Missouri votes against part of health care reform

City Watch LA comments on the vote Missourians made to reject part of Obama's health care reform. Citizens of Missouri voted to reject the federal law which mandates insurance and to reject penalties against citizens who chose to pay their own medical bills. The New York Times also featured an article about this last week.

According to City Watch LA, Missouri State Senator, James Lembke, stated , “Prop C is not about healthcare. A big victory is about freedom, liberty and state sovereignty! It's time to stand up against federal tyranny.”

What do you think? Do states have the right to reject the federal law on this issue? While the government is offering national health care, should all citizens be required to have it?

Obama Urges Quick Action on Health Overhaul

The New York Times reports that President Obama has urged lawmakers to expedite the nation's healthcare overhaul. In his weekly Saturday address, Mr. Obama highlighted elements of the plan that would take effect soon after enactment of the bill.

He said people with pre-existing illnesses would be able to buy affordable insurance, children with pre-existing conditions would no longer be denied coverage and small-business owners who could not afford to cover employees would receive tax credits to buy insurance.

But this and other health care reform policies cannot happen unless the healthcare bill is signed into place by The President.

Learn more: Obama Urges Quick Action on Health Overhaul

Obama's Health Care Bill Narrowly Passes in House

President Obama praised the House yesterday for narrowly passing his healthcare bill. The count was extremely close - 220 to 215 with only one Republican voting yes. The $1.2 trillion bill is aimed at expanding coverage to 36 million uninsured Americans and the plan will also cut spending by $400 billion over the course of a decade. Take a couple of minutes to view the coverage by CBS News below.

Where does your state fall in healthcare rank?

This post in the LA Times highlights a healthcare quality rank conducted by the Commonwealth Fund. The results of the new ranking shows that these states are doing a decent job in terms of the cost of healthcare, quality of healthcare, access to healthcare and overall outcomes related to healthcare: Vermont, Hawaii, Iowa, Minnesota, Maine and New Hampshire. California which ranked 40th a couple years back now moved up to 31, quite a move. Take a look at the ranks here and let us know if anything surprises you.

Doctors In Agreeance with Obama's Health Care Pitch

This post on NBC New York discusses how President Obama made his healthcare pitch today in front of doctors and nurses that he believes understands firsthand the need for a major overhaul of the current healthcare system.

Obama mentioned to the 150 doctors wearing white lab coats at the Rose Garden:

"Nobody has more credibility with the American people on this issue than you do."

Obama's healthcare reform plan has been hugely unpopular among many people. He has also denied that his plan will call for taxes to be raised on the middle class.

Most Americans are Willing to Fund Healthcare Reform that Works

A recent telephone survey poll conducted by Thomas Reuters found in this post on Reuters highlights that there is an underlying strong belief that Americans are entitled to the best healthcare, but there is skepticism that the government can deliver that. According to the survey, 63% are willing to pay for healthcare reform, but only 35% believe that Obama's reform agenda will lead to better service, and 41% believe that it will lower costs.

The survey shows that most Americans are ready to pay extra taxes to ensure that the country receives the best healthcare possible. What's your take on it?

White House Address - Eliminating Waste in Medicare Advantage Will Not Affect Benefits

Today the White House uploaded a new video on YouTube in which Mike Hash of the White House Office of Health Reform gets into deeper detail on how reform would eliminate wasteful subsidies to insurance companies in the Medicare Advantage program, without hurting benefits or care and leaving the trust fund intact. Do you agree? Watch the video below.

Should Obama step in for heatlhcare reform?

In a recent article at Fox News, they look at the current state of health care reform in Congress. While the House and the Senate have been bouncing back and forth between different versions for weeks, many are now calling for President Obama to step in and give his own bill to Congress. Obama called for a new health care plan, but left it up to Congress to write the bill which subsequently left the Democrats divided on many issues.

Read the full Fox News article here. What do you think? Would a new health care system be more likely if President Obama stepped in and wrote the bill then presented it to Congress?

Democratic Health Care Bill Divulges IRS Tax Data

Declan McCullagh of CBS News writes that Section 431(a) of the (Democratic health care) bill says that the IRS must divulge taxpayer identity information, including the filing status, the modified adjusted gross income, the number of dependents, and "other information as is prescribed by" regulation. That information will be provided to the new Health Choices Commissioner and state health programs and used to determine who qualifies for "affordability credits."

Should this tax information be a factor when deciding health care for an individual or a family?

Democratic Health Care Bill Divulges IRS Tax Data

Survey Results Prove High Medical Fees are Common

According to this article in the NY Times results posted from a survey conducted by America's Health Insurance Plans show that show that fees charged by doctors and hospitals are astoundingly high when comparing Medicare payments to payments private insurers pay.

The article gave an example of how a patient in Illinois paid $12,712 for cataract surgery when Medicare pays $675 for the very same procedure. Legislation that is being passed in Congress right now would require insurers to disclose to patients possible out-of-network costs. This is sparking serious debate in Obama's proposed health care plan in which we are seeing decreasing approval levels.

Obama's healthcare reform

President Obama realizes the nation is not sure about his proposed $1 trillion overhaul of the medical system. He believes that this is the only way for economic recovery to be possible. He believes that our economy could worsen if the overhaul is not completed soon, and that many Americans would continue to be hurt financially. Obama urges Congress to vote in early August to solve this problem as soon as possible because he believes that by controlling cost, the deficit of America and its citizens can be controlled. Read the full article at the New York Times here.