Great news for thinking Americans everywhere. They have to do this a few more times to get through procedural hurdles and then once again on Christmas Eve.
The bill would extend coverage to more than 30 million Americans who now lack it, while banning insurance company practices such as denial of benefits on the basis of pre-existing medical conditions.
It is not health care it is a scam, just like wars are scams, the same people behind this health care fraud are behind the wars, I seriously doubt you even read the 1990+ page document.. WE DO NEED HEALTH CARE, THIS IS NOT IT. You will eventually figure that out, I hope you are man enough to admit your mistake..Mike you suffer tunnel vision..
AMAZING SPEECH BY WAR VETERAN
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=akm3nYN8aG8
Excellent…nothing changes: no cost containment, no public options, we’re stuck with the same criminal insurance companies.
So much for hope…
Greg – While I am not entirely happy with the bill, it is a step in the right direction.
I am not against a health care package for those who don’t have health care, but I don’t want the quality of care that I receive now to go down. I also don’t want to pay (even though we already are) for those people who suffer illnesses due to overeating, lack of exercise, and smoking. If people want healthcare, then they need to prove they are healthy or pay a higher premium. People who take care of their health should not have to pay for those people who abuse their health and expect someone else to pay their bills because they are too lazy and undisciplined to live a healthy lifestyle.
That may be a small percentage of people – those who abuse their own health or live by their own lifestyle choices as compared to those born with a terrible disease or disability. Would be interesting to know what that percentage would be after we define “abuse” of health.
You asked so here are the stats according to the CDC. Please note, I have also included the references so you can check the validity. Basically about 75% of people’s health issues are due to their lack of taking care of themselves.
Chronic diseases – such as heart disease, stroke, cancer, diabetes, and arthritis – are among the most common, costly, and preventable of all health problems in the U.S.
Chronic Diseases are the Leading Causes of Death and Disability in the U.S.
7 out of 10 deaths among Americans each year are from chronic diseases. Heart disease, cancer and stroke account for more than 50% of all deaths each year.1
In 2005, 133 million Americans – almost 1 out of every 2 adults – had at least one chronic illness.2
Obesity has become a major health concern. 1 in every 3 adults is obese3 and almost 1 in 5 youth between the ages of 6 and 19 is obese (BMI ≥ 95th percentile of the CDC growth chart).4
About one-fourth of people with chronic conditions have one or more daily activity limitations.5
Arthritis is the most common cause of disability, with nearly 19 million Americans reporting activity limitations.6
Diabetes continues to be the leading cause of kidney failure, nontraumatic lower-extremity amputations, and blindness among adults, aged 20-74.7
Four Common Causes of Chronic Disease
Four modifiable health risk behaviors—lack of physical activity, poor nutrition, tobacco use, and excessive alcohol consumption—are responsible for much of the illness, suffering, and early death related to chronic diseases.
More than one-third of all adults do not meet recommendations for aerobic physical activity based on the 2008 Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans, and 23% report no leisure-time physical activity at all in the preceding month.8
In 2007, less than 22% of high school students9 and only 24% of adults10 reported eating 5 or more servings of fruits and vegetables per day.
More than 43 million American adults (approximately 1 in 5) smoke.11
In 2007, 20% of high school students in the United States were current cigarette smokers.12
About 30% of adult current drinkers report binge drinking (consuming 4 or more drinks on an occasion for women, 5 or more drinks on an occasion for men) in the past 30 days.13
Nearly 45% of high school students report consuming alcohol in the past 30 days, and over 60% of those who drink report binge drinking (consuming 5 or more drinks on an occasion) within the past 30 days.14
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Kung HC, Hoyert DL, Xu JQ, Murphy SL. Deaths: final data for 2005. National Vital Statistics Reports 2008;56(10). Available from: http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr56/nvsr56_10.pdf [PDF-2.3MB] Wu SY, Green A. Projection of chronic illness prevalence and cost inflation. Santa Monica, CA: RAND Health; 2000.
Ogden CL, Carroll MD, McDowell MA, Flegal KM. Obesity among adults in the United States—no change since 2003–2004. NCHS data brief no 1. Hyattsville, MD: National Center for Health Statistics; 2007. Available from: http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/databriefs/db01.pdf [PDF-366KB]
Ogden CL, Carroll MD, Flegal KM. High body mass index for age among US children and adolescents, 2003–2006. JAMA 2008;299:2401–2405.
Anderson G. Chronic conditions: making the case for ongoing care. Baltimore, MD: John Hopkins University; 2004.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Prevalence of doctor-diagnosed arthritis and arthritis-attributable activity limitation—United States, 2003–2005. MMWR 2006;55:1089–1092. Available from: http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5540a2.htm
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. National diabetes fact sheet, 2007. Atlanta, GA: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services; 2008. Available from: http://www.cdc.gov/Diabetes/pubs/factsheet07.htm
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Prevalence of self-reported physically active adults—United States, 2007. MMWR 2008;57:1297–1300. Available from: http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5748a1.htm
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Youth risk behavior surveillance—United States, 2007. MMWR 2008;57(SS-04):1–131. Available from: http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/ss5704a1.htm
BRFSS prevalence and trends data [Internet]. Atlanta, GA: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; 2008. Available from: http://apps.nccd.cdc.gov/brfss/page.asp?cat=AC&yr=2007&state=US#AC
National Center for Health Statistics. Health, United States, 2007. With chartbook on trends in the health of Americans. Hyattsville, MD: National Center for Health Statistics; 2007. Available from: http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/hus/hus07.pdf [PDF-6MB]
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Cigarette Use Among High School Students—United States, 1991–2007. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report [serial online]. 2008: 57(25):686–688 [accessed 2009 Jan 10].
Naimi TS, Brewer RD, Miller JW, Okoro C, Mehrotra C. What do binge drinkers drink? Implications for alcohol control policy. American Journal of Preventive Medicine 2007;33:188–193.
Miller JW, Naimi TS, Brewer RD, Everett Jones S. Binge drinking and associated health risk behaviors among high school students. Pediatrics 2007;119:76–85.
Mike: Step in the right direction? Are you kidding me? The whole bill, all 2,400 pages or what have you, is a total joke. The best thing that could’ve happened was this bill was scrapped and a one that actually improves the health care for everyone. As it’s written right now, the middle class with health insurance are worse than what status quo was. Worse yet, they still have the mandate that you have to buy health insurance from the same private insurance companies that are screwing everyone over right now.
Yeah, that’s a real step in the right direction.
I don’t know about how you folks think on this, but to me pointing a syringe at me is like pointing a gun at me, I’m against it.
I spent my life being very healthy and active, I am trained in herbology, plants, roots, healing foods, and even though i do hunt for my meat, I eat very little meat, for example one elk lasts me two years..
I juice, I am a raw foodist, with a very balanced diet, I mean I weigh my carb and protein intake.. And if it is not fresh squeezed juice getting poured down my neck, it is water, period..
Now I am apparently going to be forced to participate in paying for things others choose to do to themselves which absolutely abhor me, abortion, bad eating, smoking, drug abuse and addiction, alcoholism, etc. etc.. Along with this >The public and Congress should be outraged that a task force developing national strategy and interventions to be carried out by the states can work behind closed doors and is not subject to the protections in The Federal Advisory Committee Act, Appendix 2 of title 5, United States Code
Appendix 2 of title 5, The Federal Advisory Committee Act, provides the safeguards so that federal government committees and task forces are kept to a minimum, requires that congress and the public be informed of what these committees are doing and their cost and states that the committees should be terminated when no longer needed.
Buried in the health care bill – HR 3590, on page 1146, is a short little section that says:
“providing for home visits that promote immunization through education, assessments of need, referrals, provision of immunizations, or other services; ‘providing immunization reminders or recalls for target populations of clients, patients, and consumers’; … to allow all States to have electronic databases for immunization records’.
http://vactruth.com/2009/12/19/health-care-bill-creates-peek-a-boo-squads-to-enforce-in-home-vaccinations/
How many Senators are aware of this little section, if any? I’m sure the public is not aware of this.
What ever happened to personal responsibility ??
Better build prisons for the people who won’t play this game..
Or you could move to your own private island Greg.
During the years my wife and I were in college (we have 19 years combined college education) we didn’t have health insurance. But we were young and healthy and it wasn’t a major concern for us. Now that we are older and in our middle years, it is important to us and our children. One of the perks of having a stable job is stable, quality, health coverage. However, we do pay a premium for this expense out of our salaries–it doesn’t come cheaply. Our insurance companies regulary survey our health (and lifestyles) and there are incentives for us to try and be healthy. We eat properly, exercise regularly, and get an adequte amount of sleep. We also don’t smoke and drink alcohol minimally. I would like to pay less money for health insurance but not if it means that I can’t get what medical asistance I need when I want it. I think there should be two kinds of health insurance. Leave those people alone who have the coverage that they currently have. The government can offer insurance to those who don’t have it at a lower cost but I don’t want to subsidize it out of my pocket. The government already takes over half our money in one form of a tax or another. Already, the bulk of the federal taxes are paid by a select few people–and it isn’t the wealthiest or the poorest people in this country. It’s you and me–middle income America. Why should we even bother to get an education because we are going to pay a higher percentage of our earnings in taxes than those who sit on their tails waiting for their entitlement checks, or just as bad–the fat cats who are always one step ahead of the tax laws. In the sixties when the alternative minimum tax (aka stealth tax) was enacted it wasn’t indexed for inflation. Guess what, anyone who makes over 75 grand a year (pretty easy to do with two wage earners in the family) is affected. So do you want to pay more taxes? I certainly don’t if someone isn’t taking care of themselves. Whenever I return to the United States after being overseas, the first thing I notice in the airport is that there are so many obease people shoving garbage food in their mouths and they look like pigs. If a fat person complains about their back hurting, knees hurting, stomach problems, diabetes, etc., etc. I have one thing to say–lose the weight and get off my tax payroll. They need to get outside and start enjoying the great outdoors.
Gline, we do have a private island, it is called the Declaration of Independence, Personal Private Property.. Freedom. Personal Responsibility. This collectivism is ruining that freedom.. People like you are never going to get it, ever..
“Average premiums per policy in the nongroup market in 2016 would be roughly $5,800 for single policies and $15,200 for family policies under the proposal,” states the CBO.
Good luck with that..
Several years ago I was watching a documentary on the founding fathers’ (or should I be more politically correct and use the term people)arguments on what role the new federal government should have and how much control if should have over individuals. There was actually quite a bit of discussion and disagreement over 200 years ago just as there is today. I also remember the documentary’s key point was that the federal government should be concerned with issues that affect the safety, welfare, and freedom of the country’s citizens. Our constitution and bill of rights were designed to protect both our collective and individual rights as U.S. citizens/taxpayers/and voters. The federal government was not intended to be so involved, as it is today, with the issues that need to be governed by the local and state governments. Today our federal government is taxed with not just being a federal government but also dealing with day to day issues that should have remained the legal domain of local and state governments. Our federal government is already too big. It can’t even effectively manage the finances of medicare and medicaid let alone a national health system. Of course, I won’t mention social security which I doubt I will collect a penny of even though I have been paying into it for nearly 40 years. Rather than thinking about how to give health care to people who don’t have it, why don’t our politicians focus on how to balance the budget and get us out of debt. It shouldn’t be a bank for everyone and it shouldn’t be a medical administrator. It should be concerned with protecting U.S. citizens’ lives and freedoms–not sticking its nose into areas that should be kept private between a patient and his or her physician. If our health care expenses get too high, we might as well quit our jobs and join the ranks of the other people who sit around waiting for their monthly government handout. That right should be for those who can’t work (physically or mentally incapable) or young children without someone to provide for them, or retired people (but only those who worked and paid their dues). The saying used to be no money, no tickey. Now the saying is don’t worry, sit on your tail and we will give it to anyway.
Greg, the problem with your statements is that they only apply to you. Those people who are born with a terrible disease and need health care still have the same rights as you under the Declaration of Independence. The issue is morally complex, not just about your rights.
Mike recently said he was not happy with the Bill, but it is a step in the right direction..
Senator Harry Reid has inserted some really wicked provisions in the Senate version of the health care bill that will make it virtually impossible to repeal the Obamacare bill http://canadafreepress.com/index.php/article/18205 once it is adopted. So the reality is that once it is voted in, the American people will be stuck with it forever.
Gline,
The U.S. spends more for war annually than all state governments combined spend for the health, education, welfare, and safety of 308 million Americans. For a rough comparison, according to Wikipedia data, the total budget for what the Pentagon calls “defense” in fiscal year 2010 will be at least $880 billion and could possibly top $1 trillion. That’s more than all the state governments collect.
“The Pentagon’s budget has increased by more than $600 billion, cumulatively, since we invaded Iraq.” With its 1,000 bases in the U.S. and another 800 bases globally, the U.S. truly has become a “Warfare State.” Today, military-related products account for about one-fourth of total U.S. GDP. This includes 10,000 nuclear weapons. Indeed, the U.S. has lavished $5.5 trillion just on nukes over the past 70 years.
We could do the morally right thing and stop buying death, we could use those dollars to take care of the mentally, physically challenged and the accident victims across this nation.. We could teach the proper daily diet and water intake to the healthy people.. And they could still buy their own health care..
I have no problem with taking care of those who need it, but I do have a problem taking care of those who self induced their sickness..
We could stop trying to police the world, forcing our view on them, protect our borders from attack.. And build gardens for millions.. Including Industrial Hemp.. The oil of that plant cures many things.. This Recent Bill will improve nothing.. It in fact another Wall Street Bailout, nothing more..