Health Care Blog
Responses to Biden: "Paying more and more for less"
Posted by on September 3, 2009 at 12:02 PM EDTThis video is worth watching for the full five minutes. It's another response to Vice President Biden’s call for videos on what health reform means to you, and it puts the phrase "reality check" in a different light.In a lot of ways the video is powerful because it's not that unique. It's not about some bizarre set of circumstances that made him fall through the cracks of insurance company bureaucracy, it's just the story of a guy who has had to go in and out of health care as his employment fortunes turned, and watched as his premiums and out-of-pocket costs just climbed and climbed.Viewing this video requires Adobe Flash Player 8 or higher. Download the free player.I just hopped over to the "What's In It For You" quiz and entered a description of this man based solely on what he discusses in the video. The results that came out are below, and again, this is based just on what he revealed – there may well be more in it for him based on things he didn’t discuss. All the more reason for you to take the quiz yourself. Also, click here to see all the video responses so far.· Reform will bring down costs generally and make insurance more affordable and accessible, ensuring more choices for quality coverage· Reform will allow you to keep the coverage you have if you want to· Reform will establish an insurance exchange that will provide easy one-stop shopping to compare rates and services and promote competition· Reform will streamline and simplify paperwork and cut the bureaucracy for you and your doctor· Reform will ensure you always have choices of quality, affordable health insurance no matter how often you move or change jobs· Reform puts a cap on what insurance companies can force you to pay in out of pocket expenses, co-pays and deductibles· Reform will prohibit insurance companies from dropping or watering down insurance coverage for you or your family members if you become seriously ill· Reform will prevent insurance companies from placing annual or lifetime caps on the coverage you receive· Reform will require insurance companies to renew any policy as long as the policyholder pays their premium in fullLearn more about Health CareResponses to Biden: Peace of Mind
Posted by on September 2, 2009 at 4:50 PM EDTSometimes it's easy to assume that health reform is only important to people who are in immediate need of care, those who have existing medical conditions, or those who are unemployed - and indeed, even those who are satisfied with their insurance often don't know the shortcomings of what they have until that need hits. But one of the reasons health care has been such a high priority for the American people for decades is that there's an anxiety that looms over it. What if my premiums or co-pays continue to rise forever while my pay stays more or less the same? What if I can't renew my insurance for some reason? What if I lose my job, or just want to change jobs?In the video below, responding to Vice President Biden's call for submissions on why reform is important, Jake and Jess make their case. As a young couple, they'd like to start planning a family, and although Jess has employer-provided health insurance, they watch as so many others around them are losing insurance and worry what would happen if for some reason they lost coverage during the duration of Jess' pregnancy for all the necessary prenatal procedures.Viewing this video requires Adobe Flash Player 8 or higher. Download the free player."We want health care reform not so we can be irresponsible, not so some one else will pick up the tab, but so we don't have to live with the fear of losing coverage when it would be most important," says Jess. The peace of mind Jess and Jake are searching for is what the core principles of President Obama’s Heatlh Insurance Consumer Protections are all about. As the President said in his June press conference:This is not just about the 47 million Americans who have no health insurance. Reform is about every American who has ever feared that they may lose their coverage if they become too sick, or lose their job, or change their job. It’s about every small business that has been forced to lay off employees or cut back on their coverage because it became too expensive.Health insurance reform will restore confidence in the health care system, provide a stable, reliable system of coverage, and ultimately help families like Jess and Jake plan for a healthy, happy future.Learn more about Health CareResponses to Biden: Regulation & Incentives
Posted by on September 2, 2009 at 12:39 PM EDTThere are millions of health insurance horror stories across the country, and while very few can be summed up in just a few minutes, the responses we’ve gotten to Vice President Biden’s call for videos on why reform matters to you have revealed a snapshot of what Americans go through every day.The response below hints at a fundamental matter of incentives:Viewing this video requires Adobe Flash Player 8 or higher. Download the free player.This is actually an issue that President Obama has emphasized himself repeatedly, including in a major speech to the American Medical Association in Chicago (the whole speech is well worth watching, click through the link to see it):There are two main reasons for this. The first is a system of incentives where the more tests and services are provided, the more money we pay. And a lot of people in this room know what I'm talking about. It's a model that rewards the quantity of care rather than the quality of care; that pushes you, the doctor, to see more and more patients even if you can't spend much time with each, and gives you every incentive to order that extra MRI or EKG, even if it's not necessary. It's a model that has taken the pursuit of medicine from a profession -- a calling -- to a business.That's not why you became doctors. That's not why you put in all those hours in the Anatomy Suite or the O.R. That's not what brings you back to a patient's bedside to check in, or makes you call a loved one of a patient to say it will be fine. You didn't enter this profession to be bean-counters and paper-pushers. You entered this profession to be healers. (Applause.) And that's what our health care system should let you be. That's what this health care system should let you be. (Applause.)Now, that starts with reforming the way we compensate our providers -- doctors and hospitals. We need to bundle payments so you aren't paid for every single treatment you offer a patient with a chronic condition like diabetes, but instead paid well for how you treat the overall disease. We need to create incentives for physicians to team up, because we know that when that happens, it results in a healthier patient. We need to give doctors bonuses for good health outcomes, so we're not promoting just more treatment, but better care.Learn more about Health CareThe Vice President Asks Your Help: Tell Us Why Reform Matters for You
Posted by on August 31, 2009 at 11:25 AM EDTThis morning we released a new Reality Check video from Vice President Biden. The myth he takes on is, as one Member of Congress opposing reform put it, that "This is not a major issue among the American people." The Vice President asks for your help with this one – after you watch, upload a video in response through YouTube helping him bust the myth by telling us why reform is important to you.Viewing this video requires Adobe Flash Player 8 or higher. Download the free player.We've also put together something new. It's a little bit like those quizzes that get passed around on Facebook or through email – a "What's In Reform for You" quiz. Just answer a few simple questions and find out what somebody like you will get out of reform. Even if you've been following the debate closely you should check it out, you'll be surprised at everything you'll get.Learn more about Health CareFresh Reality Check: “We Can Afford Reform, We Can’t Afford the Status Quo”
Posted by on August 24, 2009 at 2:12 PM EDTAnother myth and another correction from our Health Insurance Reform Reality Check site. Today, Jared Bernstein, Chief Economist for the Vice President and Executive Director of the Middle Class Task Force, debunks the myth that we can’t afford health insurance reform. To the contrary, not only has the President demanded that reform not add to the deficit in the short term, but reform is the only way to get skyrocketing health care costs under control that will be devastating not for families , businesses, and for government deficits in the long term under the status quo.Viewing this video requires Adobe Flash Player 8 or higher. Download the free player.Learn more about Health CareWeekly Address: Myths and Morality in Health Insurance Reform
Posted by on August 22, 2009 at 12:01 AM EDTPresident Obama debunks the myths around health insurance reform, and discusses the public option proposal in which many of them are rooted -- but he focuses his address on the stark moral and historical turning point at which we find ourselves: "This is our chance to march forward. I cannot promise you that the reforms we seek will be perfect or make a difference overnight. But I can promise you this: if we pass health insurance reform, we will look back many years from now and say, this was the moment we summoned what’s best in each of us to make life better for all of us. This was the moment we built a health care system worthy of the nation and the people we love. This was the moment we earned our place alongside the greatest generations. And that is what our generation of Americans is called to do right now."Viewing this video requires Adobe Flash Player 8 or higher. Download the free player.Learn more about Health Care
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