In article ,
Jim Yanik wrote:


"counselling" is a distraction;
it's the *denial of treatments* that is the problem.

I agree. Especially since the two are not even remotely linked.


BTW,Obama has said he expects to drive private insurers out of the
healthcare business,and that it would take 10-15 years to do it.
It's a GOAL of Obama's to have only a "single payer" system.
NO competition(with the resultant savings),no choice.

There are some interesting clauses that I find somewhat interesting in
the House version of the bill. The MOST is that the government option
(if it survives) would be specifically forbidden from negotiating with
the providers. Rather, it would use the MCare reimbursement models which
impose reimbursement on a take-it-or-leave-it basis. Since Mcare
generally pays around 60 cents for every $1 paid by the Evil Insurance
Companies, this would seem to be a VERY potent competitive edge that is
magnified by the fact the government option is also denied the right to
make a profit.
The other thing is that if the loss ratio on any given year is
higher than some artifically mandated standard, then all programs are
required to refund it. However, the actuaries don't always get it right
and the pay out rates can fluctuate. There is not method to capture more
money if the ratio goes below what is approved.

--
Searching is half the fun: life is much more manageable when thought
of as a scavenger hunt as opposed to a surprise party.
Jimmy Buffett