I am at a loss as to how any inteeligent person is America believes anything coming out of Washington is going to improve our health care system. It seems to me the problem with our system is not the quality of care. Yes, the Michael Moore's of the world can always find some folks who have suffered at the hands of a quack. For the most part, I don't think it can be argued the qulaity of care in the US is not the best in the world.

So it comes down to price. Is there a crisis in the cost of health care? I personally am very happy with my plan. So are many other Americans. Are premiums skyrocketing? Yes. As a small business owner, I am keenly aware of how insurance costs are rising astronomically. Does this need to be addressed? Yes. Is a government system the way to go. NO!

Forgetting for a moment any of the bills presently in congress, when has government ever improved a system? When has any governmental agency been accurate in cost estimates? Massachusetts predicted its health care system would cost $20o million per year. The actual cost is $700 million. Is Medicare solvent? Medicaid? Social Security? Then why do we think the governement should run health care.

The other question I have under the Baucus plan is simple. How much will it cost me? How are we paying for this? No one seems to know. The plan the CBO used to come up with cost estimates was simply a plan summary. THERE IS NO WRITTEN LEGISLATION!!! How can our elected officials vote on legislation that effects 1/6th of our economy when it has not been written?

I trust neither side of the aisle on this because there is too much money involved. In the end. I predict a paln will pass that makes things worse not better. We will never get rid of the plan thereafter because you can never get rid of a government entitlement.

Yes, loss in the morass of this whole debate is that Mr. Dickerson's article really could have been very short.

Why will healthcare reform cost more than Congress and Obama say it will, because everything Congress proposes costs more than they say it will.

They couldn't even predict cash for clunkers accurately.

One could not help but notice that you offered no advice on HOW it should be addressed.

They want us to do nothing; leave it to the insurance companies -- and leave the insurance companies protected from antitrust law. They want this because they love freedom, and because they are morons.

LeRoy_Was_Here:

One could not help but notice that you offered no advice on HOW it should be addressed.

I'm sure it has something to do with an invisible free market hand.

Perhaps because nothing should be done. What??? That can't be! Something HAS to be done now now now now!!!!!!! The Constitution guarentees healthcare for all! This is a crisis we're all gonna die if we don't act this very presidency, ehh I mean year. It's just like Global Warming, er I mean Climate Change, er I mean <insert term of the year>. The Healthcare bill needs to include laws removing all trans-fat and allowing pot smoking but outlawing cigarette smoking.

The simple answer may very well be for a great many people is that nothing should be done. Healthcare provided by the government is a great idea, but that doesn't imply it must be implemented willy-nilly simply because the issues surrounding it are difficult to debate on.

LeRoy_Was_Here wrote the following post at 10/16/2009 4:29 PM: One could not help but notice that you offered no advice on HOW it should be addressed.

Let insurance companies offer insurance across state lines. This puts the free market to work and makes cheap insurance available where it currently isn't. Tort reform. It's unclear how much defensive medicine costs us, but it's probably too much.

Neither of these ideas require micromanaging one sixth of the GMP and risk screwing up the same. And yes, neither is a bold sweeping move that will give everyone everything they want or save everyone...

...but if we made the entire system cheaper then covering everyone would be a heck of a lot easier. For that matter our existing social programs wouldn't be costing us as much so we could do more.