The Obama Apology That Is Needed

[Mass]

I know this will probably displease some people here, so if all you want to hear is that Obama is genius and cannot do anything bad, do not read this.

For the rest, who are struggling because we now have to defend a plan that is very poorly designed because dropping it would make things even worse for so many people, you may enjoy that.
http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/the_obama_apology_that_is_needed_20131117

My fellow Americans, tonight I want to apologize for the results of my efforts in reforming US healthcare. It is now evident from the roll-out and the technical problems that have been exposed that we have created a complex system in which these types of problems will exist, not just at the beginning in the setting up of a website to sell health insurance, but as the law takes full effect. Therefore, tonight I am announcing my intent to work for a major but simple change in direction.

First, I apologize because these problems should have been evident before we passed the Affordable Care Act. Prior to the ACA, the existence of the insurance industry created tremendous bureaucracy for consumers, doctors, health providers and hospitals as well as for business and the government. It also resulted in millions of Americans not being able to get the healthcare they needed, even if they had insurance. After the ACA we now see these problems persist. This is not surprising.

The ACA requires each state as well as Washington, DC and Puerto Rico to have an exchange to sell health insurance. Each exchange has four levels of insurance – platinum, gold, silver and bronze. Within each level there are multiple insurance companies and each insurance company puts forward multiple insurance plans. Each state has its own regulatory system for health insurance and the federal government has thousands of pages of regulations as well. This is a very complex system not only for the purposes of selling insurance, but will remain complex throughout the system. Doctors, health providers and hospitals will continue to need to spend more time and money managing payments for healthcare; businesses will continue to need to spend a lot of overhead figuring out what kind of insurance to have and government will have to create bureaucracy to manage thousands of insurance policies.

Second, I want to apologize for stifling the debate we should have had in developing a national healthcare system. When we began this process we had the opportunity to look at three very distinct systems currently operating in the United States – a market-based system dominated by the insurance industry with healthcare provided for-profit; a single payer system, Medicare, where the government is the only funder of healthcare and private providers deliver healthcare services; and, a completely government-run healthcare system for Veterans (VA) where the doctors, hospitals and healthcare providers all work for the government. This would have been a great debate that would have resulted in the United States putting in place the best national health plan based on our experience, and the empirical evidence, of what has worked and what has not, in US healthcare. I suspect if we had that debate the market-based system would have been shown to be the weakest of the three alternatives and a combination of Medicare and the VA would have been the most cost-effective way to provide healthcare for every person in the United States.

[libdem4life]

1. Yes. What concerns me that's not talked about is the need for way more medical personnel like nurses

Physicians, Physician's Assistants, Pharmacists, billing experts, LPNs, Xray, other auxiliary specialties. These are not like minimum wage jobs where there is a ready source, these are highly trained, educationally expensive, and take a few years.

And all this new equipment? Just affording it isn't all of it...we have to be able to manufacture it and place it and train, etc.

Right now they need to put through a plan like we had back in the 60s because teachers were scarce, called the NDEA Act. It paid for all school loans if you taught in a disadvantaged district...it was deferred until graduation and then 1/4 was forgiven each year.

We need that now for medical personnel.

[SHRED]

2. K & R for truth

[99Forever]

3. K&R

[Orrex]

4. What I like is how you opened with a big F-U.

A rhetorical device like that will really draw in the audience, especially by creating a sense of superiority in those who believe that they see that the "real" Obama isn't a genius.

In effect, your opening sentence says "If you're too smart to be prejudiced in favor of Obama, then click the link."

[Mass]

5. Not what I said, but thank you for the post.

Even geniuses make errors.

[bvar22]

6. I don't care for apologies, but...

..IF this would direct the National Dialog and National Debate towards the best way to FIX the broken system NOW,
count me in.
The solution couldn't be more OBVIOUS.

Al least NOW, the President could honestly say,
we TRIED it YOUR way,
and did everything we could to preserve the private, for profit Health Insurance Industry, but it didn't work.

We gave the Health Insurance Industry every opportunity to play fair and take responsibility, but they didn't.
So now it is time to get rid of the parasites.
They made BILLIONS off of denying Health Care to suffering Americans,
so it is time to tell them to take their BILLIONS and leave.
We are much better off without them.

Wouldn't that be nice to hear something like THAT?

Unfortunately, it ain't gonna happen.
We will be stuck with this expensive, overly complex monster of a kludge that protects this parasitic Health Insurance Industry for a LONG time.

Even if the Republicans gain complete control in a 2014/2016 sweep,
they will keep the MANDATE, and just roll back Medicaid and the ("job killing&quot regulations.
THAT is their DREAM, along with cutting Social Security.