I think I answered your question before, but perhaps it got lost in the melee of responses flying back and forth in whatever thread it was in. I should point out that gaining a few compromises in a bill doesn't mean that those who pushed for those compromises must vote for the bill if, even with those compromises, the overall effect of the bill is counter to their political beliefs. It just goes on the board as a bill that wasn't as bad as it could have been. There are parts of the health insurance reform bill that fit in the realm of compromises, parts of the budget resolution, parts of the appropriations bills that have been passed, and we can go down the line.

Compromises achieved on a number of provisions in a bill may not make the bill as a whole palatable.

Chaos, I'm sorry you're sick. My wife and I both went through forms of that between Thanksgiving and New Years, so I know how you feel, and how frustrating it is. Is your husband's plan an HSA or is it just a catastrophic plan that doesn't cover anything at all until you reach a high threshhold like $10,000?

Then, gop, how do the Rs think that Americans like chaos can have access to healthcare seeing how its a right?

Although I'm pretty much the only Republican here, there are more out there, and I can't speak for them.

I think the Senate bill is on the right track in providing subsidies to people who need financial assistance in obtaining health insurance. The elimination of pre-existing condition exclusions will help greatly in making insurance available to people who might not otherwise have that opportunity. That, coupled with subsidies, will help people who aren't part of an employer group plan obtain health insurance through the network of private carriers.

I would take it farther than the Senate bill, and mandate that individuals be treated as a group, so that individual underwriting would exist only to a limited extent, and premiums would be set based on the claims experience of that entire group.

Chaos... Breathe steam! Put a small amount of water in the bottom of a medium-sized pot > bring it to a boil > enshroud your head with a towel and INHALE the steam through your mouth and then again through your nose. It really helps to loosen up the deep-seated mucous in the lungs and drain the sinuses.

Chaos, I hope you get to feeling better soon. In May of 2008 I had two mini strokes and was hospitalized for a few days. At that time I was already retired, had not turned 65 yet as I would turn 65 in November of 2008 so did not have medicare nor any other insurance. I was left with a hospital bill alone of over $11,000.00 and thats not counting all the doctor bills, lab, x-ray, etc. In order to pay everything off it would have taken a large amount out of our savings/retirement account. I opted instead to make monthly payments to all the doctors, hospitals,etc,etc. I now have Medicare and a supplemental policy as well ....but if our government had of had an insurance option for me before the time of my hospitalization, I would have taken it and not now be making payments to many, many people.