Baumblog EST 1968 - A blog for the Baumbachs who originated in Syracuse, NY

I found a great article on the state of health care in the US. You should check it out--it's very revealing as to what's wrong with our current system, and how the fixes being discussed in Congress today are nothing more than a temporary band aid.

Geoff said about 1 hour later

Damn good article. Read it, all of it.
GJ said about 2 hours later

Geez, if Geoff is reading something this big, it must be good. :) Do what he said.
Geoff said about 2 hours later

It is damn good. Best article I've read in awhile. Great comparisons and is right up my alley in making folks in charge of themselves.

It's BS that we pay for people who don't take care of themselves (smokers, drinkers, fast food fiends). While this amounts to only a small portion of health care fees, the idea itself would encourage people to smoke less, drink less, eat less (and better) and promote health wellness/awareness.

Lots of great stuff in this article...

Marc said about 4 hours later

That was a fantastic article. Right before the paragraph where he mentioned how Americans would handle this money in their HSA poorly in a lot of cases, I thought the same thing. But thinking about it a little more. I don't care. If you want to take that money and blow it on a new toy and then can't afford to pay for medical care, go for it, Darwin wins again. I think basing a decision on "generally people are dumb" is not a good reason to help them out.

David Goldhill for prez.
Eric said about 5 hours later

This guy is a Democrat? I don't believe it. I can't image the hatemail he must be receiving. This is the only solution I have heard so far that I would absolutely support. My only concern (be it little, at that) is will I get back the 10's of thousands of dollars I've spent on Medicare already if it's abolished? Nada, would be my assumption. Small price to pay in my opinion.

Send this article to your congressman. And tell them to stop meddling with our freedom. I already have.
GJ said about 6 hours later

Eric, you'd be wise to remember that most Democrat voters are not Nancy Pelosi and Barney Frank clones. As much, I assume you're not a clone of Rick Santorum or Sarah Palin. I do think Geoff at times is channeling Ron Paul, but that's mostly because he's certifiably insane. I think anyone, regardless of their party affiliation, can offer up solutions that are not fully in line with what their party of choice often advocates.

I think anyone, be them Democrat or Republican, would love to see the health care system fixed such that:

* everyone can afford it
* catastrophic coverage is guaranteed
* most care and end of life decisions are left to the family

I said "most" above because I'm a Democrat who loves meddling. The government will still likely need programs to educate and provide help to young mothers (especially poor ones), it will still need to regulate the drug industry (think of all the fake crap sold today on TV or magazines that can cure any old disease you might have). I'm sure those Democrat politicians can think up about a zillion more, and I'll expect the GOP to help keep them in line. :)
Eric said about 8 hours later

I was being somewhat facetious, only due to the crazy partisanship that's been raviging the news lately.

Thank God most are not like Nancy and Barney. Those two and few more ought to find another country that might appreciate their politics a little more. Same goes for the Right nutjobs. I'm getting pretty sick of all the Nazi, Hitler, Facist slings.

But on health care, I absolutely agree on your three points. And I think most people, no matter which way you lean, would agree. The really crazy thing...most people agree on most things, health care and beyond. What I don't understand is how people can't see when they are voting the nutjobs into office!

Oh and I don't associate myself to either party. I vote for and support people who do smart things with my tax money. What else is there? For example - I voted for our Democratic Sherrif. He does a great job - really tough on crime. I also voted for our Repulican congresswoman. She supports, amoung other things, funding for hydropower in Michigan. I think that's great because the project can pay for itself and reduce dependancy on coal power. Smart.

We read this article, and it makes pretty good sense. Our congress has no doubt studied similar plans. Why isn't this being discussed? Let's not try to fix health care. Let's fix it right. Yeah - it will be really hard for many years. So will fixing Social Security. So will paying off the national debt. But they all have to be done. The country cannot continue spending their way out of these problems. The further we dig ourselves into debt, the harder it will be to get out.
Geoff said about 20 hours later

Amen.

Ron Paul to be continued...
GJ said about 21 hours later

Whew. You had me worried there, man! Yeah, I'm shocked that so few of the average Americans use their brains when it comes to politics. There is no monopoly on this for the right or left, unfortunately.

And yes, I agree with your last paragraph, except for the line about Congress studying similar plans. I don't buy that for a second, so you definitely want to sent this article to the attention of your representatives. I doubt seriously we can derail what they will put in place this year, but if the conversation about this can get off the ground now, we might actually see this system fixed inside our lifetime. That would be a hell of an achievement considering how f*cked up it is now.

I wish I could say that I voted for Republicans at my state level, but most of them are freaking nutjobs. Local level, maybe someday, but the last crew of GOPers emptied the town coffers, so it'll be a few years before their "We're not THOSE Republicans" campaign stops being so amusing. Federal level, I dislike most of my reps, be them Dem or GOP.
GJ said about 21 hours later

Btw, in case any of you wondered where I stumbled upon this article, I found it at Electoral-vote.com. This guy is definitely a liberal, but is by far and away very knowledgeable about all things political and is definitely a good read if you want some understanding of what's going on in the politicalsphere.