If you get people into the doctor sooner, they can get their medical problems solved early when the solutions are cheaper. Expensive co-pays and deductibles can keep people from seeking medical attention until the situation is dire (like yours).

“Obamacare solves the access problem by making it worse. It adds millions of new patients to a system that is already barely able to keep up with those who are already in it.”

What you’re really saying is that you’d sacrifice the health of millions of other people as long as you don’t have to wait a bit longer for care. Think about that.

“Not to mention the thousands of doctors who have said they will likely quit if the bill is passed.”

There are maybe a handful of Republican shills who have said that, but thousands? Sources please. It makes no logical sense for doctors to give up their $200k/year jobs just because the government offers an insurance plan along with the private companies.

“Here’s how we solve the access problem. More doctors. The government should make it easier, and more lucrative to become a medical professional.”

First off, being a doctor IS lucrative, and aside from the government giving them money, how would you propose they make it more so? And second, how does having more doctors, who are getting paid more, somehow make healthcare more accessible to people who have little money? It doesn’t make sense.

“First off, I’m a free American, forcing me to spend money on insurance when I don’t want to is wrong. It is the Government totally overstepping it’s bounds.”

Nonsense. You’re forced to pay taxes, which buys roads, schools, police, fire departments, military, etc.

“The way to solve the cost problem is relatively simple. Increase competition.”

There’s already a good amount of competition. The barrier we’re running into is that cheaper, quality insurances doesn’t make money for insurance companies.

“Break the insurance industry away from being connected to employment. Allow insurance companies across state lines.”

How does that help?

“Cut down the amount of time doctors have to spend doing paperwork.”

What paperwork should they not do? I’ve seen the stuff that my doctor keeps track of, and it all seems pretty important…you know, like patient info, insurance info, etc. If the paperwork isn’t important, why would they be doing it? I don’t think it’s as simple as you think.

“Stop frivolous medical lawsuits.”

Whether or not a case is frivolous is up to the courts to decide on a case-by-case basis, not the legislature. I think what you mean is to cap damages that can be awarded in malpractice suits.

“Help the manufacturers of medical equipment lower their prices with tax cuts.”

Which costs us more money for no reason.

“More doctors.”

Sounds good, but pretty much anything that the government does toward that end is going to cost more tax money, which I thought was something you opposed.

Everything you mentioned — especially tort reform — will help, but there’s an even bigger problem that I haven’t seen a solution for — greed. There are multitudes of examples of medical clinics that are operated for one purpose and one purpose only — to enrich the owners. If they work to bring about a patient’s healing it’s only because of the expectation that they will be paid. Doctors no longer take the Hippocratic oath and their prevailing philosophy is more and more leaning toward an acceptance of finishing patients off rather than expending resources to prolong life. Healing is no longer the central focus of the medical professions. The ironic thing is that those same greedy medical clinics are perpetuated by the government’s medicare & medicaid systems. They’ve learned how to make that system work for them to maximize the tax dollars they can put in their bank accounts. Obamacare will only make this worse.