[NeedKarma]

The conservatives had 8 years in power and did nothing of that "tweaking" you speak of. Maybe the OP can chime in with his/her thoughts.

[tomder55]

The conservatives had 8 years in power and did nothing of that "tweaking" you speak of. Maybe the OP can chime in with his/her thoughts.

The Republicans controlled Congress for a dozen years before the 2006 Democrat takeover .

In that time they proposed and passed SCHIP and a massive expansion in entitlements with the Medicare Part D plan.

President Bush also doubled direct federal financing for community health centers in poor areas ;and granted Massachusetts a Medicaid waiver to help start their health insurance program.

President Bush also did more than any of the previous Presidents combined ($50 billion ) to give foreign aid to combat AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis.

2007 during his state of the union address ,President Bush proposed a health care reform plan that would've addressed much of the concerns with the current system and still retain the private sector control . Making Health Care Affordable: Bush's Bold Health Tax Reform Plan

Parttime;the argument here is not that the system doesn't need to be reformed. It is the direction that the reform will take. I am and will continue to be opposed to plans run by the government . That is too much power for any government of free people to have.

[NeedKarma]

President Bush also did more than any of the previous Presidents combined ($50 billion ) to give foreign aid to combat AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis.

How nice for foreign nations.

2

007 during his state of the union address ,President Bush proposed a health care reform plan that would've addressed much of the concerns with the current system and still retain the private sector control . Making Health Care Affordable: Bush's Bold Health Tax Reform Plan

About that:
Democrats To Oppose Bush's Health Tax Plans

[President George W. Bush's plan to expand access to affordable health insurance coverage through reform of the tax code has drawn fire from Democrats in the wake of his State of the Union address, casting doubt on whether it will emerge in the form of new legislation from the Democrat-controlled Congress.
Hinting at the likely wider Democrat response to Bush's proposals, which seek to even the playing field between the self-insured and employer-insured, Rep. Pete Stark (D-CA), Chairman of the Ways and Means Health Subcommittee, argued that the plan would hurt middle-income Americans, because employers will shift even more cost and risk to their employees.
"The President's so-called health care proposal won't help the uninsured, most of whom have limited incomes and are already in low tax brackets," he argued.
"Under the guise of tax breaks, the President is pursuing a policy designed to destroy the employer-based health care system through which 160 million people receive coverage," contended Stark. "But in the individual insurance market, people will be denied coverage because of family history, existing illnesses, or genetic makeup. They'll also be unable to take advantage of the cost savings that currently result from sharing risk company-wide."
Stark argued that Medicare is better placed to provide low cost and stable healthcare coverage to low income and elderly patients than the private healthcare coverage, and he indicated that he would oppose Bush's plan in committee.
"President Bush's proposal will make a bad problem worse," he said.
"I do not intend to consider this particular health care proposal in the Ways and Means Health Subcommittee, but would be happy to meet with the President to consider alternative ideas, starting with the expansion of Medicare," Stark concluded.
Sen. Ron Wyden (D - Ore), who was consulted by the administration on health tax reform as part of its wider tax reform agenda, also expressed doubts that Bush's proposals would achieve their goals.
"To fix health care, there are four essentials. The test of any health reform proposal should be: does the proposal get affordable coverage to every American; does it hold down health care costs; does it strengthen the health care system over time; and does it encourage wellness and prevention?," Wyden observed, adding that:
"It is not clear that the President's plan passes any of these tests."
Under Bush's proposals, families with health insurance will not pay income or payroll taxes on the first $15,000 in compensation, while singles will not pay these taxes on the first $7,500 of their income. At the same time, health insurance would be considered taxable income under the proposals. States would also get help to make affordable health insurance more widely available to their residents.

parttime;the argument here is not that the system doesn't need to be reformed. It is the direction that the reform will take. I am and will continue to be opposed to plans run by the government . That is too much power for any government of free people to have.

You should fear it actually, your politicians are bought and sold by corporations and you're OK with that.

[speechlesstx]

It's weird the mindthink that occurs, people in universal healthcare countries view their taxation for healthcare as contributing to their own plan, not to others, because that's exactly what it is.

Funny, that's how I see my Social Security payments, contributing to my own plan. My contribution has already been spent... doesn't exactly inspire confidence in contributing to my own government run health care plan.

[tomder55]

The test of any health reform proposal should be: does the proposal get affordable coverage to every American; does it hold down health care costs; does it strengthen the health care system over time; and does it encourage wellness and prevention?,"

Lol ;the current plans being considered fail on all those accounts.

[NeedKarma]

lol ;the current plans being considered fail on all those accounts.

Wrong again.

[speechlesstx]

Wrong again.

Support that please. Besides, Axelrod told us the other day we won't know what's in the plan until they pass it.

[NeedKarma]

Support that please. Besides, Axelrod told us the other day we won't know what's in the plan until they pass it.

Hey doesn't that apply to your friend tom? He said they fail without knowing what's in the plan. Shouldn't he support his position?

[tomder55]

I've seen the CBO reports ;it doesn't save money ;it doesn't make it more affordable ;it weakens private sector plans and even Medicare supplemental plans ;and at best it adds 10 million uninsured into the system.
Finally it is a budget buster . They have to collect taxes for 3-4 years before they even begin to provide the benefits they are promising .

[cdad]

What gets me the most about all this is that the nations they try to hold up for having national health care.. yes like Canada are filled with the stories of people dying while waiting for this terrific government healthcare. I guess that's one way to save social security is by having those that reach the elder age die off faster then the payments come in.

[parttime]

https://www.cia.gov/library/publicat.../2102rank.html

Cal, just one of many things to look at.

[tomder55]

I'm packing my bags and moving to Macau .Clearly they have a superior health care system than we do !

[NeedKarma]

Seems nice: File:Macau Penha Hill.jpg - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia