BBC Q&A perspectives on US "healthcare"Virginia 'can challenge Obama health care law' in court
Virginia can challenge in court the constitutionality of President Barack Obama's signature healthcare reform law, a judge has ruled.
The decision is a setback to the administration, which will now have to defend the law in court in the run-up to the November elections.
The state argued the law's requirement that Americans purchase health insurance is unconstitutional.
The state's governor and attorney general are Republicans.
The Obama administration has argued the requirement is structured like a tax on those who do not purchase insurance and that the federal government has broad constitutional authority to design tax policy.
US District Judge Henry Hudson rejected the federal government's motion to dismiss Virginia's suit. He emphasised his ruling was merely an initial step and said the issue was ripe for court review.
Mr Obama's Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sibelius told reporters she remained confident the healthcare law was grounded in the constitution.
The healthcare overhaul was the centrepiece of Mr Obama's 2008 campaign platform and a key element of the Democratic Party's domestic agenda.
It aims to extend health insurance to millions of Americans who lack it now, in part by requiring the mostly young, healthy Americans who currently forgo insurance to purchase it, thereby enlarging the pool and curbing costs for the whole country.
The legislation passed with no Republican support and opposition to it is expected to be a major part of the Republicans' campaign this summer and autumn.
"This healthcare bill is a monstrosity and will be a big issue in the fall," Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell told Reuters news agency after the court ruling.
"We would repeal it and replace it were we given enough votes to do that."
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-10847519
Fighting Healthcare?
Fighting Healthcare?
“If you trust in yourself, and believe in your dreams, and follow your star. . . you'll still get beaten by people who spent their time working hard and learning things and weren't so lazy.”
Re: Fighting Healthcare?
Irony? Thy name is US heathcare...
“Today the American people are questioning whether or not we receive fair value for the $2.6 trillion we, as a society, are expecting to spend this year on our health care system. The vast majority, including those of us at UnitedHealth Group, believe the answer is, ‘No.’”
— Stephen Hemsley, CEO, UnitedHealth Group
America has a very expensive health care system. Perhaps you’ve noticed.
There are many reasons. We want the newest, most expensive and heavily promoted technology and drugs — even when they’re only marginally better than less expensive models they replaced.
The system is filled with perverse incentives that encourage doctors and hospitals to provide more care, not better care.
Our supersized couch-potato culture is producing a bumper crop of illnesses such as heart disease and diabetes.
Compared to all of that, compensation for health care executives is a drop in the bucket. But it is a very high-profile drop, and it’s about to get even more attention.
Modern Healthcare, a leading health industry trade journal, published its annual executive compensation survey this week. Topping the list is Stephen Hemsley, quoted above, who gave a speech to the Detroit Economic Club last year questioning the value Americans receive for all that health spending.
His take for 2009: $106 million — $7.5 million in salary and benefits and $98.5 million in stock options.
http://www.stltoday.com/news/opinion/co ... 78c22.html
“If you trust in yourself, and believe in your dreams, and follow your star. . . you'll still get beaten by people who spent their time working hard and learning things and weren't so lazy.”