Comments on: Massachusetts As Model: Can The Nation Afford Health Reform?

By: Dan Walter

Dan Walter — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 16:39:38 +0000

Here’s an idea: Stop paying blindly for medical mistakes. My wife was almost killed at Johns Hopkins cardiology due to negligence. A $2k procedure wound up costing $200k. The insurance company paid without blinking and OUR insurance rates went up. Google “Adventures in Cardiology” to read all about it.
http://adventuresincardiology.com.

By: C. Williams

C. Williams — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 16:36:37 +0000

HELLO PEOPLE!!!!!! If you are on Medicare, Military champus or Tricare, or Medicaid …..You are on a government run plan!!! Wake up! They are just trying to pay the hospitals less than what they pay now which by the way is like 40 cents on the dollar……..Do some homework.

By: Rudolf

Rudolf — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 20:23:45 +0000

The answer is No, we cannot afford “Heath Reform” in the U.S. if that means everyone has health care because for many people that will mean the “government” will supply health care to those who, for any reason, can’t pay for their own. But by “government” means that the taxpayer will pay for it and, bottom line, we cannot afford that. We re already hopelessly in debt and no one has come up with a plan to control the rapid medical cost inflation, much less by Federal intervention.

By: Euonymous

Euonymous — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 17:21:06 +0000

Massachusetts healthcare requirements are not working. Where health insurance costs over $12,000 per year for a couple, and $25,000 per year for a family, citizens are being broken economically. The solution is to restructure the healthcare system and institute universal healthcare the way other civilized, developed countries have done. The MA solution is worse than no solution. It simply attempts to move the bill from the shoulders of the state to the shoulders of the citizens who can least afford to pay for it.

By: PETER

PETER — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 16:29:35 +0000

the focus on access and coverage is unfortunately misguided. neither federal health reform nor the current MA initiative does nearly enough to contain costs. without that key component as MA has learned the “success” of either will be severely compromised. take chronic illness as one example. MA has not followed the lead of many other states in initiating a comprehensive population wide program for the adult disabled to manage cost in this area.

By: Anna

Anna — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 15:54:23 +0000

LITTLE GIRL ON A PLANE

A Congressman was seated next to a little girl on an
airplane. He turned to her and said, ‘Let’s talk. I’ve heard that flights go quicker if you strike up a conversation with your fellow passenger.’

The little girl, who had just opened her book, closed it slowly and said to the total stranger, ‘What would you like to talk about?’

‘Oh, I don’t know,’ said the congressman. ‘How about global warming or universal health care’, and he smiles smugly.

OK, ‘ she said. ‘Those could be interesting topics. But let me ask you a question first. A horse, a cow, and a deer all eat the same stuff – grass. Yet a deer excretes little pellets, while a cow turns out a flat patty, and a horse produces clumps of dried grass. Why do you suppose that is?’

The legislator, visibly surprised by the little girl’s intelligence, thinks about it and says, ‘Hmmm, I have no idea.’

To which the little girl replies, ‘Do you really feel qualified to discuss global warming or universal health care when you don’t know s**?

By: Lauren

Lauren — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 13:49:07 +0000

I have to say, this story was informative, but I was very turned off by its blatant and inadequate emulation of NPR’s Planet Money format. Pfeiffer and Brown weren’t having a conversation – they were reporting two stories edited to make it seem like a conversation. The story was supposed to focus on the urban/rural issues regarding health care, but it just turned into a story about replicating healthcare.

Please stick to what you are good at: straight-forward, in-depth local reporting. The format left a bad taste in my mouth.