Ash UK/US

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100322/...lth_care_obama

Ash UK/US

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100322/..._care_overhaul

lifehouse51

This bill has divided the nation a lot...and we have yet to see its implications when it's implemented. The American Medical Association, Hospital, and Pharm companies supported the bill, but they also have their own agendas. Theoretically it sounds good because more people will be covered by health insurance, but really, we'll have to see how it'll be like in the next few years.

I'm already hearing voices of protest in the Physician circles, although I personally support the bill.

DeadVim

Any news on the literacy bill?

penguinsix

Actually in the way they count "votes" it passed by only 4. If 4 voted the other way it would have failed.

Rete

Yes, it passed and will be signed. My only issue is that the healthcare reform bill will not benefit those who are deemed middle class. It won't help my daughter and her family that must pay $800 a month for healthcare from their employer nor my daughter who has to provide private healthcare insurance for their family. It will definitely help those without healthcare and too poor to fund it privately but then those people have the option of medicaid if push comes to shove for major health concerns. I would have preferred a healthcare system that benefited all US citizens. But it is a start. Perhaps before I leave this world there will be a national healthcare plan that is not discriminatory.

Lion in Winter

It's a foot in a door that has been very, very difficult to crack open. Perfect it's not, but it is a sea change from anything that has gone before in this country. The rest of the developed world has been doing it for years of course, but not here. It's an imperfect start, but it is a start.

Some of the distinguished opposition...

"Thousands of protesters gathered outside Congress at the weekend, shouting "kill the bill". Some directed racist and other derogatory remarks at African-American members of Congress, including John Lewis, one of the veterans of the 1960s civil rights movement. One congressman was spat on.

Another protester shouted "faggot" at Democratic congressman Barney Frank, who later told the Politico website: "It's like the Salem witch trials, and healthcare is the witches. There is mass hysteria." (from The Guardian)

Lion in Winter

They past on it.

lifehouse51

The Bill as it is now already faced so much opposition, and barely passed. Could you image a bill that calls for immediate universal Health care? Yea, things just have to go one step at a time.

celticgrid

I'm sure this is a move in the right general direction, but...

On a side note, saw this recently and was gobsmacked.

Harvard Business Review chart

lifehouse51

Not surprising...there are many reasons for it, and you can't blame it on physicians being overly-compensated (Which is not true for a lot of physicians, considering that most of us are in debt for years and earn a modest salary during our training years ranging from 3 to 7+ years)

Lion in Winter

Infant mortality rate here is worse than that of Cuba, too.

Just a matter of priorities - if the US wanted good health care for all its people it could most certainly have it.

celticgrid

My surprise was because one argument I'd heard put forward commonly was that although the costs were high it reflected, at least partially, in life expectancy. That is not evidenced by this set of numbers.

I heard a similar comment re. the debt levels racked up for medical training on the radio this morning.

lifehouse51

One of the problem with these statistics is they don't stratify the population into socialecononmic groups. If you look at people with multiple comorbidities who are well-off with good private insurance, their health spendings are gonna be sky-high (Which explains the high costs in general population), their health car is good and life expectancy will be pretty good. However, the uninsured population, without regular follow-up/checks can fall into two groups: Those that utilize high cost periodic urgent care...which drives up the cost but life expectancy still not high. (Heck, I can't help you prevent death from heart attacks if you don't wanna take Lipitor and Aspirin, yet come for the expensive cardiac catheterization when you have chest pain!!) And those that don't utilize the care as they don't want to pay out of pocket, and as a result, have undiscovered illnesses and hence lower life expectancy.

To overgeneralize, you can partly blame the lack of universal health care, at least that's what I think

I'm really simplifying everything and I'm sure a health care economist will be better equipped to explain things.

cranston

Whether you like her or not this is a great victory for Nancy Pelosi. She is a formidable politician.