Monday, August 24, 2009

100 Words Or Less: Predictions on health care

Today I'd like to hear something a little different from you on the issue of health care. I'm not looking for what you WANT to see happen with health-care reform; I'm interested in what you think WILL happen with health-care reform.

I'm hoping this will be a test of how the 24/7 news cycle in a given day or week matches how events really play out. Obviously, serious health-care reform -- especially a public option -- looks to be in trouble right now. But how about a year from now? Where will we end up then?

That's the kind of prediction I'm looking for. We'll come back to this along the way and see how the guesses turned out. Look into the future and tell me what you think... in 100 words or less.

18 comments:

Anonymous said...

Anything that could potentially reform healthcare will be removed from the bill as too extreme and the watered down plan will be a miserable failure that will not improve the quality or cost of care. Both parties will tug on the rope so hard that the middle will break and they'll all be sitting on their rear ends in the mud.....tick, tick, tick until the 2010 elections.

non-profits shouldn't make a profit said...

Destined for failure until the fat is cut out of the expenses. Eliminating malpractice windfalls for scum like John Edwards. Without taking this drastic approach, it is similar to letting the unions run wild amongst GM, Chrysler, etc. AND something done about the windfall profits CMC and BCBSNC make every year as non-profits

Anonymous said...

I am afraid we'll waste billions of dollars and be no better off than we are right now.

People that really need care now can get it, yet that is the push for reform.

We'll reform and bring the USA closer to the brink.

I hate to be pessimistic, but tis the truth.

Anonymous said...

Anon 1:23 I agree. If a bill passes it will not help reduce costs in the long term. Like it or not until we have Medicare for everyone, we will not have true reform. If we can have medicare for people 65 and older, why can't we have medicare for everyone? Will it cost? yes. Will taxes go up? You bet. Will we have health care reform we can believe in? Yes we will.

Anonymous said...

I believe Obama will walk on water and save all of mankind.

Will I need healthcare reform when I can simply touch the hem of his garment and be made whole?

Why doubtest thou?

Anonymous said...

The COWARDS will always win.Oh and the stupid also. We will continue along our same path. The insurance Companies will continue to raise rates until they have pushed all the jobs overseas,then they will go out of business because all the corporations have foreign employees with government healthcare.Then just like throughout history Liberals will save us from the cowards(conservatives,Tories,Rebels)or whatever name they are using at the time.

barkomomma said...

We're screwed and Vaseline will be $100 an ounce.

Anonymous said...

Healthcare reform will be tabled.

Obama will rightly reason that the 48 million uninsured - soon to be 60 million in this job-destroying recession - will vote for him en masse in 2012.

That means they'll vote out the conservatives and Dixiecrats who have theirs and don't want anyone else to get none.

On Feb. 1, 2013, Obama will resurrect the reform legislation, and it will pass in a flash.

Anonymous said...

If all the state mandates are removed and citizens are allowed to shop across state lines for their product to introduce REAL competition, insurance rates will go down. Tort reform will help medical costs go down. There is no need to the government to overhaul the entire system for less than 10% of the population. What is the TRUE reason Obama wants this so badly?

Anonymous said...

After just coming off a 9-day hospital stay, my opinion has changed drastically. It was all too easy to call poppycock when everyone in my family was healthy....now, I clearly see a different picture. Don't knock the idea of healthcare reform until you spend some time on the bed....by then, it's usually too late. My 100 word summary boils down to one word: Necessary.

Unknown said...

Healthcare reform is dead. It wasn't the "death panels", "public option", or "will pay for abortions." It was the freaking stupendous cost and the growing awareness that government can't be trusted.

Mary said...

There will be some reform--new regulation of insurance companies, eg., not canceling insurance when the covered get expensive, and deregulation, eg., insurance without state boundaries. There will not be another government run health insurance other than what we already have--Medicare and the VA. The uninsured will get more financial aid. The government will help hospitals and doctor's offices pay for making patients' records more accessible and easily shared.

Anonymous said...

Consider the case of 11 year old Jaycee Dugard, who was abducted and held captive 18 years despite chances to escape. Psychologists say captives can bond with their captors. I think we have been raped and held captive by insurance companies for so long that we no longer recognize or desire freedom.

Bethany said...

It'll pass, nobody will be happy, because it can't possibly bridge out bipolar nation. Someday people in the U.S. will be able to differentiate between social health care and socialism, and if the first bill that passes at least does that maybe we'll eventually get real public health care.

Anonymous said...

Fear is being created by the insurance companies and the people making money from them. For example: --United Health Care gave 10 letters to each employee to send to their congressman stating not to let the healthcare pass. Creating fear is the best way to get things thier way. I am for healthcare!

Anonymous said...

I hope all the republican nay-sayers burn in hell for their lies. Propaganda and deception are their only tools. We praise President Obama as this reform will happen whether you like it or not! There's not one damn thing you can do about it.

Anonymous said...

I promise you one thing...
No illegal alien will go without healthcare!

Our Kenyan Muslim President will see to that!

TeenSkate said...

You say its socialism but on the same hand you send your kids to a socialism schools don't you? If any of your kids are going, will be going or have gone to a public school then you are a socialist. so stop being a hypocrite and send them to private schools and stop putting a burden on society! Hypocrite!

Dan, Gripezone.com