Evaluating The Latest Health Care Proposal

What can be done to stop the runaway U S Government------------Keep pressure on the elected %#@*&^(#'s---- Write- call - email - or any of the new stuff (Youngstown, Ohio)

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I concur with BRIAN ROGERS comment. Reforming the existing healthcare system is the more sensible and cost effective way to solve this problem. Cap lawsuits, train more doctors faster, and speed up the drug and technology approval process at FDA. Wouldn't it make logical sense to look at the "reformation option" before we mortgage our childrens future. We have already turned over enough of our freedom and personal life to big brother. If this bill passes, it will be added to the long list of other freedoms we have reliquished. Why would one think Washington could do a better job managing a huge "public option" considering the state of the failing Medicaid, Medicare, Social Security System and Postal Service, which constantly needs needs rate increases. If this passes, you can count on a never ending need for tax increases to cover the inefficiencies in a government run system and to pay off the debt. The disadvantaged can be included through tax and employment incentives. It seems to me that training and putting capable but disadvantaged "citizens" to work repairng the country's infrastucture by re-establishing a program similar to the Civilian Conservation Corp "CCC's" would bring the disadvantaged "citizens" into the private healthcare system. We already work over two days a week for Uncle Sam to pay taxes. Enough is enough! (Fayetteville, AR)

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I grew up in a country with socialized healthcare whilst I was a child with few if any illnesses it was great. My Grandmothers experience not so good at 70 she needed a new hip, a committee deemed she was too old and a younger person should have access to these resources. She died at 99years old, 29 years of hip pain. I have a good friend he had a hernia which grew to the size of a baseball whilst waiting for the national health system to find a slot in the opperating room schedule. He went private, admitted on a Friday at work on Monday. Business owners who are pro socialized medicine are looking at the free part of the bill calculating how much they will save on group insurance costs. Correct the state laws, deregulate the insurance system, allow health insurance through associations. We do have the best health system in the world regardless of what the press tell us lets keep it not give it away to the government.
Kings rarely return tribute. (Ottawa , IL)

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I am completely against government run healthcare. Things have gotten way out of control. I believe we are running everything that this country was founded on into the ground. So illegals can come to this country and get free medical care. How is this helping us? My blind 64 year old mother who has worked and paid taxes for 45 years can't get any medical help. How ridiculous can the government be. Why do we help nations around the world but our own is suffering. Kick that bill out before it is too late. (COTTONWOOD, AZ)

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How do you create bipartisan when the only Republican input is NO to ANY proposal? Biggest problem is that most of thes guys have GREAT PUBLIC health insurance(paid by tax $$$$.) They have no idea what it is like to deal with a private insurance company. (Billings, MT)

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Our health care system is amongst the worst of any developed country, look at life expectancies or infant mortality or just about any other statistic you care to choose. The only thing our health care system leads the world in is cost. Meanwhile our insurance companies are recording record profits, our industries are shipping our jobs oversees as fast as possible, yet so many comments on this board indicate that people still trust these huge companies. What exactly would they need to do for you to loose that trust?

I am appalled at the comments of the chamber and many on this board, and I am sick of the lies told by opponents of reform and I am especially tired of the, "it's all about me," thinking in this country. This will be our downfall as a nation, not terrorism or bank failures or stock market crashes, rather, it will be our lack of humanity. Sadly, judging from the heartwarming comments on this board, we are almost there.

I realize I am very fortunate, I also realize that I have been very lucky in my life. Given that realization, I also must realize that there are many who have not been as fortunate for no other reason as to whom and to where they were born. If my taxes need to go up to pay for some unknown child or elderly soul to get treatment that may save it's life or even just make their life a little better, so be it. That would be money well spent.

I have nothing against anyone making a profit, I own a business too. I do have a problem when a shareholders dividend is more important to us as a society than the basic needs of our nation’s people. The true measure of any society is not GDP, or how high the market goes, it's how we treat the least amongst us.

Lastly could those of you out there who insist on making Hitler/Obama references, please read some history books. Hitler was right wing not left. Feel free to look it up.
(Elburn, IL)

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It is unfortunate that the Chamber is so invested in killing the public option. As a business owner, I am much more worried about the prospect of no healthcare reform rather than the Chamber's efforts to strike a partisan blow against Obama. (Orlando, Florida)

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What does life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness really mean? I interpret the Declaration of Independence in this case to mean that it is the job of government to ensure public health.
I for one believe that a culture can be best judged by the condition of the poorest of the people in society. In my opinion anyone should be able to walk into a medical facility and be treated and all treated equally. I would rather my tax dollars go to that expense rather than subsidizing warlords in Afghanistan. How many millions of unaccounted dollars did we throw in the sand for these wars that could have started this healthcare for all system? It is time we take care of our own!
I have heard many state that they don't want the government with their hands in their pockets, but I suppose they want the insurance and drug companies taking their money instead.
My wife recently had an emergency appendectomy and spent a total of 36 hours in the hospital, much of it waiting around to be treated and they didn’t even feed her. The cost for the facility (not the surgery, radiology, or anesthesiologist) was $21,000. To me this is very excessive. No wonder the major reason for bankruptcies is because people are overwhelmed by medical costs.
So we have people that lose everything and the cost is dropped on the rest of us. This is a lose-lose if I have ever seen one.
So, I don’t care about insurance companies making it. I do care about the health of the American people and not leaving people on the side of the road. There is a parable in the Bible about this very thing.
A Jewish man was traveling on a trip from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he was attacked by bandits. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him up, and left him half dead beside the road. By chance a priest came along. But when he saw the man lying there, he crossed to the other side of the road and passed him by. A Temple assistant walked over and looked at him lying there, but he also passed by on the other side. Then a despised Samaritan came along, and when he saw the man, he felt compassion for him. Going over to him, the Samaritan soothed his wounds with olive oil and wine and bandaged them. Then he put the man on his own donkey and took him to an inn, where he took care of him. The next day he handed the innkeeper two silver coins, telling him, ‘Take care of this man. If his bill runs higher than this, I’ll pay you the next time I’m here.’ “Now which of these three would you say was a neighbor to the man who was attacked by bandits?” Jesus asked. The man replied, “The one who showed him mercy.” Then Jesus said, “Yes, now go and do the same.”
(Raleigh, NC)

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I applaud the Chamber for standing firm and criticizing this anti-business administration. We need health care reform, damn straight. We need to do it incrementally using common sense initiatives. Tort reform, immigration reform, Rx reform, insurance reform, eliminating fraud, promoting national competition, etc. These are all sound components of a National Health inititative.
Who in their right mind would give this government control of 16% percent of the economy when Medicare and Medicaid fraud runs at 10 to 20 times the private sector average and the healthcare given to our honored veterans is a disgrace.
This is not about healthcare ...it is about control.
Address the cost immediately then expand the access to people who are disadvantaged. (Stamford, CT)

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Question is, does anyone have the right to demand that another pay for their healthcare, food, education or lodging? If so, to what level? Under our constitution we clearly do not have this right, regardless of what any politician may profess. We are seeing the tyrannical powers of our Democracy, where a simple voting majority can claim rights to the material wealth of the minority. We have struggled through years of strife to ensure the rights of the minority only to see that turned back against us. We are giving up the freedom of speech to political correctness. We are giving up the fruits of our labor, pursued for our own security, to subsidize those who demand it for economic justice. The Utopians amongst us seem to gladly be willing to sacrifice the world of today, with all of its warts, for a more theoretical one, even if it might lead to its ultimate destruction, in that it would at least represent economic justice. The belief that Progressivism is the end all, is more correct that most would think, as it most likely will…end all. (Dallas, TX)

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Government officials need to read Dr. Atul Gawande's June 2009 article in the New Yorker to understande the cost drivers in medicine today. The plans they come up with do not do that and will kill innovation in medicine, one of the reasons children survive lukemia at high levels today. I say remove this from the Senate and the House and give a group of 10 people (Dr. Gwande would be one of the 10) and see what they come up with when their mandate is "improve the health of the country". This would be a better thing to pursue than giving everyone government healthcare - a nasty cross between the Post Office and the IRS! Keep up the good work at the Chamber - Obama and company need someone to keep them honest. (Bristol, IN)

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FIX THE ECONOMY FIRST. THE PLAN WILL FORCE MANY MILLIONS OF YOUNG PEOPLE WHO DO NOT WANT OR NEED HEALTH CARE TO PURCHASE IT. OFFER AN INEXPENSIVE PLAN FOR THE YOUNG AND POOR, ALLOW INSURANCE COMPANIES TO COMPETE ACROSS STAE LINES, GET TORT REFORM DONE AND ROOT OUT AS MUCH FRAUD AS THEY CAN. LEAVE THE REST ALONE. WHAT MAKES THE GOVERNMENT THINK THEY CAN DO ANYTHING CHEAPER THAN PRIVATE ENTERPRISE. (RICHMOND HILL, NEW YORK)

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As a healthcare provider and small business owner the proposed legislation concerns me on several levels. Taxing medical device providers will surely drive up my supply costs. Increased income taxes will shrink my income putting more pressure on me to cut my overhead further. Taxing the insurance carriers will force them to reduce their benefits to stay competitive. This means reduced payments to me causing my patients and I to "subsidize this plan". Private insurance patients and fee for service patients will see fees and co-insurance rates go through the roof and/or the quality of care will drop in order to fund (subsidize)this mess. If we have the government option, private insurance carriers will lose out be uncompetitive due to the burden placed on them. We will end up with single payer government . Since the government option will likely put more pressure on providers to lower their fees (in order to pay for this mess), there will be lots of consequences. Many of us will leave the field of healthcare as it is impossible to deliver decent care and still get paid enough to make any profit. Fraud will be rampant as providers scramble to make enough to money to survive. The government will come down on providers to prevent fraud creating more intervention worsening the problem. Healthcare could look like the worst emergency room you can imagine with long lines and little compassion for the patient. A severe healthcare provider shortage will follow as few Americans in their right mind will want to enter this field with the huge debt of institutions like medical school only to start a practice that will not pay you a decent wage for your efforts.
Just my view
Phillip C. Neal DDS
(Crystal Lake, IL)

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As a healthcare provider and small business owner, I am extremely concerned with the proposed legislation for the following reasons.
1 (Crystal Lake, IL)

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As a healthcare provider and small business owner, I am extremely concerned with the proposed legislation for the following reasons.
1 (Crystal Lake, IL)

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As a healthcare provider and small business owner, I am extremely concerned with the proposed legislation for the following reasons.
1 (Crystal Lake, IL)

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As a Healthcare provider, I am extremely concerned with the pending legislation for my business and all like it.
1 (Crystal Lake, IL)

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Give the Chamber my commnts. The Chamber of Commerce comments say it all. Quote, "But when it comes to reducing the ever-escalating cost of care for both consumers and employers, this bill makes things worse. It imposes a vast array of new taxes on medical devises, pharmaceuticals, and insurance policies all of which will serve to increase the costs for everyone who buys health insurance. The plan would also create a new, budget-busting entitlement in the form of health insurance credits. The true cost of the bill is hidden. The bill punishes employers who don't offer health insurance." I have a small business, one of the smallest of the small. If I could afford to give my few employees now I would do it. The new taxes and penalties will just bust my business. I will not have a business, I will not be hiring any employees, I will not be paying any taxes. This president is the most anti-business, his administration is the most anti-business administration, and this congress is the most anti-business congress during lifetime. I am sure when they get their total agenda there are going to be far fewer small businesses in this country than there today. I am going to predict that the economy does not improve one bit during his presidency. (Skagway, Alaska)

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I am proud to be a member of the National U.S. Chamber of Commerce, as I believe you generally represent well my views as a business owner. (Houston, Texas)

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I'm proud and excited to be a new member of my local Chamber but not so proud to be a member of the national organization. I'm not at all sure the national organization represents the little business owners or my views and business needs. Is the national organization out of touch or is it just me? (Batesville, IN)

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One thing that is crucial right now is JOBS FOR AMERICANS! Those working could then buy their own healthcare if they choose. Real reform does NOT include a government run program> I say NO to Socialism of Healthcare, Banks, Income,Etc. Get rid of the CZARS. Produce our own fuel and keep jobs in AMERICA. (San Clemente, CA)

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I'm displeased with everything going on in Washington. I want them to stop spending OUR money on everything THEY want not what WE want, using taxes as a punishment or financial warfare on the public who don't share the same views as those in Washington, and about the health care bill: They keep changing it day to day to fit some type of hype that isn't working, since it isn't working then why are they going to spend all of our money? Can someone answer that? (Bronx, New York)

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Well Said Scott from Boise! My sentiments exactly! (Sylmar, CA)

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Under your lack of leadership the US Chamber has clearly abandoned small business owners in favor of large donors such as the health care industry. The US Chamber has become something disgraceful and has used fear politics to serve as a pawn to the largest contributors at the sacrifice of small business. As said earlier "the Chamber has cast doubt on its own credibility." Indeed. Where the basic issues of man are confused with the profits of another, the chamber has taken the low road. Congratulations.
(Sylmar, CA)

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Mr. Donohue,
Just scan through the comments and see who you have aligned yourself (and the Chamber) with. It's anti-government kooks and those who don't really (want to) understand the problem and harp about "Tort Reform" which promises maybe 1% savings. The Chamber deserves better, smarter leadership.

You need to set aside you Cold War ideology and start doing what is really best for American business in the long run. We need nationalized health insurance. Every other industrialized nation has it and it gives them a competitive advantage over us. Get our companies out if the health insurance business and let them focus on the business they are actually in! (Vancouver, WA)

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I have 125 employees and provide good healthcare coverage in which the employer pays 95% of the employees' share of the premium. Even so, only about 10% of my employees can afford the premium to cover their children or spouse, with the escalating cost of private health insurance. Most of the members of the Chamber have the money to buy all the coverage you need for yourselves and your families. It is time to stop being so selfish and and be part of solving this real problem for millions of American families who need an affordable option to cover all members of the family whether living in or outside the household. That's why I am a strong supporter of a plan which includes a public option.

Unlike most Chamber members, I appreciate the very difficult job Congress is doing to try to cover as many uninsured as possible. I also have confidence the President and the Congress care as much and will work as hard to find the money to pay for the plan in a responsible way. Further, the work being done would be bipartisan if all of the Republican members of Congress were not so intent on killing any healthcare plan. I have watched closely the healthcare debate and know firsthand what has happened over the past 4 to 5 months on this issue. And if having the Democrats pass healthcare reform without a single Republican vote is how this sausage has to be made, so be it. It's past time to get something meaningful passed for the families of my employees and all the other families in America who so desperately need a quality healthcare plan with options to meet most of our needs. (Tallahassee, Florida)

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if this "health care reform" goes through along with crap and tax well can ya all say ZIEG HEIL
now mr donahue get your head out of your ass and tell the congress and pres go back to the constitution and follow it nuff said (buena vista, co)

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This health insurance debate is ridiculous. As more jobs are lost in America, as our economy is sinking, President Barack Obama and his Democratic buddies are doing all they can to destroy American businesses. This should not even be on the agenda unless they were proposing tort reform and taking the shackles off private health insurers. Cap and Trade is another one. Let's pass it and just send the rest of America's manufacturing jobs to China. How can Big Labor be behind Obama and the Democrats. If the Unions were representing their members they would be fighting Obama tooth and nail. Until common sense returns in America, we will continue to have our very existence challenged. (Tampa , FL)

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What happened to for the people by the people? It seems our elected officials are not listening to what the majority wants anymore. It's time to show them what we want by voting them out! (Hastings, NE)

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We cannot let the health care bills pass. There is no money to pay for any of this, and tort reform, insurance portability will help solve most of the issues. (Cape Coral, FL)

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The Government is creating a monopoly and calling it a "public option." Isn't that illegal?

Again:
1. Tort Reform
2. Insurance across state lines
3. Medical savings accounts
(Tucson, AZ)

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As a past member I am amazed with your lack of ability to push for the free enterprise of business in the United States. Let us face the fact that the present administration in on a push towards Socialism of our free enterprise. I advice all managers of U.S. Chamber of Commerce to study past Socialist or Communist countries so you can learn how to combat the present administration and it's Czars who are distroying free enterprise.If you do not stand up for our free enterprise you can kiss your organization goodby! (Oxnard, California)

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Dave L. I don't trust the Government or the highways we drive on as bridges fall, Levees break and World Trade Towers get bombed because of OUTDATED IMMIGRATION REFORM SYSTEM WHICH HIJACKER'S USED TO THEIR ADVANTAGE (SKIP YOUR FEAR TACTICS)TALKING POINTS. AND THE LEVEES? OUTDATED BUT CONGRESS HAD PORK BARREL PROJECTS OF COURSE...9/11/01 GUARANTEES NO TRUST IN GOVERNMENT-WE SHOULD HAVE TAKEN CARE OF THE IMMIGRATION PROBLES BEFORE THE HEALTH CARE REFORM BUT NO THEY WANT THE "ILLEGAL'S" TO CONTINUE ON MEDICAIDE IN HEALTH CARE AND THE OF THE COUNTRY IS IN "IMPERIAL JUDICIARY" CALIFORNIA VOTER'S HAVE BEEN OVERRUN BY JUDGES WHO OVERRIDE VOTER'S.
DEMOCRAT'S ARE OWNED BY LAWYER'S WHY ISN'T THERE TORT REFORM IN THIS HEALTH CARE?? WHY HAS HEALTH CARE SKY ROCKETED IN COST'S?? ALSO DUE TO FRAUD AND TRIAL LAWYER'S.. TRUST GOVERNMENT WHEN DONKEY'S FLY.. (Cypress, CA)

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The insidious march toward a socialistic, European-like state is on the move, and most Americans that voted for Obama are seeing it all much too late. He is not interested in the Constitution, nor in what the American people want. He thinks that most of them are too stupid to know what is good for them. We need to sweep his party out at the mid-terms, but, then hold the newly elected Republicans accountable to do the things we elected them to do. (Phoenix, Arizona)

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They the(Senate)need to be stopped befor they run us all in the ground (Killeen, Tx.)

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Under your lack of leadership the US Chamber has clearly abandoned small business owners in favor of large donors such as the health care industry. The US Chamber has become something disgraceful and has used fear politics to serve as a pawn to the largest contributors at the sacrifice of small business. As said earlier "the Chamber has cast doubt on its own credibility." Indeed. Where the basic issues of man are confused with the profits of another, the chamber has taken the low road. Congratulations. (Boise, Idaho)

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BIG BROTHER the NEW BIG BULLY ON THE BLOCK -
PICKING ON U.S. CHAMBER of COMMERCE..WHAT NEXT DONOHUE ARE YOU GOING TO RECEIVE A "DEAD FISH" WRAPPED IN PAPER FROM THE CHIEF OF STAFF? SINCE WE ARE DISSENTING FROM THIS MONOLITH, INCOMPREHENSIBLE HR3200 HEALTH CARE REFORM BILL? AT LEAST WE CAN COMMENT AND NOT RECEIVE DEAD FISH IN OUR EMAIL BOX..,WHO KNOWS WITH THE PROBABLE NATIONAL POLICE OUR PRESIDENT IS THINKING TO ENFORCE(THOMAS SOWELL, "DISMANTLING AMERICA"> WE MIGHT BE PICKED UP FROM OUR HOMES LIKE THEY DID IN NAZI GERMANY. (Cypress, CA)

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In all respect.
I do not agree with any one thing this Obama Administration wishes too oppose on the American tax payer.He is truly not American. What goes on in this country today is unconstitutional and must stop. I think every American tax payer who disagrees with the changes this Congress is pushing on our families- breaking down the very fiber this country stands on in order to satisfy the new liberal socialist agenda -must stop-and we must unite together and force our own change. You want your country back-stop paying your hard earn taxes to the damn goverment. They can't lock us all up. Lets take back America. Lets put God back into our Gov't- back into our Country. Do you know the Obama administration is providing (w/your tax dollars) people on welfare a Obama cell phone w/ 70 free minutes/ yes- free. Hell! where is all this money going to come from? I believe if you don't work you don't eat. What in the hell do you believe America- another a giveaway plan? When is enough -enough? Who in hell in this country is entitled to anything free without working for it? including your gov't leaders. Nothing is wrong with the health care in this country. Maybe some adjustments but not a total restructure. Wake up America. Lets get busy. Lets form up some real leaders. (MYRTLE BEACH, SC)

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I am Currently paying 100% of my employees health care, although my deductables have to be raised in order to make it more affordable. It seems to me that a person should have a choice for his own health care. Employees should be able to create a tax free account so that they can pay for their own services and be able to draw from that account when needed without any penalties. If not enough funds are available they could draw from a low intrest pool that they could pay back in a timely manner. For instance a pool of 400 billion dollars run by the insurance companies and watched by an independant nonprofit oversight committee. Considerably less investment than 1.6 TRILLION. And it would be more than enough to get the ball rolling.

(Marshalltown, IA)

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Could we stop using the word "greed" when referring to a profit-making enterprise like an insurance company. It's "greed" that gets entrepeneurs up in the morning to dream up ways to become rich and employ a bunch of Americans. It's not greed it's normal profit seeking in a capitalist country. I think the libs are going to ram through whatever bloated entitlement programs they want to. At least until the balance of power in Washington evens out, like it will in the fall 2010. Bye-bye socialists. I know you'll still be around waiting for the next time you can fool the people at a presidential election. (Norwalk, Ohio)

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I am thinking of moving to Florida since that must be where the compassionate reside. Certainly not in Arizona. Read the comments by Susan Brown and Robert Goss and then go take a long look in the mirror.
Anyway to my point... Several think the solution is to allow insurance companies to sell their products across state lines.
So let me see if I understand this... You actually would trust insurance companies to fix the problem they created, but not the US Government? Do you trust the highways you drive on or the food you eat? Do you not think the insurance industry as a whole is above price fixing, limiting benefits, etc.? Did we not learn anything from the antics of Wall Street? Get some compassion and remember the concept of "Freedom" so many opposed to a "public option" speak about is not just another word for "I want to be legally greedy"
(Kingman, AZ)

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US Chamber:

Hold your ground and continue to provide the alternative to socialized medicine for America. True reform, like insurance competition across the nation, could be presented as a radically different alternative and could accomplish the stated goals of this administration, without costing anyone a dime in taxes, and would keep "Big Brother" out of the healthcare industry. True reform like tort reform, preventing unjustifiably enornmous class action lawsuits that only enrich the legal profession, would be another legitimate place for healthcare reform legislation. These are the types of reforms America needs. (Beaver Dam, Wisconsin)

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I think we should begin this discussion by using correct language. This is a medical insurance, NOT a "health care" bill. Our medical system provides an important but very small piece of what it requires to promote and sustain health. Our health is determined primarily by the decisions we make in our lives, e.g., getting educated, choosing good partners and friends, finding gratifying work, living in healthy environments, understanding our internal landscapes, attending to "dis-ease", eating healthily, and moving our bodies. We all need to accept responsibility for the critical role we have in supporting our own health and recognize the limitations of our medical system -- no matter how much money we pour into it and how efficient and effective it might be -- to do that for us. (Hanover, New Hampshire)

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I too am a business owner in a state that prides itself in independant thinking and fair market economy. Guess what. I have had 20%, 25% increased the past 2 years and now a new proposal on my desk for health insurance for next year of 29% increase. Ok, here's what happens. I bail. No coverage or a 50/50 plan with my employees who not be able to pay their portion (I now pay 100%). No insurance and they all go to the ER at County Hospital. Wow that's a good idea. (Fort Worth , Texas)

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The following are the last 2 paragraphs of an editorial from today's Washington Post concerning an ad the Chamber is running concerning the Virginia gubernatorial race:
"What is most astonishing about the Chamber's ads is not that they twist a newspaper's editorial line for the Chamber's own purposes. It's that they are at odds with the interests of business itself -- supposedly, its own constituents. In a resolution published Oct. 1, a coalition of 17 of the biggest business groups in Northern Virginia explicitly embraced new taxes as the only rational means of getting roads built; in other words, it echoed Mr. Deeds's own stance. The groups also said that ruling out new taxes, as Mr. McDonnell has done, "is not prudent."

"So not only is the Chamber of Commerce indifferent to the truth; it's also hostile to the business community in the most populous and economically dynamic part of the state. In positioning itself as an arm for the Republican Party, the Chamber has cast doubt on its own credibility."
(Rockville, MD)

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Tom and his band of merry fat cats are being investigated by the Huffington Post and others, and soon we will see more clearly how the CofC at the national level does nothing for small business but continues to fatten Tom and his buddies' purses with dollars. Yes, Tom has health insurance and a $3.1 million salary. Tom is part of the problem, always has been and always will be. (Oklahoma City, OK)

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The U.S. Chamber clearly does not represent small business- only the local Chambers do that. The U.S. Chamber has earned its title of lapdog to big business and the Republican Party. (Gulf Breeze , Fla.)

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I am completely against any type of health care that would be run by our governement. America, please wake up! There is nothing in this bill that benefits any U.S. citizen. This redistribution of wealth pure and simple. I have required the services of a doctor 6 times in the last 3 months. I have been able to see each physician in a matter of days. I am self employed. I have a high deductible. I am not abusing the system because I am taking ownership of my care. When you provide "free" health care it will become bogged down by every Tom, Dick and Harry that has a sniffle. If you don't pay for it you don't consider the ramifications of your actions to the system as a whole. Affordable health is available now. If this passes rationing is the only thing that will result of it. Another question, it goes into effect in 10 years? The collection of taxes and fees and fines starts immediately? Are you kidding me. I am sure that the money wil be kept in a safe location for us. The fox is in the house! Wake up America we do not need this now. How will it be paid for? It is going to be financed with debt. How much is enough before we get it. Can you conduct your home finances this way? Get ready, this level of spending is not sustainable. This just the beginning. You think this is bad just wait for cap and trade. Vote no now! Suspend all spending! U.S. Chamber my vote is a resounding "NO!" Please stand strong for American small business! (Prescott , Arizona)

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Tom-

Please keep up the good fight. This administration thinks it can get away with just about anything. It is truley unfortunate that what was once a "moderate" is now considered a far right winger...it just shows how far to the left everything is moving. As a small business owner I say NO to any public option. (Missoula, MT)

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we have mandatory health insurance in this state . My premiums have increased 15% each yewar for the last two years (Lowell, Massachusetts)

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