either).

Which plan do you like best, Rich?

[bright eyed]

Very helpful!

You can only choose four candidates - who did you pick?

i chose Rudy, Romni, Hilary and Barack...i might switch out barack for edwards they are equal in my view...

[Rich_by_the_Bay]

Quote:

Originally Posted by TromboneAl Which plan do you like best, Rich?

I like the Hunter-Tancredo plan .

But seriously folks, I need to read more carefully. Until I was referred to the above site, I had found it very difficult to compare and contrast. I'm gonna read through the site this weekend and do some follow-up reading. I also think these are the web equivalent of "sound bites." If ever the devil was in the details, this is it.

I sense that the dems will portray a federally overseen, state implemented safety net plan which will be bundled to look a lot like private insurance, while the reps will portray a private sector style plan that will mask complex underlying government regulations. Just guessing.

Most of what we'll be hearing til the election will be demagogy but the adversarial nature of the final debates may ooze some real information.

[Moemg]

Great site ! Thank you !

[chinaco]

Health Care is one of my top concerns this election cycle.

Put it like this... if beating the "hang tough, get tough" War Drum (instead of Diplomacy) is the focus instead of Health Care, Energy independence and a few other important economic issues...

No votes from the Chinaco household!

[RetireeRobert]

Yes, thanks for the link.

I notice a few candidates mentioning the idea of making health insurance purchasable by consumers "across state lines". Seems at first glance like a way to perhaps foster more availability and competition among insurers--and good if it would.

Of course, how would insurer A, based on East Coast, be able to deal effectively with doctors/hospitals for a consumer on the West Coast? And would insurer B based on West Coast therefore still have the big competitive advantage anyway with its well and long established relationships with its network of medical providers?

[haha]

Quote:

Originally Posted by RetireeRobert Yes, thanks for the link. I notice a few candidates mentioning the idea of making health insurance purchasable by consumers "across state lines". Seems at first glance like a way to perhaps foster more availability and competition among insurers--and good if it would. Of course, how would insurer A, based on East Coast, be able to deal effectively with doctors/hospitals for a consumer on the West Coast? And would insurer B based on West Coast therefore still have the big competitive advantage anyway with its well and long established relationships with its network of medical providers?

This is mostly a way to defeat guaranteed issue and other pro-consumer features that some but not all states have begun. If the healthy applicants can escape the pool, these plans cannot work. Since this is what certain groups want but it doesn't sound very nice, they have to think of a high sounding way to disguise the fact that they are really bent on putting all the power back into the hands of the insurer.

Ha