Wakefield, Conrad talk health care

Bill M.
Grand Forks, ND     07/03/2009 5:40 PM

Rick m., you seemed to have done extensive reading on Conrad's efforts. Maybe you can explain in specific detail how Conrad's co-ops would work. For example, could they turn down unhealthy people? If not, how are they going to compete against private insures who can? Would you be limited to in-state providers? Would other states have to accept your co-op? And so on. Please give us the details.

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Heidi H.
07/03/2009 12:48 PM

It's about controlling the people. They are controlling our energy, and they want to control our health. Any young person who might be looking for a career right now should probably become a funeral director.

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Harold H.
Sierra Vista, AZ     07/03/2009 11:15 AM

Let's not forget that there is a perfect example of government run healthcare in our military. Now, I'm not necessarily damning the military doctors because I know that some them preform miracles, however it is the bureaucracy of the system that gets a lot of military service members. So if you want to see what your future is going to look like, take a look there. The only difference will be that there will be less discipline among the staff and doctors because at least in the military they are held to a certain standard. What the politicians keep stopping short of saying is why things are costing so much. One way to lower medical costs would be through Tort reform, which would lower the legal insurance that doctors have to take out. Let's also not forget how much the government has put restrictions on the "big drug companies" out to make that evil dollar. If we were to get rid of just some of the regulations and taxes that are placed on these companies we would be able to see medical costs go down. But since the government has done so well with Medicare and Medicaid we should just let them have the whole system. Oh yeah, hows that Social Security reform going?

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Donald F.
Grand Forks, ND     07/03/2009 11:02 AM

Conrad is way-off the mark. He should not be meeting with health care professionals, especially with health insurance racketeers. They are the reason why we are stuck in the ditch. He should be backing my president with a public option. Before all you "socialized medicine" drum beaters respond, we have had a universal healthcare in this country for over 45 years. It is called Medicare. If it is good for the old farts, it should be available to all of us.

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Bruce B.
Crookston, MN     07/03/2009 8:49 AM

Our physicians are wonderfully brilliant people and I am grateful for their help when I need it or any of my family needs it, but I also know that the insurance companies are creating havoc with our health care needs and our medication costs are tremendously exorbitant which leaves our physicians hands tied. You know when a reformation needs to take place when you work for a health care faciltiy and the amount of the co-pays and your share of the monthly premiums for insurance have you wondering if you should drop your health insurance! It is an enormous hardship to have our health care cost so much that we go without our meds and stay away from annual physicals and try everything else possible before going to the doctor. We are relatively young and are having a really hard time keeping our health coverage paid for. I look at my poor mother and I mean poor because she lives on social security only and can't make it on her own and everytime a medical issue arrises she falls farther and farther behind and then cannot afford her meds that the physicians want her to try. I think that we seriously need to try something to make health care more affordable or we will end up with a lot more people with no health care coverage and the states will need to take care of them then. We're a rural community I think we should give the co-op a chance. Lets work together to keep this one of the better places to live in the U.S.

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Jeff H.
Grand Forks, ND     07/03/2009 8:22 AM

Single payer is what we need. Get rid of the irrelevant health care insurance companies standing between you and your doctor. Talk about a racket. I don't know of anyone in our government who is making one tenth of what the CEO's and their vice presidents of the health insurance companies make. Follow the money. 38th in the world is nothing to be proud of.

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Rick m.
St. Paul/Woodbury, MN     07/03/2009 8:12 AM

Kudos to Senator Conrad. The healthcare issue is serious and getting more so every week. Right now we're spending 18% of our GDP on healthcare - more than any other industrialized nation - and we rank 37th in its delivery. Our infant mortality rate is an embarrassment, and the fact that medical bills are the primary cause of bankruptcy (over 200,000 last year) in the US has nothing to do with personal responsibility; the system is seriously broken. We may not get the exact reform we would like this year, but doing nothing is not an option. The lobbyists and fear peddlers will be spending millions to get in the way of progress on this. Please do some reading on the topic, then support Kent Conrad in his efforts.

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Paul K.
Grand Forks, ND     07/03/2009 8:05 AM

Au contraire, the people in Canada LOVE their system. In fact in a poll taken a few years back, Tommy Douglas was voted as the greatest Canadian in that country's history. Even the conservative party in Canada (Tories) have bent over backwards to preserve and improve the system. He just happens to be the creator of Medicare, the nation's government-sponsored health program. Our current system isn't working for anyone except big pharma and big insurance. 50 million have no insurance and another 75 million have "faux" insurance, meaning they technically have insurance but when they actually need to use it, they get nothing. That's why we're ranked 36th in world after Costa Rica in health quality. I say to hell with the insurance companies. We don't need to keep a system that doesn't work.

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Bondo R.
Grand Forks, ND     07/03/2009 6:24 AM

If the commenters could for a moment set aside their animosity towards North Dakota and its hospitals, perhaps we could discuss the real issue- government meddling in areas they have no business being in. We already have "health care co-ops" - they are called mutual insurance companies. Whether big or small they are by definition consumer owned. Names like State farm, American Family ring a bell? Our problem in this country is not typically a lack of health care access or plan options. Our problem, if we have one at all, is irresponsible people who by choice do not have any insurance when they need it, shifting the burden of costs to those of us who do. So do what we do with auto insurance and mandate some minimum coverage in a means-tested fashion and leave the rest alone. Then Kent Conrad and all the rest of Washington can butt out.

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ned s.
North Las Vegas, NV     07/03/2009 2:44 AM

I am originally from East Grand Forks, Mn. I had to leave your community 13 years ago in the pursuit of education and employment. There is not a day that goes by that I don't wish I was home. I hope the valley doesn't have to live through the "healthcare" hell here in Las Vegas. Pertaining to Altru, if the tsunami of economic hell reaches North dakota, here is an interesting article, right here from Vegas,(http://www.lvrj.com/news/49421507.html).

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