Obama credits Wyden on health care
Senator Barack Obama gave a major address yesterday on health care reform. Tucked in the speech, he made reference to Senator Wyden's leadership on health care:
The skeptics tell us that reform is too costly, too risky, too impossible for America.Well the skeptics must be living somewhere else. Because when you see what the health care crisis is doing to our families, to our economy, to our country, you realize that caution is what’s costly. Inaction is what’s risky. Doing nothing is what’s impossible when it comes to health care in America.
It’s time to act. This isn’t a problem of money, this is a problem of will. A failure of leadership. We already spend $2.2 trillion a year on health care in this country. My colleague, Senator Ron Wyden, who’s recently developed a bold new health care plan of his own, tells it this way:
For the money Americans spent on health care last year, we could have hired a group of skilled physicians, paid each one of them $200,000 to care for just seven families, and guaranteed every single American quality, affordable health care.
Discuss.
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Jan. 26, 2007
Posted in in the news 2007. |
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Jan 26, '07
Hello Everyone,
I want to know what they are going to do with "mental health partiy". While I am not a big proponent of government run programs (after all the government is utterly incompetant at everything they do, IN MY OPINION) I do think they need to take urgent action on this issue. Last year the Oregon legislature passed their landmark mental health parity law. Well, turns out, any company that is incorporated out of state can write their policies in their respective states and not have to be subject to this new law the Democrats so extolled themselves in such a self-gratuitous fashion. I am Bipolar and even though I make $48k a year my health insurance doesn't cover ANYTHING that is deemed mental health related. I have to pay a lot of money every month to go see the psychiatrist. And when I am having a manic episode that warrants immediate attention, I cannot go to Cascadia because I'm "not needy" and yet if I go to the E.R. I'll later end up with a big bill, adding more pressure and stress! This situation is beyond belief and warrants immediate attention. I cannot imagine what it would be like to be schizophrenic seeing and hearing things that aren't really there and then getting arrested and be a victim of the criminal system.
9:36 p.m.
Jan 26, '07
Bp1, do you see the irony at all in claiming that you believe government is "utterly incompetent at everything they do" but at the same time wanting the government to immediately fix something that significantly affects you personally?
You think the government should stay out of everything except this one thing that really matters to you? What about the other things that matter just as much to other people? And on the other side of that coin, if the government is really utterly incompetent why would you want them mucking in something that matters so much to you?
Back to the original post, isn't it great watching the Democrats in our congressional delegation now that they are off the minority leash? Oregon is suddenly relevant again in Washington.
Jan 26, '07
I don't want them to "run" the system per se, but require some equitable treatment by the private insurers would be nice. I guess that was my point here.
Thanks for listening,
--GREG--