The WELL: inkwell.vue.445: Joe Flower, "Healthcare Beyond Reform: Doing it Right for Half the Cost"

#206: Joe Flower (bbear) Tue 17 Jul 12 15:00

Tue, 17 Jul 2012 15:00:00 PDT

That looks like an excellent page! [Read entire topic]

#205: Jon Lebkowsky (jonl) Tue 17 Jul 12 09:41

Tue, 17 Jul 2012 09:41:00 PDT

Consumers Union has a good guide that explains the ACA: http://yourhealthsecurity.org/the_new_law [Read entire topic]

#204: Bryan Higgins (bryan) Tue 17 Jul 12 09:36

Tue, 17 Jul 2012 09:36:00 PDT

They're not myths--they'er deliberate lies from Republicans. Also heard recently from Boehner: "The Supreme Court confirmed that Obamacare is the biggest tax increase in the [something absurd]," and "President Obama assured you that you could keep your current health care plan, and now he wants to take that away." [Read entire topic]

#203: David Gans (tnf) Tue 17 Jul 12 08:50

Tue, 17 Jul 2012 08:50:00 PDT

That ought to be out there for sure. [Read entire topic]

#202: Joe Flower (bbear) Tue 17 Jul 12 08:07

Tue, 17 Jul 2012 08:07:00 PDT

That was indeed a very good piece.

<http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/16/opinion/keller-five-obamacare-myths.html>

The points he makes are very strong points. And I loved his ending quote:

> If the Obama campaign needs a snappy one-liner, it could borrow this one from David Cutler: *Never before in history has a candidate run for president with the idea that too many people have insurance coverage.* [Read entire topic]

#201: . (wickett) Tue 17 Jul 12 06:55

Tue, 17 Jul 2012 06:55:00 PDT

The 16 July 2012 NY Times has an op-ed by Bill Keller discussing "Five Obamacare Myths." It's quite a good discussion presented as what is wrong, and then what is right. The five erroneous assertions/beliefs:

1. Obamacare is a job killer 2. Obamacare is a federal takeover of insurance 3. The unfettered marketplace is a better solution 4. Leave it to the states, they'll fix it 5. Obamacare is a loser, run against it, run from it, but for heaven's sake don't run on it.

Keller does make the point that a positive message is important, but the bold type in the article lists all the negatives.

Here's what he mentions that is bold and transformative:

1. "ULTIMATELY THE ACA COULD BE A TONIC FOR THE ECONOMY...USING THE GOVERNMENT'S MEDICARE LEVERAGE TO MOVE DOCTORS AWAY FROM EXORBITANT FEE-FOR-SERVICE MEDICINE."

2. THE ACA DELIVERS "30 MILLION NEW CUSTOMERS TO THE PRIVATE INSURANCE INDUSTRY."

3. "'TEN PERCENT OF THE POPULATION ACCOUNTS FOR 60 PERCENT OF THE HEALTH OUTLAYS'...AND THEY ARE NOT REALLY IN A POSITION TO MAKE COST-CONSCIOUS CHOICES."

4. "OBAMACARE ACTUALLY UNDERWRITES PILOT [STATE] PROGRAMS TO REDUCE COSTS, AND GIVES STATES FREEDOM."

5. "AGAINST [THE ACA], MITT ROMNEY OFFERSS SOME VAGUE FREE-MARKET PRINCIPLES AND ONE UNAMBIGUOUS PROMISE: TO DASH THE HOPES OF 30 MILLIION UNINSURED, AND ADD A FEW MILLION TO THEIR RANKS BY SLASHING MEDICAID."

When all are insured and their medical needs taken care of BEFORE they become a systemic political, personal, and social problem, society will be healthier and costs will be reduced! [Read entire topic]

#200: J. Eric Townsend (jet) Thu 12 Jul 12 17:53

Thu, 12 Jul 2012 17:53:00 PDT

Restating something I just sent in email.

Please don't use any of my posts on the well as content for your professiona publishing, even if you're giving away the book and claiming no monetary profit.

I am happy to be interviewed with specific questions for a known target publication if I am the appropriate person for the topic; however my posts on the well are a part of a conversation and not a contribution to a publication. [Read entire topic]

#199: Paulina Borsook (loris) Thu 5 Jul 12 12:08

Thu, 05 Jul 2012 12:08:00 PDT

i think people in the CIM community feel -every- move by tptb makes their professional and financial lives worse --- never mind that this may not be the case. so i think what you are hearing is worry based on lots of past experience. i cant think of any of my practitioners who have had good experience with either insurance corps or healthcare systems.

this community of patients also may be folks who -dont- have conventional insurance but -do- cough up, say, to see a CIM practitioner as needed. so to them this maybe feels like lots of $ shelled out to entitied they dont like for medicine they dont want [Read entire topic]

#198: descend into a fractal hell of meta-truthiness (jmcarlin) Thu 5 Jul 12 11:59

Thu, 05 Jul 2012 11:59:00 PDT

> doomsday reaction

People fear change. Some REALLY fear change. Factoring out that fear from legitimate concern is hard but worthwhile when it's possible. [Read entire topic]

#197: Joe Flower (bbear) Thu 5 Jul 12 11:58

Thu, 05 Jul 2012 11:58:00 PDT

> doomsday reaction from the CIM community

I am uncertain about a number of the premises of that article. That HSAs combined with catastrophic insurance are doomed by the legislation, and will only increase if people willingly opt out? What I have been hearing from insurance executives is an expectation that we will see more of them. I will have to keep an eye out for a better explanation of this. The article's description of the government demanding only "full coverage" is, I believe, incorrect. The exchanges are supposed to be set up by the states, and there are a number of ways to set them up, with the major difference being how wide a variety of plans will be allowed (Utah and Massachusetts exchanges, both already operating, represent the two extremes). I could be wrong on this, but I believe that a major strain of what I am hearing from the insurance industry and the employer healthcare consultant industry is an increasing shift of a titrated amount of financial risk to the consumer/patient. Which translates into co-pays, deductibles, and consumer-directed health plans (CDHPs), which consist of exactly this combination of high-deductible health plans with HSAs. This is the first time I have heard anyone claim that such plans would be in some way restricted or even discouraged by the ACA. [Read entire topic]