Critics: Frist shouldn't be in Medicare debate

The Tennessean ^ | Sunday, 04/20/03 | By LARRY BIVINS Tennessean Washington Bureau

[roderick]

Remember, only Republicans can have conflicts of interest.

[The Wizard]

after the tax failure I'm beginning to wonder if he should be in any debate.....

I was so proud he didn't back down from Estrada, but this tax this thing is a complete failure, and that must be fixed.

And Grassley, caving to snowe and voinovitch.......let's hope there's more we don't know

[Dudesdad]

I am sorry but I have to agree, Frist should recuse himself - and all the Lawyers should too. That would settle the aurgument of conflict of interest.

[Dudesdad]

I am sorry but I have to agree, Frist should recuse himself - and all the Lawyers should too. That would settle the aurgument of conflict of interest.

[steve50]

''If irony were not dead, we would surely notice how strange it is that the future of Medicare is in the hands of someone whose family business is paying enormous fines to settle charges of defrauding that very same program.''

But it's in a blind trust, so I guess that makes everything alright.

[GailA]

That would get a big chunk of congresscritters. he, he

[ghostrider]

Medical costs have accelerated like the national debt. Eventually, they will consume everything. That fact is already obvious to the 30 percent who have no or insufficient insurance. Adequate family coverage runs about $700 per month for 80 percent coverage. That's $8,400 per year for the family who doesn't have medical problems. For those families actually hit with major medical problems, bankruptcy is a real probability.

[KC_for_Freedom]

''Bill Frist needs to get his butt back in medicine where he can help people or give up his medical license while he's serving in the Senate. He doesn't need to do both.''

Frist has as much right to his intelectual property as anyone else. The fact that an elected doctor finds himself in a debate about health care is refreshing. At least he understands the debate from a fresh perspective.

I suppose Bush should recuse himself from an arguement about baseball, or ranchers?

[Paleo Conservative]

I am sorry but I have to agree, Frist should recuse himself - and all the Lawyers should too. That would settle the aurgument of conflict of interest.

Show me your basis in the Constitution for this! Our government is set up so interest counters interest. Frist is a Senator not a judge. You should appreciate the difference in function and requirements for office. Our constitutional republic was never intended to be lead by a priestly class of professional politicians who have no connections to the outside world. The US would be much better off if the House and Senate had term limits. That way more people from the real world like Dr. Frist would be able to serve.

[meenie]

Medical costs have risen like the national debt because your dollars are cheapened by the outstanding dollars increased by the national debt. We do have a debt-based economic system where increased debt is increased dollars with no increase in total value. This is the reason for our inflation at all levels. Until we get a handle on spending and reducing debt, you can expect conditions to get worse.

[Restorer]

The national debt would cause inflation across the board.

The increase in health care costs compared to other sectors of the economy is due to health care specific factors.

[Nick Danger]

This is the standard liberal crapola that they used to be able to sell. But that was back in the days when only liberals had access to printing presses and microphones.

Listen to this crap... "He is pushing legislation that is advantageous to for-profit hospitals," said Quentin Young, national coordinator of Physicians for a National Health Program. OK, so here's the advocate for socialized medicine claiming that an advocate for privatized medicine has no right to be at the table. And here's Larry Bivins, "objective reporter," giving him ink in a newspaper to say that. What rubbish.

And no, Larry-the-objective-reporter doesn't get to hide behind the fact that he threw in one line at the end of this collection of Quotes-For-Democrats that points out that the lawyers have a stake in this, too. How many Senators are lawyers? Ninety-five per cent?

"You shut up and give our side the whole stage" is a game that is over. It's over for Larry Bivins, and it's over for all these liberal ideologues pretending to be journalists.

[WaterDragon]

Did Hillary vote on the Campaign Finance Reform bill?

[Harmless Teddy Bear]

I think he was joking. It would result in most of the Senate, maybe all of it, having to recuse themselves. Are there any other non-lawers in the Senate?

[not_apathetic_anymore]

As soon as Tom Daschle excuses himself in airline discussions that impact his wifes lobbying then we'll discuss whether Frist has a 'conflict of interest' or 'expertise'in the Medicare area.

[pchuck]

''Bill Frist needs to get his butt back in medicine where he can help people or give up his medical license while he's serving in the Senate. He doesn't need to do both.''

Now there is some rational discourse. Sounds like sour grapes to me.

[omegatoo]

Health care costs are skyrocketing because government programs don't cover the cost of care. Medicare and Medicaid decide what they think a procedure should cost, then pay only 80% of that. Also, they can turn down payments after care is given. Doctors and hospitals then have to try to collect the 80% from Grandma (or the whole thing if they've been denied) or let it go. The money they didn't collect then has to be made up somewhere else....so guess whose premiums go up.

The most frustrating aspect of this for me is that those on Medicaid don't get billed the other 20%, and pay no co-pay or deductible, while those on Medicare, who must have at some point in their lives had a job and paid into the system, MUST be billed, by law, for co-pays and deductibles.

Also, the costs are skyrocketing because when 'medicaid moms' bring runny nosed kids with fever into the ER to be checked, they often undergo blood tests, IV's, sometimes spinal taps so that if anytime in the next 6 months they might develop a serious disease the docs can prove to the lawyers that it wasn't there already. The cost of out-of-control trial lawyers and lottery-seeking patients is not confined to the malpractice premium. Premiums are only a drop in the bucket compared to the costs of unnecessary tests and procedures designed to CYA.

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[cynicom]

Professional ethics would not allow Frist to make a buck, would it???? His family is worth a billion and they are major shareholders in a company that got caught with their hand in medicare cookie jar.

[omegatoo]

Make that 20% from Grandma
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