I am pretty sure that I have made clear that most of my values and goals are liberal in nature. However I am just as adamant that we know how we are going to pay for things that we do. I also strongly desire that we remove programs that do not work. I don't care who came up with what, legislation should be pretty easy (I know it isn't). All legislation should address 5 important points:
- Specifically, what problem is going to be fixed?
- Specifically, how will this be paid for?
- Specifically, what quantifiable metric will be used to measure success?
- Specifically, what values do these metric have to be to attain success?
- What date will the law expire if success has not been attained?
Why is that so hard? It doesn't matter if the law is simple or huge. The stimulus should have had this, the bank bailouts should have had this, and the on going talks about health care should have these points addressed.
It's probably naive to think that this will happen.
Let's be clear about one thing. I want a healthcare overhaul. I spend 800 dollars a month on health care, and my employer spends 500 dollars. Thats 1300 dollars a month being spent on my health care. We just had a baby, that cost another 1000 dollars. On top of all that, I just got an ulcer which would have cost me another 1000 dollars if I went to the hospital (I almost did). This comes to about 17,600 dollars for me and my family (which is now made of 4 people). That comes to 4400 per capita for me. This is still less than the average 6000 per capita (or 7900 depending on where and when you get your facts)for americans.
This is a totally crappy system. A system that only give me the choice of whoever my company chooses to use. My company may or may not make a choice that is in my best interest. But regardless of that, its too much damn money for the same services and short lifespan than in other countries.
Some proposals are saying my taxes will go up 13,000 dollars for a nationalized healthcare program. So I would do better than break even but I wouldn't have to think about extra expenses from my trip to the hospital? Sign me up!
We have the most expensive healthcare in the world, but our longevity ranks 50th with respect to other countries. How do those other countries do it? Nationalized healthcare is overwhelmingly the answer. How much does it cost each taxpayer? Between 2500 and 4000 dollars/year in taxes*. If they can achieve costs like that in France or Macao (where the lifespans are longer)...why can't we?
What could be clearer?
OK so clearly I want us to try something new.
But guess what. I am sick of government leaders getting stuff that we don't get. If they are going to design a healthcare system it should be good enough for them to use themselves. I completely realize this is a stunt, but I support this resolution by House Republican John Fleming. Oops... I did support it until I read it.
Flemings website is bereft of any real information about issues. He is for education and for energy independence. Who isn't? No specifics. Nothing about social issues to be found. But I don't really care about that, I don't vote for him. I was supportive of this resolution until I realized that he was essentially calling for himself to keep his cushy nice healthcare plan that everyone in the entire US would like to have and is only calling for people who actually want to implement change to use the public option.
Here is what I say: remove the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program (FEHBP) all together. Get rid of it. Make government branches supply healthcare just like everyone else gets it, through their employers. If the public option is better than private, then fine, use that. If private insurance is used to fill in gaps (like supplying nonsense therapies) then government officials can have the same choices we all have. But this idea that if you don't vote to improve a system you get to keep unbelievable healthcare is just plain greed.
I was originally happy to see someone trying to make sure the congress has to live by the same rules as everyone else. Too bad he had to be so damn stereotypical for his party.
