Dan, I'm sorry but I too will not be able to attend. Best wishes and I hope the event proves to be beneficial.

John, Thank you for your affirmation.

Silverio, your "...turn off the lights,..." comment made me chuckle.

Let me rephrase what I said above.

It's hard to get to the "meat" of the issue through all the "fat" of emotions.

Does the manner (and medium) in which we converse need health reform?

Bye Janet. We'll miss you.

It's amazing how raw everyone's nerves are around this subject... It's hard to debate the issues through all the emotion.

Dan, I feel like I have way more to learn about this issue than one panel can teach me. Is there any way we could hear from representatives for more of the affected entities? I would love to hear from:

• A medical litigation attorney

• At least one of the major insurance providers (Regence? Premera?)

• Group Health, a non-profit hybrid service provider/insurer

• Pharmaceutical industry

• Medicare and/or Medicaid

• WA State employee who can recite current laws and programs covering insurance, Medicaid, social safety nets, etc.

• Federal employee who can recite current law and answer questions about current programs

• Qlliance or some other Direct Medical organization that is innovating new ways to manage health care

• Non-profit organizations that help the uninsured or medically needy

• Even a large corporation or two.

I guess my concern is that I would have a hard time endorsing a specific position statement without hearing from more points of view.

Much of what I am hearing and reading is so full of indirect information, inflammatory language, and exaggeration. I would like to make a decision based on as many facts as I can get.

Is there any way you might consider having a series of these panel discussions around different themes before taking a position?

@Judy Tallant, I like the idea of not-for-profit healthcare insurers. Many states already require or allow this.

If you could, would you choose a not-for-profit provider over a for-profit provider? It's like choosing a credit union over a bank. The "shareholders" of a credit union are the "members" who deposit the funds in the system.

More things that make you go hmmmm.

@Matt, Nicely said. Here are two other cost-reducing piece of legislation that could benefit the healthcare consumer:

5) Inter-state Insurance - Let consumers shop for insurance across state lines. It increases competition and reduces the administration of regulation compliance from 50+ entities to 1.

6) Self-controlled Cost - The best way to control cost is to put the control in the hands of the person (entity) making the payments. Right now most of those decisions are being made by insurance companies and employers. Americans are terrible healthcare consumers because we have no idea how much treatments cost. Heck, most doctors don't know either. I'm a big fan of high deductible healthcare plans that include 100% coverage for preventive care. I have one and can tell you about an elective treatment that cost me HALF because I asked some simple questions about cost, prior to receiving the treatment.

In addition to your four cost-cutting suggestions, I would add:

1) Portability - It seems terribly unfortunate (ridiculous?) that the employee workforce risks losing their healthcare coverage if they want or need to change employers. COBRA helps but doesn't take care of the person that only stays with employers for a short time. Maybe it's time to remove the selection of healthcare insurance from the employer. This requires tax incentive legislation that puts the individual as the benefactor.

2) Pre-existing conditions - If individual portability becomes a reality for the masses then pre-existing conditions shouldn't be an issue for those that are happy with their current coverage.

3) Coverage Cancellation due to high payout - I wish we could buy insurance with unlimited payout. Pay your premiums, stay with the same provider and why shouldn't we have the peace of mind that we are covered for our whole care? This obviously could increase the cost of healthcare, but is a good example where 'compassion' (or in my business, customer service) comes in.

This conversation is all quite entertaining, and for me unproductive and distracting. My position on the subject of healthcare reform, while tempered by a life of compassion, is based on two statistics that I can't get out of my head.

First, 70% of every dollar spent on healthcare is spent on a PREVENTABLE condition. In other words, the fastest way to reduce the cost of healthcare is to not need it at all. It seems to me that we should be talking more about "Health Reform" and preventing the need for care.

Second, 60% of every dollar spent on healthcare is spent in the last months of life. Doctor's are charged by professional oath and incented by fees for service to prolong life as long as possible. Our life expectancy is almost twice what it was only a few short generations ago. How much pain and suffering, as well as dollars could we save if more people had properly executed health directives like a Do Not Resuscitate (DNR) order?

So, I would love to see the general public, politicians, lobbyists, insurers, doctors, media and Bizniks focus the conversation on how we can incent Americans to be more healthy.

Whatever happened to the President's Council on Physical Fitness?

Speaking of tools... If you twitter and want a better way to manage who you follow, try Tweet Deck http://tweetdeck.com. It's a free download that automatically refreshes and allows you to sort your followings into categories.

Ask me for a demo if you want.

Giddy up! Or should I say, "Viddy up!"

I'm a Biznik! I believe...

...we should all have an opportunity to get in front of the camera and tell one of our stories.

Howard, Sorry to bail. I have a business urgency to care for.

Have a great event.

Berry www.BizEnrich.com