LOL!- SOTU speech preview (just in time for focus groups)

[underpants]

You have to love the first paragraph here. Wow he sure is out of that bubble now isn't he? Yep those 3 appearances in 3 days did it for him huh?

State of the Union speech is in 12days- Jan 31st. Frank Lutz and co. are focus grouping this as we speak.

Bush Speech to Focus on Health Care Costs
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060119/ap_on_go_pr_wh/bush_state_of_union

WASHINGTON - President Bush's State of the Union address will attempt to shift focus from the polarizing war in Iraq to a more popular domestic priority: taming health care costs.

Facing congressional elections in November that could end Republican control on Capitol Hill, Bush is hoping his agenda will help his party at the ballot box.

Hubbard and other administration officials, echoing hints Bush has provided in recent speeches, sketched the outlines of the president's health care agenda to be presented in the Jan. 31 address. Elements include:

_Raising the dollar amount allowed to accumulate in existing health savings accounts. In these accounts, people shoulder more of the responsibility for the costs of care. They deposit money tax-free into a dedicated account while purchasing a high-deductible policy to cover catastrophic expenses.

_Additional tax breaks to help people who do not have employer-provided insurance coverage buy their own.<---will have ZERO effect for most people

_More portability for health insurance when people switch jobs.<---gee that sounds familiar

_A way for people to get more information about the price of the care they get and the performance of the doctors they see.

_A switch from paper medical records to more cost-effective, error-reducing electronic records.<--- sounds familiar too like 12 years ago familiar

_The ability for small businesses to pool the purchasing of health insurance coverage across state lines.

_A cap on malpractice verdicts other than actual economic damages, something Bush has been able to get through the House three years in a row, but not the Senate. <--- has no effect on medical costs purely a reduction of liabilty re insurance for the malpractice insurance companies.

[shoelace414]

1. In Bushworld..

If you have money, you can get health care, if you don't have a job, why bother living, we'll help you die by not getting health care.

[displacedtexan]

2. My school district had those health savings accounts.

$600 per year maximum.

If you have children, try squeezing vision, dental, routine
check ups, and the occasional emergency room bad nosebleed
out of that amount.

It was a nightmare for us, and we only had one child.

The worst part: any left over $ went away at the end of the year. It
didn't roll over.

And there was no catastrophic illness stop-loss clause
in our insurance plan.

We were lucky to get out of that disastrous plan.

Maybe others have had better experiences, but we hated it.

[PinkyisBlue]

3. Health Savings Accounts

Hmm, what can $600 buy with regards to health care?

It costs $175 for a child's semi-annual dental visit (assuming no cavities).

We do have insurance, so I'm not sure how much a visit to the doctor or eye doctor costs, but $600 won't go very far. Also, medical facilities usually charge higher prices for people who pay their own medical costs, as insurance companies have bargained for lower prices with hospitals, clinics, etc.