I guess do throw doctors in that bucket. I don't mind people making money off of making other people better within reason. A bill for $100,000 for a hospital stay to deal with the leukemia you're suffering from is too much money*. Paying $105 a month for a prescription for anti-depressants is too much, especially when the depression is the one thing that prevents me from finding work from time to time. No work, no money, no prescription, no Serotonin to get work... it's a weird catch 22 situation.

*True story. I went to a fund raiser for a friend when I was in Monterey that his friends put together to help him with his hospital bills. I don't think the $1500 we raised helped all that much, tho. And I think he has insurance through Stanford...

ETA: There are 2 prescriptions that I'm on for my depression. So it was $210 a month on just my meds...

I have no problem with doctors and other medical professionals making a living - even a damn good one - treating people. They deserve it. What irks me, however, is seeing a corporation making obscene profits providing health coverage; or even worse - not providing it.

Can you take it to wal-mart and do the $4 one? Tell them no insurance.

Oh, and I'm not going to fool myself into thinking that I can enter this debate with any sort of super knowledge about what is going on... I'm just not a real good capitalist.

Conservative blogger calls for Obama's assasination on Twitter

It's long been a common aphorism that people like their lawyers to seem wealthy and their doctors not to. Docs are wise to downplay their wealth to their patients - it's always had a poor gut reaction (no pun really intended).

And wow, that Twittidiot obviously hasn't learned the innerSpaceman trial-by-error rules of appropriate internet communication.

fyi
 

The Huffington Post has compiled a list of the top 18 immediate effects of the health care bill as well as some that will take effect in the first year of implementation:

Health Insurers cannot deny children health insurance because of pre-existing conditions. A ban on the discrimination in adults will take effect in 2014.

Businesses with fewer than 50 employees will get tax credits covering up to 50% of employee premiums.

Seniors will get a rebate to fill the so-called "donut hole" in Medicare drug coverage, which severely limits prescription medication coverage expenditures over $2,700. As of next year, 50 percent of the donut hole will be filled.

The cut-off age for young adults to continue to be covered by their parents' health insurance rises to the age 27.

Lifetime caps on the amount of insurance an individual can have will be banned. Annual caps will be limited, and banned in 2014.

A temporary high-risk pool will be set up to cover adults with pre-existing conditions. Health care exchanges will eliminate the program in 2014.

New plans must cover checkups and other preventative care without co-pays. All plans will be affected by 2018.

Insurance companies can no longer cut someone when he or she gets sick.

Insurers must now reveal how much money is spent on overhead.

Any new plan must now implement an appeals process for coverage determinations and claims.

This tax will impose a ten percent tax on indoor tanning services. This tax, which replaced the proposed tax on cosmetic surgery, would be effective for services on or after July 1, 2010.

New screening procedures will be implemented to help eliminate health insurance fraud and waste.

Medicare payment protections will be extended to small rural hospitals and other health care facilities that have a small number of Medicare patients.

Non-profit Blue Cross organizations will be required to maintain a medical loss ratio -- money spent on procedures over money incoming -- of 85 percent or higher to take advantage of IRS tax benefits.

Chain restaurants will be required to provide a "nutrient content disclosure statement" alongside their items. Expect to see calories listed both on in-store and drive-through menus of fast-food restaurants sometime soon.

The bill establishes a temporary program for companies that provide early retiree health benefits for those ages 55‐64 in order to help reduce the often-expensive cost of that coverage.

The Secretary of Health and Human Services will set up a new Web site to make it easy for Americans in any state to seek out affordable health insurance options The site will also include helpful information for small businesses.

A two‐year temporary credit (up to a maximum of $1 billion) is in the bill to encourage investment in new therapies for the prevention and treatment of diseases.

This is obviously a biased, heavily edited video. However something tells me it did not take the producers of this video much effort to find material.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pilG7...ayer_embedded#

But GC... Don't you know that Huffington Post is Teh Liberal EVIL. They're just going to lie to get you to support it! They don't want you to know about the death panels and secret granny death squads. The government wants to take control of the country, and we can't allow that!! Who do they think they are? Who told the government they could run things?! And don't forget, they are coming to take away your guns and money and put you in a re-education camp!