Friday, July 17th Show Recap:

Health Care reform: Barrack Obama wants to “get it done.” What’s it going to look like? It looks like his 1000 page long bill will get pushed through. Each special interest clause makes it by its nature unwieldy and difficult. Articles don’t seem to have substance about what the health care package is going to do. Lisa is not hearing any of the proposed solutions are coming through. You can argue that once it’s done it can be amended. Or it’s better not to do anything than “getting it done.” Peggy Noonan on MSNBC this morning said “I don’t think the public understands what we’re trying to do…” Right now the very poor get Medicaid; you have to only have about $1600.00 in assets. People over 65 get Medicare. The very rich don’t have to worry, because they can pay for it, by definition. So it’s the vast in between pay out of pocket for insurance. If you work full time it comes out of your pay. Insurance is not an automatic benefit, so we pay for it if we are in the vast middle class; unless we don’t have an employer who offers health insurance; or we are part time employed and can not make enough to cover what it would cost. For the vast uninsured, that’s really the problem.

Lisa would rather correct what is wrong, rather than overhaul the existing system. So here’s a few things that we could do: First of all preventative measures: WASH Your Hands. Another thing is the public puts the blame on the insurance companies. They decide whether or not certain procedures are ordered by doctors, whether a person meets certain criteria and age. The idea that an insurance company would have that power over my life as opposed to my physician is really what makes people angry. Lisa thinks the government shouldn’t allow insurance companies to make these decisions anymore. These procedures should be between the doctor and the patient; insurance companies should not deny coverage if a licensed physician makes a requisition for it. Another correction is a universal form for all insurance companies. They have to make it easier for everyone in the system. Also, they have to cut down on pre-existing condition. Everyone has some kind of pre-existing condition. Insurance companies should spread the risk among everyone. It’s a crock when they turn people down for pre-existing conditions. The government could require this also. Similar to life insurance companies people should get a preferred premium if you are a decent size. Keeping a decent weight to your height reduces the chance of people getting certain illnesses, simply be being thinner. Lisa also thinks that all their salaries should be disclosed, because when you have transparency you have, theoretically, less greed. However, that may not always be true, e.g. Goldman Sachs.

Lisa’s guests were Helen Block, Planning and Zoning Commission in Westport and Jonathan Steinberg, Representative at Town Meetings. They spoke about the upcoming septic system survey and why that is important to the water systems.

Tune into Live with Lisa on WSTC/WNLK.com and listen to the whole broadcast.