Continued ...
the national plans (to shop for insurance) sound more appealing than limiting private insurance by area (as it is now), I question the employer mandate on two sides: 1) if the tax is less than the cost of providing health insurance, employers will drop insurance and that is where we'll see the potential for a major shift to a gov't run plan (if there is one) b/c it could (should) ultimately be the cheapest out there and 2) how can we mandate family coverage - what if both spouse's work? I question how effective (esp for cost) a panel every 2 years would be and question the role of gov't in the insurance exchange.

Overall, I agree with an awful lot of the ideas. My biggest issue, overall, though is the cost. I'll never get on board with any reform unless it is deficit neutral (and there are too many warnings right now that these plans won't be). Spending has got to be reigned in, or we've got to start paying for it. My condensed opinion on the exacts (from the article): have no problem w/ income subsidies, malpractice reform MUST be part of any reform if we're serious about doing this as a cost control factor, we may as well admit there will be rationing, so that's refreshing to see (although I like the idea that cost can't be used as a reason to deny the coverage), I have no problem covering pre-existing conditions ....

Are you stuck in the cool kids group forever?
I had a message all typed out and tried to send it.
Unfortunately, it was almost 4000 characters and the limit is 1000.
I could have broken it up into multiple posts, but I already erased over it. :(
Then, I tried again and I'm still over the limit. This time I'll break my condensed version into 2 (or more. I'll just blow up your visitor messages! ha).
Or, my email is mandyk1 / yahoo if you'd like to chat without the character limit (will you be allowed back in the prompter eventually?).

Hey! I'll read the link and answer your question - either over the weekend or on Monday. I didn't realize I had a message until now ~ I've managed to waste most of my day and should probably spend the last hour of it being constructive. Where did you go, btw? I'm assuming you're not fully banned - are you in the "no prompter" group or did you just take a break?