Having never been a fan of the likes of The Colbert Report, Bill Maher or Ann Coulter, I dislike this video immensely. How does it bring any light to the darkness???
Your video was much better, emphasizing personal responsibility, personal responsibility, personal responsibility.
Using the auto metaphor, as a culture, we take better care of our cars than we do our bodies, minds and spirits.
Two separate articles below address the issue from opposite viewpoints, and they both address some very relevant issues: The reporter from the New York Post observes that only 43% of the 47 million uninsured are legitimately under the poverty line and questions the spending priorities of those who should have the money to insure themselves. Excellent point. That still leaves 20 million uninsured who potentially use hospital emergency rooms for healthcare. That is an exorbitantly costly and ultimately ineffective solution.
***Nationwide, about 7 million Americans will have lost their coverage during the same three-year period between 2008 and 2010 if no changes are made to the health-care system, the report stated.
The Families USA projections were based upon an analysis of the rising rate of uninsured Americans published by the policy journal Health Affairs.
Among the chief reasons are skyrocketing premiums and employers who can no longer afford to pay them, said Ron Pollack, the group’s executive director, underscoring the urgency of the health-care debate under way in Congress.
“We no longer can take coverage for granted,” Pollack said Wednesday. “Many are at risk and many will fall to the ranks of the uninsured.”
Families USA is a 25-year-old nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that works on health-care issues. Its board of directors includes officials from Blue Cross Blue Shield, organized labor, university health-care systems and others.
“This is a problem we can no longer wait to fix,” Obama said. “Deferring reform is nothing more than defending the status quo — and those who would oppose our efforts should take a hard look at just what it is they’re defending … And every single day we wait to act, thousands of Americans lose their insurance, some turning to nurses in the emergency room as their only recourse.”
New data released Wednesday by the Department of Health and Human Services illustrated his point: nearly 20 percent of all hospital-based emergency room visits in 2006 were by the uninsured.***
***Writing in the New York Post, Kristen Lopez Eastlick demystifies this bogus and much bandied about statistic:
The whole conversation surrounding health care rests on the false but widely held assumption that there are currently 47 million uninsured Americans. That number is on the tongue of every cable news pundit and policy wonk in Washington. After all, you can’t have a massive solution without a massive-seeming problem.
In a new study by former Congressional Budget Office Director June O’Neill, commissioned by the Employment Policies Institute, it was determined that 43% of people counted in the overblown 47 million uninsured estimate actually have incomes of at least 250% of the poverty level (averaging about $65,000) and could afford to purchase private health coverage. They are not insured because they choose not to pay for insurance. I’d bet dollars to doughnuts that the people in this 43% pay for dinners out, cell phones, cable TV and many other “higher” priorities.***
We have to keep looking forward and put aside partisan politics. You are so right, let’s fix the country first.
There are some excellent ideas here, most of which remind us that the first private sector solution is personal responsibility.
If we continually drove our car into a brick wall and wanted auto insurance to repeatedly pay for the damages, everyone would understand the insanity of that. Yet the widespread horrendous health habits of Americans who then want to be “fixed” by an already overburdened health care system, doesn’t cause even a blink of the eye.
I remember when you first introduced the concepts of HSA’s on this website quite some time ago. At first blush, I was admittedly skeptical. The beauty of them is that they encourage personal responsibility for health habits and empower individuals to make choices and manage their own healthcare dollar efficiently.
Thanks for including this innovative article on Steve Burd…..
” Safeway CEO Steve Burd predicts infusion of competition and choice will cut America’s health care costs by up to 40%. Safeway developed their own health care plan that uses a carrot and stick approach basing employee premiums on behavior. The result is that Safeway teammates have “skin in the game” and take preventative action to keep healthy and stay out of the doctor’s office.
Burd describes the Safeway “Healthy Measures” plan…
Safeway’s plan capitalizes on two key insights gained in 2005. The first is that 70% of all health-care costs are the direct result of behavior. The second insight, which is well understood by the providers of health care, is that 74% of all costs are confined to four chronic conditions (cardiovascular disease, cancer, diabetes and obesity). Furthermore, 80% of cardiovascular disease and diabetes is preventable, 60% of cancers are preventable, and more than 90% of obesity is preventable.
As much as we would like to take credit for being a health-care innovator, Safeway has done nothing more than borrow from the well-tested automobile insurance model. For decades, driving behavior has been correlated with accident risk and has therefore translated into premium differences among drivers. Stated somewhat differently, the auto-insurance industry has long recognized the role of personal responsibility. As a result, bad behaviors (like speeding, tickets for failure to follow the rules of the road, and frequency of accidents) are considered when establishing insurance premiums. Bad driver premiums are not subsidized by the good driver premiums.
As with most employers, Safeway’s employees pay a portion of their own health care through premiums, co-pays and deductibles. The big difference between Safeway and most employers is that we have pronounced differences in premiums that reflect each covered member’s behaviors. Our plan utilizes a provision in the 1996 Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act that permits employers to differentiate premiums based on behaviors. Currently we are focused on tobacco usage, healthy weight, blood pressure and cholesterol levels.”
Eric, Thanks for your comments. You should not assume I am happy with Status Quo as our family has been involved in expanding healthcare by providing mobile medical vans and supporting The Free CLinic in Jackson. There is a difference between “Health Insurance” and “Healthcare”. It is the later we need to be more concerned about. Many are uninsured because they choose to self insure like Roger or prefer a flat screen TV instead. A 24 year old nonsmoking male in Jackson can buy a policy for about $125 a month. If you consider that unreasonable what amount makes sense to you. Let me know of anyone with whom you are familiar that is currently without healthcare in Teton County and we will see if we can help.
Let me understand why you feel Rosa Park and JFK woujld be spinning in their graves for being lifted up as models of a person willing to risk to make the world a better place and a person calling for personal responsibiity. Would you like to partner with us in sending a contribution to the Jackson Free Clinic? Let’s see how we can work together for the benefit of those that are hurting. Thanks again for your comment. Foster
Well Eric, you did get printed. I just happen to be one of your “uninsured” Americans. I prefer to call myself “self insured”. You see Eric, I choose to be self insured because of the extremely high cost of insurance premiums I must pay. My wife had some medical issues a few years ago and in 3 years my premiums went up ten fold. I then made the decision to self insure. I have saved and planned all of my life to be in a position to do this. Could you tell me Eric, how many of your uninsured people are there because of their “choices” in life? If I decide to spend my money on drugs, alcohol, fancy cars etc. does that mean the government shoud pay my premiums? Didn’t they make the decision to self insure? Protect their children and let them go without! The problem is in our medical system being under assalt by our government and lawyers. I take it you think the government can fix that? Our government IS mostly lawyers. Take lawsuits and liability out of the medical equation and things would change. There is no way government run health care could do that. Am I wrong?? Thanks Foster for the great video. Keep up the fight. I will do what I can.
Your plan would guarantee tens of millions of Americans will remain uninsured. That’s the problem, not the solution. But you’re clearly happy with the status quo. Your invoking the name of President Obama is an outrage. And Rosa Parks and JFK are certainly spinning in their graves. If this comment isn’t printed, it will confirm websites like this are nothing but conservative echo chambers.
Foster – Thanks for taking the time to send a message that needs to be heard. Increased Government intrusion, not only in healthcare but in the private sector in general, has to be curbed. Unfortunately, the voice of opposition to the current trends in Washington is not getting much air time!
I am not a fan of socialised health care, but being from California.. we have a high illegal immigracion population. When it comes to ER, the Federal law dictates that everybody be accomodated, hence the abuse. That is the reason why hospitals are shutting down through California. We all know where the biggest burden is, but we cannot quite discuss that in fear of offending them. They do have a sizeable presence. Gosh, I miss Proposition 187 when we voters decided to deny illegal immigrants the benefits.
Great video. Any possibility that Foster Friess could come on “Point of View” radio talk show to broadcast this message to our nearly 300 radio stations nationwide?
Having never been a fan of the likes of The Colbert Report, Bill Maher or Ann Coulter, I dislike this video immensely. How does it bring any light to the darkness???
Your video was much better, emphasizing personal responsibility, personal responsibility, personal responsibility.
Using the auto metaphor, as a culture, we take better care of our cars than we do our bodies, minds and spirits.
Two separate articles below address the issue from opposite viewpoints, and they both address some very relevant issues: The reporter from the New York Post observes that only 43% of the 47 million uninsured are legitimately under the poverty line and questions the spending priorities of those who should have the money to insure themselves. Excellent point. That still leaves 20 million uninsured who potentially use hospital emergency rooms for healthcare. That is an exorbitantly costly and ultimately ineffective solution.
***Nationwide, about 7 million Americans will have lost their coverage during the same three-year period between 2008 and 2010 if no changes are made to the health-care system, the report stated.
The Families USA projections were based upon an analysis of the rising rate of uninsured Americans published by the policy journal Health Affairs.
Among the chief reasons are skyrocketing premiums and employers who can no longer afford to pay them, said Ron Pollack, the group’s executive director, underscoring the urgency of the health-care debate under way in Congress.
“We no longer can take coverage for granted,” Pollack said Wednesday. “Many are at risk and many will fall to the ranks of the uninsured.”
Families USA is a 25-year-old nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that works on health-care issues. Its board of directors includes officials from Blue Cross Blue Shield, organized labor, university health-care systems and others.
“This is a problem we can no longer wait to fix,” Obama said. “Deferring reform is nothing more than defending the status quo — and those who would oppose our efforts should take a hard look at just what it is they’re defending … And every single day we wait to act, thousands of Americans lose their insurance, some turning to nurses in the emergency room as their only recourse.”
New data released Wednesday by the Department of Health and Human Services illustrated his point: nearly 20 percent of all hospital-based emergency room visits in 2006 were by the uninsured.***
***Writing in the New York Post, Kristen Lopez Eastlick demystifies this bogus and much bandied about statistic:
The whole conversation surrounding health care rests on the false but widely held assumption that there are currently 47 million uninsured Americans. That number is on the tongue of every cable news pundit and policy wonk in Washington. After all, you can’t have a massive solution without a massive-seeming problem.
In a new study by former Congressional Budget Office Director June O’Neill, commissioned by the Employment Policies Institute, it was determined that 43% of people counted in the overblown 47 million uninsured estimate actually have incomes of at least 250% of the poverty level (averaging about $65,000) and could afford to purchase private health coverage. They are not insured because they choose not to pay for insurance. I’d bet dollars to doughnuts that the people in this 43% pay for dinners out, cell phones, cable TV and many other “higher” priorities.***
We have to keep looking forward and put aside partisan politics. You are so right, let’s fix the country first.
There are some excellent ideas here, most of which remind us that the first private sector solution is personal responsibility.
If we continually drove our car into a brick wall and wanted auto insurance to repeatedly pay for the damages, everyone would understand the insanity of that. Yet the widespread horrendous health habits of Americans who then want to be “fixed” by an already overburdened health care system, doesn’t cause even a blink of the eye.
I remember when you first introduced the concepts of HSA’s on this website quite some time ago. At first blush, I was admittedly skeptical. The beauty of them is that they encourage personal responsibility for health habits and empower individuals to make choices and manage their own healthcare dollar efficiently.
Thanks for including this innovative article on Steve Burd…..
” Safeway CEO Steve Burd predicts infusion of competition and choice will cut America’s health care costs by up to 40%. Safeway developed their own health care plan that uses a carrot and stick approach basing employee premiums on behavior. The result is that Safeway teammates have “skin in the game” and take preventative action to keep healthy and stay out of the doctor’s office.
Burd describes the Safeway “Healthy Measures” plan…
Safeway’s plan capitalizes on two key insights gained in 2005. The first is that 70% of all health-care costs are the direct result of behavior. The second insight, which is well understood by the providers of health care, is that 74% of all costs are confined to four chronic conditions (cardiovascular disease, cancer, diabetes and obesity). Furthermore, 80% of cardiovascular disease and diabetes is preventable, 60% of cancers are preventable, and more than 90% of obesity is preventable.
As much as we would like to take credit for being a health-care innovator, Safeway has done nothing more than borrow from the well-tested automobile insurance model. For decades, driving behavior has been correlated with accident risk and has therefore translated into premium differences among drivers. Stated somewhat differently, the auto-insurance industry has long recognized the role of personal responsibility. As a result, bad behaviors (like speeding, tickets for failure to follow the rules of the road, and frequency of accidents) are considered when establishing insurance premiums. Bad driver premiums are not subsidized by the good driver premiums.
As with most employers, Safeway’s employees pay a portion of their own health care through premiums, co-pays and deductibles. The big difference between Safeway and most employers is that we have pronounced differences in premiums that reflect each covered member’s behaviors. Our plan utilizes a provision in the 1996 Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act that permits employers to differentiate premiums based on behaviors. Currently we are focused on tobacco usage, healthy weight, blood pressure and cholesterol levels.”
Happy 4th of July!
Maureen Blum
Eric, Thanks for your comments. You should not assume I am happy with Status Quo as our family has been involved in expanding healthcare by providing mobile medical vans and supporting The Free CLinic in Jackson. There is a difference between “Health Insurance” and “Healthcare”. It is the later we need to be more concerned about. Many are uninsured because they choose to self insure like Roger or prefer a flat screen TV instead. A 24 year old nonsmoking male in Jackson can buy a policy for about $125 a month. If you consider that unreasonable what amount makes sense to you. Let me know of anyone with whom you are familiar that is currently without healthcare in Teton County and we will see if we can help.
Let me understand why you feel Rosa Park and JFK woujld be spinning in their graves for being lifted up as models of a person willing to risk to make the world a better place and a person calling for personal responsibiity. Would you like to partner with us in sending a contribution to the Jackson Free Clinic? Let’s see how we can work together for the benefit of those that are hurting. Thanks again for your comment. Foster
Well Eric, you did get printed. I just happen to be one of your “uninsured” Americans. I prefer to call myself “self insured”. You see Eric, I choose to be self insured because of the extremely high cost of insurance premiums I must pay. My wife had some medical issues a few years ago and in 3 years my premiums went up ten fold. I then made the decision to self insure. I have saved and planned all of my life to be in a position to do this. Could you tell me Eric, how many of your uninsured people are there because of their “choices” in life? If I decide to spend my money on drugs, alcohol, fancy cars etc. does that mean the government shoud pay my premiums? Didn’t they make the decision to self insure? Protect their children and let them go without! The problem is in our medical system being under assalt by our government and lawyers. I take it you think the government can fix that? Our government IS mostly lawyers. Take lawsuits and liability out of the medical equation and things would change. There is no way government run health care could do that. Am I wrong?? Thanks Foster for the great video. Keep up the fight. I will do what I can.
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[...] a post today, he shares the “must-see” video below which, among other things, speaks to the problems [...]
Your plan would guarantee tens of millions of Americans will remain uninsured. That’s the problem, not the solution. But you’re clearly happy with the status quo. Your invoking the name of President Obama is an outrage. And Rosa Parks and JFK are certainly spinning in their graves. If this comment isn’t printed, it will confirm websites like this are nothing but conservative echo chambers.
Foster – Thanks for taking the time to send a message that needs to be heard. Increased Government intrusion, not only in healthcare but in the private sector in general, has to be curbed. Unfortunately, the voice of opposition to the current trends in Washington is not getting much air time!
I am not a fan of socialised health care, but being from California.. we have a high illegal immigracion population. When it comes to ER, the Federal law dictates that everybody be accomodated, hence the abuse. That is the reason why hospitals are shutting down through California. We all know where the biggest burden is, but we cannot quite discuss that in fear of offending them. They do have a sizeable presence. Gosh, I miss Proposition 187 when we voters decided to deny illegal immigrants the benefits.
Thanks Foster, great message.
Great video. Any possibility that Foster Friess could come on “Point of View” radio talk show to broadcast this message to our nearly 300 radio stations nationwide?
Kerby Anderson, host of “Point of View” radio talk show
http://www.pointofview.net