Wednesday, July 16, 2008

Bush's veto gets overridden

For all those out there relying on Medicare for their medical you can thank the Democrats for saving a bill that prevented a cut in medicare payments to drs. Had Bush's veto survived doctors having their payments cut would have no choice but to cut patients.
And 21 Republicans helped overide the veto. Can we call the Shrub "lame duck" now.

Medicare safe

I should ask how's that doughnut hole system for the drugs working out? Maybe somebody will fix that the next election.

6 comments:

MRMacrum said...

I guess calling him a lame duck would be more civil than what I have been calling him these past 7 years. In my efforts to improve my interactions with others, I have been trying to be more polite.

Gary ("Old Dude") said...

With the new Medicare funding bill, its a yet another step forward to socialized medicine--you give the government your money, they will build a bigger trough for us to belly up to----whose gonna pull the wagon when we all our on it waiting for the free ride??

Anonymous said...

Ha, MrMacrum! I feel the same way.

He's almost gone. Let's just hope he doesn't go into any death throws and begin making quick changes with lasting effects....like offshore drilling...

I still on the fence on that one...

Demeur said...

Free ride?
If you dig in the closet for some old paystubs you'll see that we all paid for the program. It was set up to take care of old codgers like you who would have no other way to pay for medical. Or maybe you are uber rich and can afford paying for doctors out of pocket. I don't know.

MRMacrum said...

GJG-This fear of socialized medicine has always caused me to wonder. What makes what we have so great right now. I am in no way for or against it. But I do know that over the last 30 years I have seen and felt the quality of basic healthcare go downhill fast. My insurance rates go up faster than the price of fuel, yet the quality of care goes down. Why is that?

Recently a fine orthopedic doctor in our area bailed on us. She was a whiz at anything hand and wrist related. I know because she put my thumb back together after a run in with a table saw. She and her husband (also a doc) became so fed up with dealing with insurance companies they decided to follow other pursuits. The system in place now is broken and getting worse all the time.

Wayne - Yes, he's almost gone. Almost is not soon enough.

Demeur said...

Mrmacrum
A little background on the health care system. Some years back when you and I were kids insurance companies and hospitals by law were all non profit. Most doctors were able to tweek their bills so that poor folks could be treated. Hospitals were reasonable as well. Then Nixon came into office changed the laws to permit the HMOs (for profits). Reagan added to the mess by cleaning out the mental hospitals. There are very few non profit hospitals left and the insurance companies are totally for profit now. The other problem has been with medical administration. Additional layers of paper shufflers have been added for what appears no other reason than to increase costs.
The current objective now for an insurance company is to cut costs and that means denying claims all in the name of profits.
The Republicans will hand you a lot of bull about malpractice suits being the reason for high medical, but the reality is that that accounts for just 2% of costs.
The real problem as I see it is that most people without insurance who can't afford to see a doctor when their conditions are mild will wait until things get drastic and they will seek emergency rooms at public hospitals that offer free or cheap medical.
I don't see things getting better any time soon until there is some subsidized medicine.