funny my daughter is in her 40's and have gotten 2 mammogram's since the Affordable Care Act took place and it was paid for 100%. Where did you get your info? Very incorrect.

None of chucks comments are correct. He has been given bad info probably by fox news or conservative radio. Why would someone support obamacare? If you are unable to purchase insurance due to preexisting condition. If you have a child with cancer and insurance company drops the coverage. There are millions of reasons to support obamacare. Obviously chuck and his family have insurance.

Chuck, as many others is misinformed about the health care plan. His understanding of the plan is erroneous and is based on propoganda disiminated by the insurance lobby and the Republican party., Of course insurance companies don't want to cover pre-existing conditions ; it costs them money and they're in business to make a profit. They also want out of costly, long term care of catastrophic illnesses which costs them millions. The problem is this is precisely when people need insurance because they cannot afford these medical costs. When the profit motive pushes aside basic human needs (and what is more basic than life itself?) it should be regulated by government .

The Affordable Care Act [ACA] aka Obamacare legislation, being implemented through the more than 2,500 pages of convoluted bureaucratic doublespeak, to be implemented by the administration in power at the time, cedes individual liberty and personal freedom to the imperial political class [U.S. House and Senate] and Executive Branch bureaucrats. Those entities will assume total control over our healthcare lives. Not you over yours. As the ACA is implemented, the competitive commercial marketplace will be edged out and eliminated, leaving end users the sole, solitary, single avenue of government authorized and operated healthcare. Can you spell MONOPOLY? All other options will be off the table for everyone except those very few who can fly to another country and pay for whatever they want. Just the single provision of eliminating "preexisting" conditions assures bankruptcy for private carriers as well as the U.S. government. Then there are the other 2,499 pages. Let's apply the same "preexisting" principle to auto, homeowners and life insurances. Prior to experiencing a loss event no one need pay premiums until after an event occurs. Now under this concept, while your house is burning, after the auto crash or after your loved one dies you pick up the phone and cash in on the insurance benefit! Now that’s a really great deal!! Any claimant, having never paid a premium to insurance entities, saves premium costs because, up to the point of loss, there has not been a need. Hey, here's an idea: Why don't we just eliminate all of these private markets and turn auto, homeowners, life and all other forms of insurance over the government? Yes, that will fix them all. Abject stupidity reigns.

As a physician I feel the need to comment here. First the Affordable Care Act has NOT taken place- only a few provisions. It will fully be implemented in 2014. The second point I would like to make is that once ACA is implemented it is not going to improve anything for those previously uninsured. If you have Medicaid now try finding a physician in Decatur to take you as a new patient. Worse yet, if you have Tricare ( the Military insurance plan) try finding a doctor in North Alabama that will see you as a new patient. Only thirty six percent of family physicians in the United States say they plan on taking new Medicare patients- and that number is dropping each year. Congress froze medical school admissions in 1996 and physicians are retiring or dropping out of medicine altogether faster now than at any point over the last fifty years. With this in mind it is getting harder to get patients seen who have top of the line Blue Cross/ Blue Shield. Unfortunately once ACA is in place I am not sure who will be able to avoid "good" insurance- deductibles and copays are already skyrocketing and branded medication (not generic) has become impossibly too expensive. Many of us will be forced into a quasi government health plan such as Tricare.

The Affordable Care Act is going to decimate our current system of medical delivery and improve absolutely nothing. I can wholeheartedly promise medicine is going to be different than anything any of us Americans have ever known and promise it will be horrendous for any one who enjoys private insurance today. Anyone who is uninsured will gain nothing but a card saying you have insurance when you still have to go to the Emergency Room because there is no doctor to see you. This is not Fox News; this is what I am seeing on the front lines.

The liberal democrat talking points are all that I read as objections to Chuck’s letter, and they are all made by people who don’t understand private business, nor do they want to open their eyes and see how capitalism and the free market has benefited health care in America over the years, and how socialized medicine will finish it off as we know it. Kenneth, the liberals are all anti-business. They sit and moan about Fox News (since this is the ONLY news outlet in America that the left doesn’t totally own and Fox has a balanced approach, so it does not feed their tiny socialist brains), and they complain about insurance companies, Republicans, conservatives, talk radio, blah, blah, blah. But their hatred is based in ignorance of how insurance companies work, how well they provide for us now, and that dependence on government for this would only serve to LIMIT access and bankrupt the entire government at a faster rate than their President is doing now. If you want coverage of a pre-existing condition, you already have that at all county hospitals across Alabama. How will converting to socialized medicine IMPROVE the practice of medicine? As Lee so aptly points out, since we will have fewer doctors, we will only overburden the ones remaining. I have spoken to several who are involved with caring for the elderly, and they readily admit that the elderly will be the first to suffer the consequences of Obamacare, and that death squads are a must since government will be deciding the winners and losers. Liberals are afraid of freedom and will trade it readily to have government tell us all what to do, what doctor to see, and how often we can see the doctor chosen for us. The sad examples of this exist today in the socialist countries whose sick come to America for care, it exists in the VA system of limited health care resources to meet the needs of veterans, it exists in the scarce resources of Medicare, since the liberals will have to bankrupt that system to try to “pay” for Obamacare. And as Lee states, talk to anyone who has Tri Care and see what they are currently up against. A doctor recently told me that although he is several years away from retirement, he is now considering what else he can do since these regulations and the onset of socialized medicine will destroy his private practice. There is no way to comply with all the regulations. I conclude that the liberal socialists democrats must really hate America, since all they want is to see us become like Europe in all respects. What a shame.

Let me see:

1)my family physician quit practice last year to pre-emt Obamacare implementation, fortunately he found us a replacement;

2)in 2011 my out of pocket for healthcare increased;

3)in 2012 my out of pocket for healthcare increased;

4)2013 doesn't look much better;

5)30 milliion new people to become insured and the overall cost goes down(for who?)...please explain the math behind that when my overall costs continue to rise.

ITS OBVIOUS NONE O YOU COMMENTING HAVE NO IDEA WHAT YOUR TALKING ABOUT. I ALMOST WISH OBAMA WOULD WIN SO YOU THAT LOVE HIM SO MUCH WOULD HAVE TO SWALLOW YOUR PRIDE ONCE HE COMPLETES HIS DESTRUCTION OF AMERICA. WAIT UNTILL AS MR BROWNINGS LETTER STATES YOU HAVE TO WAIT FOR SOME TEAM TO CONSIDER YOUR NEEDED SURGERY AND YOUR OVER 75 OR JUST TURNED 75. OR WAIT UNTIL YOU NEED ANYTHING COSTLY AND YOUR 75. AND BEFOR YOU BLOW YOUR HORNS JUST BECAUSE YOUR FAITHFUL TO A PARTY THATS BELIEFS NO LONGER EXISTS AND FOR SURE NOT THE SAME. IF YOUR GONNA GET IN THE RACE ---READ THE---RULES SO YOU WONT APPEAR STUPID.

TO THOSE WITH POSITIVE REMARKS MY APOLOGY7AS I STARTED MY RANT/RAVE BEFOR YOUR COMMON SENSE AND STATEMENTS CAME ON . WE ALL HAVE TO BE VERY CONCERNED AS MANY AND HOPEFULLY MOST KNOW OBAMA IS TRYING TO SELL THAT OCEAN FRONT PROPERTY IN ARIZ AND I AINT BUYING. BE SURE AND WATCH TUE NITE AND LETS SEE IF PROVERBS 29:9 PREVAILS AGAIN

Here is an interesting read......

http://www.forbes.com/sites/marcsiegel/2012/08/12/will-your-doctor-quit-obamacare-foretells-mass-exodus-from-patient-care/

Most of you people are clueless. We are the ONLY 1st world country without national healthcare. Right now, the very poor, the old, the rich and the middle class that are fortunate enough to have healthcare through their job are covered, but there's a lot of middle class working people that aren't. I know numerous people that work but cannot get AFFORDABLE healthcare, either because their company doesn't offer it, they are self employed, or they lost their job and COBRA is useless. Nobody I know wants free healthcare (medicaid already provides that to the poorest of the poor), they want AFFORDABLE healthcare.

Insurance companies are for profit companies. If they can't make money from you, they don't want you as a customer. If you purchase (and I know this for a fact) an individual plan, you'd better use it cautiously, because they will continue to raise the rates regularly on you if you use it.

Something needs to be done to insure the working middle and lower class who can't quite afford it with all their other bills (ya know, housing, food, power, etc). The republicans want to gripe about Obamacare, yet I've not seen a one offer an alternative solution. Not a one.

The funny thing about the entire mess is that half of the people I know that are Romney supporters and against health care reform sit at home collecting disability or have used food stamps/government programs in the past. At least 2 of them have children that have personally benefited from the coverage age being extended to 26. Their ignorance astounds me.

And if a doctor is willing to shut down his practice just because of this bill, he probably isn't much of a doctor to begin with.

God forbid that people who are working and actually trying to succeed get affordable healthcare. What a travesty!

Good post Angie. I couldn't agree more.

As best as I can tell, about 100% of companies of any type are "for profit". Else there is no need to be in business. You better believe good doctors will quit or already have. Mine quit practice to go teach for a steady salary in light of the rising costs he was facing to continue seeing patients. I don't doubt that we need something affordable for those uninsured now, but forcing it on everyone is not the solution. It is going to make things worse.

It's a tax, possibly the biggest tax increase in US history. It doesn't kick in for three years after the taxes begin being taken. Doctors are quitting, hospitals and clinics are closing, and the government is hiring IRS agents instead of healthcare providers. Joe Biden mentioned responsibility a number of times in the last debate. How responsible is it to put a wasteful government who borrows 40% of every dollar spent in charge of your own personal healthcare? The government option is a sick-care option, with long lines and poor doctors. Yes, poor doctors being controlled by the rich lawyers. Are you Taxed Enough Already?

Well Angie, now all your friends who do not have insurance will have to find a way to afford it whether they like it or not. They will be required to attain health insurance under Obama's plan or else pay a hefty penalty at the end of the year. They might have to take a second job to pay for health insurance.

Angie I hate to say you are extraordinarily uninformed. I run a business with over 30 employees. My overhead runs sixty to seventy percent meaning I will only take home 30 cents on each dollar I make (before taxes which is another story). All physicians in private practice have significant overhead. Insurance companies and Medicaid/ Medicare pay me a fixed fee- I cannot ask for more. This is the system all physicians operate under in a private practice. There are things I do now with Medicare patients that I actually LOSE money. So you trashing a doctor for his or her inability to keep their business running is typical of the arrogance and patronizing that is rampant in Washington and the Democratic Party at this time. And I used to be a Democrat! President Obama has stated over and over again he plans to cut payment to hospitals and physicians to make up the cost of Obamacare- if we are cut anymore I will have to close our business and yes thirty people will lose their jobs. But at least they will have health insurance.

Secondly the Republicans and more specifically John McCain did have a proposal; they wanted to open state lines so that you or I could get BCBS of Texas or Aetna of Arkansas if thats what you wanted. Right now each state is closed and there is no competition therefore insurance rates are sky high in a state like Alabama where we have essentially one company. States that have multiple insurance companies and more competition have been shown to have much lower rates. Insurance companies lower rates with the more customers they have- Obamacare will force most of us out of private insurance and the rates WILL become unaffordable for everyone. I can promise you the healthcare you think you have now will not be what you will have in the future. I worked in a Scottish hospital a number of years ago and I can tell from personal experience that the Americans who want a universal system like Great Britain have no clue of what is in store for them. I have a friend who moved here from Sweden ten years ago again coming from a country with universal care. He thinks we are all idiots and cannot believe we would dismantle the system we have. He says to quote "the government in Sweden is 'suffocating' "and he sees our government moving in that direction.

Lastly to quote P.J. O'Rourke "If you think health insurance is expensive now wait until its free".

angie and a few others opls read lees comments and or get the facts offordable ----has not been implemented and if obamacare is implemented you can kiss grampa and grandmagoodbye and your parents soon after. funny so many folks go along pay no attention to debates and the news for months and bang all of a suden they are exoerts. as lee above says about the democrats in dc. let me tell all of you--in just the decatyur area i know 4 physcians who will fold their practices and either return to native homes or just quit. we already have a shortage of drs add several million to the rolls obama wants to add lose the ones we have then add the death panel who must approveyour surgery and the number of americans is going to diminish quickly and in great numbers that obama and his kind want in order to have the capacity to explode our land as a land under shirea law. i wont say muslim as all muslims dont feel as obama. to say all muslims are bad is to say all baptist are liberal which also isnt true. obama just happens to be a muslim which many bad people belong to the same religeoni thought i wwould throw that in also as i happen to know local citizens who are muslim faith but do not see non muslims as people they wish to kill and live their lives just as you good old baptist do.

As a couple have pointed out, the Affordable Health Care Act has not been implemented yet, so for somebody to say that they have received benefits from it is either being purposely erroneous, or they are ignorant of the topic. Either way, that tells me that it is hard to take anything they say seriously.

Angie, you say others are clueless, but I can say the same for you. How about you go visit some of these countries with socialized healthcare and see the waiting lists for certain procedures. You also need to take notice in the lack of private facilities available. You might change your mind about the whole system then. Then again, just ask people on Medicare, or have to rely on the VA, on how their level of care is compared to those with private insurance. Both of those programs are so overburdened and underfunded, yet you want to add an even more fiscal and labor intensive program to the mix?

I keep hearing about "free healthcare", which is a very ignorant comment, because nothing is free. The money has to come from somewhere to pay for it. Where is the money going to come from? Please don't be naive and believe that only the rich will pay for it. I also wonder why so many want to trust the government with their healthcare choices? Yes, they government will be involved in your choices if they are picking up the tab. Actually, just as with any government program, the middle class citizen will be picking up the tab.

Don't even get me started on how this is going to affect the quality of care in the health industry. Many doctor's offices and hospitals have stopped accepting Medicare because they don't get paid on time or enough. What do you think is going to happen with a national healthcare system? Offices will shut down because they can't afford to stay in business, which in turn affects jobs in the healthcare field.

I think fat people like Charles Kirby should pay more for insurance. Smokers too.

Calhoun, I have visited and have good friends in some of those counties, and for the most part, they are happy with their healthcare, especially when compared to our system (one of my good friends has duel citizenship so they can do a fair comparison). So, since this healthcare bill will apparently lead to long wait times I guess the thing to do is keep the uninsured from being able to have affordable health care so the currently insured don't have to wait in line for a procedure.

And Lee, I too, run my own business, and I can tell you now that if your overhead is 60%-70%, you have a bigger problem than Obamacare. Also, a doctor is not forced to accept medicare/medicaid, from my understanding it's optional.

You fricking lying poor Republicans you should be ashamed. Dr.Lee more like Dr No. Shame and sinful.

Bubba feels sorry for yall

Yes Angie that is the point. You can increase your profits and reduce your overhead. I cannot. You can only see so many people a day safely; not sloppily, and give the attention people need. So most physicians are working on razor thin margins and if we are cut more which no doubt Obamacare will do ( and Obama has said he will do) then our business model will fail. No doubt I guess that is what Obama wants. And no doctors do not have to take Medicaid or what ever. Most doctors don't. I take Tri Care because I feel I owe those in the military for what they do for me. Yeah the pay is terrible and I accept that. My point was that just because the government gives you are card saying you have insurance do not mean you have access to care.

And Bubba my name is Lee McCain and I dont hide behind some fake moniker and say things without personally owning up to them. Winston Churchill once said " So you have enemies? Good. At some and some place you have stood up for what you believe." Yes I am standing up for what I believe and man enough to acknowledge it and put my name to it.

Angie.....Just to clue you in, Calhoun was talking about COUNTRYS, not COUNTYS....major difference there.

Lee it appears you are in this doctoring thing for the money. Does your employees have retirement and insurance?

Bubba is my name

Well Bubba if I am in for the money then I am a chump and an idiot because there are plenty of jobs will a whole lot less stress and hours and a whole lot more money. I sacrificed twelve years of the best years of my life (my 20's) to do what I do. Any mistakes I make can easily cost a baby or the mother their lives. Ask yourself what is the worst thing that will happen if you screw up today at your job. I really resent that kind of personal accusation especially from someone who will not put their full name out and be accountable for their words.

Look I would love it if money was not involved. And I would love to see everyone have access to care. I would love to forget about the business side and just see people who need to be seen. Most doctors go into medicine not to be businessmen. Yeah there are some who are greedy and churn the mill as we say but most are struggling with the pressures of cutbacks and cost of living increases of being employers. We use to run the McCain center as a service for the uninsured. But alas Decatur General cut our funding to start the heart program and we could no longer afford the rent. I now make less than half of what I made twelve years ago. The irony of that is that I used to see the uninsured and charge very little for that service. Most people were appreciative and I certainly enjoyed that aspect of my practice. Now I cannot afford to see those people because of the overhead threshold I have to overcome. As I have stated over and over I cannot charge Blue Cross or Medicaid any more. They pay what they are going to pay and I have no recourse. Medicaid cut us 20 % last year. God only knows what they will cut this year. And yes Bubba we provide Blue Cross and a 401k. But as you know Blue Cross premiums have soared and we now are passing on those increases to our employees. I am not sure if can continue to fund the 401ks and that bothers me immensely. We have employees that have been with us for over 30 years and I would like to think we are family. I have delivered their children and have gone to funerals for them. The idea our practice may be shuttered bothers me for them long before I am going to worry about employment for myself.

My belief is that Obamacare is going to fundamentally change how healthcare is delivered in the country and will be the proverbial straw that will wreck the private practice of medicine. Yes many of these changes were ongoing long before Obama but ACA will speed the process. Obamacare is not going to help those who are uninsured very much simply because having some type or insurance or not will not change the fact that there is limited access to care now even for those with good insurance and especially for those with Medicaid and Medicare. Most doctors, myself included, have become deeply disillusioned and cynical. All I ask is that people step back beyond the Fox news and MSNBC and really ask is this what they want. I have no doubt for most the answer will be no. Unfortunately by the time that is figured out the genie will long be out of the bottle and there will be no chance to change course.

So there it is Bubba. I realize I probably cannot dissuade you of your thoughts on me and my livelihood and have wasted my time. So be it.

Bubba . . . if you voted for Obama last time to prove you were not a racist then you must vote against him this time to prove you are not an idiot.

You must undersand that Mr. Eric Flyshower is an incredicly liberally minded attorney who didn't have what it took to actually BE an attorney, so he just writes about his dreams of a liberal and unaccountable society directed and regulated by the government.

Rumors are that his buddies, Roger 'unemployable' Anders and Charles 'unemployable' Kirbeeeee agree with him 110%.

Thanks to Lee for standing up for convictions. And standing up for the American way of life. You successfully and professionally delivered my daughter several years ago and I did not know you had these beliefs then, but I am so proud that you have taken this correct stand and wish other physicians would do the same. The only ones we hear about, especially in the Decatur Daily, are those who want to practice under the socialized system and likely have a personal reason for wanting to do so. As for the statement made in an earlier post about America being the only "first world" country without "national healthcare", that point alone should tell the story. Socialized medicine will destroy our "first world" status, and if you can't understand that, then you have never had an economics course properly taught to you. This $16,000,000,000,000 national debt did not come from "fighting wars" as the liberal democrats would have you to believe. "Entitlement" spending is over 62% of our budget, and defense less than 19%. Defense was the constitutional primary role of our central government. Obamacare is so devestating to our economy, THAT is the reason IT WAS PUT OFF to come into full effect AFTER this election. Making insurance companies insure people with pre-existing conditions, or forcing them to insure anybody is plainly wrong, the solution is to have a high risk pool for these people, and opening up states for competition so that people can vote with their dollars and this would cause premiums to be as competitive as possible. Liberal democrats all believe that profit is a bad word and that capitalism is a bad system and that Europe or some of the more "enlightened" countries have all the answers. This is the kind of mush headed thinking that swept Obama in office. Profits and capitalism are what have made America the premier first world country in the world, and our military have fought to keep freedom and liberty available. Shame on anyone who follows the progressives blindly off the cliff because they are being offered freebies at the expense of taking our country down the rat hole of marxist/socialist thinking.

Lee, you are an American patriot and a credit to the human race. Thank you for your forbearance!

Tracy, you too. Thank you both for your work and efforts to enlighten the ignorant, and to educate, even the many who live by the creed: "Don't confuse me with then facts".

@ Farntipi. So the old system is not working for you? Neither is it working for the majority of other Americans. You'll get a change in 2014 and you'll like it. Your expenses will decrease and you won't be forced to buy any insurance you don't already have and your loved ones cannot be refused insurance for pre-existing conditions, even if they are passed on to them conginitally. This will prevent insurance companies from even rating them because of medical conditions you and your ancestors suffered.

Obviously Joe is in a coolaide induced paradigm & is clearly afflicted with "Don't confuse me with the facts" syndrome. Dr. Lee M. trumps all of the idiocy!!

To add to the comments above, not only will our medical care/insurances be affected, but to further add insult to injury government has their hands in just about every aspect of our lives now. Unfortunately, this is not the way our founding fathers envisioned America. To quote Thomas Jefferson: I predict future happiness for Americans if they can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretense of taking care of them. This is a powerful statement and even though it was written over 200 years ago, is very pertinent today. For those individuals feeling the need for government to "take care of them", please move out of the U.S. There are places that will gladly welcome your "Socialistic" ideas, e.g., Germany, Italy, France. As long as there are decent people with values, ethics and integrity here in the U.S., your ideas will never be accepted. Only those individuals who are too lazy to work, generations of families, living on welfare who never learned anything else, or those who want something for nothing (and, there are many of those types of people now) want the government to babysit them. Besides, if the government is taking care of you, you shouldn't have a vote -- you don't deserve to vote.

I cannot wait till obamacare gets implemented. ALL our personal information will be available on multiple sights to any hacker that can get it and sell it to the highest bidder.. Don't worry the government will protect you - just like they helped all the folks with underwater mortgages.

Anybody who thinks Obamacare is a good plan needs to sit down and read it completely - Its like drinking poison koolade its going to wipe out our healthcare system and put us back in the 1800,s style medicine. Its a ridiculous plan full of hidden taxes and thefts from the American public is all it is. wake up morons and read it closely before it way to late

If you don't think the government will lie to you, just ask an American Indian. Anything and everything the government tries to fix they just screw it up more. Obama is lying every time he opens his mouth. If you're one of the older citizens,as I am, and say need a hip replacement, you'll be told it cost too much for the operation for us old folks, here's some pain pills, take them and just tough it out until you pass away. People, you had better WAKE UP an realize what's going on, just go online and read parts of the act, which will be more than what our democrats in congress did before they voted in favor of this act, and then you'll know how bad things really will be.

Angie K, you don't see other countries being swarmed with illegal aliens and then providing them with Medicaid.

Michelle feels sorry for Bubba. Your first comment had a little substance and no name calling. Your last was in your normal form. From all of the "talk" Bubba sounds very uneducated and resorts most everytime to name calling. How sad for you Bubba that you must act like a child and call nasty names and put others down for differing opinions. I hope I am not confusing you with the English that I speak. Please, in the future, think before you type and especially before you post. Act like an adult and refrain from the petty name calling because you only present yourself in a negative way which makes others really not take you seriously. I value others opinions and take into consideration what others have to say. Maybe you should try this instead of "shooting down" all who do not share your values and opinions. Just my opinion. Shoot me down if you wish but do not expect me to take it seriously or for it to hurt my feelings because I am an adult and respond to actions like yours in an adult manner.