Persevere!! Medicare and Socxial Security both took years to pass. We need a rational, single payer plan for the US. Senators have socialized medicine, and while a system like the German model does not, IT DOES cover everybody! We would save $BILLIONS/year and prevent thousands of medical expense caused bankruptcies if we used a sensible model instead of the half-assed hodge podge we have now.

Don’t want health care reform ? It doesn’t affect you anyway.

Well my right leg is numb and ins. won’t pay for my surgery and since I’m powerless to do anything I’m just going to get in the car and drive that 3 ton weapon all over town anyway.

Honestly, do you really think 2 milliion people would leave Colorado? A more important question to ask following your line of reasoning is why would 2 million people leave Colorado? An epidemic? Rampant pollution? And, even in such an extreme example, why wouldn’t a premium adjustment not be acceptable. Right now, you have a kind of national socialism where individuals tie their welfare to a corporation in order to have their health care expenses subsidized…

About fifteen years ago our resort company pioneered COBRA bridging for its seasonal employees, many of whom represent the spine and soul of the winter sports business. Prior to that, many of us went without medical health insurance until the company could pick us up when the winter season came around again. A few years ago, the company rolled back this benefit until it costs far more now [about double] to bridge than it does to go outside and break down the family coverage to find what is economical. When I asked someone in HR why this important benefit had been rolled back, the one line answer I got was, “Obamacare.” That’s nonsense. While not perfect, the Affordable Healthcare law is an important step in breaking the stranglehold insurance companies have over our health care and health insurance system. Why, for example, is it in the public’s interest for insurance companies to be exempt from federal anti-trust laws? The answer can only be, it isn’t. It’s in their interest and that must stop. They can’t have it both ways, claiming a free and competitive marketplace is the American way toward a solution, then rig the system in their favor. Let them compete with the public. In Colorado, if five million people got together and each paid a level premium for universal health insurance coverage, I would bet dollars to donuts we’d soon have a healthy and functioning system that we could all be proud of and would be a model for the rest of our nation.

I have been a trustee on a Health and Welfare Multi Employer Fund for a long time. about a decade. I have watched our costs triple in ten years. We have made major modifications to our plan just to slow down the losses and when we did have one year we actually built reserves and within a year it was upside down again. We are looking at the possibility of taking all of the benefits but major medical away just to keep a benefit of some kind. This is a disgusting problem and this country (USA) should be much smarter about this issue. I applaud Colorado for trying to get a single payer system. Yes it will cost tax payers money but it will save those who are paying for insurance out of their pocket and even those in company health plans a lot of money. It also reduces the possibility of uncompensated health care which means people who go to the emergency room for everything and don’t pay a penny. That costs hospitals a large amount. I did the research 4 or 5 years ago and it cost one hospital in Colorado Springs 84 million dollars in one year. But you know what, the hospital still made money because they accounted for the loss in their budget and raised their rates on those with insurance to cover the 84 million dollar delta. That is just one hospital in one town. Add it up for the state and see what that number looks like. All of that cost gets passed on to those with insurance and that is what is causing the problem. The only way to fix it is to cover everybody. I promise it will cause health care costs to drop. The hospitals won’t have to cover a huge number like what is listed above before they can even make a dime of profit. This should not be a political issue, it should be a social issue. The republicans are busy fighting everything about this because it dings one of their major contributors, health insurance companies. Health insurance companies are like any other business, they do not want to lose their revenue stream, but in this instance it is important that they do for all of our sakes.

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