charlieb wrote:

The other thing to be aware of is which industries and which
lobbyists are opposing the change, what ever the proposed
change is, and examine their reason(s) for that opposition. I'm
willing put money on the it's not for altruistic reasons.

I read an article recently on some of the folks funding opposition to health
care reform and was absolutely gobsmacked to discover how many of them are
owners or CEOs etc. of health care companies making nice fat profits with
things just as they are. No, really, guys getting multi-million-dollar
bonus checks at insurance companies and so on are opposed to the system
being changed--who knew?

And if you've ever had a "problem" with your health insurance
company, especially if it's a life threatening thing, be aware that
it's in THEIR best interest for you to die - before they have to
expend any money on you. At least with the government you
CAN try and get your elected congress person and senator
to look into your problem. With an insurance company - your
screwed - AFTER you probably have spent months on the phone
talking to someone in a Call Center - in Pakistan or the Philipines
or Honduras - who may or may not speak english.

What cracks me up is folks upset at the notion of some govt. bureaucrat
telling them which sort of health care they'll be allowed to have as if the
same damn thing doesn't happen today with insurance company bureaucrats. I
had an MRI awhile back and the hospital wouldn't give me an appointment
until they'd heard from the insurance company. Ditto with appointments with
specialists and so on, it all requires approval from some guy in a cubicle a
thousand miles away. I've also had a medication a doctor wanted to
prescribe for me disallowed by the insurance company in favor of a less
expensive generic--so I didn't get what the doctor thinks is the best drug,
but the one the insurance company is willing to pay for. And that's nothing
compared to what some folks have to go through, like having an insurance
company cancel coverage in the middle of chemo-therapy for breast cancer on
the flimsy excuse that the woman under-reported her weight on her original
application with the insurance company. For a start that sort of crap
should be flat-out illegal.