Surprise! Medicare drug boondoggle cost underestimated.

[keith]

Bush Budget Raises Cost of Medicare


The drug program isn't off the ground yet and the cost is already on the up in a big way, from $400B to $540B. My prediction, if this horrible program moves ahead as planned (or should that be unplanned?), is it will cost a lot more than $1000B, closer to $2000B. This is the biggest policy mistake in the last 2 decades. The fact that the democrats want to spend even more is chilling, but that doesn't excuse the Bush administration.

Keith.

 

[Last_Z]

I think the best solution is for all of us to get rich.....and quick and hope our kids can get rich too!

 

[Pablo]

I'm pretty disgusted. Where in the constitution does it say the government needs to provide medicine for one group or even all the people?

Didn't think so.

Just drop all this crap....now. This is this the most disgusting thing from Bush's team. Before you get all excited, I won't be voting Democrat. They are worse!

The funny thing, AARP is all mad at Bush for not putting enough money into drugs........when the **** will it end???

[ January 30, 2004, 12:08 AM: Message edited by: rugerman1 ]

 

[Al]

Bush has done his best to disgust me. I understand his wife is making an announcement that The President will propose a very large increase for The Endowment of the Arts. I still maintain that President Bush appeared at the time when we needed him to confront the Terror Attacl.

His reckless spending proposals, lack of opposing spending pork, puttting out the welcome mat for illegals (who cost the gov on the average of $52K each) will bring the country to a state of Bankruptcy. The terrorists need only stand back and watch us umplode. But what are the alternatinve??? Silence

 

[mikep]

quote:

---

Originally posted by Pablo:
I'm pretty disgusted. Where in the constitution does it say the government needs to provide medicine for one group or even all the people?

Didn't think so.

Just drop all this crap....now. This is this the most disgusting thing from Bush's team. Before you get all excited, I won't be voting Democrat. They are worse!

The funny thing, AARP is all mad at Bush for not putting enough money into drugs........when the **** will it end???

---

I agree completely. GW is trying to be both a Democrat and Republican. Dems will never vote for him no matter what he does and if he keeps this up, a lot of Repubs will simply not vote rather than pull the lever for him again.

Absolutely disgusting what he and those who voted for this drug benefit have done. Prooving once again that the best way to totally foul something up is to let government get involved. Hopefully the Republican Party can go back to the ideal of smaller government but I fear Pandora's box has been opened.

Mikep

 

[ralan]

This is just way out of control! It is an out of control solution to an even more out of control problem. The base problem being the high cost of the drugs in the first place.

If drugs were resonably priced to begin with, none of this would be neccessary.

What is the best solution? Certainly not this give-away, and certainly not the opposite extreme; excessive and stultifying government regulation. What can be done?

 

[msparks]

quote:

---

Originally posted by ralan:
This is just way out of control! It is an out of control solution to an even more out of control problem. The base problem being the high cost of the drugs in the first place.

If drugs were resonably priced to begin with, none of this would be neccessary.

---

If 90% of Americans were not Obese, lazy and smoking you would need far less drugs. Why should my tax dollars go to folks that are fat, or Dying of Aids, or have lung cancer from smoking??

99% of the reason for drugs is entirely preventable. Just like Diebetes, probably 70% of those that have it could have prevented it with Diet exercise.

Sorry for the rant, the whole government system really pisses me off!!

 

[tec97]

Ha! The drug industry is all over this like white on rice. If you don't think the drug lobby is in bed with this 'benefit' and getting this giant government hand-out you are fooling yourself.

 

[carrera79]

The cost of drugs is an extremely complex issue. The drug companies are selling in countries that have placed artificially low prices on their products placing all of the burden of R&D on US consumers. My biggest issue is that socialist medicince doesn't work. It's not the place of the federal government to provide this service.

An interesting point. I've got to find where I got this, but I have seen statistics that show smokers cost less to society due to an early death than do non-smokers.

 

[jsharp]

More proof that pandering and vote buying always costs more than anticipated...

 

[mikep]

quote:

---

Originally posted by carrera79:

An interesting point. I've got to find where I got this, but I have seen statistics that show smokers cost less to society due to an early death than do non-smokers.

---

Smoke em' if ya got em'

Mikep

 

[Spector]

quote:

---

Originally posted by carrera79:
The cost of drugs is an extremely complex issue. The drug companies are selling in countries that have placed artificially low prices on their products placing all of the burden of R&D on US consumers. My biggest issue is that socialist medicince doesn't work. It's not the place of the federal government to provide this service.

---

Well, I have been in health care since 1972, lots of Medicare auditing of hospitals, nursing homes etc., in there and there are huge problems today. First, a lot of the R&D is overseas, many of the big pharmaceuticals (Roche, Fujisawa, Genzyme), are home officed in Europe, Switzerland to be exact. They set their purchasing prices low (Europe that is with a take it or leave it attitude and the drug companies take it knowing they can get their R&D costs in the US) we pay for the R&D even though it may not occur here. Drug reps, don't get me started, useless appendages who's only purpose in life is to give money away in the form of grants, funding symposiums, (look up the meaing of symposium) travel etc. Billions on marketing, TV ads should not be permitted,etc. Bill Frist comes from the for profit HCA healthcare background, he pushed the drug bill for the cronies that helped elect him etc.

After all these years I have turned around, we need national healthcare. In VA Blue Cross was permitted to go public, they had one goal, increase stockholder value which they did with a passion. Made record profits, (my premium went up 35%) sold out to Anthem officers got golden parachutes, now millionares, Anthem just announced another record increase in profits of 21%. Their mission is not to insure Virginians, it is to make as much money as possible! My coverage keeps decreasing while the premiums keep going up. Sorry, the crooks are now at the managed care companies and they have the lobby in Congress. We are screwed unless we can get some national converage. The Medicare drug bill will eventually disassemble Medicare as we know it, a disaster.

Sorry, the gov is terrible but big business when unregulated can be far larger crooks and just as inefficient.

 

[ralan]

quote:

---

Originally posted by Spector: Sorry, the crooks are now at the managed care companies and they have the lobby in Congress. We are screwed unless we can get some national converage. The Medicare drug bill will eventually disassemble Medicare as we know it, a disaster.

Sorry, the gov is terrible but big business when unregulated can be far larger crooks and just as inefficient. [/QB]

---

You said it, man. Its not about health care, its about money. I can't see the current administration starting a national healthcare coverage plan unless they can steer some $$$$ toward their good buds!

 

[wulimaster]

quote:

---

Originally posted by Al:
His puttting out the welcome mat for illegals (who cost the gov on the average of $52K each) will bring the country to a state of Bankruptcy.

---

Hey Al,

Check out the picture of the day here. It will be gone tomorrow so check it out today.

http://rense.com/

 

[Al]

quote:

---

Originally posted by wulimaster:

quote:

---

Originally posted by Al:
His puttting out the welcome mat for illegals (who cost the gov on the average of $52K each) will bring the country to a state of Bankruptcy.

---

Hey Al,

Check out the picture of the day here. It will be gone tomorrow so check it out today.

http://rense.com/

---

Good one

 

[keith]

quote:

---

Originally posted by Spector:
After all these years I have turned around, we need national healthcare.

---

You can read up on the wonders of "free" health care in Canada or the UK for example. I have some personal experience there also, all of it very bad. I have family in the UK. Recently my sister went to a doctor there. I will spare the details, suffice to say she is now an invalid due to mediocre care. The doctor told her to move if she wanted better care. My sister asked which town she should move to, thinking that maybe there was better care in an adjacent town. The doctor said, no, I mean you should move to America. You can't make this stuff up.

Definitely large businesses need regulation, more so when they have real or defacto monopolies. Problem is, who regulates government? Bottom line though is not so much the money but the quality of government rationed health care, that will also decide which new medicines to supply to the patients. Do you think Canadians get access to the newest drugs? Nope. Are there long waiting lists for essential surgeries? Yes. Do desperate Canadians cross into the US for health care? Yes.

The trick, moving forwards, is how to maintain the quality of US health care while holding back price increases and expanding coverage. I am 100% sure that national health care will dramatically reduce quality and timely access, as it has in other countries. Count me out. I wish I knew some easy solutions but this is a spiders web of issues that needs extreme caution. The government has made some real progress in curbing the runaway growth of medicare and cracking down on fraud.

Keith.

 

[Al]

quote:

---

Originally posted by keith:

Originally posted by Spector:
[qb] I wish I knew some easy solutions but this is a spiders web of issues that needs extreme caution. The government has made some real progress in curbing the runaway growth of medicare and cracking down on fraud.

Keith.

---

Eliminating the high malpractice awards would help. But the slime-bag lawyers managed to buy off their buddy Arlen Spector and it didn't fly (IMO). He needs to get flushed-but it won't happen. He is a democrat in republican cloathing-He makes me ill .

 

[wulimaster]

quote:

---

Originally posted by Al:

quote:

---

Originally posted by wulimaster:

quote:

---

Originally posted by Al:
His puttting out the welcome mat for illegals (who cost the gov on the average of $52K each) will bring the country to a state of Bankruptcy.

---

Hey Al,

Check out the picture of the day here. It will be gone tomorrow so check it out today.

http://rense.com/

---

Good one

---

Here is just the jpeg in case the page is updated.
http://rense.com/1.imagesF/mxbhs.jpg

 

[GROUCHO MARX]

Guys, when you walk into a doctors office have you noticed the size of the staff?

These people aren't healthcare professionals, they are record keepers. They must be paid. The amont of paperwork involved in healthcare is enormous, the technology barely stays with it.

You can guess that most of the paperwork is to keep one's arse covered in case of a problem and there's always a lawyer at the end of the hall.

 

[sbc350gearhead]

Well I would love to have all the answers for the health care crisis, but I don't. I do know that government run healthcare is not the answer. We still have the best healthcare system in the world, but some people get the shaft. We need to find a way to fine tune the system, without destroying it..............or bankrupting ourselves.