Another Saturday, Another Day of Obama Health Care Nonsense

So vapid an inane that the NY Times seems bored with his speech:

“That means if you like the plan you have, you can keep it,” the president said. “If you like the doctor you have, you can keep your doctor, too. The only change you’ll see are falling costs as our reforms take hold.”

Just how he plans to achieve that remains up in the air; the address was long on broad goals and short on specifics. Mr. Obama said that he had made it clear to Congress that health reform should not add to the budget deficit.

“We’ll work with Congress to fully cover the costs through rigorous spending reductions and appropriate additional revenues,” Mr. Obama said. “We’ll eliminate waste, fraud and abuse in our health care system, but we’ll also take on key causes of rising costs — saving billions while providing better care to the American people.”

You may be able to keep your doctor, that is if they do not drop out of the system or if the waiting lists aren't too long. As for not adding to the budget deficit, the president has no credibility in regards fiscal responsibility and his health care savings rubbish is just that, rubbish. In other news we have seen the first concrete release of a possible health care bill, it will take time to digest but updates will be ready as is. On the bright side we may actually get a couple months to look at it, unlike the disgraceful stimulus bill that was shoved down the countries throats.



In the real world:


The Massachusetts plan is often considered the role model for the United States, studies of the program have made these conclusions:

1. From 2006 to 2008, access to care improved markedly. For example, adults were more likely to have: a usual place to go for care (up 4.5 percentage points); a preventive care visit in the past 12 months (up 6.0 percentage points); and a dental care visit in the past 12 months (up 7.6 percentage points).

2. After declining from 2006 to 2007, the share of adults reporting they did not get needed care in the previous 12 months increased from 2007 to 2008. The increases were statistically significant for specialist care and medical tests, treatment, or follow-up care.

3. In 2008, about one of five adults reported being told a doctor’s office or clinic was not accepting new patients or patients with their type of coverage. Problems obtaining care were concentrated among adults with family incomes below 300 percent of the federal poverty level—particularly those enrolled in public programs.

4. From 2006 to 2007, the share of adults reporting problems paying medical bills or having medical debt decreased (by 2.7 and 1.4 percentage points, respectively). But by the fall of 2008, the shares of adults reporting such problems had begun to increase, moving back toward 2006 levels.