“There are those who will try and scuttle this opportunity no matter what”
Barack H. Obama

President Obama is going all out to change our health care system; he will speak his mind regardless of the audience. Yesterday he told a group of doctors that he is against what he believes to be their number one priority – to limit how much money they pay out for malpractice. The response was a smattering of boos. Imagine that, you attend this function to garner support for your side from the POTUS and he plainly tells you he is against your priority that will effectively keep more money in your pocket.

Obama continued by directly addressing those he considers “naysayers,” “fear-mongers” and peddlers of “Trojan horse” falsehoods. He also spoke about those who are spreading the word that he is attempting to socialize medicine. Actually, he warned them – I’m not sure what that warning means, but it seems like he is serious about over-hauling the system.

GOP Rep. Tom Price (Georgia) thinks Obama is orchestrating a “government takeover’ of health care in America. These statement was made when talking about a committee allegedly established to overrule doctors and deny patient care. Another way to look at this could be from the perspective of patients who are placed on medicines that become addictive and do not improve the condition. Check out this rivalry on JealousBrother (click here).

What Will This Cost?

Obama let the cat out of the bag and estimated health care reform would cost about $1 trillion over 10 years! After saying, “That is real money, even in Washington” (duh), he went on to say failure to reform the system will cost trillions more in lost economic growth and lower wages.

The plan to pay for this, or find the money, was outlined, but it could be political speak in reality; smoke and mirrors meant to make us think we won’t feel the pain. In theory this plan sounds good, but the questioning side of me thinks about spreading this out over the next 10 years – obviously after Obama is out of office if re-elected.

I would say we need to be cautious of any money spent and/or allocated to things like this. Think about it, all of us have had legitimate things we needed to buy, but lack of funds kept us from doing it. Are we at a point where spending money, regardless of the impact it will have on the next 10 years, could impact the generations to come for the next 50 years? Most of us have also been in a “lean time” where every expendature was questioned. Although this is not within our personal households, but on a national level, shouldn’t we have the inclination to question it as tax payers? It is something to consider.

Still As Smooth As Ever

Obama didn’t leave a bitter taste in the doctors’ mouths, he also sympathized with the situations they often find themselves in. He acknowledged the fact that our society always has them looking over their shoulders and that is the cause for expensive malpractice insurance. This got them on his side right before he mentioned how he is against malpractice caps.

I have been in the military health care system and thought Vitamin M (Motrin) was given for…well I don’t know why they give if for so much stuff. But civilian doctors seem to give medicine in excess as a defense mechanism should a lawsuit come up. Our litigious society is to blame for that one.

A Timely Warning

The president finished by adding GM and Chrysler into the mix. By mentioning how health care for auto industry workers played a part in getting GM and Chrysler in trouble, the message was clear: “If we do not fix our health care system, America may go teh way of GM — paying more, getting less and going broke.”