Re: The thread about the thread Re: DeLong on health insurance reform
Ray wrote: I fail to see what difference it makes how often I am involved. Surely this should be the case with or without my participation! Hi Ray, glad to see you're still hanging out. Are you ready for spring, or does it make that much of a difference? I know you were kidding, but as far as how often you're involved, I think it makes a big difference. The list is a better place when we get opinions from a myriad of sources and a myriad of opinions IMO. Anybody who was on the list before 6/00 knows what an interesting, vibrant community it was and what made it most interesting to me was the diversity. So how do you like your health care? Doug ___ http://mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l_mccmedia.com
Re: From CNN: Democratic leaders in Congress soften on public option
Ronn! wrote: God bless America, Land that I love! Stand beside her, and guide her Thru the night with a light from above. Or, as someone I know once sang it, from a bulb Doug ___ http://mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l_mccmedia.com
Re: DeLong on health insurance reform
John Williams wrote: They changed the link. Here is the new one: http://american.com/archive/2009/august/maybe-we-should-spend-more-on-healthcare Yikes. Let's first look at the source of the article, The American Enterprise Institute. Described in Wiki as some of the leading architects of the second Bush administration's public policy. Now there's an endorsement! Second except for the determination that health care currently isn't the same as it used to be (duh) the article itself is all spin. If you want to figure out how expensive health care should be, looking at other systems around the world should at least give a ballpark idea as to what we should be paying. And if we're doing the lions share of the innovation when it comes to medical research, then maybe we need to figure out how to get the rest of the world that benefits just as much as we do (if not more) rather than sticking with the current formula. Personally, I think that a system that places an emphasis on boner drugs, reformulation of proven drugs and anti-depressants that don't work is in need of an overhaul in and of itself. Finally, if the proposed reforms are really what we need to fix the system, why weren't they implemented when they had the ear of the president and a cooperative congress? All we got was an abortion of a drug bill. You'd have to be _on drugs_ to be listening seriously to anything these guys are saying. Doug ___ http://mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l_mccmedia.com
Re: The thread about the thread Re: DeLong on health insurance reform
On Sep 13, 2009, at 10:21 AM, Doug Pensinger wrote: Hi Ray, glad to see you're still hanging out. Are you ready for spring, or does it make that much of a difference? The change of seasons is not as obvious here as it seemed to be in the States as we toured around last year. We don't go from ridiculous negative temperatures to extreme heat as for example in Colorado. It's gradually getting warmer now (the low 20s C) and it looks like we might be expecting another horror bushfire season. Melbourne's dams are still below 30% full after 12 years of drought. So how do you like your health care? Um, I'd like my health care to be unnecessary! If you mean do I like Australia's system?, then overall, I'd say yes. There is universal health coverage under the government mandated Medicare system, and as well as that, many people also to take out private health cover (which is subsidised by a 30% gov contribution). I won't go into detail here, but I encourage those on both sides of the debate to perhaps check out: http://www.health.gov.au/internet/main/publishing.nsf/Content/healthsystem-overview-1-Introduction or http://tinyurl.com/qppnmu Being a government site, it perhaps paints too rosy a picture, but it does give the outline of the system. From discussions with many people during our US trip last year, it was amazing to us what a worry it was to US citizens about how to pay for their health care. Some of the premiums discussed were to our ears, unbelievable. Relying so much on employer-sponsored health benefits seems to me a strange system. The employed surely are far more able to pay for their own health coverage than the unemployed. Here in Australia, at least everyone is entitled to basic care, usually with little copayment required. It obviously does help if you can afford to take out private health insurance was well, as it increases the range of choices you have for treatment. Regards, Ray. ___ http://mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l_mccmedia.com
