Comments on: Kent Conrad: France’s Health Care “Not Government-Run”

By: SomeGuy

SomeGuy — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 06:21:37 +0000

Fact checking is much easier than it used to be. Why do so many people skip it? Could it be because the truth has a liberal bias? I even saw an article the other day saying all Swiss Heath insurance companies are non profit. That would come as quite a surprise to the Swiss health insurance companies.

By: AngelsAwake

AngelsAwake — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 02:50:06 +0000

Conrad’s just lying for gain. Nobody in power is stupid- that’s the hellish truth. They are simply very good at lying.

Hell, not even Bush was stupid. His lies were stupid, because he expected us to believe them- but he got his real goals done. He shot a lot of brown people and he got a lot of money for a few of his buddies. That was his true Mission Accomplished.

By: ichbineinberliner

ichbineinberliner — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 23:04:33 +0000

Mentioned my friend in France who paid $0 (well, 0 Euros) for 3 weeks in the ICU & 5 weeks in the regular hospital for her premature daughter, and the same for 3 weeks in the hospital for herself, thanks to France’s government-run health system.

That is unusual even for France, because the RGAMTS only covers 91.3% of hospital bills. The reminder must be payed out of pocket, by a private for-profit supplemental insurance, or by the CMU.
CMU is a Medicaid like government system where low income persons can enroll.

RGAMTS - Régime général d’assurance maladie des travailleurs salariés
CMU - Couverture Maldie Universelle

By: warner

warner — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 22:02:43 +0000

“France provides health care for all living in the country — legally and illegally. The main source of funding is payroll and income taxes; however, the government implements some cost-sharing techniques, including co-payments and extra billing. Care is provided by private doctors, even though the majority of hospitals are owned by the government.”

this is from a very handy USA today piece I ran across this morning. Should be in everyones HCR war library.

“Health care around the globe

A look at how other developed countries provide and pay for health care compared with the U.S. system, based on the most recent information available:”

http://www.usatoday.com/money/…..ries_N.htm

By: dosido

dosido — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 21:20:20 +0000

One of the oldest courtroom tricks in the book is to hold up some information that people recognize is credible and then claim it says something to support whatever it is you’re trying to prove when, in fact, it might say something completely different.

what IS conrad’s point anyway?

By: tejanarusa

tejanarusa — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 21:14:14 +0000

Yeah, at the very least, Conrad read in order to glom onto pieces that support what he already thought.

Anybody in Phila? Reid will be there on book tour next week, Oct 6 at the Ethical Society of Phila. AT the very least, maybe someone could make contact and get him to tell Conrad he’s nuts.
Just a thought.

By: wesgpc

wesgpc — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 21:12:13 +0000

Reid has said some things that are insightful, but may be misinterpreted. He has said that other countries actually have less ‘government run’ health care than the US, and in some senses that is true. But in the interview he explicitly explained that this is a way of saying the US system and the debate is so messed up, we have lost all idea of the reality of what is going on our system.

Maybe Conrad has grabbed on to that quote, either out of cynicism or ignorance, and is misinterpreting it. Or trying to use it to mislead people. If he has, I think he has made a big mistake. Reid is a very articulate and informed and thorough reporter.

By: wesgpc

wesgpc — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 21:08:26 +0000

Healint of America is a very good book. One FDL commmenter gave a link to an interview with the author TR Reid on C-Span. I don’t have the link, but maybe you can search C-Span and find it. Send the link to that interview to Conrad.

By: tejanarusa

tejanarusa — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 21:05:53 +0000

Thanks, John, I just followed some links to get the answer…thank you.

By: tejanarusa

tejanarusa — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 21:05:16 +0000

Yes, and I believe Lee Atwater, Karl Rove, and Frank Lutz have been following those rules ever since.

Btw, apparently Conrad did read a very good book - it’s T.R.Reid’s ‘The Healing of America,” which contains his research on other countries health care systems. I’ve heard him being itnerviewed about it - Conrad has entirely misread it.
Can someone call T.R. Reid and get him to sit Sen. Conrad down and explain to him what the book really says?