Clinton takes Indiana by a ‘razor’ and Obama wins North Carolina by a huge margin. Nevertheless, Kentucky, Montana and West Virginia are still to come.

The Democratic race for nomination is still very much alive – and most likely to be decided by superdelegates

If you’re tired of waiting around for those super delegates to make a decision already, go to LobbyDelegates.com and push them to support Clinton or Obama

If you haven’t done so yet, please write a message to each of your state’s superdelegates at http://www.lobbydelegates.com

Obama Supporters:

Sending a note to current Obama supporters lets them know it’s appreciated, sending a note to current Clinton supporters can hopefully sway them to change their vote to Obama, and sending a note to the uncommitted folks will hopefully sway them to vote for Obama. It’s that easy…

Clinton Supporters too …. !

It takes a moment, but what’s a few minutes now worth to get Clinton in office?! Those are really worth !

Sending a note to current Clinton supporters lets them know it’s appreciated, sending a note to current Obama supporters can hopefully sway them to change their vote to Clinton, and sending a note to the uncommitted folks will hopefully sway them to vote for Clinton. It’s that easy…

http://www.universalhealthcareinfousa.com

As one who has no experience in economics, other than my weekly checkbook juggling, there is something about the republican answer to healthcare that just doesn’t add up. If changes are made that make it more difficult for middle and poor classes to have health insurance or to receive health care, wouldn’t it adversely effect the bottom lines of health insurance companies (less premiums)

I’ll take a stab at it. Okay the McCain plan changes the employer sponsored coverage paradigm to one of ‘personal responsibility’.

Most states require insurers to quote a standard rate for small groups 2-50 and allow limited demographic underwriting for large groups (age/sex…etc).

However many states allow medical underwriting as well as demographic banding for direct poilicies.

The end result is that in a state where medical underwriting is allowed, the desirable members (20-30, non smoker, no previous health problems) get a fantastic rate. However, there is no incentive to insure people that actually require medical care at any rate.

It all boils down to the fact that you have close to nil bargaining power as an individual against industry underwriters. The insurance co.s will be the winners under McCain’s plan because it will allow them to better weed out the undesirables.

As one who has no experience in economics, other than my weekly checkbook juggling, there is something about the republican answer to healthcare that just doesn’t add up. If changes are made that make it more difficult for middle and poor classes to have health insurance or to receive health care, wouldn’t it adversely effect the bottom lines of health insurance companies (less premiums), doctors,laboratories, diagnostic firms and hospitals (less patients), and medical equipment companies (less sales)? I don’t see the where this scenario fits into their pattern of greed.

Well, the issue is that these companies KNOW that eventually those without health insurance will get sick and/or die. They WILL need these facilities eventually, it’s just when they get there they won’t have the money to pay for them. People cannot avoid medical treatment their whole lives unfortunately. So what happens is that the companies themselves still make money through subsidies provided by the government and when we pay for our treatment. Then those same companies can jack up prices on drugs and other medical equipment when it suits them because of deregulation which has given the corporations control over the market.

Could have been a landshark, but it chose to be a landpig, what else is there to say? ;)

landpig was post #18 here..My previous post about the greed factor and my confusion was #17. I’ll repost.

As one who has no experience in economics, other than my weekly checkbook juggling, there is something about the republican answer to healthcare that just doesn’t add up. If changes are made that make it more difficult for middle and poor classes to have health insurance or to receive health care, wouldn’t it adversely effect the bottom lines of health insurance companies (less premiums), doctors,laboratories, diagnostic firms and hospitals (less patients), and medical equipment companies (less sales)? I don’t see the where this scenario fits into their pattern of greed.

Can anyone shed any enlightenment on my confusion at post #17?
May 8th, 2008 at 1:21 pm

Could have been a landshark, but it chose to be a landpig, what else is there to say? ;)

As a Canadian, why do I know about HR676 Bill and not the American people? Why wont your media talk about HR676? Why wont Elizebeth mention HR676?

Your country is loosing out, and cannot compete with nations like ours who provide single payer health insurance. We produce more cars then Detroit because the health care system here provides companies with cost cuts that make manufacturing competative with the rest of the industrialized world.

Americas may think they pay less taxes. In fact, by the time you pay for health care, save for childrens education,a vast majority of Americans are left with little or nothing at the end of each month.

It’s not just the system that has to change, it’s the mind set!!!!

The United States has the most expensive healthcare system in the world. Part of our problem is that approximately 19.5% to 24 % is spent simply on administrative costs. Plus, we have had a shift of non-profit to for-profit providers, such as hospital chains.

Our high ratio of uninsured, contributes to the rising cost of healthcare because there are many conditions that could have been prevented or treated at a much cheaper cost if caught early.

The US is ranked 26th in infant morality rate.

The General Accounting Office and the Congressional Budgeting Office issued reports,in 1991, stating that a single payer system similiar to that of Canada’s would more than pay for itself, due to reduced administrative costs, as well as having universal access to health care, especially preventative care.

Another possiblity to improve our problem is to expand Medicare to cover not only the elderly but everyone that doesn’t have health insurance coverage. Medicare only has 2% that goes to administrative costs. This is the only other solution we have if our country doesn’t go with a single-payer program, IMHO. At least everyone would be taken care of.

Americans have been doing their part in the area of “personal financial responsibility.” The lack of corporate financial responsibility has been diminishing the efforts of the individual by making it tougher to get a return on the benefits they pay for. And even without insurance, putting aside a few bucks a month is not going to pay for the unpredictable costs for visits and procedures. Putting aside only a few bucks each month is all they can do because there’s a million things one must pay for these days on a stretched income. And even that stretched income is volatile in an era of job insecurity.

Now shut your f ucking mouth.

The faces will changes, as will the voices. But they are still singing from the same hymn book.

In the US, where there is a statute which mandates the drug regulator not to approve a generic copy for the first 5 years after a drug has received patent.

This rules out cheaper drugs and causes thousands to die needlessly each year. Change this rule and change the way this ridiculous ‘game’ is played.

Every 15 seconds, someone dies of AIDS in Africa. That means that during the time it took for me to write this message, 10 people died of AIDS on the continent. Yet, corporations at this very moment are trying to find ways to punish African countries for treating their people with patented drugs. This insanity needs to end. It won’t end by electing someone new. It will end when the truth is finally told about what these corporations are doing to the world.

http://www.soultv.net

You don’t have to vote Democratic, either – just don’t vote Republiscum.

Simple!