asking friends about health care reform

. one response that was pointing out
the vague meaning of the current reform
reminded me that I should have summarized
what the bill meant to me .

. another response that surprised me,
was that
giving to political action committees

is an incredibly inefficient use of limited funds...

and that we should leave that for the wealthy.

. this argument is a self-fulfilling prophesy:
we -- the non-wealthy -- are indeed collectively wealthy,
but if we can't trust us to collectively give,
then we will not be there collectively
and cannot show our wealth, or lobby for our rights .
. we will not be able to run the TV advertisements
that will counter the misperceptions advertised by the opposition .

. I didn't give anything to Obama's election,
but when it was pointed out how he won:
by millions of non-wealthy contributing small amounts;
and when I heard that he would need the same non-wealthy contributions
to battle the lobbyists opposing change in health care;
I was sure that all caring non-wealthy
should all give to the cause of health care .

. one reason I wondered if I had done the right thing,
is that, according to the Obama email I forwarded to you,
the health care reform campaign has gotten contributions from
only

100000 -- out of more than

300000000 Americans .

. why should anyone care about health reform, anyway?
. here's what I was thinking when I first contributed:

. we the taxpayers may believe that honest people pay their own way
while gov-run health care involves welfare -- no way!
but, then we also have moralistic laws
that demand emergency rooms give help without getting paid
hence our sea of emergency room care .

. how do the hospitals pay for this?
they raise their prices on those who can pay .
. how do private insurers deal with this?
they find individuals that require no services,
and drop individuals the first time they do require services .

. how is the Obama reform trying to fix this?
they would require health care insurers to
not drop anyone for pre-existing conditions .
. this will cause them to accept even fewer clients,
so how do we make the emergency-room free-loaders pay?

. we have an optional gov-run insurer that accepts anyone .
. everyone will have to pay some health insurance,
just like everyone has to pay some car insurance now .

. the gov-run insurer would bring down health care costs
the same way the brit's have:

it's not just by being a single-payer,
it's because they pay the doctors a salary rather than per-service,
and they pay the doctor a bonus for keeping costs down .


. after visiting the healthcare-now.org

site,
I defended Obama against those who demand a single-payer system:

. healthcare-now.org

'ers don't know what the obama-congress plan is yet;
but, it can't be good with private insur's still at the table .
. if you're a doctor
then you're still dealing with a bureacratic jungle
as patient care depends on the system ...
my response:
. actually doctors do have the power to simplify their paperwork:
they have to accept all fed-insured's (very simple)
and then as much as they want to complicate their life,
they can accept various other private-insured's .
. private insur's can keep the american way by niche marketing;
eg, their line is:

. your fed insurance is all about prevention,
but our doctors won't pressure you to make healthy lifestyle changes;
they get paid for the work they do, not the work they prevent .
. if you can afford our royal premiums, you get royal treatment ..

but, on the 9th I lamented health care reform is doomed:

. I'm seeing it won't work:
and the universal care plan's cost reductions are depending on
invasive lifestyle changes;
and, Americans are too proud for preventive health choices;
so then you know
refusers will get treatments anyway !
-- no cost reduction, and a huge tax bill .

. we should spend that money on edu at the k-12 level
with one daily message:
this is your cancer on cola, baby !

here's how the Obama campaign is presenting the reform:

President Obama has called for health care reform in 2009 that upholds
http://my.barackobama.com/HealthCare

three core principles:
* Reduce costs — Rising health care costs are crushing the budgets of governments, businesses, individuals, and families, and they must be brought under control
* Guarantee choice — Every American must have the freedom to choose their plan and doctor – including the choice of a public insurance option
* Ensure quality care for all — All Americans must have quality and affordable health care
For decades, health care reform has been blocked by special interest lobbying and political point-scoring. But it doesn’t have to be this way.
President Obama has laid out the three core principles for real health care reform -- and we're going to do everything we can to make sure reform gets passed this year.

6.30: co.pol/barackobama.com

`Mitch Stewart/Can I run this by you?:

from Mitch Stewart, BarackObama.com <info@barackobama.com>
date Tue, Jun 30, 2009 at 4:25 PM

. here's our latest idea:
Putting our supporters in coast-to-coast television and online ads,
telling their own stories, in their own voice.
It could be a breakthrough moment in this debate,
when millions of Americans realize how urgent reform really is.

But recording and nationally broadcasting these stories won't be cheap.
We can only go forward if you're ready to chip in.

Many experts believe health care reform was defeated in the early 90's
by the infamous "Harry and Louise" ads.
They featured actors sitting around a fake kitchen table,
pretending to be a family that was frightened by reform.
Phony stories helped defeat health care reform in the past.

But this time, real stories could be the reason we win.

I'm ready to contribute:
https://donate.barackobama.com/hcstoryad

my response:
. the recent $100 I gave was for actions such as this .