Posted by Abby on January 7, 2000, at 23:21:20
I know that this is somewhat off topic and rather dangerous, but I just wondered what people thought of the different candidates' approaches to healthcare.
I'm thinking: how would it affect you or people you know.In the interests of full disclosure:
I used to consider myself a Republican, but I can't
associate myself with those isolationist bible-bumpers
like Hatch who pushed that impeachment crap.I think Al Gore is a twit--had incredible educational
opportunities but not used them. Something about Tipper's
approach to mental health really bothers me. I'll take
Rosalyn Carter anyday. Gore speaks garbled jumbo and
waffles.So given the choice of Bush v. Gore I'd vote for Bush,
but I hope that's not the choice I have to make.
Bush is no intellectual, but he does have warmth and
won't cause too much trouble. He may have got Cs in
college, but he was a frat boy and probably didn't try
very hard. AL Gore is so deeply earnest about ambition
his own rectitude etc.Sorry for the rant. Anyway, Bradley and McCain really
interest me here, though McCain has been rather vague.
I think that FHEP sounds interesting. It would have
the advantage of portability when you switched
employers, and the mental health benefits might be
better than with most HMOs.New England is having real trouble with HMOs. Tufts
had huge losses in NH, Maine and Rhode Island and had
to pull out; it now operates only in MA.Blue Cross of Maine has been bought out by for-profit
Anthem.Harvard Pilgrim was getting bailed out and is now
in receivership. Before a merger, Harvard Community
Health was *the* original HMO, an idealistic one where
the emphasis was on managing care more than cost. The
idea was that people who didn't have to pay per visit
would go as soon as they got sick and would go for
preventative treatment, and they could triage by using
nurses effectively, but everyone was on salary and
everything was under one roof. Health Maintenance
Organizations started out as idealistic endeavors.
Hard to believe, isn't it?
Abby
poster:Abby
thread:18345
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20000101/msgs/18345.html