Obama urges doctors to back his health care plans

[BlueJessamine]

Source: Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama, continuing to barnstorm for his health care proposals, will urge doctors gathered in Chicago to support wider insurance coverage and targeted federal spending cuts.

Obama planned to tell the American Medical Association's annual meeting in his hometown on Monday that overhaul cannot wait and that bringing down costs is the most important thing he can do to ensure the country's long-term fiscal health, a senior administration official said.

The official spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the president's remarks before they were delivered.

The nation's doctors, like many other groups, are divided over the president's proposals to reshape the health care delivery system. The White House anticipates heavy spending to cover the almost 50 million Americans who lack health insurance and has taken steps in recent days to outline just where that money could be found.

For instance, Obama wants to cut federal payments to hospitals by about $200 billion and cut $313 billion from Medicare and Medicaid. He also is proposing a $635 billion "down payment" in tax increases and spending cuts in the health care system.



Read more: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jS8cm836SWQSk1JVg0sugT1bw9FgD98R3JI01

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On the web:

Lynn Sweet Chicago Sun Times:
http://www.suntimes.com/news/sweet/1622724,CST-NWS-sweet15.article

excerpt:

While in concept the AMA supports all Americans having health care coverage, the organization wants to avoid an outcome where payments to physicians treating patients in a government-run plan are capped at rates lower than private insurance companies pay.

Vice President Joe Biden, on NBC's "Meet the Press" on Sunday, when asked if Obama would sign a bill without a public or government-run plan, said "we think there should be a public plan. But a public plan is on a continuum. ... So the question is, what is the public plan?"

snip:

Obama has said people with employer-based private health insurance would see no change. Senate GOP leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) on CBS' "Face the Nation" disagreed: "If the government is in the insurance business, there won't be any other insurers."

As for GOP votes, McConnell said, "I think that for virtually every Republican, a government plan is a non-starter."

[JDPriestly]

1. The reduced Medicare payments to hospitals may not be felt

by those hospitals who begin to receive payment for the care for patients that they have been serving as charity cases. In big city hospitals, there are many emergency room walk-ins that the hospitals care for gratis. So, this may not be as huge a loss as it might first seem.

[SkyDaddy7]

2. I think the idea is...

If everyone is covered then these hospitals will not need these government payments...Or at least that is how I understand it.

[sandnsea]

5. Medicaid, Medicare, VA, IHS

The government already "covers" at least 40% of health care, maybe more to hospitals themselves. If everyone is covered, we'll still have government programs.

[JDPriestly]

11. Right!. The hospitals will still need the Medicare and Medicaid

payments, but the Medicaid payments will be the same as all the other insurance. Hopefully over time (and it will take many years), Medicare costs will go down. That is because if people are insured and go to a doctor or nurse practitioner regularly while in their 50s, chronic diseases like diabetes and high blood pressure will be easy to control.

[Rage for Order]

3. Obama should at least be honest about the number of uninsured

A few months ago it was always 47 million people without insurance. Now, in the article in the OP, it is "almost 50 million". However, a quick review of the facts shows that this number is automatically inflated by 20% because they are counting non-citizens, i.e. illegal immigrants, people here on temporary visas, etc, in the number of uninsured, as shown here:

http://www.nchc.org/facts/coverage.shtml

Nearly 46 million Americans, or 18 percent of the population under the age of 65, were without health insurance in 2007, the latest government data available.

The large majority of the uninsured (80 percent) are native or naturalized citizens

I'm all for providing American citizens with health insurance, but I'm not so keen on insuring 9 million people who are not citizens unless we can bill their home country for any medical costs incurred while they are in the US.

[AlphaCentauri]

4. don't forget small business owners

who can't afford insurance for them selves

[Rage for Order]

6. As I understand it...

The "47 million" number, or "almost 50 million", or whichever number is used, accounts for all people in the US who are uninsured, whether by choice or affordability (or lack thereof). I'm almost certain that self-employed people are included in the "47-50 million" uninsured.

[AlphaCentauri]

8. We are not really sure if those numbers are real until the next census

[CL455W4R]

7. I wonder..

Why aren't more employers backing a single payer system. You'd think businesses would be overjoyed at being able to completely drop their health insurance plans in favor of scratching out more profits. It seems in every other policy issue the business community is happy to let the government pick up the tab while they reap the benefit...

[Xithras]

9. I think it's a quality of service thing.

Most employers know that their employees will be furious if they're forced into a government run program that has inferior benefits to the private plan they're already on. Even worse, many unionized employees have contracts that gurantee specific benefit levels, and not the provider. If a union contract demands a benefit level below that offered by the government, an employer might find himself in the position of paying for government insurance via taxes, while simultaneously paying for private employee insurance to accomodate employee contracts.

There's simply no confidence in the business community that the government can assemble and run a healthcare system that offers a high quality and comprehensive medical insurance program at a cost lower than what they're already paying. What they expect is another Medicare...high costs, long waits, and low payouts.

[Winterblues]

10. Bringing down costs means lowering doctor's pay somewhat.

It means lowering the price of medicine so that every billing throughout the USA is the same pricing schedule. IBM will get no better rates than Joe's Garage. It means Hospitals will have uniform rates and the same for doctors. Just by doing that, equalizing expenses throughout the nation there will be enough savings to pay for Health care for all. It is no wonder many doctors are against this. It means they won't be nearly as rich as they want to be. They will of course still make more money than over seventy five percent of Americans but to many that is not nearly enough..

[StarryNite]

12. Rationing for seniors?

Is that still part of the health care plan?