Winfield/Poirot for Atlasia, because, what have ya got to lose?

[Lincoln Republican]

GOVERNOR WINFIELD ARRIVES IN ATLANTA TO DELIVER A MAJOR ADDRESS ON TAX POLICY

TELLS OVERFLOW CROWD IN ATLANTA

VOTE FOR ME AND I'LL PUT MONEY BACK INTO YOUR POCKETS.  I'LL MAKE THE RICH PAY, ESPECIALLY THOSE ROBBER BARONS ON WALL STREET.

WHAT HAVE YA GOT TO LOSE?    

[Lincoln Republican]

Governor Winfield appears in a nation wide television broadcast in his campaign for the Presidency.

We all know the cost of medical and dental equipment and of medical and dental procedures are out of control.

For example, going to a specialist to have a wisdom tooth removed, and they charge the patient $150.00 for a 60 second consultation before actually removing the tooth, costing the patient an additional two or three hundred dollars is outrageous, in my view, and in the view of most of you out there, I believe.

The prices that medical and dental facilities pay for equipment is also exorbitant.

There is a real problem there.

As President, I will have the federal government undertake an in depth investigation into the costs of medical and dental care and equipment, in order to make a determination as to whether the public is being ripped off or is being treated fairly.

Vote for me and  I assure you I will bring these costs under control.

What have ya got to lose? 

[Unconditional Surrender Truman]

NeverAgain will get my first preference, but I appreciate your support for healthcare reform (and your use of Theodore Roosevelt, one of my personal favorite presidents).

[vote for pedro]

If you are arguing against a $450 medical procedure, you are living in a fantasy world!

I wish I could find medical insurance for less than $450 per month.  Insurance I will hopefully never need because I'll never meet the $5000 deductible.  And dental isn't even covered!  I would welcome a mere $450 dental surgery bill.  From my experience an actual dental surgery bill runs in the $thousands.

I am a healthy American who takes care of himself.  Why should I be forced to pay for the un-insurable by paying outrageous premiums for what amounts to catastrophic only insurance?  I would be much better off setting that $8-900 per month aside and self insuring myself.

At least when you made vehicle insurance mandatory, I can get a discount for no moving violations and no accidents.  And you didn't force the insurance companies to cover the DUIs and other bad drivers in with my insurance pool.  Forcing me to buy medical insurance and raising my rates to $10k per year and raising my deductible to $5k per year because I'm healthy and earn a living wage is downright criminal.

If you want my vote, you will either remove the mandate for healthy lower-middle class people to buy overpriced so called "insurance," or find a way to pay for healthcare for the un-insurable through your proposed "tax on rich people."   Your current system is extremely regressive on the working class.

[Unconditional Surrender Truman]

Well, you clearly didn't read his post at all (which is hard to believe, seeing as it is written in giant orange font), because nowhere does he mention the number $450 or imply support for the existing insurance system. I also love how you talk about the "un-insurable" as if we are somehow less important than you.

[vote for pedro]

Well, you clearly didn't read his post at all (which is hard to believe, seeing as it is written in giant orange font), because nowhere does he mention the number $450 or imply support for the existing insurance system. I also love how you talk about the "un-insurable" as if we are somehow less important than you.

$150.00 for a 60 second consultation before actually removing the tooth, costing the patient an additional two or three hundred dollars is outrageous,

Giant orange font.  $150 + $300 = $450.  I would gladly pay that if it was realistic.  I'm not a fan of paying $800-$900 per month for "insurance" that doesn't even cover dental procedures or come close to meeting the deductable for a normal healthy person.  Maybe rich people can afford that kind of tax, but not me.

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

If you are arguing against a $450 medical procedure, you are living in a fantasy world!

I wish I could find medical insurance for less than $450 per month.  Insurance I will hopefully never need because I'll never meet the $5000 deductible.  And dental isn't even covered!  I would welcome a mere $450 dental surgery bill.  From my experience an actual dental surgery bill runs in the $thousands.

I am a healthy American who takes care of himself.  Why should I be forced to pay for the un-insurable by paying outrageous premiums for what amounts to catastrophic only insurance?  I would be much better off setting that $8-900 per month aside and self insuring myself.

Technically you previously would have paid for the uninsured anyway, through taxpayer funded reimbursements for Hospital Emergency rooms and also generalized inflation spread across the entirety of the system. Making this much worse is that care given is the most expensive and the last effective. It would be far cheaper to give them the needed medications and preventative care up front then waiting until it is an Emergency room situation and spending far more to achieve far less.

Now that said, I do think there are better ways to go about doing this and the whole of healthcare then Obamacare, ones with far fewer mandates, which also raise costs.

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

NeverAgain will get my first preference, but I appreciate your support for healthcare reform (and your use of Theodore Roosevelt, one of my personal favorite presidents).

The irony is that if I had ran again, this would have made things very confusing.

[vote for pedro]

If you are arguing against a $450 medical procedure, you are living in a fantasy world!

I wish I could find medical insurance for less than $450 per month.  Insurance I will hopefully never need because I'll never meet the $5000 deductible.  And dental isn't even covered!  I would welcome a mere $450 dental surgery bill.  From my experience an actual dental surgery bill runs in the $thousands.

I am a healthy American who takes care of himself.  Why should I be forced to pay for the un-insurable by paying outrageous premiums for what amounts to catastrophic only insurance?  I would be much better off setting that $8-900 per month aside and self insuring myself.

Technically you previously would have paid for the uninsured anyway, through taxpayer funded reimbursements for Hospital Emergency rooms and also generalized inflation spread across the entirety of the system. Making this much worse is that care given is the most expensive and the last effective. It would be far cheaper to give them the needed medications and preventative care up front then waiting until it is an Emergency room situation and spending far more to achieve far less.

Now that said, I do think there are better ways to go about doing this and the whole of healthcare then Obamacare, ones with far fewer mandates, which also raise costs.

Yeah, he said he was going to raise the taxes on rich people, not me.

I'm just a healthy working class stiff.  My premiums and deductibles have gone through the roof due to the "affordable care act."  I'm taking tripled so they are way in excess of my income taxes.  ACA is a severe regressive tax on the healthy middle class. 

[Unconditional Surrender Truman]

Technically you previously would have paid for the uninsured anyway, through taxpayer funded reimbursements for Hospital Emergency rooms and also generalized inflation spread across the entirety of the system. Making this much worse is that care given is the most expensive and the last effective. It would be far cheaper to give them the needed medications and preventative care up front then waiting until it is an Emergency room situation and spending far more to achieve far less.

Exactly. There are fundamentally two ways to approach this issue: you can provide universal access to preventative medical care so that we no longer have legions of uninsured persons seeking expensive emergency care they can't pay for, or you can bar everyone without an insurance card from entering a hospital and allow them to die in the streets. Obviously, only one of those options is morally acceptable, and we're fortunate that the leadership of both parties agree on that fundamental fact.

Of course, there are many ways you can go about providing universal coverage. The Affordable Care Act is an imperfect solution that comes with its own problems and needs to be overhauled, but it's a hell of a lot better than the old system in that it at least acknowledges we can't go on relying on emergency rooms and high-risk pools to care for the working poor and those with pre-existing conditions.

[vote for pedro]

Technically you previously would have paid for the uninsured anyway, through taxpayer funded reimbursements for Hospital Emergency rooms and also generalized inflation spread across the entirety of the system. Making this much worse is that care given is the most expensive and the last effective. It would be far cheaper to give them the needed medications and preventative care up front then waiting until it is an Emergency room situation and spending far more to achieve far less.

Exactly. There are fundamentally two ways to approach this issue: you can provide universal access to preventative medical care so that we no longer have legions of uninsured persons seeking expensive emergency care they can't pay for, or you can bar everyone without an insurance card from entering a hospital and allow them to die in the streets. Obviously, only one of those options is morally acceptable, and we're fortunate that the leadership of both parties agree on that fundamental fact.

Of course, there are many ways you can go about providing universal coverage. The Affordable Care Act is an imperfect solution that comes with its own problems and needs to be overhauled, but it's a hell of a lot better than the old system in that it at least acknowledges we can't go on relying on emergency rooms and high-risk pools to care for the working poor and those with pre-existing conditions.

Nobody was "dying in the streets" before the ACA.

If you think the solution is to continue to fund this social experiment on the backs of the lower-middle class, prepare to be voted out of office.

[Unconditional Surrender Truman]

Nobody was "dying in the streets" before the ACA.

Right; as Yankee explained, they were receiving emergency care that they were then unable to pay for, which raised costs for everyone.

If you think the solution is to continue to fund this social experiment on the backs of the lower-middle class

(a) I am lower middle class, my friend.
(b) Read my post again. If you had bothered to examine my record before jumping to conclusions about my political beliefs, you would know that I don't think the Affordable Care Act is the best long-term solution to this problem. I do think current plan is preferable to doing nothing, but it carries serious flaws that need to be addressed. The president and I are in agreement on this.

prepare to be voted out of office.

According to recent polls, my approval rating is currently 100%. I'll take my chances.

[vote for pedro]

Nobody was "dying in the streets" before the ACA.

Right; as Yankee explained, they were receiving emergency care that they were then unable to pay for, which raised costs for everyone.

If you think the solution is to continue to fund this social experiment on the backs of the lower-middle class

(a) I am lower middle class, my friend.
(b) Read my post again. If you had bothered to examine my record before jumping to conclusions about my political beliefs, you would know that I don't think the Affordable Care Act is the best long-term solution to this problem. I do think current plan is preferable to doing nothing, but it carries serious flaws that need to be addressed. The president and I are in agreement on this.

prepare to be voted out of office.

According to recent polls, my approval rating is currently 100%. I'll take my chances.

Good for you.  I hope for your sake nobody wakes up to who is actually paying for this mess.

[Lincoln Republican]

The 150.00 for 60 seconds with a dentist was simply an example of how out of control medical and dental care can be. 

To take it to the extreme, 150.00 for one minute translates into 9,000.00 per hour.

But anyway, as many of you are aware, I have long been a proponent of an effective, efficient, affordable universal health care system, paid for by public money, by employee deductions, by corporate deductions, and by cutting out waste in the medical system.

[vote for pedro]

The 150.00 for 60 seconds with a dentist was simply an example of how out of control medical and dental care can be. 

To take it to the extreme, 150.00 for one minute translates into 9,000.00 per hour.

But anyway, as many of you are aware, I have long been a proponent of an effective, efficient, affordable universal health care system, paid for by public money, by employee deductions, by corporate deductions, and by cutting out waste in the medical system.

That ain't how it works, a $150 consultation does not equal $9000 per hour no matter how quickly it can be completed.  Just tell the dentist you want to be poked and prodded for an extra few minutes if you don't feel you are getting your money's worth.

Actually, the cost of a doctor visit has become completely irrelevant to people like me.  After I pay my mandatory "insurance" premium for the month, there is no money left over for a doctor visit.  That is the real out of control cost problem.

But getting back to your example, do you plan to somehow enslave the dentist and force him to work for free?  Who is going to pay back the student loan, pay for rent, staff, supplies, insurance and overhead?  How much will the dentist be allowed to charge under your plan?  And why would they want to remain a dentist?

[Lincoln Republican]

I believe I have addressed that in my support of universal health care.

I support the Universal Healthcare and Affordability Act, by and large, and would expand on that.

[Lincoln Republican]

Governor Winfield brings up the issue of health care and administrative costs in Atlasia.

My fellow Atlasians, in keeping with our theme of a more affordable and efficient health care system, we must consider administration costs, and work to bring them under control.

Administration costs in Atlasian health care are the highest in the developed world. They account for over 8% of spending in the sector.

Globally, health care systems spend about 3% on average on administration.

Private insurance generates a relatively high share of total administrative expenditure, noting that administration costs are generally lower when governments manage health care coverage.

At a time when public budgets are under pressure worldwide, it is alarming that around one-fifth of health expenditure makes no or minimal contribution to good health outcomes.

Governments could spend significantly less and still improve patients' health.

Excessive pharmaceutical costs, expensive surgeries and corrupt practices all inflate costs for health care systems around the world.

I will target the pharmaceutical industry to cut drug costs.

http://money.cnn.com/2017/01/11/news/economy/healthcare-administrative-costs-us-obamacare/index.html

[Attorney General, LGC Speaker, and Former PPT Dwarven Dragon]

ENDORSED!

[Poirot]

Atlasians, I am here today, before you to make a pledge. As Vice-President, you can count on me to check the government thread every day.

During Atlasian history the office of Vice-President has not been the most active and when the VP was needed, the VP didn't seem to be there. I will be there. If I need to open a nomination thread  ,if I need to replace the President because he is on leave, to contribute to improve legislation on behalf of the administration, to make the liaison between the Congress and administration, I will be there.

I pledge.

Poirot
Winfield / Poirot Presidential ticket  

[Lincoln Republican]

ENDORSED!

Thank you.  Much appreciated.

[Poirot]

I'm glad to talk about a part of the population that is a bit forgotten in Atlasia: seniors.
Life expentancy is higher than before and with the baby boom generation getting to retirement age, we have more and more seniors. Older Atlasians have built this nation and it is important  to see to their well being.

Atlasians living in senior's homes should be treaed with dignity and respect. Rent can be expensive and citizens should not be exploited. Are seniors getting thier money's worth? In some places they buy the cheapest food to save money and serve potato in powder instead of real vegetables. Thers have been reports of mental or physical abuse by personnel or family.

We will launch an extensive investigation into the situation in senior's homes across the country on the costs and quality of care given. After that with health professionals, dieteticians, seniors groups, lawyers, there will be standards for things like frequency of baths, quality of menu, hours of activities, background checks on personnel, prices, security and evacuation plans. There could be a possibility for seniors or their families to install montiroing devices like a cam to make sure seniors are treated well. There will be unannounced visits and If a home fails to meet the minimum standards or good practices legal action will be taken.

In old age you start to be powerless and we will make sure people living in seniors homes are treated with the care and respect they deserve.

[Lincoln Republican]

Presidential candidate Winfield, accompanied by Vice Presidential candidate Poirot, delivers the following statement on foreign policy and the military on a campaign swing through Denver.

Governor Winfield:

I wish to acknowledge the invaluable input of my running mate, Poirot, in the formulation of this policy. 

The President still has influence over foreign policy in the Hands Off approach. It's not like domestic policy that can be more easily delegated to the Senate. Some decisions must be made more quickly than after a three-week debate. The Hands Off philosophy for foreign policy will mean the country will not seek to intervene in conflicts and war around the globe. When the country intervenes with military forces it will be because we have no choice, when we are attacked or vital interests are at stake. We will prefer diplomacy to military action. We need to avoid getting dragged in other places conflicts.

When military intervention is required we will do with our allies in NATO or in working with UN. And we will not do all the work. Other countries need to pull their weight and not rely on Atlasia.

That being said, we will ensure that we maintain a strong, modern and effective military, and we will ensure they have the tools to do the job.
 
 

[Poirot]

The environment is an issue close to the heart of many and especially young people who will have to live longer on this planet.

We will establish a programme of summer jobs for students related to the environment. This will give students gain work experience. We will help fund projects put forward by regions if they help to preserve or improve the environment, or educate society on environmental issues or climate change. Each region can submit projects so this will also be good for increasing governmental activity in the form of cooperation between the federal and regional governments.

Vote Winfield / Poirot. What have ya got to lose!

[Lincoln Republican]

Governor Winfield delivers speech on illegal immigration:

Although we have to protect our borders, we also have to be practical about those already here illegally.  We also have to take into consideration that many of these people have their families here, and have children here, some born in the country.  I am not a proponent of separating families.  Let's face facts.  It would be impractical and virtually impossible to expell every illegal in the nation.  However, public safety and national security must be paramount in deciding which illegals could be granted citizenship.

For those already here illegally who have not committed any crime, I support proceeding with any decision on citizenship on a case by case basis, in order that a determination could be made which would warrant citizenship and which would not.  For those who warrant it, the normal citizenship proceedings could then begin

[Former Lincoln Assemblyman & Lt. Gov. RGN]

Wish you luck on the Presidential race