Originally Posted by Lisanne
Patrice and Shelly, thanks for the opposing perspective. I know they're a lobbying group for the interests of older citizens. That sounds pretty good to me, but you made me stop and think that in politics things can be done differently than you might want or expect. What do you disagree with regarding their political activities? (You can PM me if you think it might be too political for board rules.) As for the insurance, I'm unemployed and my COBRA ends in December. Being able to get health/dental/vision insurance would be a huge relief for me.
Here's my take (and only a partial explanation since I could go on and on!) and I use the current health plan in congress as an example.
AARP has supported the plan. Yet this plan will take money from Medicare (which already has financial problems), to pay for a plan just like Medicare (did I mention it has financial problems?). The children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren will be paying for the plan TODAY, for years to come. The country is going into huge debt to pay for a complete overhaul of something that needs 'tweaking'. Do you realize that government bureaucrats will decide if you are too old to have care? Just take a pain pill and die quietly! And THAT's in the best interest of AARP members??
When you own a car, do you buy insurance for oil changes, tire changes and tune ups? No. It would be too expensive. You buy auto insurance for the unexpected. Our health insurance is so expensive because we expect it to cover Dr. visits, teeth cleaning, and vision exams. How about if we pay for that out of our own pockets (personal responsibility!) and insure for catastrophic (accidents, disease, hospitalization). No one in this country is ever turned away from a hospital if they need care. When everyone has insurance, everyone will be in the doctors offices and emergency rooms for minor things - many times a Dr. isn't needed, common sense is.
Much of the cost of medical care is CYA - Dr.s trying to make sure they don't get sued. It's the cost of the insurance for sometimes stupid lawsuits. How about we do some tort reform. Wait...we can't do that! Many in Congress are attorneys. Or they are funded by attorneys.
I'd be happy if two things would happen.
1)Each member of the House and Senate had the read their bill before voting. (Aren't we all supposed to read a contract before signing it?) Look at some of the junk we're just now finding out about in the so-called stimulus package. Do you realize that had they just said 'no taxes for anything for one year' it would have fired up the economy AND cost BILLIONS less??
2) Get rid of their special insurance and put members of the House and Senante, and all government employees, on the same plan that they want us on. If it's good enough for us, it should be good enough for them too.
My choice to answer here was not to offend anyone - these are my thoughts. I hope that it encourages you to do your own research and to think for yourself. Don't believe everything you see on TV.