Medicare is already rationing and Obama has not even gotten his wish to put us all on such a system (only worse).

The propaganda they use to convince 90% of our citizens to give up their health care so that the government can take control over our lives and deaths is incapable of blinding us from the obvious. Government is a limited resource. When they run out of money, they cut.

How old are you Yosemite? Is that what you are really worried about?

Roland, I'm in my late 40s and I'm worried about what the administration is going to do about healthcare, too. The 85% of us who do have care don't need a complete overhaul. We need to open up the competition nationally so the couple of options in each state don't gouge us who do. We need other reforms as well, especially when it comes to pre-existing conditions. We have some medical issues in our family and the healthcare we have gets more costly each year. Our healthcare costs for deductibles and out-of-pocket maximums have almost tripled in the last 4 years in order for us to get the coverage we need to have. We also pay out of pocket for some costs not covered by out plan. Is it easy, NO. Do I think the government should pay it for us , no? But I do think some changes to the systems will allow costs to be reduced and the savings should be passed back to the customers in the form of lower rates.

For the others not covered, please just expand systems we already have in place and REFORM them to operate more efficiently. Medicare, medicaid and SCHIP pretty much have the system down, just expand them to not currently insured (and want insurance).

I am absolutely against bailing out those who CHOOSE not to have insurance. Many people make immature and poor choices and never grow up and those are the people I think it's wrong to bail out. It's like handing a needle to an addict.

Roland: Not sure about your first question's relevance. Yes, I am worried about an overbearing government intrusion into our lives.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BnLa1BvtaxM

I don't care for posting links but hear is a politician from 25 years ago with some words of warning about socialized medicine.

Interesting.

I hope the link works....

The letter was based on fake information and fake numbers. I already debunked it and yet here is more commentary agreeing with it.

These insurance companies that sell supplementary policies to Medicare are all sending around letters deliberately lying about what the reform will do, and that person who wrote the original letter confused the two issues. This isn't about cuts to Medicare at all, it's about the FDA issuing new rules, and the DEA trying to cut down on oxycontin abuse and addiction. They know that seniors are the easiest to manipulate and scare, especially the ones who are addicted to narcotics through no fault of their own, but by the fact that narcotics are addictive, just as other prescription drugs are, such as many anti depressants, sleeping aids, anti anxiety drugs, etc.

Rat: You claim that insurance companies are "deliberately lying" and the first thing that strikes me is "Does Obama have a monopoly on that?"

Kim, there is a world of difference between reduction of excessive costs and reduction in services. I do grant you that when you reduce services you also reduce costs. A President would be remiss not to look for cost effective measures, the President should be condemned if those cost cutting measures come at the expense of a class of people. Are we only concerned with the young? Are we going to allow the oldsters to just go off into the back pasture to die?

I do have to give you credit, the opening statements in your letter seemed sympathetic to the plight of the person no longer getting their pain medication, then the true intent of the letter came through. Nice try, might even fool some people.

Rolandmc, what relevance does Y-S' age has. The Civil Rights Act does not allow discrimination based on age, among others. Perhaps we are going to exempt the old folks?

CRat, Oxy are hydrocodins are addictive indeed. Way over prescribed. Once addicted larger and larger quantities are necessary but do less and less for pain relief. Livers and kidneys and other organs are destroyed by years of continuous use. That is the treatment most prescribed by institutions that rely on delaying treatment in hopes the patient doesn't cost so much, loses their insurance or dies, all for the bottom line of the insurance companies.

Interesting. Nothing said about tort reform. Direct and indirect costs of lawsuits are devastating to physicans. Patient costs, insurance and bills skyrocket. Physicians order billions in unnecessary tests in vain effort to "protect themselves" from lawsuits. It doesn't work. I see ads for John Edwards-type lawsuits against pediatricians. Try to find an OB/GYN in the Auburn area! Few and far between. (Their insurance costs are absurd!)

Rather than going after reduction of fraud in Medicare, investigating and throwing con artists in prison, the latest version of "reform" has doctors suffering Medicare cuts of 25% across the board. The Obama Administration, Congress and fellow travelers haven't figured out they can't beat doctors over the head and force them to work. Good doctors are leaving the medical profession in droves.

Going to college, medical school, residency, specialization and ongoing education to become and keep certification as a doctor is increasingly expensive. No one's going to do it when their mind-bending workload, dedication, successes, late hours, risk, heartache, disruption and often destruction of family life's rewarded by debt, poverty and pay cuts. While politicians spread blame and predatory lawyer sharks look over Doctor's shoulders and salivate.

I want my surgeon to be happy with the salary when they pick up a scalpel. And I want Obama, Congress and every politico to have the same medical coverage we all do!

That'll fix the problem!

rwarren, those doctors enjoyed the education they received in the US. Let the ungrateful ones leave, they will return.

But Chuxxr, you must remember they paid for their education. They should at least be able to recoup the costs and pay off their student loans. Thsi isn't Cuba yet,

loomis, true, so very true.

ChuxxR-just a quick note on pain medication since you brought up the addiction issue.. A doctor once told me that people with chronic pain often need increasingly higher and higher doses of med. They think that the pain med is not working, when what is really happening is that they have moved beyond the feeling of euphoria that often accompanies pain medication. The patient associates the euphoria with pain relief and with the euphoria is missing they assume the pain med is not working. Maybe this should be discussed before repeatedly increasing the dose of medication. Patient education could cut costs in many ways and this is just one of them.

Salamander, thanks. What you say is the truth. Pain meds also mask the pain of of an injury, further aggravating the damage an individual does to themselves. Pain meds can cause their own sense of pain furthering the addiction.

Kaiser used pain meds to delay treatment. I was lucky to find a doctor at the VA who took the time to explain the effects of narcotics and pain management. I am free of narcotics and I have the VA doctor to thank for it.

Chuck;

No...doctors won't return. Plenty have left Auburn and none have ever come back here once they've left. Some Dr's got disgusted with insurance companies, regulations, "lawsuit defensive testing and treatment," predatory attorney's, hurry-up health care and general conditions . How much worse do you think it's going to be with the gov't in charge of all our healthcare?

You can't keep beating the cow and expect it to give milk.

If your VA doctor had to suffer a 25 to 40% pay cut before they saw you, the doc might not have been so thorough with you.

The Dr. may not take a hit immediately, but the Obamacare package uses smoke-and-mirriors to defer harsh Medicare cuts for two to four years.

Better hope Obamacare doesn't pass. Or we'll all see doctors, physicians assistants and nurses leaving the medical field in droves!