$(document).ready( function () { talk_rendercallback({"enabled":"0","islive":"0","eid":6467,"total":"226","discussion":[{"nm":"Jeanette","rs":"0","ms":"I\'ve been recommending this episode to everyone I know with an interest in Healthcare reform- which is just about everyone. It opened my eyes when they described the original bill as being 100% driven by the healthcare insurance industry. We really need to do something to control the special interest groups\' influence in this country.","pt":"Nov 13, 2010 10:54"},{"nm":"John","rs":"0","ms":"This program was amazing, it gave me a look on how Washington really works, on health reform it was tough and ugly despite having a Democrat in the White House along with the largest Democratic majority in the both House and Senate, I would say to everyone who are continuing to have doubts on the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, this health reform is not perfect, but it will helps the American people in the future.","pt":"Nov  9, 2010 22:56"},{"nm":"Gus H.","rs":"0","ms":"I feel bad for the doctors","pt":"Nov  5, 2010 05:18"},{"nm":"Exumab","rs":"0","ms":"The Frontline program on the Healthcare Reform bill was excellent. \nIt not only reveals the filthy way that our legislative members operate, it also shows how what is done in Washington is not in fact about doing what is best for the American people and solving our most serious problems. It documents the reality that the Insurance, Medical and Drug industries now control our government and are now literally “writing our laws” to suit their profit objectives. It also clearly shows how the Republican Party is committed to selling out the American people to help and protect them as they do it. \n\nThe public rage expressed in the Town Hall Meeting is exactly what public demonstrations across the U.S. should have been expressing in support of those fighting to achieve healthcare reform. Instead the American people sat quietly at home, while corrupt politicians were selling themselves and their votes to the highest bidder and sacrificing the welfare of the American people on the altar of corporate greed and personal profits. With no fear whatsoever of being held accountable. \nAs usual they left it to the politicians and got knifed in the back. Again!\n\nI am an independent voter but the one thing I am forced to acknowledge is the fact that any working class American voting for the Republican Party is committing suicide and\nthe truth is that we are NOT living in a Democracy now and it’s time to face that truth and do something about it or suffer the dire consequences.","pt":"Nov  3, 2010 23:18"},{"nm":"Carol","rs":"0","ms":"I just watched Obama\'s Deal.  Very well done documentary about the ugly process.  But what I found most interesting is that the ugliest part was the repulsive way this health care bill was passed.  I also found it interesting that no mention was made about the fact that most legislators had not even read the bill when it was &quot;passed&quot;, and I use that term loosely as it was crammed down our throats.  I still feel it should be repealed and replaced.  I also feel the mandate is unconstitutional.","pt":"Nov  3, 2010 22:13"},{"nm":"R. Kirby","rs":"0","ms":"Thank you PBS Frontline for giving the public investigative journalism, and  I hope this program can continue for many years to come. The health care is not perfect, but it is a start in the direction of reform. President Obama had to get something accomplished. The real problem is the lobbyist who control all of our government. People don\'t seem to realize the corruption lobbyist spread with their money and contributions. Politicians see the money trail and they forget about the American people. It doesn\'t matter the Supreme Court recent ruling makes it it easy for lobbyist.   ","pt":"Jun 29, 2010 22:10"},{"nm":"Brenda Markelz","rs":"0","ms":"I was very pleased to watch this documentary on Obama and his regime. It is about time and quite obvious that someone needed to exploit the political deals involved in his health reform plan. The opportunities for his own benefit are evident. I hope eyes have been opened. Seems like he did give up a lot to get what he wanted...dirty realities?","pt":"Jun 23, 2010 22:45"},{"nm":" Honorable","rs":"0","ms":"HOW COULD YOU Omit\nThe lies upon lies upon lies . . . who told them and why.\nThe millions upon millions upon millions . . . who spent it and why.\n \nWhile deeply disturbing to me, I can only surmise the issue of time allotment for one show precluded showing the blatant, skewing role these played in Obama’s Deals.\n\nFrontline, you’re one on whom I rely for integrity and truthtelling--for taking the truth head on in whatever issues of the day-- and I sincerely hope to see you  follow up with a good bit of succinct, desperately needed education of the public as to just what IS in their new law . . .\n \nHow the lies and money interests led to some of the ‘ toxic sausage’ forcibly included in the buffet they are about to be served should see an informed public demand that their legislators get the toxins out of the recipe before the frying pan actually hits the heat of the marketplace and the smoking-hot pan of the plundering corporate profiteers. ( ( read Insurance & Big Pharma)\n\nThe political process that led to the final reform bill undoubtedly revealed more than folks may typically want to know about either political sausage making  or  the making of the sausage in their own refrigerator.\n","pt":"Jun 23, 2010 12:18"},{"nm":"Ask the Chief","rs":"0","ms":"Frontline\'s Obama\'s Deal was a very interesting look from the inside of a historic moment in time. I\'m a newcomer to this website, but I think I\'m hooked for life. Keep up the good work! Thanks ","pt":"Jun 19, 2010 02:44"},{"nm":"Mark","rs":"0","ms":"Thought it was well balanced up to the last ten minutes; History will remember as did Campbell -\> &quot;My biggest complaint was in the last 10 minutes where there was no mention how the administration did their deal making to pass this legislation through reconciliation, when they knew that it would never pass muster by following the regular path.&quot;  PBS, not a personal attack but what were you thinking by leaving that out?  That was a bomb and I know it had to have been discussed among your team. ","pt":"Jun 19, 2010 01:12"},{"nm":"M.E. Campbell","rs":"0","ms":"This program was truly the worst Frontline that I have ever seen.  It was what the press refers to as a &quot;puff piece&quot; to create an impression  that we have a leader in the WH who acts deliberately and decisively.  Two months after the Gulf Oil Crisis he has yet to put a waiver on the Jones act to allow foreign vessels to help in the clean up or even order the US Government agencies to waive their rules and assist the local and state governments.  Can anyone imagine Harry Truman acting this way?  The program was an effort to create a man of decision from a cardboard character. A comparison with LBJ, the biggest deal maker in recent history would have been nice.  My biggest complaint was in the last 10 minutes where there was no mention how the administration did their deal making to pass this legislation through reconciliation, when they knew that it would never pass muster by following the regular path.  This program was an opportunity lost to provide a hard-hitting insight to deal-making in Washington.  It was another representation of a total waste of taxpayer money!","pt":"Jun 18, 2010 10:29"},{"nm":"Ron Adair","rs":"0","ms":"Caught your program last night.  As a conservative, I stopped supporting PBS years ago because of its very overt liberal-left bias.  This program certainly fits the typical liberal media pattern - the end justifies the means - no matter how sleazy the means are.  If allowed to remain in effect, future generations of Americans will pay dearly for this piece of &quot;reform&quot; that effectively nationalizes one sixth of the U.S. economy over the next five years.\n\nMy congratulations to the left on the &quot;Deemer Bill&quot;. It\'s certainly a big step in remaking this country\'s economy and social fabric into the Secular Welfare State Model they so admire. My condolences to the American people who will have to live under it.","pt":"Jun 16, 2010 08:45"},{"nm":"John Besselievre","rs":"0","ms":"I think Frontline should follow up on this story, provide more detail in &quot;the deal&quot;.  I missed this on first airing being underway on a Navy ship, but I am sickened by the Republican Party of &quot;no&quot;, lobbyist activities and now I see where Max Baucus motivation came from, all of it going against what would be best for all Americans.  Compromise is central to our law making process.  I am very concerned with the extreme nutcase view held by some of these right wing tea party members, Rush Limbaugh and Glen Beck.  Obama did the best he could and I support him.","pt":"Jun 16, 2010 04:10"},{"nm":"Kathleen Hardy","rs":"0","ms":"One of the major problems driving health care reform is the excessive increases in health care insurance premiums.  Until health care insurance premiums increases are lower than cost of living increases people will continue to be angry about them. In March 2009 health care insurance companies pledged that they would support health care insurance reform.  By the fall of 2009 they were actively lobbying against it.  However, I believe that they hurt their lobbying effort when it came out that the health care insurance companies in California were raising health care insurance premiums by over 30% for some employers and some individuals.  This was not discussed in the Frontline program about passing the health care insurance bill.  I believe that some people rethought their ideas about health care insurance reform, if not changed, their minds about it.  In short, the health care insurance companies hurt themselves by such high premium increases.\nIt would have been nice if this program had spent more time on why single payer was dropped d early in the process.  It also would be nice if there had been more information about why individual mandate was dropped early in the process.\nThe bill as passed is just a baby step in the right direction.  By 2019 we will have enough information about what works and what doesn\'t work that it will be time to amend it to improve health care in the USA.  Those who are complaining that this program does not cover the provisions of the bill are missing the point.  I would like to see Frontline do a program on what the bill covers, but this program was about the politics of passing the bill.\n","pt":"Jun 16, 2010 01:52"},{"nm":"Curtis Martell","rs":"0","ms":"The process is messy and represents very well how Washington works. This show was like learning how sausage is made. Anyone politician who ever says he or she is going to change Washington or be an &quot;outsider&quot; is either ignorant or lying. ","pt":"Jun 16, 2010 01:48"},{"nm":"Fran","rs":"0","ms":"It is inconceivable to me that I could just have watched the presumably complete investigation of how Obama\'a healthcare bill was won, without even once hearing the word &quot;abortion&quot;!\n\nI covered this story myself (I am a journalist) during the entire debacle and as anyone paying attention knew, numerous deals were cut, with both Republicans and &quot;blue dog&quot; Democrats, throughout the process, on the status of women\'s access to abortion, in order to get healthcare passed. \n\nFirst, through the President reassuring Republicans that the Hyde Ammendment pros\cription against public funding of abortion would be continued in his healthcare bill. Then with the terrible Stupak ammendment in the House version, which would have meant anyone getting any government financial help to pay for insurance (a huge amount of people) would not be able to have abortion coverage. The came the Nelson Amendmant, a compromise to Sen. Ben Nelson, which wound up in the final bill. This meant that private insurance would not have to cover abortion and a formula that would mean that eventually insurance companies would not cover it at all--and within 10 years abortion would be unavailable through private insurance (a Washington University study came to this conclusion). The National Network of Abortion Funds called this the &quot;greatest setback for women\'s reproductive choice, in a generation.&quot; This was the price of Ben Nelson\'s vote-- every bit as much as his getting special financial gifts to Nebraska! \n\nLoretta Ross of SisterSong, a Woman of Color Reproductive Health Collective, called this process &quot;throwing women under the bus&quot; and most feminists agreed that abortion coverage had been won &quot;on the backs of women.&quot;\n\nIn the end, Stupak struck again, exacting the final price for his vote: that Obama sign a special Executive Order promising that no public funds would ever pay for abortion. This Obama did.\n\nSo given this history, it is vert deeply disturbing to me, that Frontline, one of the programs on which I rely for integrity and truthtelling--for taking the truth head on in whatever issues it covers, would succumb to this kind of blatant censorship (what else can I call it?) of any mention of a very pivotal issue in the unfolding of the history of the issue it looked at in tonight\'s program.\n\nI would like an explanation of this blatant coverup by Frontline! I am really in shock.\n\nSincerely,\n\nFran Luck\nExecutive Producer,\nJoy of Resistance, Multicultural Feminist Radio,\nWBAI, 99.5 FM, NYC","pt":"Jun 15, 2010 22:48"},{"nm":"Sarah Flynn","rs":"0","ms":"I think the tea parties were depicted in an untruthful light.  You picked the most awful things you could find about it and and lumped them all together.  The American people want the truth.  I will never support PBS as it has a liberal agenda. Frontline does not tell both sides of the story.  Poor journalism. ","pt":"Jun 15, 2010 22:46"},{"nm":"JACKIE","rs":"0","ms":"I found it very disrespectful that Cecil Connely address President Obama as &quot;Obama&quot; or &quot;He&quot;  It was obvious she did it intentionally at one point she addressed Ted Kennedy as &quot;Senator Ted Kennedy&quot; I am utterly disappointed that such utter and blatant disrespect can be displayed by individuals we count on as being admirable and reputable. I WILL NOT BUY THE DVD !","pt":"Jun 15, 2010 22:18"},{"nm":"e","rs":"0","ms":"Horribly distracting fake Photoshop blurring for depth of focus.  I can not believe that Frontline, of all shows, allowed such poor and inappropriate use of Photoshop defocusing on both the black and white photos and in many of the videos.  This seems very unprofessional.  Real lenses with with large apertures give shallow depth of focus based on just that, depth.  Frontline clearly used computers (or some type of LensBaby lenses) to blur edges lateral to sharp areas of focus.  This does not happen in real life and has no place in serious journalism - downfight deceitful.  I turned it off and will not tune back in for a while.","pt":"Jun 15, 2010 21:39"},{"nm":"steve","rs":"0","ms":"Hopefully, the first thing everyone who thinks this healthcare reform was a good idea will do is invest in a new pair of glasses because they certainly can\'t see past their noses. This debate(even this show) isn\'t about healthcare. It is about the morons running our government staying in power and lining the pockets of both the special interest groups and their own. These idiots voted for a bill without the slighest clue of what was in it. How can anyone say they are doing what is right for the American people. Nelson was right, they lie. They would sell their mothers for power. Dealmaking, what a joke. This was out and out prostitution.","pt":"Apr 26, 2010 21:51"},{"nm":"Noanie","rs":"0","ms":"Mr. Kirk, producer of Obama\'s Deal, you totally missed the point Dr. Flower\'s was making regarding your failure to include the single payer debate, because, as you responded to Dr. Flower\'s letter, you wrote, “Obama’s Deal” was centered on the political process that led to the final reform bill, and on what that process revealed about the president and his style of governance during his critical first year in office. &quot; The fact the President Obama so readily caved in to the insurance companies demand that he remove single payer off the table, WAS part of &quot;Obama\'s Deal&quot; and thus should have been discussed. You really missed that aspect of President Obama\'s governance style in &quot;Obama\'s Deal.&quot; Shame on you. ","pt":"Apr 25, 2010 23:17"},{"nm":"VinceO","rs":"0","ms":"Some suggest that the bill doesn\'t go far enough, and I agree with that.   Some complain about how the &quot;deal&quot; was reached, and I agree with that as well.  But, as was pointed out in the piece, there is no other way, and anyone that suggests differently simply isn\'t in touch with reality.  Politicians are concerned about their job, and most don\'t do what they think is best for the country, they do what is best for their career, and that is unfortunate.  \n\nAt the end of the day, I don\'t think anyone can legitimately contend that people in this country, our neighbors, shouldn\'t have access to health care.  Nor, can anyone argue against the reality that the trends in health care were unsustainable.  What I am most angry about relative to this process is the political posturing of the republican party, people who didn\'t vote their christian concious, but instead, voted with the thought of regaining power in the Senate and House.  That\'s what the american people disdain, on both sides of the aisle.","pt":"Apr 25, 2010 21:25"},{"nm":"Mark Ahearn","rs":"0","ms":"History tells the story and your expose explains the history of health care between Clinton and Obama. Clinton erred on the side of a 1000 page &quot;how its going to be&quot; document, and Obama erred on the side of his faith in &quot;letting the system work it out&quot;. \n\nSurrounding himself with insiders was his first mistake on the advice of the very person who advised Clinton. For someone who had several books published you would think that Obama would have been able to formulate a few ground rules short of Clinton\'s master plan in a foundational policy document published to the nation by some lowly non-profit publisher. \n\nThe fundamental issue in this country today is the lack of accountability between our representatives in both houses and their constituents. When the gal from America\'s Health Plans began dictating to Obama on &quot;what they would accept&quot;, our commander in chief should have laughed in her face. \n\nOur citizens and their representative relationship supercede ANY industry telling us how things will be. When the consituency of a given state or district is not accurately reflected in the actions of a public offical, the President must not only take responsibility when it happens, but prevent the betrayl before it occurs.  \n\nMoral leadership starts with not getting your hands dirty before you begin to God\'s work.  \n\nMark Ahearn, Director \nAhearn for Families \nwww.ahearnforfamilies.org ","pt":"Apr 24, 2010 21:58"},{"nm":"Joel","rs":"0","ms":"This documentary was decent in its content in how to explain the Health Care Reform Battle, but it falls short on explaining what is in the bill, and ultimately focusing on the people which are the ones that will have to live with the repercussions of this bill. Lastly, I would like to urge politicians to remember to stay in touch with the kind people that put you in office, and that people should come first before politics or possessions.","pt":"Apr 24, 2010 21:00"},{"nm":"Phil","rs":"0","ms":"Why do you guys use alex jones\'s rants and label him as a journalist.  He is a conspiracy theorist by occupation (he profits off of fear) and espouses views that are WAY on the fringe.  Not one person with higher then a 9th grade education actually believes one word that comes out of his mouth.  There were ALOT of negative opinions on obama and the health plan out there, you didn\'t need to cherry pick ones from a conspiracy theorist talk show host that noone in thier right mind takes seriously and label him a &quot;journalist&quot; .  otherwise,  great reporting as usual from PBS.","pt":"Apr 24, 2010 00:34"},{"nm":"Pesky brewer","rs":"0","ms":"This is the worst bill in the history of the United States, a giveaway to the criminal health insurance companies that will result in more profits, more power, more treachery, and more suffering and deaths.\nObama has sold out to the corporations he railed against at every turn. This bill punishes Americans for not buying insurance from these vampires. \n\nBut here\'s the worst thing about this show: I just learned that Frontline actually censored commentary in favor of a single payer system, the only system that will work, and made the advocates appear to be for a public option, which is just more sham. Frontline is nothing more than a mouthpiece for corporations posing as a hard hitting documentary program. You\'ve lost all credibility.","pt":"Apr 23, 2010 19:50"},{"nm":"CBL","rs":"0","ms":"I believe Obama will go down in history as a Great President such as Thomas Jefferson ..who ardently believed in universal education, and while he never lived to see his hope for free public schooling in Virginia realized,, he could take satisfaction in the central part he had played in founding and designing the original buildings for the University of Virginia.\n\nBasically and in a nutshell back in the days of our founding fathers...they DID NOT BELIEVE...that a basic education or as they called it back then....universal education was NOT a Right !!!!! And would have had a heart attack if someone mentioned that it should be paid with Taxes !!!! And down the Road to Expand it...to HIGHER EDUCATION...or what it is called today High School !!!(9th-12th grades)\n\nJust as today we look back in amazement that our forefathers thought that our children did not deserve a education...our future generations will look at us in amazement and think that we cared so little of our citizens health and well being that they did not deserve the right to Health and Living a life without Ill Health !!\n\nAre you understanding the Paradox / Meaning here...how it it is similar in the ways of thinking of the republicans/right wingers....they believe today as they did 200+ years ago..that the Typical American Had NO RIGHTS to a education...your education should be Home Learning...Today they still think as they did 200+ years ago...but today it is that Americans have NO RIGHTS to health care unless you can fund it yourself..or get a company to pay it for you...problem is as the years go by the company funded Insurance plans are Being Degraded by the Insurance companies...which is turning the burden onto the Insured to take more and more of the cost onto themselves...BUT....\n\nAt the same time the Costs for treatments and Doctors costs are skyrocketing...making it impossible to afford hospitalization or surgery.. EVEN with Insurance...causing people to file bankruptcy.... throwing the cost onto the taxpayers lap...at today\'s standard debt per year at appox 2.6 TRILLION !!!!","pt":"Apr 23, 2010 07:49"},{"nm":"Mark Dallas","rs":"0","ms":"I watch Frontline religiously, and I have to say this represents a low-point for Michael Kirk, et al.  We learn very little about the specifics of this bill, a point echoed by many viewers in this discussion board.  I ask viewers: “Are you better informed about the CONTENT of the bill after watching this show?”  I ask the Frontline researchers: “after reading the discussion board here, do you feel that the public is well-informed about healthcare?”  We learn “a deal” was made with insurance and “a deal” was made with Pharma and Sen. Nelson “cornhusker deal.”  WHAT DEAL?  Give some MORE SPECIFICS please.   An educated public is willing to look at a detailed list of what was given up and what was gained in each “deal.”  Is it true that Obama “lied” about illegal immigrants not being covered as the congressman yelled out during the State of the Union?  Is it true that McCain was lying that the bill would increase taxes?  If we learn so little about the bill itself, we can’t evaluate this political mud-slinging.  Couldn’t Frontline have asked someone “what in the bill might have led that congressman to believe that illegal immigrants would be covered in the bill?”  Then, find out if in fact there is merit to the argument and present the case.  You mention that the “public option” was rejected by insurance and that Nelson got payoff for his state’s medicaid. These could be learned from local “ragsheet” newspapers.  When watching Frontline, I hope to garner insights that the ragsheets aren’t willing to publish because their audience isn’t willing to look at details.    I’m sorry to say that this particular show follows a general media trend of offering a “Wizard of Oz” approach to reporting.  The Frontline music and images are stunning and they make it sound like some profound point is made, but ultimately, little of real substance is said, except the rather innocuous statement that “deals weremade behind closed doors.”  I can’t evaluate if deal-making is good/bad if I don’t have some substance to determine exactly what was traded and what this implies.  Also, the two turning points (the Congressional recess and the election in Massachusetts) are treated as if “the people” became outraged.   Was the legislation “misrepresented” (read: under-informed) via media channels by the Republican machine and their henchmen (FOXNEWS)?  Who was organizing “the people?”  So many unanswered questions.","pt":"Apr 21, 2010 21:00"},{"nm":"Louise Vance","rs":"0","ms":"I could not be more disappointed in this program.  Once again, the precious airwaves are wasted with a blow-by-blow account of the horse race.  No substance whatsoever.  Would it have killed your producers to actually point to substantive differences in the two parties\' approach?  Could someone have written narration that ticked off even the top five reforms and when they kick in?  This type of program is USELESS.  We all lived through the 14 months of partisan politics, and the last thing we needed was a replay of that chess game.  Who cares?  What does that serve?  For Frontline to reduce the most essential legislation facing the country to a Sunday Play by Play was more than distressing.  It\'s lazy reporting, and a disservice to the public that funds you.","pt":"Apr 21, 2010 19:11"},{"nm":"Barbara Commins RN","rs":"0","ms":"Your Frontline program seemed to conclude that this so-called reform was some kind of a historical victory, for the Obama/Pelosi/DSCC/DCCC machine. \n\nI\'m not sure who thinks they are coming out victorious in the passage of this partisan‑driven health care reform bill, but it\'s certainly not the majority of working people in our country. If you work, you\'re still part of an indentured Labor force, working to have health care and subsidizing the medical‑industrial cartel with your premiums and out‑of‑pocket expenses, instead of seeing an increase in your REAL wages. If you\'re not working, you\'ll have to play \'wait and see\' for FOUR years, to find out what there is in the way of affordable health care for you. Sorry, but market PROFITeering gets priority in health care delivery! We could have done so much better morally and fiscally with a single‑payer, everybody‑in, nobody‑out Medicare for All solution.\n\nBarbara Commins, RN\nSan Francisco","pt":"Apr 21, 2010 17:24"},{"nm":"Pam Smith","rs":"0","ms":"I saw the program. It had the &quot;thumpity thump&quot; music that signals dastardly deeds (and stirs my little liberal heart) so I watched with some trepidation. But what I saw in the program was simply the adult version of the primary school animated bill making cartoon -- &quot;How Our Laws are Made.&quot; I have never been naive enough to believe that the sausage making would stop. I\'m just hoping for better sausage -- maybe chicken/smoked apple . . . Perhaps the good news *is* that Obama does not have absolute power so he won\'t be corrupted absolutely. I\'m still full of hope.","pt":"Apr 21, 2010 10:53"},{"nm":"JerryB","rs":"0","ms":"I have watched this 4 times, NOT including the back to back airings originally on television.  As I read through many posters comments, I\'m reminded at how polarized our nation is.  When President Obama was elected, only then did I &quot;get it&quot; with what the election meant to so many people of color in this nation and around the world.  I honestly looked at the election based on merit and DID vote for him.  Afterwards, as I witnessed people crying, I finally saw the election for what it really was.  I am center right, I am conservative minded but not a fringe anything.  Sooooo many posters refuse to merit anything in the report.  Those in the media who called President Bush a terrorist, baby killer et all,  have never been vilified.  If a respected organization such as PBS writes a piece critical of the most important piece of legislation of our lifetimes, how can so many be so critical of the piece?  Say what you will but looking at things as objectively as possible, there is little doubt we have a liberal slant in our media and how it affects people can be dangerous.  At the very least, it is unfair to the viewing audience.  I work with high school students and too many see something without considering the source.  I always ask them to get their national or global news with Jim Lehrer so they can look at things as objectively as possible.  I don\'t watch Fox because they are a series of sit coms.  Likewise I cannot stomach the rhetoric of Keith Uber-man and MSNBC.  But for God\'s sake, to turn a blind eye to what has transpired in the passing of this legislation is to say the very least, irresponsible.  The ramifications WILL be long lasting and the public needs to know how a political &quot;outsider&quot; is now on the inside looking out.  I can\'t vote for a ticket with Sarah Palin, but if I\'m offered a more responsible package, I will vote to have him removed from office in 2012.  Our main efforts as a country should have been the economy FIRST and I\'m incredibly disappointed in his perspective regarding priorities of our country.  ","pt":"Apr 21, 2010 08:46"},{"nm":"Brian Boswell ","rs":"0","ms":"&quot;A re-do show&quot;? \n\n  Yes, I quite possibly could imagine the execs at PBS pursuing a &quot;re-do&quot; show that this time demonstrates absolutely nothing the Obama administration as outside the lines of American values during the passage of Health Care Reform. Like this time we definitely won\'t hear anything about using reconcilliation, or that the majority of the people in the country did not want it, or Obama saying &quot;These negotiations will be on C-Span, and so the public will be part of the conversation and we\'ll see the choices that are being made.&quot; and it never happening, or according to CBO, section 1412(c) provides $436 in federal subsidies to insurance companies to provide health care in the exchange.  While Democrats talk about the greed of insurance companies, the Senate bill gives those companies nearly half a trillion dollars of taxpayer money. \n\nI\'m sure they\'re thinking that\'s a good idea Andrew. You may want to get your resume ready.\n\n ","pt":"Apr 20, 2010 23:48"},{"nm":"Steven","rs":"0","ms":"Two things: \n\n1)  Unless *all* the public was willing to demand that the insurance companies commit corporate suicide, any bill to reform health care was going to AUTOMATICALLY involve massive trade-offs that made each side hold their nose.  This is called &quot;compromise,&quot; and it\'s central to US law-making but sure is ugly.\n\n2)  Hereditary billionaire Richard Mellon-Scaife has been spending millions of his right-wing fortune to make up the Tea Party out of thin air.  He\'s an original Vast Conspirator and he channels money to right wing causes and nutcases every which way he can.  The Tea Party is not a grass-roots group, but a bunch of pampered white middle-class crybabies that always want government programs for themselves but hate it when anyone else gets any, and Mr. Scaife (and other right-wingers) is funneling money to them simply so that they\'ll make noise.  But\'s a noise of sound and fury, signifying nothing, because Scaife\'s only constituent is Scaife and his billions in Swiss banks.  Scaife is playing the poor TP joiners for suckers and fools.  \n","pt":"Apr 20, 2010 23:26"},{"nm":"LAA","rs":"0","ms":"Maybe Frontline should have made this a 2-part show to show more detail.  By the title, I thought I would see a lot more of the detail about the backdoor deals that were made.  It didn\'t even cover all the major ones!  I thought it was very sympathetic to Obama\'s agenda - it made it seem as though he reluctantly was forced by the Washington machine to make deals he wouldn\'t have otherwise made.  That he heroically defended his bill on camera in a summit with republicans.  The fact is he came off as an arrogant bully in that meeting.  Also, what about the industries that were penalized for not playing the game?  He used our tax dollars to bribe politicians to get what he wanted.  Is it too much to ask our representatives to read bills before they sign them?  \nLastly, I wonder if Frontline will consider doing a show on the post election careers of the dems who will soon be voted out of office in November.  I\'m sure it will be a more complete measure of the deals that were made to pass this bill!","pt":"Apr 20, 2010 03:51"},{"nm":"Andrew","rs":"0","ms":"Who exactly started this whole rhetoric of &quot;back-door deal-making&quot; of the Obama administration? Isn\'t this the essence of democracy? Neither party gets everything they want, you compromise and &quot;make a deal.&quot;  Plain and simple.  Can anyone name a major bill that was not a compromise?\n\n\n  Perhaps most disturbing, how did a normally sophisticated show like Frontline fall into the mainstream media trap of simply mimicking the rhetoric of the day, in this instance, &quot;back-door deal-making.&quot; Please explain to me how one defines &quot;compromise&quot; as different from &quot;deal-making.&quot;  You say tomAto, I say tomAto.  Didn\'t Obama campaign on a the promise of &quot;bipartisanship?&quot;  That doesn\'t mean everyone will agree upon the force of Obama\'s argument.  It means consensus via deal-making which Obama TRIED to do.  It appears to me that the right was unwilling to meet even half way.  And yet, Obama somehow comes off as the bad guy here, because he “compromised.”  The opening 10 second preview was particularly horrible in presenting the issue. \n\n\n Why not redeem yourselves and make a “re-do” show on health reform?","pt":"Apr 18, 2010 23:30"},{"nm":"ibsteve2u","rs":"0","ms":"I am amused by the comments of those who fairly crow their joy at Obama being portrayed as a backroom wheeler-dealer.  I think that the people making those comments fail to interpret Obama\'s actions for what they are:  A consequence of Obama trying to be &quot;bipartisan&quot;.\n\n\n\nI would have preferred that this President skip the bipartisan approach and just steamroll over the Republicans in the process of &quot;doing the right thing&quot;.  The conclusion that I drew from his decision not to do just that is a sad one:  The special interest influence that defines the Republican Party also contaminates the Democrats to an extent that makes the concept of a &quot;Democratic majority&quot; an illusion.\n\n\n\nAnyone who wishes - anyone who is forced by our Constitution - to deal with Congress must play by their rules.  Congress is also a democracy and the rules of the game are set by their majority - but the documented majority is not the ruling majority when venality crosses Party lines.  The Republicans have never made a secret of their allegiance to wealth, but it is increasingly evident that a significant number of Democrats have also chosen not represent those who physically voted them into office.\n\nThe corruption of Congress is the driver behind Obama\'s behavior.  If you doubt my conclusion, then honestly answer this question:  Do you believe that the insurance, pharmaceutical, and hospital corporations could have bought the defeat of any and all health care bills had they worked in concert to achieve that goal?  \n\nIf you answered &quot;No&quot; to that question, then I would ask you to research the Medicare Pres\cription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003 and recall how Big Pharma - primarily acting alone - managed to get precisely what they wanted from Congress.  Then reconsider my question.\n\nIf you answered &quot;Yes&quot;, then you likely can see that Obama had to throw the big dogs in health care a bone; if he had not, their puppies in Congress would have piddled all over health care.\n\nIf America doesn\'t like seeing our government work this way, then I would suggest that they - that we - rid ourselves of Republicans and &quot;Blue Dog&quot; Democrats.  Those two groups ensure that the majority influence in Congress is not Republican OR Democrat; it is greed.","pt":"Apr 18, 2010 22:11"},{"nm":"j. Michael","rs":"0","ms":"Rep. Andrews symbolizes exactly why Washington and all its cronies within, are so disconnected from not only their constituents, but reality. The Frontline piece was dead on. \n\nMy hat is off to them for hitting the issues on the head with a chronology of issues, we – the public – only see in sound bites day-by-day and are affected in smaller measures until the collective impression of these, as this story illustrates, puts the whole mess in perspective. One back room deal after another. Obama doesn’t get it, and Mr. Andrews doesn’t get it, nor does the rest of [both] sides of the isle get it. It’s not just the actions you take in Congress (which are bad enough for their ineptitude and excess), but it’s the way you take them. \n\nObama held himself out as an “outsider” who would not cater to the status quo of Washington’s business as usual, making all kinds of [key] points for health care which were hinge pins to it being successful in its “reform.” Those very issues, a short list in fact, were reneged on to where we have exactly what this country is already too full of, plenty of façade and no substance. Merely the appearance of reform; and worse – paid for on the backs of those who’ve paid their way and tolerated their taxes being squandered for too long on being the world’s cop where we are not wanted. Not to mention the most precious treasure of all, our men and women in uniform.\n\nWashington’s politics makes the “Democratic Machine” of Chicago’s political history look like Cub Scout meetings. It’s too bad that Obama has used his legal education and eloquent podium prose to navigate his agenda for a legacy in history over the self inflicted failure that will results from his choice. They just don’t get it. It’s not what you do, it’s HOW you do it. And it’s about keeping your word, and knowing how that “word” is heard by the people you’re saying it to.\n\nAny bill that takes five reams of paper to describe is most certainly NOT written for the people to read, for whom the bill is alleged to be for. It’s written for lawyers, by lawyers, seeking only their political and financial rewards at the expense of a nation that naively trusted Mr. Obama and his clan (yes, he’s now attached at the hip to those he considered outside him). Mr. Obama, nice, educated gentleman that he is, will reap the wrath of history’s pen with a prelude of his fate this November at mid-terms; then reality will fall heavily upon his lame duck status for his remaining 23 months at the helm, before a reversing indictment of his policies and politics forces his resignation in 2012. That is his legacy. Overdue. And I am glad we finally have an imminent document in history to validate that we gave the left – and civil rights – its fair chance. Now it’s back to business and restoring what my father fought and won half a century ago.\n","pt":"Apr 18, 2010 06:22"},{"nm":"jose","rs":"0","ms":"frontline needs to tell the truthto the american people  a public apology needs to be aired on PBS and in the newsapers for distorting the facts. this program will only fuel the republicans and teaparty people for dividing the country...i hope that frontline is not too proud and admit that they goofed.","pt":"Apr 18, 2010 02:16"},{"nm":"Molly in San Diego","rs":"0","ms":"I was disappointed with the coverage of PBS and NPR during the healthcare reform debate, and this show also seems biased.  The story appears to be complimentary of Sen. Grassley, when in fact he repeatedly told one of the biggest lies about the bill, that it was going to kill your grandma!  Also, Scott Brown campaigned on the promise of not playing the deal-making game in Washington (which is not new to Prez Obama\'s admin - it\'s as old as dirt) but he\'s already vowing to oppose financial reform and retain the status quo for the billionaire banksters. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce lavished Brown with $1 million on TV ads and ThinkProgress reported that business and Wall Street executives added to Brown\'s coffers with over $200,000 in 11th-hour contributions - nearly half of his total haul just in time for his election. Now, Brown seems to be returning the favor to Wall Street.\nAnd your story ommitted altogether the fact that the Republicans actually got numerous things put into the bill they requested, and the &quot;cornhusker kickback&quot; and other objectionable deals were removed!","pt":"Apr 17, 2010 12:59"},{"nm":"Rep. Rob Andrews, (D- N.J.)","rs":"0","ms":"As one of the Members of Congress who worked closely with Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the House Democratic Leadership to pass historic health insurance reform legislation, I must correct the record presented in the PBS Frontline documentary on the health reform bill, “Obama’s Deal.&quot; The documentary falsely states that on January 19, the night the Democrats lost the Massachusetts Senate race and their filibuster-proof majority in the Senate, Speaker Pelosi told the President she had “no solution” with regard to how to pass comprehensive health care reform if the Senate did not have 60 Democratic votes.  Nothing could be farther from the truth.\n In fact, the Speaker had a solution, and it was her solution that ultimately allowed Congress to pass historic health insurance reform legislation two months later.  The Speaker said that night and on numerous occasions that the House could pass the Senate-passed health care bill only if the Senate and House both fixed several unfair and unpopular measures in the Senate bill via a “reconciliation” bill that would require only a simple majority in the Senate, not a super-majority of 60 votes.  And that is exactly what happened in March.\n \nAs other media outlets have correctly reported , the Speaker advocated for that strategy even as some in the White House pushed for more incremental reform.  But having fought for sweeping health care reform for decades the Speaker pushed strongly and repeatedly for the “go big or go home” approach to health insurance reform.  And she was proven correct.  With the President and the Speaker working together in strong partnership, the House and Senate passed comprehensive health insurance reform in March.\n \nAs Sean Wilentz, a history professor at Princeton University, put it: “The political hero of health-care reform has turned out to be Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi. … Without her, the current bill certainly would not have succeeded. …The tough, resilient woman has saved the day.” To state or imply otherwise is simply incorrect.  It is unfortunate that Frontline tarnished its award-winning broadcast with such falsehoods.\n","pt":"Apr 17, 2010 11:36","er":"We understand and acknowledge the critical role played by Speaker  \nNancy Pelosi in the passage of the health care reform bill.  Clearly there is much more to report on the politics of health care reform--and the roles that many played in the process--than can adequately be represented in one hour of television.  \n\nAt issue here is a relatively narrow question about FRONTLINE’S reporting on the events of January 19, 2010, when President Obama and Speaker Pelosi took part in an emergency meeting about the fate of health care reform in light of the imminent loss of the Ted Kennedy’s Massachusetts senate seat.  \n\nWhile Speaker Pelosi may well have been one of the political heroes of the process, as historian Sean Wilentz has argued—and, by all accounts, she was firm throughout the process and instrumental in the debate’s final days—our reporting indicates that, in the meeting with the president on the night of January 19th, she was no more certain than anyone else in the room about the next steps forward.  And none of Congressman Andrews’ assertions on the matter, or the articles he cites, indicate otherwise.\n\nWe hope that the congressman can recognize that we are not spreading “falsehoods” when we report what we know about issues of key public policy significance that take place behind closed doors in Washington.  We are, rather, practicing journalism, and we will gladly correct the record in light of any new information that comes to light."},{"nm":"Tom Hagan","rs":"0","ms":"To understand fully how distorted this depiction of &quot;healthcare reform&quot; really is, see this commentary on it posted at Truthout.org by Dr. Margaret Flowers, one of &quot;Baucus 13&quot; who was included briefly in the Frontline program:  \<a href=&quot;http://www.truthout.org/frontline-fronts-corporations-not-public58620&quot;\>http://www.truthout.org/frontline-fronts-corporations-not-public58620\<\/a\> ","pt":"Apr 17, 2010 01:58","er":"Dr. Margaret Flowers and others have written to PBS and FRONTLINE about the portrayal of “single payer” health reform proposals in this week’s broadcast of “Obama’s Deal.”   \n\nWe understand the frustration of Dr. Flowers and others in what she calls the “single payer movement” who felt excluded from the debate; and they are perhaps right in suggesting that the “debate” was narrowed from the start by the influence of various special interests and by political expediency or ideology.  But we can assure Dr. Flowers that her interview with FRONTLINE was not left out of this broadcast to satisfy any similarly motivated agenda to narrow the debate; and we do not believe we abdicated our responsibility to educate the public about the various possible proposals to reform the health care system. \n\n “Obama’s Deal” was centered on the political process that led to the final reform bill, and on what that process revealed about the president and his style of governance during his critical first year in office.  While there is much to say about the merits of the single payer idea--and about the politics of why it did not, in the end, figure significantly in this past year’s debate—this issue ultimately fell outside the scope of this single hour of television.  This is not “censorship,” as Dr. Flowers argues, it’s the work of journalism to report widely on a topic, then find the sharpest focus for the reporting, unfortunately leaving out much strong material along the way to shaping the clearest communication possible in the time or space allowed.\n\nThe producer of “Obama’s Deal,” Michael Kirk, adds this further response to Dr. Flowers:  \n \n“After talking to Dr. Flowers, administration officials, legislators, and other knowledgeable insiders, we concluded that a ‘single payer’ plan was never considered by the White House or Congressional leaders, and did not play a significant role in the last year\'s debate.  Whether the ‘single payer’ option should have been considered is an issue which should be debated and discussed, but was outside of the scope of this particular film.\n\n“The section that included Dr. Flowers was focused on the power of the insurance lobby and showed how activists like Dr. Flowers were excluded from the debate over the bill. The protesters themselves said they were protesting the fact that they had been excluded from the debate, so we believe we presented the protests in the proper context.\n\n“Dr. Flowers alleges that that her views may have been excluded because of the power of ‘health insurance and pharmaceutical corporations.’  We believe that any fair viewing of the film will show that the decisions on what to include and exclude from the film were based on our best journalistic judgment, and not the influence of corporate interest groups.”\n\nWe understand that this will not satisfy many in the single payer movement—and many others may rightly complain about the lack of focus on a host of other issues that fell outside the scope of this broadcast.  But we trust that the viewers can also see the merits of the film that was produced, and appreciate “Obama’s Deal” for what it was:  The most comprehensive telling of this year’s historic health care reform process to be seen anywhere on television, and an important examination of the tough choices made during the president’s first year in office."},{"nm":"Russell LeJeune","rs":"0","ms":"WHAT TO DO?Move forward. Regulate the insurance criminals out of business. By whatever means legislate  single-payer healthcare. Use the House and Senate as they have used us. Manipulate them by fear and force of vote! Take away their retirement system,outrageous compensation and campaign fund dealing. Send them home,,,empty-handed. Send true servants of the people to local, state and national office. No perks. no retirement, no lifetime free rides from congressman to senator to secretary of state or whatever. Serve your people, do your part for America and go back to your old job and let another honest servant do their service. Live in government provided housing with your family, your children attending good schools while you complete your time of giving and return home with the gratitude of your nation.Sounds too good to be true? It can be done. Only we the voters can see it to completion. Send those who bankrupted our nation to jail. Confiscate their golden parachutes. Liquidate their collective assets and use these gains of crooks to stop foreclosure of working peoples homes. Communism? Socialism? No. Common sense. Defang the blood-suckers. They steal our funds to steal other monies to enrich themselves while bankrupting others. They caused $300,000 homes to be worth only $150,000. Make them pay. Take corporate profits to help these average Americans keep their homes and the dollar whores lose their castles. Do this through change of law, peacefully and fairly. We allowed ourselves to get into this mess. Let us work diligently to change our land.","pt":"Apr 16, 2010 03:17"},{"nm":"Jerry","rs":"0","ms":"To claim this bill is robbing the American public is sheer nonsense.  The bill will save the taxpayers and average American money.\n\nWhen companies pick and choose their customers they naturally want those that can pay and will submit the least claims.  Anyone who believes they will not be singled out by an insurance company and dropped from coverage when they most need it are foolds.  I can name personal examples of people I know who have lost their health insurance through no fault of their own.  When you get sick you cannont work.  When you cannot work is that the time to cut a person\'s health insurance?  It makes as much sense to cancel someone\'s home owner\'s policy if they submit a claim for their home burning down.  Does anyone believe they have the financial muscle to fight a protracted fight with an insurer if you are sick or without a job?\n\nThis bill levels the playing field.  To make sure insurance companies cannot remove insurance when it is most needed.  And the insurers cannot pick and choose who to cover.  Do you realize women who have been physically abused by their spouse can be denied coverage for insurance in 9 states as that abuse is considered a pre existing condition.  In Michael Moore\'s movie Sicko it was pointed out that the list of pre existing conditions for denial of insurance was 37 pages long for one insurance company.\n\nAmerican\'s will be glad when the full bill takes effect.  The program showed that the law will reduce the deficit over the years.\n\nDo only Democrats lose their jobs and insurance?  This bill will help ALL Americans regardless of their political party.\n\nThe people that are so excited and upset about this bill have been lied to and their passion inflamed by those lies.  If you want the truth then you must seek it out.  This program takes a step in that direction.  As did previous Frontline programs on health care in America and abroad.  America\'s health care system is failing.  And it is taking more and more income of families.  It is unsustainable.  Don\'t take my word for it.  Watch other Frontline episodes and other PBS programming.","pt":"Apr 16, 2010 01:32"},{"nm":"HHY","rs":"0","ms":"Excellent, thought-provoking, & objective -- this is why both sides of the health care debate seem outraged by this documentary.","pt":"Apr 16, 2010 01:27"},{"nm":"Tom Hagan","rs":"0","ms":"Alas, more on &quot;healthcare reform&quot; as Beltway Bingo. Tom Daschle is presented as a healthcare expert with a tax problem; we are never told what &quot;client&quot; donated his car and driver or that he was paid millions by the healthcare lobby in &quot;speakers fees&quot;. Or that Evan Bayh\'s wife is on Wellpoint\'s payroll for six figures every year for a few days\' work.  Or that single payer was kept &quot;off the table&quot; despite being preferred by majorities of voters and doctors and some 80% of Democrats. In fact, single payer is never mentioned, nor is its champion, Dennis Kucinich.  No mention of the very telling facts that the healthcare lobby poured money into Coakley\'s ill-fated campaign, or that healthco stocks spurted up right after Obama\'a speech to Congress and when the final bill passed in the House, all of which belies Obama\'a and the program\'s portrayal of the healthcos as opposing the final bill.  \n\nI had hoped for more honesty from Frontline. The sad facts are that the healthcos need and want tnis bill, and that they own Obama and the Congressional Democrats. They were probably taken aback at the opposition to the healthcos\' very own bill mounted by the Republicsns, who they had every reason to believe they also owned. These are the essential aspects of the story, and Frontline chose to ignore them.          ","pt":"Apr 16, 2010 00:48"},{"nm":"JonathanK","rs":"0","ms":"Excellent hour spent watching the show. Its stupifying read comments about negatives of the documentary when there really isn\'t a comparable equal. I am sure these very intelligent individuals will spend some of their money and produce something half/a quarter as good as this documentary. This was best documentary I have seen last few years.","pt":"Apr 16, 2010 00:41"},{"nm":"Kevin Zeese","rs":"0","ms":"What is with Frontline?  You did two reports on health care and in both left out single payer, Medicare for All? In the first, T.R. Reid, said you left out the one commonality of the variety of health plans in Europe--none have for-profit health care (like we do in the U.S.).  And, in Obama\'s Deal you should people protesting but never said that they were demanding that single payer be included in the debate.  This was a critical part of the story as it showed Obama making a deal with the industry at the very beginning -- he would not threaten their existence (even though we do not need them).\n\nWhy is Frontline so prejudiced against single payer that it will deny viewers all the information and accurate reporting about what happened?  I really want to know. This is not a rhetorical question.  Write me at KBZeese@gmail.com with your answer.","pt":"Apr 15, 2010 20:50"},{"nm":"Nataya","rs":"0","ms":"With this health insurance monstrosity, Obama is transferring the wealth of the middle class TO the giant insurers and Big Pharma.\n\nI would have been all for a Medicare-for-all plan or even a public option, but Obama\'s secret DEALS made sure that would never happen.\n\nThis legislation is an ugly gargoyle that Obama is trying to sell as if it were a beauty queen. It isn\'t -- it\'s just ugly.\n\nAnd anyone who thinks that -- once the giant insurers and Big Pharma get their hands on all those additional billions of the taxpayers\' dollars -- they won\'t use all that swag to buy the votes of even more senators and House members isn\'t playing with a full deck.\n\nThere will be NO &quot;reforms&quot; to this legislation that any of us will like, because the giant insurers and Big Pharma will use their new, ill-gotten dollars to purchase the &quot;allegiance&quot; of even more senators, more House members, and even the president.\n\nThe deals Obama and his crew made should sicken decent people.","pt":"Apr 15, 2010 20:26"},{"nm":"jerry rubin","rs":"0","ms":"Although I believe this was not a great step and could have been avoided in many ways early on by showing the lies by the Republicans of what the bill contained, I think this is a step towards a medicare for all type as wanted by Theodore Roosevelt over 100 years ago.\n\nThink about it, 100 years ago, the President started to think about a universal healthcare bill for all Americans, not corrupt Medical Insurance defining how we can get care from our doctors.","pt":"Apr 15, 2010 13:19"},{"nm":"Fair And Balanced","rs":"0","ms":"Fair and Balanced. That\'s what I\'d call it. Fit more for Fox News than PBS. I bet the RNC research team is popping champagne right now. I have a question. Why devote so much time to the character assassination of Senator Nelson and have no on camera response or comment from him? Did you even attempt to interview him for his side of the story? Seems to me all you did is regurgitate the Right Wing talking points on his &quot;deal.&quot; Fact is, he got what he set out for - the feds have to pay for the Medicaid expansion - not the states. He blocked the public option and ensured that no federal funds were spent on abortion. You attempted to make him look like a criminal. Please tell the public if you asked him for an interview. If you didn\'t, I think we\'ve got a rail job going on here.","pt":"Apr 15, 2010 11:38","er":"We understand that the Senator vigorously defends his role in the negotiations over health care reform, and we are familiar with his arguments, which he has published for months on his web site and on newspaper op-ed pages.\n \nIn the totality of our reporting, however -- including extensive interviews with participants on both sides of the aisle, and with a number of expert observers -- we concluded that the deal often referred to as the “Cornhusker Kickback” stands as we reported it in last night’s program.  \n \nToday, the morning after our broadcast, Sen. Nelson sat for his first detailed television interview about the incident, in which he repeated his insistence that &quot;there was no quid pro quo, no effort at all to buy my vote.&quot;  We are linking to \<a href=&quot;http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,590922,00.html&quot;\>this full interview\<\/a\> on our Web site.  We also have links on our site to all available statements and opinion pieces published by the Senator, explaining his side of the story.\n\nFRONTLINE has a strong tradition of fairness, independence and journalistic rigor.  While we could always have done more to recognize the Senator’s defense inside our broadcast, we believe that none of what the Senator has publicly argued in his defense, before or after last night’s program, bears substantially on our published reporting.\n"},{"nm":"Cecil L","rs":"0","ms":"An interesting and sobering analysis of the powerful interest groups that sway the legislators and the Executive Branch of Government.  Big Pharma and Health Insurance companies appear to always be the winners, and would no doubt also be if the Republicans were in charge.  I wish that the bill included more to assist America to become more competitive in the world market, but applaud the effort to provide a safety net for average Americans.  Maslow\'s hierarchy of needs suggests that we can do little if we don\'t have our basic safety needs met, and without health care coverage (and the threat of bankruptcy if accidents or catastrophic health events even with health coverage), we don\'t have much sense of personal security.  I beleive our employer-based health system still has many flaws restricting the movement of talented individuals and the entrepreneurial spirit of middle-aged and older workers, but the legislation seems to take steps to correct some of the issues holding us back.  Those who &quot;just want to leave things as they are&quot; live in an unreal world, as Medicare and the demographics of America come into collision course in the VERY NEAR future.  Medicare Advantage was a sell-out to Pharma and Insurance companies that the American taxpayers are now saddled with but recipients obviously enjoy.  The documentary helped me to understand more broadly the real issues, more than the shallow talking points on each side.  It will be interesting to see if politicians and the public can ever rise to our challenges as a country or if we will continue with petty name calling and problem avoidance and sink into oblivion as a result.  Leadership takes guts and vision.  Right now, we just get the politicians that we pay for.  \nGod Please Bless America with courageous and honest leaders and a population able to think and hold them accountable.","pt":"Apr 15, 2010 11:37"},{"nm":"David Kellogg","rs":"0","ms":"This was perhaps the weakest Frontline documentary I have watched (I have seen almost all of them). I think the producers here adequately built the front of the story, but failed to appropriately address the complexity of the latter half of the story. The protagonist here in this storyline is Obama, clearly; however, Pelosi received very short reference when, in the end, she likely played a much more significant role in reviving the health care bill. The producers essentially skipped how exactly the health care finally passed--which should be the climax of the story. Probably the producers ran into time issues, and had a hard to putting all of the intricacies into 56 minutes. To do that though, they sacrificed the climax, and the most important point, how exactly the bill was passed. That is too bad that they couldn\'t get the &quot;green light&quot; to get another 30 minutes at least to give this film the space it needed to adequately explore the final month of the health care debate. Sorry Frontline, you guys are great, but this one was a dud.  ","pt":"Apr 15, 2010 10:35"},{"nm":"Paris","rs":"0","ms":"What was conspicuously absent during all of the back room dealing was any support for the will of the people. The town hall meetings and polls clealy showed that a vast majority of the taxpayers did not wnat government health care. This bill was a money train for government, big pharma, insurance companies and the medical industry.","pt":"Apr 15, 2010 09:42"},{"nm":"Reform Needed","rs":"0","ms":"A lot of comments of the piece are focused, in my humble opinion, on the wrong issue.  The major issue is the legislature process.  There needs to be strict, harsh, and irrevocable conflict of interest laws in which members of the Senate and Congress are not allowed to vote or influence legislation when there is a conflict of interest.  There\'s no way that Max Backus should have been able to conduct the Senate hearings based on who funded his campaign.  There are several other examples in which conflicts of interest lead to detrimental legislation for the people.  There would be no tolerance or need to make back-door deals if this behavior was illegal and carried stiff penalties.  Why would any legislative body sign the Medicare Bill of 2003 into law that made it illegal for the government to negotiate drug prices with the drug companies?  We need legislative reform NOW.  With the recent Supreme Court ruling pertaining to corporate contributions to lawmakers, it\'s going to get exponentially worse.","pt":"Apr 15, 2010 09:25"},{"nm":"Chud","rs":"0","ms":"I hope there\'s something in the bill to cure the plague of paranoid conspiracy theories evidenced in these comments. Snap out of it, people; Obama is just another routinely corrupt politician, not some secret Muslim Stalinist or whatever. Would a real socialist have produced this bill, which amounts to a huge giveaway to insurance and pharma corporations? No, he would have started out pushing an NHS-style single payer system, which would have actually cut costs and provided better service to most people. Calling Obama a socialist is just nonsensical and ignorant of what socialism really is and what Obama\'s policies are, which are lame-o, DLC 3rd way centrism, boring Newsweek stuff. The rest of your resentment can be chalked up to sore loserism and unconscious racism. Anyone who liked Bush cannot be taken seriously when discussing the constitution anyway. ","pt":"Apr 15, 2010 05:51"},{"nm":"JWP in PA","rs":"0","ms":"One of the most egregious deals Obama and Rahm Emanuel made was not covered by Frontline. It was reported in NY Times Aug 13, 2009 (look it up) and not picked up by other media until a few days before the HCR bill passed in late March, nearly 8 months later. There is a passing reference to “killing to public option” but Frontline failed to cite the Times story or to put together the sequence of events in which the WH deal with health industry lobbyists involved a specific trade-away of the PUBLIC OPTION, after which Obama repeatedly speechified about the merits of the PO to &quot;keep insurers honest,&quot; knowing how popular the PO was with the public, and he used the PO to help sell the HCR bill as a whole when he knew all along the PO would never be included in the final bill. This is treachery and hypocrisy of the first order. \n\n\> Some commenters hope to see a PO (or even single payer) adopted by ballot at the state level but keep in mind the HCR bill contains a special section designed to protect private insurers from such competition which precludes the states from any ERISA waiver applications until 2017, 3 years after they will have been required to set up Exchanges. So it won\'t be soon that we see even a public option at state level. But if the HCR/Exchange mandated system doesn\'t work, at least by 2017 they will know that fact and will have the option of voting into law their own public option to be inserted on the Exchange -- or even redo their entire system as single payer. See \<a href=&quot;http://californiaonecare.org/&quot;\>http://californiaonecare.org/\<\/a\> for California\'s progress toward single payer and \<a href=&quot;http://spstates.blogspot.com&quot;\>http://spstates.blogspot.com\<\/a\> (Single Payer State by State) for what\'s going on in states all over the country working toward a PO or single payer system. \n\n\> Curious that Frontline didn’t mention the Mass. Plan of Mitt Romney which Obama proudly pointed to as a model for his own plan – after he signed the bill -- with nary a word about Mass Plan beforehand. That project is going only marginally well, with the Exchange type arrangement losing entries and premium prices rising. The media didn’t help (this means you, Frontline) by not covering Mass. Plan and comparing it to Obama’s plan. Talk about “deals,” did the newsmedia strike a silent deal with Obama to ignore the Mass Plan to make it easier for Obama’s HCR bill to pass?\n","pt":"Apr 15, 2010 04:23"},{"nm":"mimi","rs":"0","ms":"I cold not believe the Frontline accuacy of inner-networking in the current administration. Frontlne\'s presentation represented the majority of tax  paying Ameicans, and refuse the notion of re-distribution of wealth concentrations.  I could not believe the Frontline production was the heart beat of the American people.  We are a Democratic Republic---the current administrtion has hijacked fundamental American tenets of freedom--and Frontline did an outstanding job of presenting this.  Best regards, maureen ","pt":"Apr 15, 2010 04:15"},{"nm":"Daniel","rs":"0","ms":"This was Not a good Frontline. The emphasis on political headlines was terribly misguided.  Frontline never mentioned that health insurance reform is mandatory to prevent a national financial catastrophe. We are all riding on a health cost Titanic. Any chance that has bearing? Other things not mentioned included insurance companies dropping people when they make claims, exploding insurance costs, record pay for insurance CEO\'s, Wall Street and health insurance companies,  businesses dropping coverage for employees, nor anything specific about the benefits that Americans will now enjoy from reform.. including closing the medicare donut hole, added support for preventative care and check-ups, and peace of mind that they won\'t be dropped by an insurance company when you need help the most.  The show focused on one insurance industry lobbyist as if she were the only one in Washington DC.  How shallow is that? There are hundreds and hundreds of them.  Puh-lease. The show emphasized the town-hall meetings of August but completely overlooked the simple fact that half of us that were at those meetings were politely For health insurance reform. We witnessed some damn strange behaviour that looked very staged. Frontline never mentioned the &quot;kill granny&quot; and &quot;abortion mandate&quot; lies.  Frontline also failed to mention that hundreds of rallies In Favor of health insurance reform have occurred since August all over the nation. The Frontline handling of the Massachusetts senate election never mentioned that Massachusetts HAS health insurance reform! A Republican Governor signed it into law just a couple years ago. So why don\'t they want it for the nation? The answer to that would warm the heart of a cornhusker. Also  Frontline never examined the flaws of the democrat candidate.. If you\'re going to emphasize politics doesn\'t a weak candidate deserve scrutiny? This shallow Frontline was a simple rewrite of headlines from the past year. Here\'s a fact that Frontline needs to take on the chin: Having a child with a pre-existing condition alters your perceptions immensely. You live in fear of insurance companies. You live in fear of crass politics.  Maybe you don\'t care about someone else\'s child, but go back and read the first point again: health insurance reform is mandatory to prevent a national health & financial catastrophe. We deserve better from Frontline.","pt":"Apr 15, 2010 04:07"},{"nm":"mimi wheat","rs":"0","ms":"I am STUNNEd in the finest sens of compliment.  Frontline 4/15 &quot;Obama\'s Deal&quot; renewed my confidence in potential objectivity in journalism.  PBS was NOT swept up into NObama as a man of the people.  The program elucidated all the innerworkings that have left Obamam muddled in unexecuted campaign promises.  I never thought the media had the American Citizn in mind----only profit and ratings driven productions.  I was shocked to see what the majority of Americans say, but are never recognized.  I am amazed at the quality of fronline.  Best regards.  maureen","pt":"Apr 15, 2010 04:03"},{"nm":"Christine","rs":"0","ms":"Frontline has definitely tilted to the right in the last few years. They used to make really penetrating, hard-hitting pieces. No longer. This was a puff piece.","pt":"Apr 15, 2010 03:56"},{"nm":"Craig","rs":"0","ms":"I have to say that Frontline has really touched a nerve with this topic, but it is such an important topic that it needed to be dissected. Healthcare isn\'t something to be taken lightly, and the complexities and organizations and people involved demonstrated that. This documentary was just a view of the debate, not an examination of the finer points of the bill, but an inside look at much of the discussion, the opponent\'s, and the players involved who, essentially, steered us on this unlikely course. Because of the immense history health care success and failures in this country, it is very interesting to see how this happened. Thank you for a job well done!","pt":"Apr 15, 2010 03:56"},{"nm":"matt cadenelli","rs":"0","ms":"I look forward to all of the Frontline programs, as I did to this one about this very important subject. It seemed that the first half of the program was well researched and documented, and that the second half was pulled together as soon as possible after the health care bill was passed. I felt that there was little investigation into the corporate/lobbying influence that actually showed up in the final bill. I think there could be a lot more said about this and if indeed, much of that influence shown early on in the debate was left behind, it would be good to know that too. I think you could have delved further Frontline.","pt":"Apr 15, 2010 01:08"},{"nm":"Gary ","rs":"0","ms":"I agree wholeheartedly with John R above. It is obscene to think that citizens of the richest nation on earth should have to die in a ditch somewhere or go into bankruptcy because of decisions made by insurance company actuaries. And for trying to make even an incremental change in that system President Obama is portrayed as Hitler or Stalin? Please get a grip, pick up a real history book, and realize how foolish those comparisons are. ","pt":"Apr 15, 2010 00:47"},{"nm":"Rita","rs":"0","ms":"Passage of the health care bill had me dancing in the streets. Is the bill everything I had hoped for? Decidedly not. Unpalatable compromises? Yes. Still, I am rejoicing because it is a beginning, sets a direction and begins to create momentum. The firestorm of protest about this bill that erupted in late summer made me realize there is no way the comprehensive reform I hope for could be accomplished all at once. There are, apparently, still many Americans who believe we have &quot;the best health care system in the world.&quot; ?? This astonishing fact alone reveals the complexity and enormity of the education and concensus building process before us. For now, success is about increments. Thanks and congratulations to all who worked so hard to draft and pass this bill. I am SO glad the process has begun!","pt":"Apr 14, 2010 23:55"},{"nm":"Reagan Patton","rs":"0","ms":"Frontline failed to grasp the gist of this piece of \'legislation\'. This story assumes that this is reform. This was nothing more than a backroom deal that will cost the average taxpayer while rewarding the freeloaders. The insurance companies are the big winners.  What about the use of \'reconciliation\' to pass this travesty? How about the states that are filing suit and will Frontline cover that story? Why is PBS still called Public Broadcasting? The &quot;public&quot; was opposed to this illegal and unconstitutional legislation. Try to be honest, we pay for this programming.","pt":"Apr 14, 2010 23:43"},{"nm":"Michael Diakos","rs":"0","ms":" This was not a documentary! It was not an in depth investigation! It sounded like it came from the current administrations re-election commitee!  They glossed over the back room deals and bribery, and over emphasized a fanatic opposistion to what they claim is health reform.  They glossed over the Chicago style cut throat politics, claiming the opposistion cares nothing for health care reform.  The current administration sold out the Amarican people, just so they can claim a win.  We didn\'t get health care reform! We got a very bad health care bill.  It does nothing to bring down cost of care, and the winners are big business.  After this &quot;puff piece&quot;, I am forced to question anything that &quot;Frontline&quot; does as pure bias! This extreme bias makes me also question my support for PBS!","pt":"Apr 14, 2010 23:17"},{"nm":"AL","rs":"0","ms":"A cliffhanger of a story, but the ending was a little mysterious. If not a single Republican voted for the bill, and the Democrats lost one vote with Kennedy\'s seat, and yet they had enough votes to force the issue, why didn\'t they just ram it through before? This should have been fully explained. Was Obama\'s belief in bipartisanship not ended months before, with the obvious intransigence of the Republicans? Why didn\'t he ram it through before they had time to whip up all the ignorant furore?","pt":"Apr 14, 2010 23:15"},{"nm":"Gail C in MIlw","rs":"0","ms":"For many years, the health insurance has been a &quot;shell game&quot; in that HMOs have been marketed to businesses and comsumers as a magic bullet to make &quot;my&quot; health care cheaper by getting a supposedly &quot;better deal&quot; than the other guy. In recent years, the only &quot;other guys&quot; were the people who had no access to group healt insurance.  The whole thing functioned to make it look like costs were going to be reasonable, but was more show than substance.  The reform could not be postponed because it was bankrupting too many people, causing too much harm economically, because in other countries the costs of keeping their nations healthy is spread among all citizens; therefore foreign exporters have to bear less of a share of the costs than our exporters do.  Reform was desperately needed NOW even before the Republican-created recession.  Especially after opponents of reform began using outright lies in their public campaigns, I think Obama had no choice but to include backroom deals in his strategy, due to the great urgency of getting reform started NOW.  If he was sneaky if was for a necessary cause as well as a good cause.  I have worked around health care settings to know, for example, that the American legal system is strongly biased against any end-0f-life choice except fighting for every last day of survival, no matter how miserable or unwanted it was for the patient.  Even if anyone wanted to governmentally encourage people to request avoidance of heroic measures, it would take years of state legislation, court decisions, and regulatory changes to get anywhere near the attitudes of, say, Holland.  No way in the world. what a bogus claim the \'death panel&quot; comments were!.  I trust President Obama to maintain his integrity and honesty of character.  I also trust him to make wise and good decisions about when to compromise, and when not.  Gail C, in MIlwaukee","pt":"Apr 14, 2010 23:04"},{"nm":"margaret ","rs":"0","ms":"Frontline missed several of the &quot;deals&quot;---  The Louisiana purchase, the abortion executive order, and heaven knows how many more behind closed doors. I lived in Illinois for 26 years, Obama got his training from the &quot;best&quot; and learned his lessons well. ","pt":"Apr 14, 2010 23:00"},{"nm":"Noel","rs":"0","ms":"I thought this Frontline piece was balanced in its presentation and, as usual, professional and loaded with insight. However, as I watched the documentary, I was persuaded of many things,but convinced of one:  Our system of governance is fundamentally broken, and my gut suggests beyond repair. No reasonable student of American history can deny that since this country\'s inception, beneath the overarching theme of freedom, has been the constant, everpresent struggle between the Haves and Haves not.  And this latest &quot;Deal&quot; is just one more indication that the Haves typically win the day.  The Indians, the Slaves, the early coal miners, the factory workers, the child laborers, and women, etc, have all been exploited in the creation, fortification and upbuilding of America, &quot;the land of the free.&quot;  Now, in the 21st Century, as the social dividing lines become more obscure, what becomes more clear is that the real battle remains between the Haves and Haves not.  Our democractic system of governance, coupled with our capatalistic economy have congealed in worst of ways and made it possible for greed and the profit making motive to trumph all others. I have always understood this dynamic, which is why I was so hopeful for the junior Senator from the State of Illinois, who offered &quot;Change&quot; you could believe in and and suggested, &quot;Yes we can!&quot;  And while my euphoria did not lead me to believe that he could walk on water or raise the dead, it did make me believe that he was a man of his word, and that he would endeavor honestly and in earnest to do the things he campaigned on (despite the character flaw made apparent when he turned his back on his Pastor, Jeremiah Wright and his church for political expedience). How silly a fool am I?  Beyond the ramifications of the health care bill that passed, you cannot imagine how disenchanted I am to know that he could barely get his feet in the door before he start cutting deals with big business.  And when you consider the Supreme Court\'s decision to allow corporations to get involved in political ads and promotions outright, I don\'t see how we can wrest the democractic process from the Haves to even try to revamp it and strengthen it for the days to come. When you think about it, its the deal and deal making that is going to be part and parcel to this democracy\'s undoing; and I can\'t believe are very far from that outcome.","pt":"Apr 14, 2010 22:59"},{"nm":"Reagan","rs":"0","ms":"The majority of taxpayers and regular citizens of this country are opposed to this legislation. It was pushed through against the wishes of the majority of voters (that would be the taxpayer). What does that say about the way our government is being run?  What has happened to government \'of the people, by the people, for the people?\' A Frontline program that addresses the laws broken to pass this legislation is of much more of a concern to the informed and uninformed. The very survival of our country depends on an unbiased expose by some brave and honest reporting.","pt":"Apr 14, 2010 22:54"},{"nm":"Peter (Seattle)","rs":"0","ms":"Obama went into office promising universal health care, with an enthusiastic, energized majority of Americans behind him, a comfortable majority in the House, and (six months late) a filibuster-proof majority in the Senate. Yet, what he ultimately delivered to the people as healthcare reform was less egalitarian and less protective than what Nixon proposed back in 1974. It certainly remains by far the worst health insurance system of any developed country by every measure except private profitability. ***** \n\n&quot;Obama\'s Deal&quot; did a decent job of covering the &quot;process&quot; of some of the behind-the-scenes dealmaking leading up to passage of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010. Unfortunately, it largely begged the question of why all this dealmaking was necessary and why it led to yet another industry giveaway. ***** \n\nAmericans who remain committed to genuine healthcare reform (and genuine democracy, for that matter) need to realize that our government and mainstream media are too corrupt for them to prevail on the merits. They will first have to hack away at the corruption that is rigging the game against them. We need comprehensive, draconian conflict-of-interest rules for our government officials. We need to radically curtail special interests\' ability to buy or intimidate politicians through campaign contributions and independent expenditures -- Citizens United notwithstanding. We need to replace the patently unconstitutional filibuster with a time-limited means of guaranteeing minority participation in debate. We need to deconcentrate, &quot;deconglomerate,&quot; and diversify our mainstream news media, legislatively reintroduce a more vigorous Fairness Doctrine, and limit editorial influence from major advertisers. (If you ever wondered why genuine reform advocates were blackballed by the mainstream media, you need only look to the billions of dollars the pharmaceutical industry spends every year on direct-to-consumer advertising of pres\cription drugs. Speaking of which, we should simply ban DTC pres\cription-drug advertising, like every other developed country in the world, save one.) We would also do well to consider switching to a more representative, less gameable voting system, like instant runoff, so non-establishment candidates can run without being spoilers. ***** \n\nIf we fail to tackle these fundamental problems -- the &quot;one dollar, one vote,&quot; and &quot;one dollar, one voice&quot; problems -- I don\'t think we can realistically hope to overcome the opposition, which has come out of this process even stronger (richer) than before. And if that\'s not enough motivation, we are going to have to do it anyway if we want to be able to continue to pass ourselves off as a democracy. ","pt":"Apr 14, 2010 22:14"},{"nm":"Timothy James","rs":"0","ms":"The first half was insightful but he end was lacking.  I wanted to know what deals were made at the end.  Nothing about the reconciliation?  That was the most contentious part, the climax.  I truly did not know there were enough votes until the last vote came in.  There were people who new there were enough votes before the vote took place.  Who were these people?  How did they know?  What deals were made? and so on....","pt":"Apr 14, 2010 22:07"},{"nm":"Maureen","rs":"0","ms":"This was a puff piece.  If America would stop and think about what has been stolen and what that entailed, they would realize it resulted in the most detrimental threat to our free society.  This program did not represent the real low level deals that pushed till there was nothing left.  Nothing was stated about the Republicans trying to negotiate and what they were trying to represent.  PBS is a farce.  I use to contribute but will no longer give a cent because they are the mouthpiece for the social makeover of this great Country.  I often tell the callers for contributions that I do not want my tax payer dollars being used so that PBS and work for the left.  The main point that was never covered was the arm twisting of the Dem Congressional group that supported life.  If you are going to portray this crooked deal you need to represent the truth till the end.  The Dems would not support signing the bill unless they received a letter from the Sentate stating that what they wanted would be in the bill.  And by the way the use of and Executive Order for Abortion was conveniently left out and that the percentage of the Presidents popularity had dropped dramatically.  Finally the support for this bill never did or does now have the support of the majority of the American people.  Instead people are being called racist, homophobic and so many other names.  Yet PBS would never think of covering that type of bullying to dissent from the independents, republicans and some democrats.","pt":"Apr 14, 2010 21:59"},{"nm":"Nick","rs":"0","ms":"By far Frontline did an excellent job in missing the mark on the magnitude of the Obama Administration victory, choosing to dwell and the thought that a recycled view represent Middle Class America. Being in the industry myself, until you\'ve realized how misinformed the masses are about America\'s healthcare, you have no right to bash what this Administration has began. A large percentage of America have undergone bankruptcy because of this misinformation. The opposition\'s strategy to do nothing would have bankrupted this country. Funny how no one ever discusses that.","pt":"Apr 14, 2010 21:21"},{"nm":"Isabel","rs":"0","ms":"I expect so much more from Frontline. You make it sound like Washington is in trouble because they went too far with healthcare, when in fact, they didn\'t go far enough. The Republicans said NO from the start and Obama and the Democrats sold their souls to corporations. The Democrats are in trouble because they aren\'t standing for anything, shut out the Medicare For All &quot;activists&quot; (actually, those who were thrown out of the hearing are doctors), and didn\'t fight for a damn thing. The bill is a corporate giveaway. Furthermore, where are your facts? If you get rid of administrative costs from the current system, you save $400 BILLION a year, enough to cover everyone in this country. The lies and misinformation continue and the people lose. It\'s all about divide and conquer in this country. Meantime, people die and suffer. Shame on us all. ","pt":"Apr 14, 2010 20:43"},{"nm":"kerbbie","rs":"0","ms":"You make Obama seem like a nice guy.  You forgot to mention at all, that his health bill robs the American citizens of their Constitutional rights & their money.  Only a communist government like obamas would force people to buy crumby insurance.  Only a communist government like obamas would order , yes order American citizens to die , as it is written in this bill.","pt":"Apr 14, 2010 20:43"},{"nm":"acptulsa","rs":"0","ms":"You PBS folks missed what may turn out to be the pivotal point.  People, it has never cost a minimum amount just to live and breathe in this nation before.  Buy imports, yes.  Run a business, yes.  Drive, yes.  Get paid for your labor, yes.  But just to live and breathe?  Never.  Next thing you know, we\'ll be taxed for breathing.  Not that the government will try to charge us for oxygen.  Perish the  thought.  It\'ll be a carbon tax.  What has become of the land of the free?","pt":"Apr 14, 2010 19:27"},{"nm":"Bryan S.M.","rs":"0","ms":"While this episode of the excellent Frontline series does a good job of shedding light on the first three quarters of the health insurance reform debate, the closing minutes are disappointing, and not for the reasons the obviously biased Max Albert above mentions. Albert apparently didn\'t even *listen* to the last part of the program, because he would have heard about all the &quot;costs&quot; that were associated with this &quot;victory.&quot; There was no discussion of the reconciliation process used in the Senate, the side-car legislation, the anger and racism on display outside the House chambers during that final vote. Nothing.\n\nHopefully Frontline will revisit this and spend another hour on the final part of this episode.","pt":"Apr 14, 2010 19:07"},{"nm":"Hil","rs":"0","ms":"TinZing.....The Tea Party Represents Middle America.... Look what Happoned with Scott Brown!   It is not that long until Nov... You have a lot to learn.\n","pt":"Apr 14, 2010 19:04"},{"nm":"Chris Kaman","rs":"0","ms":"The healthcare reform effort was one which the contrast between opposing sides could not be greater: a choice between European style socialism, and the traditional American values of self-reliance.  The American people were bitterly divided on this, and may remain so for years.  November may be a turning point for reform.  It may well be a referendum on this one issue.   Just for the record, I like European socialism.  We should have universal healthcare, and the government should administer the insurance as it does in Medicare.  This reform package is less than what we need, and will take a lot of tweaking to make it work.  ","pt":"Apr 14, 2010 18:58"},{"nm":"Hil","rs":"0","ms":" This message to Sari that had to turn the Health Care film off...\nWhat you are saying is: agree with me or you are wrong as the President thinks!\nMy way or the highway!\nYou are not considering that the American People wanted to work on the Health Care Bill... That is why they turned out in large numbers to protest the bill.\nTHINK..........\n","pt":"Apr 14, 2010 18:57"},{"nm":"Hil","rs":"0","ms":"Good film by Frontline..\n They could have covered more of the extreme corruption to get the deal passed......As Ms Botox herself said &quot;they would go under the table over the table anything necessary&quot;to pass the bill and they did just that.\nHow could they question the results of the Nov 2010 & 2012 election.\nThey will wish they had listened to the people... They have said the people will FORGET by election time..... Wait and see..... Wait and See......","pt":"Apr 14, 2010 18:41"},{"nm":"Lee Kefauver-leekefauver@netscape.com","rs":"0","ms":"Frontline is usually so good, I was shocked that it left out the last &quot;dirty deal&quot; of the process:  The executive order limiting women\'s rights to safe, medical abortion.  Of course, over the years women\'s rights have always been considered expedient to things &quot;the boys&quot; want!","pt":"Apr 14, 2010 18:36"},{"nm":"LEH","rs":"0","ms":"When Barack Obama was a candidate running for the U.S. Presidency he held two community meetings on health care: April 3 and April 5, 2007. At the first of those two meetings he gave a very specific suggestion for how Americans can impact health care policy for which we have not yet taken action. And he specifically stated to the local reporter immediately after that meeting that he must have a &quot;mandate&quot; from the people. Although these two items of information are not in the Frontline program, Americans still have the power to act on his specific suggestion and fulfill Obama\'s requirement of a mandate from the people. Americans can know what an improved Medicare for All is and demand it in the way that Obama specified: a thousand to two thousand letters in the U.S. Mail to every U.S. Representative. The total number is roughly a million letters in the U.S. Mail. Go to www.mforall.org which takes you to www.medicareforall.org so that you can sign up. We can act on the suggestion that was given to us three years ago this month. We can and will get an improved Medicare for All. There is not the slightest doubt in my mind. But we must inform others and invite others to take action.","pt":"Apr 14, 2010 18:06"},{"nm":"Pete","rs":"0","ms":"Of all the democracies in the world there is one political party in one country that doesn\'t support universal health care.  I thought this was a decent presentation of an incredibly difficult accomplishment by President Obama.  The point that it is a DEAL - down the middle is lost on many.  More than half of the people that are dissatisfied with the bill wanted it to be stronger, and to include a public option.  The Poll figures are used in a misleading fashion by the Republican opposition in their disinformation campaign against the bill.  That should be another story on Frontline!","pt":"Apr 14, 2010 17:58"},{"nm":"Bob Haiducek, Bob the Health and Health Care Advocate","rs":"0","ms":"When Barack Obama was a candidate running for the U.S. Presidency he held two community meetings on health care: April 3 and April 5, 2007. At the first of those two meetings he gave a very specific suggestion for how Americans can impact health care policy for which we have not yet taken action. And he specifically stated to the local reporter immediately after that meeting that he must have a &quot;mandate&quot; from the people. Although these two items of information are not in the Frontline program, Americans still have the power to act on his specific suggestion and fulfill Obama\'s requirement of a mandate from the people. Americans can know what an improved Medicare for All is and demand it in the way that Obama specified: a thousand to two thousand letters in the U.S. Mail to every U.S. Representative. The total number is roughly a million letters in the U.S. Mail. Go to www.mforall.org which takes you to www.medicareforall.org so that you can sign up. We can act on the suggestion that was given to us three years ago this month. We can and will get an improved Medicare for All. There is not the slightest doubt in my mind. But we must inform others and invite others to take action.","pt":"Apr 14, 2010 17:57"},{"nm":"Nick W.","rs":"0","ms":"I thought the documentary was fairly balanced. I just wonder where is the Howard Dean extended interview considering his experience with health care as governor of Vermont. I know he was critical of the Senate bill as a huge giveaway to the insurance industry and advocated killing it at one point. I just hope the Democrats didn\'t settle for passing something they could call &quot;healthcare reform&quot; and in fact passed a monstrosity that\'s going to result in higher premiums for everyone and little competition time to put your money in insurance health stocks, anyone?). The public option made the most sense to me as an actor in the marketplace to drive down prices. Why do we ignore the lessons of countries with universal health care and continue to support a system that only is good for the rich? Most Americans are not rich and it\'s only getting worse. Most Americans have no historical or institutional memory and this makes them very easily manipulated by the right or left. Both extremes are worthless hatemongers that are bringing destruction down on the majority of Americans.","pt":"Apr 14, 2010 17:54"},{"nm":"A Penn","rs":"0","ms":"\nI also take exception with the documentary\'s omission of Nancy Pelosi\'s role, and reducing it to this one, probably unusual moment, making it look as she were obstructing the bill with some form of defeatism.  I agree with the observation that this is a good example of sexism in action, however unwitting on the part of the production team.  As Sari said, women getting written out.  And in this case, a woman who obviously played a very significant role in moving the bill through.\n\nIt was good to see the single payer demonstration included.  I thought the piece, however, could have delved into that issue much more.  For example, the documentary reduced the Massachusetts win to a vague sort of &quot;unhappiness&quot; over the bill, allowing the Republican representative to shoplift (so to speak) that national reaction as a public sympatico with their camp.  Quite the contrary, Americans were outraged, particularly on the left, to see the Medicare model and the public option discarded and defeated, and, feeling greatly betrayed by the admininistration, allowed the dogs from the right to go for it.  The message was, quite clearly, &quot;Who do you guys think put you in office?  Remember us?&quot;\n\nIt was an interesting piece in that it had a different (and somewhat refreshing take) on Rahm Emanuel who is often tiresomely (I find) demonized, and also touched on some of the key turning points.  I think it captured President Obama\'s genuine interest and commitment to this issue.  But I think it was very flawed in missing these other major points on the journey, the public sentiments on Medicare and the public option, and why things happened the way they did, when the American people saw the administration was not going to deliver as promised.  It was also rather sensationalistic and commercial, and as a viewer, I distrust that.  They were also a little too kind to some of the players, like Karen I., and completely ignored the health insurance industry\'s ties to the tea bag movement.\n\nPeople still have very little information about the bill and how it will impact on their lives.  I think the expansion of the safety net is positive.  But personally, I do not want to be forced to buy a product from companies that have been, virtually, murdering Americans and getting rich off health care profiteering.\n\nHealth care is a human right, and all people deserve the same quality of medical care whatever their socioeconomic background.  \n\nIt is a moral issue.  It\'s about basic decency and joining the rest of the westernized, civilized world in the 21st century.  Financially, it\'s common sense.  They should just open up Medicare to all Americans, now.\n","pt":"Apr 14, 2010 17:07"},{"nm":"Mark Hannay","rs":"0","ms":"The program was interesting in that it provided an &quot;insiders\' view&quot; of what went down.  However, it only told half the story.  The other half left untold that actually helped make health care reform happen concerned the activities of all the proponents on the &quot;outside&quot;, from inside-the-beltway all the way down to thousands of local communities.  It was a synergistic and symbiotic effort between the insiders and the outsiders -- neither side would have won without the other.  I have no doubt that President Obama, Speaker Pelosi, and Majority Leader Reid would have either dropped the hole matter entirely or dramatically scaled it back at several points over the past year had it not been for on-going pressure from the grassroots and thousands of local events targeted at Senators and members of Congress all across the country.  This would prove excellent material for a Part II for this initial documentary, and tell the complete story, rather than just half of it.  Health care reform wasn\'t just &quot;Obama\'s Deal&quot; -- it was America\'s Deal.","pt":"Apr 14, 2010 17:05"},{"nm":"Mark","rs":"0","ms":"I\'ve looked at a few of the blog responses to this piece and I have to disagree with those who say this piece was tilted toward the &quot;Left&quot;. Given the amount of time (television time)I believe they covered as much as they could. Yes, I agree that it was a &quot;rushed&quot; piece, but I have to say it was also a revealing piece. Legislation is a process between people and people have agendas. Perhaps they could have done more if they were able to get 3 hours instead of 1. Nonetheless, I appreciate what was presented. Here is something to consider about politicians. They (politicians) are not &quot;corrupt&quot;. They give us what we want and we want a lot in this country. Perhaps they are only as &quot;corrupt&quot; as we are?","pt":"Apr 14, 2010 17:02"},{"nm":"Mike","rs":"0","ms":"Poor documentary.  Nothing on the ugly way the entire obamanation of a bill came to be.  Where was the truth?  The entire thing stopped without even explaining how the dirty bill got signed?  What\'s up Frontline?  You told a story about ugly sellouts...did you sellout too on the truth?","pt":"Apr 14, 2010 16:51"},{"nm":"Marc","rs":"0","ms":"I watched this program twice last night, and I am simply horrified at the level in which Corporations are involved with the creation of any bill that deals with the health (or any living/societal/need) of the American People.  Corporations have only Profit in their interests, and product is secondary only in that it provides for profit.  For the health insurance corporations, the product unfortunately requires payment of medical bills after collection of membership fees.  Profit is maximized by maximizing fees and minimizing payments.\n\nThe government appears to primarily respond to the needs of Corporations rather than those of us common people.  This problem is not new to modern America:  Thomas Jefferson warned in 1812, &quot;I hope we shall crush in its birth the aristocracy of our moneyed corporations, which dare already to challenge our government to a trial of strength and bid defiance to the laws of our country.&quot;  Today, corporations are not only defying our current laws, but they are also now writing them for us.  Nothing like mandating profit.\nCorporations are supposed to be controlled by a functioning, democratic government- only to assure that ethical behavior is maintained, and no one is getting hurt.  Today, corporations censor our political candidates:  if they like their stance, they get funding and access to debates and media, and if they don\'t the candidate is never heard from again.  Then, we are still allowed to vote on those candidates.  Once in office, they do the corporations\' bidding.\n\nHow can we fix this serious fault?\n1) Prevent all lobbyists from seeing the inside of Congress.  Free speech an issue?  Corporations can &quot;free speech&quot; all they want to We the People, and then we can take it to Our Government, if we think it is important.\n2) If an issue appears that affects an industry / market segment, they can in-person discuss the issue in Congress, IN OPEN FORUM.  The back-room deals, wheeling and dealing needs to be prohibited.\n3) Public financing of all candidates for office:  politicians are accountable to those that fund their campaign.  Only this money is to be used for any campaign work, and no incumbent resources are to be used.  If We the People fund them, they are only accountable to us.\n\nScrap the health care bill:  it is just a give away for health insurance and Big Pharma. There is nothing like mandating membership to non-competitive programs.\n\nWelcome to the United Corporations of America!","pt":"Apr 14, 2010 16:35"},{"nm":"Bob Haiducek, Bob the Health and Health Care Advocate","rs":"0","ms":"Kit (Apr 14 at 12:49): perhaps it does not matter what was done by Obama or Pelosi or anyone else. Legislation as important as this needs the support of over 67% in the U.S. House and the same in the U.S. Senate in order to do what is right for the citizens, the businesses, the jobs and the country. We need to inform Americans and invite them to take action. www.mforall.org","pt":"Apr 14, 2010 14:59"},{"nm":"Nate","rs":"0","ms":"Both sides of this issue are at least partially, if not mostly, represented by petulant, stubborn, power hungry politicos. Those who are so certain who the bad guys are and what will work best in terms of healthcare for this country have blinded themselves. The President\'s plan is not a good one. Big pharma and the insurance companies\' plans are not good ones. The Senate and house plans are not good. Where does that leave us? We need more shows like Frontline to expose the sickly condition of our government. I came away with no impression about the President or The Republican Party being better than one another, or more right than the other. I came away with a very real sense of how convoluted and evil American politics really are. Of this I was already aware, but the public needs to be reminded and refreshed so as not to fall victim to propaganda. As usual, well done Frontline.","pt":"Apr 14, 2010 14:55"},{"nm":"Deborah Cohen","rs":"0","ms":"This documentary was a big dud. I agree with many other posters that it omitted a multitude of sins. Particularly vexing to me was how you covered candidate Obama\'s promise that ALL ideas and options would be considered, but failed to note that he reneged on that promise from the very start. From the get-go, an expanded Medicare For All Single-Payer plan, favored by many Americans - including many doctors and nurses, was excluded from consideration. No Single-Payer advocates were allowed a seat at what President Obama proudly touted as an all inclusive table. (Yes, you did show health-care reform activists standing up, speaking out, and being arrested at a Baucus committee meeting, but didn\'t follow through with any administration or Congressional official responding to their grievance.) He sold us out before a single committee met or any Congressional debate had begun. I am as angry, disgusted and disappointed by the dishonest process that played out in the passing of this so-called reform legislation as any Tea-Party member at the opposite end of the political spectrum. It may be a political success for President Obama and the Democrats in the short-term but it\'s long-term failure for the American people who\'d counted on meaningful health-care reform and change we could believe in. If nothing else, in balance to the congratulatory presentation of this legislation\'s passage, it might have been helpful to have included statements from opponents both on the Right and the Left, explaining why they believe this legislation will not work. \n\nD. Cohen\nEvanston, IL","pt":"Apr 14, 2010 14:49"},{"nm":"Mike","rs":"0","ms":"Had Obama\'s deal not gone through, would Frontline have documented the failure? Will Frontline cover the resulting carnage this bill imposes upon the Democratic Party in November?  ","pt":"Apr 14, 2010 14:40"},{"nm":"LDW","rs":"0","ms":"I was very disappointed in the Frontline program last evening. If ever someone was trying to \'make a silk purse out of a sow\'s ear\', this was it, but I don’t think it should be Frontline’s job to make excuses for Obama, or to act as his political spin doctor.\n\nI think the Obamacare legislation is largely a failure because it doesn\'t fix or even address the major problems of profiteering and looting, primarily by the Drug and Insurance Industries, which plague the American Healthcare system. I think the whole drafting of the legislation proved that Obama\'s loyalties are firmly on the side of the Drug and Insurance industries, and that he showed a callous disregard for the problems of ordinary Americans.\n\nMany feel that this bill is better than nothing, but I think the bill\'s provisions to force young, healthy, low-risk Americans to give money to the Insurance Industry are harsh and immediate, and provisions to force the Insurance Industry to provide affordable insurance to everyone are weak and unenforceable. Where Obama once talked about reducing healthcare costs, he now speaks only about controlling the escalation of costs. Worse, neither Obama nor any government spokesperson seems to be able to explain clearly to Americans what this legislation is all about, and I think that part of their problem is that a clear explanation would show that this legislation benefits the Drug and Insurance industries much, much more than it benefits average Americans.\n","pt":"Apr 14, 2010 14:38"},{"nm":"Kaj","rs":"0","ms":"I agree with a previous message that this particular story was very politically tilted and one sided. Typically frontline does and excellent job in their stories, this one is the exception. Being recent history, the many details that are missing are fresh in people\'s minds. A do over is in order. As David Gergen said that while not ideal, this is how things get done in Washington, if they did as the Clinton\'s then it would not have passed at all. This story makes it appear that there is far more sinister motives at play, just the kind Fox news like to see. I believe current health care is unsustainable, actually in crisis, especially seeing the largest segment of the population &quot;baby boomers&quot; aging. I\'m very happy that health care bill was passed into law, as Obama said while no one is truly happy, it\'s a necessary first step. However he accomplished this in the currently hostile congressional environment is what he had to do to HELP americans. I am hoping changes will continue for the next 20 years. Hopefully sometime in the future we will see a public option, which had no support in the current congress. In the end Obama had to make incredible concessions to get the ball rolling to help americans, but I certainly believe that is will help ALL americans, old, young and in between. I like Frontline because you aren\'t fox news, you typically give both sides, and are very informative. Fox likes to insinuate without facts as this story did. If you turn into fox I will, as I believe most others will, turn you off, and stop donating to PBS.","pt":"Apr 14, 2010 14:35"},{"nm":"Michael Fox","rs":"0","ms":"I have enjoyed Frontline over the years, and was very disappointed with this piece. Yes, there has been a &quot;Left&quot; bias with Frontline before, but usually in-depth solid coverage. To have a show entitled &quot;Obama\'s Deal&quot; and not even mention Reconcilliation, Abortion Executive Order, and the Nationalization of the Sudent Loan Program- terming only it as a &quot;messy&quot; process- was an incredible white-wash. It\'s fine to be a supporter of Obama and his administration- but the show shed little real light on the deals that were made to make passing of the bill happen.","pt":"Apr 14, 2010 14:25"},{"nm":"Sammy","rs":"0","ms":"This is the first time I\'ve seen a Frontline report that was so lacking in details and facts.  Not even half of the story was told during the presentation.  Do over is required on this piece to salvage Frontline\'s reputation. ","pt":"Apr 14, 2010 13:39"},{"nm":"Dave","rs":"0","ms":"Where was the transparency he promised time and time again during his campaign and after he was elected. Closed door meetings with union leaders. No CSPAN coverage of the debates. He and his King and Queen of the houses really pulled out every stop to get this passed. I\'m surprised a liberal media show like this (Frontline and PBS) even said anything negative about the process. This usurpation of freedom and liberty  disguised as a good thing is going to ruin healthcare. But even worse, it\'s going to dampen the economy and really just extend the federal government power and control over us.    ","pt":"Apr 14, 2010 13:10"},{"nm":"David Crutchfield","rs":"0","ms":"It was the most politically tilted Frontline piece I\'ve ever seen.  I have grudgingly accepted that PBS is on the liberal, sometime far liberal side of the political spectrum.  However, I still appreciate some of the information that\'s unearthed, such as the great coverage of then Senator Obama and Senator McCain during the last Presidential election, or the fine investigative reporting on WalMart.  \n\nI therefore wonder- this is the most even-handed you could make this piece?  In an America of roughly 40% Moderates, 40% Conservative, and 20% Liberals, this was as balanced a rendering of this topic you could create?   Month after month, poll after poll, a majority of America makes it clear that they\'re oppossed to this legislation (not health care reform- this legislation).  Yet, you find room for plenty of footage for the Nazi/Hilter extremes- but nothing about citizens labeled &quot;racist&quot; or &quot;domestic terrorist&quot; (in the words of Representative Baron Hill)?  There\'s no room for PBS\' own Juan Williams from his 4/2/10 Wall Street Journal piece, &quot;...it is insulting to all voters to suggest that criticism of President Obama, even by the people who want to throw him out of office, is motivated by racism.&quot;?\n\nWe\'re not to hear from Dr. Jeffery Flier of Harvard, advising this legislation will cost us more, not less?  Nothing of the questionable legal merit of the executive order that reaped the needed anti-abortion votes in the House?  The Louisiana purchase?  The lack of the promised transparency for the whole process to the whole public?  The inapplicability of the legisation to Congress?  The participation of the AMA and the AARP in the backroom deals?  The legal questionabilities of a &quot;right&quot; to health care and being forced by Federal law to purchase it?  The near complete avoidance in tackling the most commonly cited problem:  lack of pricing transparency?  Nothing about enhancing free-market competition?  or legal reform?\n\nThere is a profound, desperate need in our country to hear both sides of the story, any story, every story, within a single piece.  I wish Frontline could be that source.  That, would put the &quot;public&quot; back in Public Television (and make it worth a donation).    \n \n\n                  ","pt":"Apr 14, 2010 13:08"},{"nm":"Pam Chalkley","rs":"0","ms":"I would love to see a follow-up to this: how this bill will affect our economy, who will really pay for this (businesses that employ fewer than 300). I have studied this bill at length, and much of it has received no coverage by the media. For instance, there are tax credits for small businesses; however, if the business owner makes more than $20,000/year, the business loses part or all of those credits (section 1421). For most families, $20,000/year is below poverty level!","pt":"Apr 14, 2010 12:54"},{"nm":"M Sirnick","rs":"0","ms":"Even PBS/Frontline had trouble putting a positive spin on Obamacare.  First - insurance was in the room, physicians weren\'t.  Second - no public option as a result of the insurance lobby - love that HOPE and CHANGE.  Third - barely a mention of the public outrage over Obamacare, and when it was mentioned, one of the so called \'pundits\' remarks [they were so angry guns were fallling out of their clothes/pockets] - REALLY?  GUNS? - love to see the proof on that claim.  Fourth - the Obama Ad was seeking a bi-partisan policy - REALLY?  During Obama\'s 10 minutes in Congress he NEVER \'reached across the aisle\' - repeat NEVER, so where was the effort to \'reach across the aisle\' on Obamacare?  Answer - there wasn\'t one and if you count the circus stunt summit, then you really are sold on Obama\'s koolaid.  Sixth - why were Washington Post, NY Times and a SEIU member being interviewed?  Was that the best chance at finding support for Obamacare?  Where was the Wall Street Journal or any other CREDIBLE opinion?  Lastly - NOT one mention on how the deal was passed with regards to RECONCILIATION - they very same tactics the Democrats used to ram Social Security and Medicare down our collective throats - both policies/programs are BANKRUPT and a complete financial failure!!!  ","pt":"Apr 14, 2010 12:53"},{"nm":"Kit","rs":"0","ms":"Not bad but seriously missed the end game, which was about Pelosi picking up the flag, and about reconciliation. As I understand it, Obama -- following Rahm\'s advice -- was ready to fold after the MA election and maybe try for some piecemeal effort. Pelosi stood up to him and Rahm and told him to get some spine. She said she would get the House to swallow the defective Senate bill by at least allowing some changes through reconciliation.  The show gives a completely different take, as if it were Obama who told Pelosi to buck up.  What\'s that about?  ","pt":"Apr 14, 2010 12:49"},{"nm":"Robert Goode","rs":"0","ms":"I\'m ASTOUNDED that Frontline presented the town hall shouters of August as some kind of grassroots uprising. That may have been 1% true, but there was NO mention of the Dick Armey groups (Freedom Works) and others who bussed in a lot of these &quot;protestors&quot;, and handed out talking points as to how to properly disrupt the meetings, and confront the congress people. Nor was there any mention that, even if they were legitimate, there was NO allowance of a give and talk discussion. Normally, a huge and longtime fan, I am genuinely disappointed in Frontline\'s presentation.","pt":"Apr 14, 2010 12:48"},{"nm":"Larry Brown","rs":"0","ms":"Frontline somehow left out the fact that public opinion polls showed Obamacare was overwhelmingly opposed by the voters. Could that have been a factor in why Mr. Obama had such a tough time getting his bill passed?  According to Frontline the election of Scott Brown to the U.S. Senate from Massachusetts was not the voter\'s rejection of Obamacare but a rejection of a corrupt political process. Right!  ","pt":"Apr 14, 2010 12:24"},{"nm":"fred.thomas3@fredyt123.com","rs":"0","ms":"The journey of a thousand miles starts with the first step.","pt":"Apr 14, 2010 11:39"},{"nm":"jd","rs":"0","ms":"Well done.  No two hour show could capture the complete story.  I suspect several books and more shows will come in future years.  Thirty years from now analysts will look back and have a different perspective just as we do today of the changes wrought by FDR and Johnson.  But all-in-all I would say this was reasonably balanced and as others remarked a view into &quot;sausage making&quot; that goes on in Washington.  \n\nWhat I cannot fathom is the negativity to the program from the general public.  I suspect many (most) don\'t actually understand what is in the bill.  Our medical payment system in the US is broken.  This may not be the perfect solution, but at least it is a start.  To those who say the government should not be involved in health care; you should examine Medicare and Medicaid.  To those who say they should not be forced to buy insurance; don\'t get sick, or if you do, don\'t go to the emergency room expecting your taxes to bail you out.  To those working for companies who provide you insurance; wait and see what impact will come from the new plan.  ","pt":"Apr 14, 2010 11:33"},{"nm":"Carl Clingman","rs":"0","ms":"I thought it was a great piece. I\'ve worked in the healthcare industry my whole professional life and I knew the insurance industry and pharmaceutical companies would mobilize their lobbyist and open their vast war chests to defeat or water down any healthcare bill. I knew this  because I\'ve watch these two industries kill people for simple greed. The criticism below from other respondents as to why the Tea Party furor is not addressed is this: The insurance and pharmaceutical lobby created a  public relations arm that fed these otherwise well-meaning Americans a slough of lies and misinformation. They probably helped organize the Tea Party itself. Too many Americans fall way too easy for the lies and BS organized and propagated by these special interests. The real shame is measures that are actually great for the country get attacked by constituents who are just too gullible or misinformed by convincing reps (mouth pieces) hired by the special interest\'s lobbying firms. Read Robert Kaiser\'s book, Just So Damn Much Money, and you will see that what happened to the Healthcare bill is nothing unusual, but it is criminal. How can we hold these greedy players accountable? ","pt":"Apr 14, 2010 11:18"},{"nm":"ptu","rs":"0","ms":"I think it was wrong for Frontline to omit Obama\'s performance at the Republican retreat in Baltimore.  I believe this reflected a real sea-change in the White House\'s approach to Health Care.  Obama managed to change the media narrative from -- Scott Brown kills health care -- to -- Obama masterfully answers substantive objections from Republican caucus.  It signaled that he was willing to fight.  I think this was a glaring omission.","pt":"Apr 14, 2010 11:02"},{"nm":"Jane","rs":"0","ms":"Interesting how the documentary forgot the &quot;historic&quot; use of women\'s reproductive rights as a bargaining chip, and the executive order that was signed without the fanfare and press designed to satisfy Stupak.  Also, a more skilled, experienced politician could have pushed through the public option. Obama\'s  experience as a half term senator didn\'t prepare him for this, and his learning curve has rested on the backs of American citizens. This health care reform has absolutely nothing to do with &quot;health care&quot; reform, and very little to do with insurance reform either. It is not historic. It is a sorry piece of garbage and a far cry from what might have been. \nsigned from a health care worker ","pt":"Apr 14, 2010 11:01"},{"nm":"Vic Anderson","rs":"0","ms":"The Obama regime IS the BS (Bush Shadow) government.","pt":"Apr 14, 2010 10:30"},{"nm":"Al","rs":"0","ms":"President Obama is a leader and he is doing his job as a leader. Many are blinded by the concerned of those few who continue to manipulate the masses for their own sake for power and control. They are the ones who are constantly keeping their pockets full and not willing to share the wealth they have gained from the common people. Don\'t be fooled, they\'re desire is to do what they have done in the past i.e. hold America hostage to their pockets. Where were all these voices when the finances were being abused in the past. They were enjoying the benifits of that abuse.  If their fighting for something it is all about them. The health care bill is for everyone and that\'s the problem.","pt":"Apr 14, 2010 10:07"},{"nm":"Laura","rs":"0","ms":"I just love how the producers used many black and white photos of Pres. Obama that were encased in shadows, in order to portray him as a shadowy character. It was also a bewilderment to see the producers interview Grassley and Hatch--two of the worst opponents of HCR--who only offered negative comments about what happened. Why weren\'t any supporting Democrats interviewed? Also, in the documentary the &quot;Corn Husk&quot; agreement was mentioned, but the documentary failed to show that for 13 hours Republicans tried to get their own deals into the bill, as well. Anybody can pull the footage from C-Span to watch the Republicans at work. The documentary is HORRIBLE, because it only shows one point of view; a slanted one. To the producers of Frontline-your work is slipping. ","pt":"Apr 14, 2010 09:55"},{"nm":"Roy Hunt","rs":"0","ms":"Your story failed to disclose the use of &quot;reconciliation&quot; as a method to get the health care bill passed.  I believe this omission was not a careless oversight, but deliberate effort to paint history according to the PBS liberal bias.\n\nRoy Hunt\nMesa Arizona","pt":"Apr 14, 2010 09:35"},{"nm":"Julie Bond-Meers","rs":"0","ms":"Watched with trepidation, worried that it was going to be, as advertised, a \'hit piece\' on Obama, but it was a true overview of the messy business of democracy. Well done, Frontline! Yes, it may hurt Democrats in the short run ~ and that will be a shame, but over time folk will realize what a good and decent thing was done with this healthcare reform, as they did with Social Security and Medicare. Bravo!","pt":"Apr 14, 2010 08:48"},{"nm":"Marty Sullivan","rs":"0","ms":"An interesting view of &quot;sausage&quot; making in Washington. I found the documentary very centered on just Washington power players and very disparaging of the protests. The documentary failed to mention and explain why 55% of the public does not support the bill(s). ","pt":"Apr 14, 2010 08:46"},{"nm":"John Reineke","rs":"0","ms":"The entire tone of the piece has a definite right-wing bias. Why no mention of the racism, hatred, violence of the tea party demonstration during that summer, only that they were angry at the bill? Frontline should have asked WHY?! Why were they so insanely angry at a government trying to secure health care for themselves and their children? Why Because the right-wing is in the insurance companies pockets and they transmit that information to their wing-nut base through propaganda. No rebuttal to all the lies Fox and Sarah Palin spread to their base about &quot;death panels&quot; and &quot;it will kill your grandmother&quot;? How about how no Republican politician stood up and denounced such lies, hence endorsing it in the minds of their constituents?\nHow about starting out with a discussion on how we NEEDED healthcare reform in the first place. How almost everyone agreed that insurance companies were getting out of control and basically killing people for withholding care, care that their doctors were demanding be approved! There\'s your death panels for you. Democrats gave into the insurance companies, are you kidding me? This may not have been as comprehensive as they would have liked but it at least took SOME power out of the insurance companies hands (the biggest being: removing pre-existing conditions clauses, extending parents health care to include their older children and insurance companies can no longer cut someone off just because the get sick--how novel!).","pt":"Apr 14, 2010 08:45"},{"nm":"Paul","rs":"0","ms":"Sari apparently didn\'t watch the same documentary I did. Sari, remember that part where Obama made a deal with the insurance companies to force us to buy insurance inorder to get their support?","pt":"Apr 14, 2010 08:32"},{"nm":"EPQC","rs":"0","ms":"President Obama rode into the White House on a wave of public support promising &quot;Change&quot;. But just from the last couple of FRONTLINE specials, all I can see is business as usual in the West Wing and the Hill. I can\'t understand why the outrage when he was told &quot;You Lie&quot;. Last time I checked our troops aren\'t home. He campaigned day in and day out that the first thing he would do is bring our troops back, instead he redeployed them to Afghanistan and renamed their titles in Iraq to Trainers and Liaisons. What of bipartisanship, passing a law with 0 republican votes completely disregarding his promise of a 5 day review of the bill it was passed on a Sunday evening and signed that Tuesday morning.  I used to be a democrat now I really have started to challenge my religious affiliations. I was hoping to see some change in this administration but all I saw was &quot;Maintaining the status quo&quot;. What it took for Obama to pass this health care bill is discounting. Backroom deals with the Pharmaceutical and Insurance lobbies killing our &quot;public option&quot;.  Covering Nebraska\'s $100M raise in Medicaid by the Federal Government. Why only Nebraska? Like one of the commentaries in the show &quot;Prostitution has been legalized in Washington&quot; Our president resulted in giving democrats anything and everything in order to vote on this bill. With bipartisanship out the window and with Obama having to buy DEMOCRATS how good of a president is he. He went back on his promises and for what, to take out our option to choose, maintain the pharmaceutical companies hold on HIGH prices,  and insure that insurance companies become even richer by making it illegal not to have insurance.  ","pt":"Apr 14, 2010 08:25"},{"nm":"Sari","rs":"0","ms":"Your documentary took an interesting tack -- &quot;how&quot; the bill was done.  But, if this was your tack, it is disturbing that you did not feature the work of Speaker Pelosi -- without her, the bill would have failed. This is how history is written -- and writes out the women. However, my faith in Obama\'s humane values is bolstered by your documentary.\n\nThough I supported a public option, I am delighted, amazed(!), that there is now a foundation for health care for all, ending the worst abuses by corporations, and covering the most vulnerable: the poor, elderly, and young, while being helpful to small businesses.\n\nEarly on, if the media had carefully covered the content of the bill, rather than the  drama, there may not have been so much fear on the part of poor and middle-class republicans -- people who will benefit enormously by a federally regulated health plan.","pt":"Apr 14, 2010 08:13"},{"nm":"Peter Bonoff","rs":"0","ms":"Revere America. It\'s past time.","pt":"Apr 14, 2010 07:54"},{"nm":"John David","rs":"0","ms":"The new healthcare bill should not charge a &quot;penalty&quot; for those who do not have health insurance. Instead it should raise taxes for everyone and then offer a deduction for those who paid health insurance premiums. This would put the bill squarely in the same legal box as the home mortgage deduction. It would be legally uncontestable. As it stands, I think there is a good possibility it will be declared unconstitutional.","pt":"Apr 14, 2010 07:38"},{"nm":"Richard Salazar","rs":"0","ms":"I thought the story was highly biased from the Republican perspective.  The story didn\'t show how the town hall protests were originally manufactured by right wing groups such as &quot;Freedomworks&quot;(headed by Dick Armey).  There was no mention of the fact that the Republicans in both branches of congress never intended to negotiate in good faith (where were the statements by Jin DeMint before the debates even started). There were other omissions also.","pt":"Apr 14, 2010 07:18"},{"nm":"oakland","rs":"0","ms":"Obama is no Democrat, and his corporate administration has FDR spinning in his grave.  Obama had a choice between Wall Street and Main Street, and he threw Americans under the bus in favor of the banks that destroyed this country.  Now that he is done driving another nail into the middle class and celebrating his corporate welfare health care bill, next on his agenda is the destruction of Social Security and the public schools.  Obama and Duncan are going to turn every school district into the Chicago public schools, even if it kills public education in every corner of America.   There\'s no happier neoliberal than a neoliberal busily engaged in war while dismantling every American value that make\'s America America.  I voted for Obama in 08, but I won\'t make the same mistake in 2012.   The Obamabots are as big a threat to this country as the tea baggers.  ","pt":"Apr 14, 2010 07:12"},{"nm":"Allen","rs":"0","ms":"I tried my hardest to watch what appeared to be an informative documentary. Instead, I found myself too distracted by the soft-focus, tilt-and-shift software fakery applied to almost every otherwise storytelling photograph. There was absolutely no need for it. I had to turn the show off after twenty minutes.","pt":"Apr 14, 2010 06:35"},{"nm":"Pat","rs":"0","ms":"I love Canada.","pt":"Apr 14, 2010 05:37"},{"nm":"Lynn in WA state","rs":"0","ms":"We are in America and not in some European mess of a country because our ancestors fought a revolution to win freedom and many people came here to get away from European ways.  In this story it was said that &quot;in the summer the protests reached the boiling point&quot;.  The boiling point will be in November when we vote the democrats out for not listening to the loudest protest since Viet Nam.  The people are to have their say in a republic.  They could have tried harder to find out why so many are against it instead of telling people to shut up and shit down in town hall meetings.  Our government is being crushed under the weight of it\'s own cost!  It\'s scary when democrats say this is just the beginning.  The VA, Medicare, Medicaid, are such good programs that we want the government to do some more?  Don\'t tell me Medicare fraud will be a thing of the past since government is taking over.  Government was who was in charge of Medicare. Medical bills went up drastically in the 70\'s to pay for malpractice insurance. I think I remember a lot of boomers getting out of college in those days with no jobs.  Yet there is no torte reform. Don\'t be fooled; President Obama is not trying to control health care costs.  He is using this as an excuse to raise taxes and increase the size of federal government.  President Obama blamed Congress for the back door politics and claimed he had no control over what Congress did. It seems like he had control while he held his pointy finger at Congress when he told Nancy Pelosi to just get it done.  That should have been included in this story.  Was Frontline trying too hard to be objective?  Someone said if you control the public\'s health, you control them.  Was it Marx?  Do we want our healthcare decisions based on the weight of some statistical study on effectiveness of treatment for the greatest number of people as per a government decision?  If your health, body, or situation is different from that, good luck.  Don\'t people know that there is already peer review and medical audit? Yet the government and it\'s weighty beauracracy now needs to be involved. I\'m skeptical about this bill helping my 40 year old, disabled, and very poor son who does indeed receive his health care prepaid by the government.  The government broke their promise that his care would be based on his individual needs.  As soon as prepaid took over from pay for service, those services were diminished greatly because the service providers were pressured to think about the costs. Those service providers are all government employees and pressured no matter how much they wish that they could provide for my son. When I was raising children, we didn\'t have health insurance; I made payments.  No one put me in jail for trying, even in the winter when my husband was unemployed.  The drug companies have programs for gifting the poor with medication and doctors can give samples.  Friends can help a little sometimes too. You can loose your home to health care costs or you can loose your home for other reasons, a business failing, or too much credit card debt with all that free money, or by buying a home too expensive for you because the banks are told by the government to increase the amount of home loans so they have to lower the loan requirements.  You can\'t eliminate risks. From my experience with my son, his illness couldn\'t be worse. I have to fight beauracracy for a minimum of services and pay for some things myself. I am grateful for what he does receive from the taxpayers because he truly cannot care for himself. So I know that if this thing gets it\'s teeth into us, people will be surprised with the quality of health care they end up with in America and with no jobs to supplement their medical needs. The government could do better by the taxpayers than this particular bill, and tried harder to protected the quality of health care and jobs in America. And if you watched the healthcare debate unfold in the news, realize that the news media are as biased as they come.   ","pt":"Apr 14, 2010 04:38"},{"nm":"Brian","rs":"0","ms":"This was an excellent documentary, fair and well-presented.  As a Canadian who followed the US health care debate closely, it`s a terrific summation of what happened throughout, a process which produced a parody of a health care reform bill.  Clearly in order to produce something they could label a “health care bill”, Democrats sold the farm to the insurance and pharmaceutical industries.\n\nThe tendency by some to accept and excuse corrupt deal-making and legislative bribery because “they all do it” always bothers me because it implies that we should not hold politicians accountable for bad behavior.  That people expect bad behavior does not mean that they should accept it.  They should certainly be disgusted in this case, because Obama campaigned quite specifically on bringing back transparency and accountability to Washington, and pledged not to engage in the backroom deal-making that had taken place before him.  Barack Obama has no standing to criticize Billy Tauzin or those who cut deals with him previously given his own willingness to deal with him over putting the public’s interest first.","pt":"Apr 14, 2010 03:17"},{"nm":"Yaj","rs":"0","ms":"I think Obama is a good person who has the American people\'s best interest at heart, but I think his role as the American President has gotten the best of him at times and he\'s lost some control of the situation by allowing others to make decisions for him. He is human. I admire him even more for admitting to his mistakes. I don\'t understand how you can watch this video and believe that Obama is an evil culprit behind all these backdoor schemes trying to turn America into a &quot;socialist country&quot;. First of all, it was a Republican (Max Baucus) who cut a back door deal with the health insurance companies, NOT Obama. It\'s corporations like the health insurance companies who have power beyond even the President to change legislation. As it clearly stated, Obama never wanted there to be a mandate for all Americans to buy healthcare insurance, it was the interest of the health insurance companies who wanted there to be a mandate written into the plan and the interest of the drug companies to have keep drugs at a fairly high price. If anything, I think people should be more angry and outrage at the corporations who weasel their for-profit interests into legislation. I don\'t think America needs change, I think American politicking needs change.","pt":"Apr 14, 2010 02:53"},{"nm":"David Best","rs":"0","ms":"This was a terrific program.  I sensed political neutrality in the coverage, and appreciate having the naked truth of Washington insider knife fights exposed.   \n\nLike many Americans, I am frustrated by both the process and the outcome of the health care reform efforts.   Although I\'m in agreement with the notion that a nation as successful and capable as the United States should insure every American is provided with basic health care coverages and services, I detest how we got here, and do not believe that we have achieved &quot;reform&quot; in any serious regard.  I have looked at the tea party uprisings in America with disdain and looked on in horror at how polarized we have become.  Yet I also believe we should throw the whole Washington insider lot out and bring into lawmaking people who will put the interests of the American people first, and stop trying to protect their political careers and the interests of big Pharma, Insurance and health care providers.  We seem to have totally lost our ability to &quot;do the right thing&quot; in Washington.\n\nOne minor beef with the program:  I have the feeling that someone in the production staff recently fell in love with the &quot;blur&quot; filter in Photoshop.  Selective focus has it\'s place, and as a professional photographer I use it a lot.   But this program takes the technique to a level beyond what\'s required and engaging, and the result is numbing.   ","pt":"Apr 14, 2010 02:51"},{"nm":"Hubert Gesenhues","rs":"0","ms":"\n\nBusinesses buy health insurance with  BEFORE-TAX  dollars (a significant income tax advantage) while  individuals buy health insurance with  AFTER-TAX dollars (a significant income tax penalty).\n\nWill individuals now be able to buy health insurance with BEFORE-TAX dollars?\n\nDoes the new health insurance reform  give EQUAL TAX TREATMENT  to individual mandate health insurance purchases?\n\n\<a href=&quot;http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c7LGTE40JTQ&quot;\>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c7LGTE40JTQ\<\/a\>\n\nThank You\n\nHubert Gesenhues ","pt":"Apr 14, 2010 02:47"},{"nm":"Rev. D. McGee","rs":"0","ms":"I have long appreciated the fine documentaries produced by PBS. And basically, though I think it was far from perfect (e.g., leaving out important facts and shaping the presentation to please political conservatives), I applaud your courage in attempting to take on this difficult and incendiary political subject matter. Some of those responding are extremely unsatisfied and certain that this will cost President Obama and the Democrats. In fact, that is either wishful thinking and/or a seriously premature conclusion (even the program ended suggesting that a  definitive answer to such questions was unclear at this point).\n\nThe responses posted here validate one thing for sure: Americans do not do group-think very well, and perhaps that is the nature of democracy. In fact, it is no surprise that this President has passionate opponents (like most Presidents) seeing that some 47 million voters did not vote for him and will never accept him or anything he does. In my view, just as he decisively won in his election to the presidency, he will demonstrate similar success as he completes his first term and moves on to a successful second term. After all, he is incontrovertibly an incredibly refreshing contrast to predecessor.\n","pt":"Apr 14, 2010 02:46"},{"nm":"M.J.","rs":"0","ms":"This was an AWFUL documentary that went out of its way to shed the President in an ill light. It didn\'t even mention ONCE the lies spread about the bill by Fox News and nearly every medium owned by News Corporation, nor the issue of abortion.","pt":"Apr 14, 2010 02:46"},{"nm":"Max Albert","rs":"0","ms":"What has happened to Frontline?  I was shocked to see a reasonably accurate account of the health care battle lurch suddenly, in its closing minutes, into a fawning, content-free paean to Obama.  Meanwhile, the final chapter of falling public support, brazen pay-offs, threats, and seamy parliamentary maneuvers, of bogus bookkeeping and outright lies, apparently landed on the cutting room floor.\n\nThose who say the spirit of Edward R. Murrow is dead should have been watching tonight, to see its corpse disgraced. ","pt":"Apr 14, 2010 02:45"},{"nm":"Bri H.","rs":"0","ms":"I agree with two of the previous comments on tonight\'s episode. However, I do think you neglected something of major importance with regard to Obama and the health care reform. Racism is still a very ugly fact within this country. I am sorry to say that so much of the opposition of what Obama is getting is simply based within this type of thinking. I understand Frontline was presenting this program as view into the hardball political processes within this country and with this new president. But you cannot present virtually anything about his presidency without the fact of racism being a part of it. I have come to expect nothing less from Frontline than hard hitting, deep probing commentary. I am disappointed that the program was not longer and completely overlooked this issue. AS an elderly, black female said to me. &quot;Their scared of black people.&quot; Meaning he may get whatever he wants or face the wrath of over 94% of the black population in this country. \nThank you. ","pt":"Apr 14, 2010 02:43"},{"nm":"Timothy Keen","rs":"0","ms":"The compromise will always be more expensive than either of the suggestions it is compromising. ","pt":"Apr 14, 2010 02:38"},{"nm":"Kyle Oh, M.D.","rs":"0","ms":"As a physician, I have heard all the argument for and against the President Obama\'s health care reform that just passed.  As as physician, I see the devastating cost of the current healthcare system and the way it has skyrocketed over the last few decades.  For those who say that we can\'t affor the president\'s new healtcare reform bill, I say that we can\'t afford the current system we have.  Average cost of healthcare for every man, woman, and child is over $7000 a day.  I pay over $15,000 a year on my family\'s healthcare cost.  I see patient making $50,000 a year choose to go without healthcare because they can\'t afford it.  GM estimated that for every car that they sell, they have to add $7,000 to cost of each vehicle to help pay for the cost of worker\'s healthcare.\n\nWhen I started practing medicine 17 years ago, I paid an average of $3,000 for health insurance for my employees.  As the cost of the healthcare sky rocketed over the years, I had no choice to drop the healthcare benefits for my employees.  Pretty soon, this will be a reality for most companies, big or small.  \n\nYes, real reform is needed now.  No one other than the wealth can afford the healthcare as it is now or soon will be.  President Obama\'s healthcare reform is a step in the right direction.  You may be leaning right or left.  Either way, for the vast majority of people, you won\'t be able to afford the helpcare that is coming your way on the current system.  \n\nYes, change may seems scary.  But just like the argument about global warming, inactivity is not an answer.  Eventually, you have to choose whether doing something is better than ignoring the fact that the sky is falling.  For all those doomsayer that Obamacare is the end of America as we know it, lack of real insurance reform will doom us all (maybe except for the very rich).  ","pt":"Apr 14, 2010 02:36"},{"nm":"Deidra Godfrey","rs":"0","ms":"WE must have a PUBLIC OPTION to make this health care bill work for this great country.\nThe journalist T.R. Reid, who went around the world looking at all the different kinds of health care stated that he thinks that one of the states will come up with the best fix to our crisis on health care.\nSo I hope a state will pick up a public option to compete with the private health insurance companies.\n\n\n","pt":"Apr 14, 2010 02:23"},{"nm":"Erik Peterson","rs":"0","ms":"Regarding Nelson - I did have the chance to watch Greta Van Susteran\'s (one of the fairest reporters/interviewers on FOX)interview with Senator Nelson.  His explanation/justification of the &quot;cornhusker kickback&quot; just doesn\'t wash with me.  He explains (paraphrasing) that Reid/CBO provided Nelson a cost of the Medicaid expansion for just his State because there was not enough time for the CBO to provide numbers for a medicaid expansion for all fifty states. Reid had set a December 24th deadline for a vote, and Nelson was unwilling to give him his vote if the Healthcare overhaul did not include a number showing the &quot;federal&quot; dollars for expansion in his state.  He said the CBO only had time to produce numbers for his state, but that there would be federal expansion of medicaid for all of the States (eventually).  Can you believe the level to which these charlotans will sink? It got even deeper when he went on about who\'s idea it was in the first place.  I coupled this information with the information I gleaned from the Frontline report, and I believe that PBS missed this one.  It is going to be interesting to see how those elected officials dance once the questions hit them in their jurisdictions.  Corrupt, all of them.","pt":"Apr 14, 2010 02:07"},{"nm":"William Lohman","rs":"0","ms":"Your editing made the program look as though you had run out of time before you could finish the story.  You omitted completely the reconciliation bill, which meant that you failed to mention how the &quot;Nebraska deal&quot; was not part of the final legislation.  And how the Senate had to end up accepting some of the changes made by the House. Your story seemed intended only to bash Obama.  I can only imagine that if healthcare reform had not passed you would have criticized him severely for not being able to steer legislation through Congress by making deals the way JBJ did!","pt":"Apr 14, 2010 02:03"},{"nm":"Glen","rs":"0","ms":"All Obama had to do was offer Medicare For All.  He would have lost in DC in 2009 (or maybe not), but won big at the polls in 2010 and 2012.\nAs it is, Obama ended up making a deal with the for-profit corporate health care and big pharma industry rather than the American people.\nThat is not change we can believe in.","pt":"Apr 14, 2010 02:00"},{"nm":"caroline priem","rs":"0","ms":"This report was well organized and stated the facts of this amazing vortex we all found ourselves in!  Unfortunately, the cost of health care will remain high because we are an unhealthy nation that is bloated and constipated.  Our stress will cause more illness and our paranoia will defeat all of us into a self destructive heap similar to the fall of the Roman Empire!  Unregulated capitalism competes with social justice and the public common good and this documentary illustrates this very well with the deal making and politcal careers that are made or ruined.  But make no mistake, the fallen politicians will be recruited by the  big pharma and big health insurance lobby to write the legislation that Congress will rubberstamp.  Our Bill of Rights is underwater and the pursuit of happiness has become a nightmare for every american worker (with or without a job) and retired person.  When will the people wake up that our democracy has been bought by the very powerful interests that decide whether you will have a dream or a nightmare.","pt":"Apr 14, 2010 01:52"},{"nm":"jayzz","rs":"0","ms":"It is odd to see so many people excuse Obama\'s lies to the American people.  He promised during the campaign that any health care reform would not make health insurance mandatory.  He said the process would be open and on C-span.  He said many things, and did not keep any promises.  What is worse, he didn\'t even have any qualms about his lies.  No seems to notice, or care, how dishonest he is.  The HC bill he passed does not fix any problems, and would have been better if more time was spent passing it.  He has failed by passing this bill.","pt":"Apr 14, 2010 01:45"},{"nm":"Spike Speigel","rs":"0","ms":"Sad how the administration had to give up real reform because of the uneducated conservatives going nuts over fabricated facts created with a lot of money mostly by people financially dependent on Obama\'s version of the bill not passing. But I\'ll take what I can get and people will realize how most people do support the changes in the insurance industry, even though they are not ideal. He tried to do the right thing, but there are too many old timers preventing any sort of changes to the system, so either he gets nothing done or he plays some of the game. I will be there to keep Democrats in office, and show that the intelligent population of this country supports their effort to do this right greatly.","pt":"Apr 14, 2010 01:39"},{"nm":"Dr w","rs":"0","ms":"As a physician, I learned from this documentary that MD\'s never had any hope to be part of the debate. \n\nThe bill\'s cost savings come from cuts in physician reimbursement essentially fund the cost savings that fund this bill by maintaining the current Sustainable growth rate (SGR) formula. \n\n21% cuts started April 1st with further total cuts of 50% to follow under the SGR. \n\nEvery insurance contract is based as a percentage of medicare fee i.e. 90%,100%, 110% but never more.\n\nOur practice runs a 60% overhead -- which is about average --40% percent is my compensation (salary, taxes, healthcare, retirement). Simultaneous this bill greatly has increased my overhead. (Many PCP\'s are at 70%)\n\nThe effects of these cuts on my practice are obvious. 60% or more salary loss this year with practice closure within the next year or 2.\n\nTo survive, we have begun to terminate our relationships with poor payors. We have started with medicaid (about 70% of medicare), Tricare (80% of medicare), some poorer medicare HMO\'s and will move on to Medicare in the coming months.\n\nObviously we are the little people when it comes to the federal government. What a disaster for our patients. \n\nLike many colleagues, I have been preparing to exit medicine for several years and am now ready.\n\nA simple principle of business is that sunk costs should not affect decision making.  I have spent half of my life in medicine and it will be time to walk away. \n\nAll physicians wanted reform. We had hoped that reform would actually correct the malpractice system, clamp down on insurers with whom we must fight to get paid, and correct overreaching government regulation that includes $50K fines for every time our documentation fails to meet the documentation requirements. We could have learned a lot from our European colleagues. ","pt":"Apr 14, 2010 01:39"},{"nm":"Barbara Bentley","rs":"0","ms":"I can not imagine how anyone could believe the passing of this so called Health Care reform is going to solve anything to reduce costs and improve the health of citizens.  The real answer is not to mandate insurance coverage, but to encourage people to shop and pay for their own preventive care.  We only allow tax deductions for health payments out of pocket if it exceeds 7.5 % of total income ?  What kind of sense does that make to encourage responsibility.  Do you ask your car insurance company to pay for your oil change or gas?  Yes, Obamacare will mandate coverage, FDA is encouraging everyone to take Cholesteral drugs, even if we aren\'t sure of long term results. Keep advertising drugs on TV so I can request them from my Dr., only to have them &quot;break&quot; the very bones they are supposed to protect. The health care system is failing us all, billions are being spent, bankrupting our bosses, and more and more people are diagnosed with horrific diseases everyday, more so than ever before. Wake up America, we need to put a stop to mandated insurance coverage and look for solutions to real reform to improve health and contain costs.","pt":"Apr 14, 2010 01:38"},{"nm":"Kevin Knox","rs":"0","ms":"I found it a disappointing polemic screed. Why didn\'t they at least show that a million dollars a day was spent by the insurance industry on a campaign to misinform the public?  Why didn\'t they show that it was the illiterate and gullible teabaggers who were screeching their lungs out and causing havoc at townhall meetings, last summer, and not well informed decent citizens?\nFrontline seems to have lost its objectivlty and its ability to tell the truth.","pt":"Apr 14, 2010 01:37"},{"nm":"J. Licata","rs":"0","ms":"I\'m very familiar with what Obama, Emanuel and Baucus did\nto create this monstrous gift to Big Pharma and the health\ninsurers. Unfortunately, this program seemed to conclude\nthat forcing 32 million people to buy insurance from the \nvery companies that refused insurance, denied care and\nescalated premiums every year...was a VICTORY for Barack\nObama and not a giant betrayal of his campaign promises.\nObviously, Mr. Obama is not a man of his word.","pt":"Apr 14, 2010 01:37"},{"nm":"Tenzing Thinley","rs":"0","ms":"As long as the Tea Party revolutions keeps paying Sarah Palin $12 million/yr and keeps the venomous rhetoric alive, the hopes for an easy Obama re-election are alive. There are stupid people, but they are in the minority. I\'ve been to Senate building to lobby the Tibet cause but that place is filled with suits-oil/insurance companies etc. Frontline clearly demonstrates how corrupt Washington DC truly is. Even one of the poorest countries in the world Bhutan has free healthcare, why not the richest?","pt":"Apr 14, 2010 01:35"},{"nm":"Wayne Rowe","rs":"0","ms":"The President did what he had to do. As the old saying goes - &quot;don\'t take a knife to a gun fight&quot;. From the outside looking in, (I\'m Canadian), I can\'t fathom how this is even a debate. I have the utmost in respect for the USA, its power, great people and the aid it gives to help people in need all around the world. But to not take care of your own? Health care for everyone, at any cost, is absolutely mandatory - building block 1A - on the road to being a civilized nation. Is it not obvious that other G7 countries would be a trillion dollars richer if they didn\'t have healthcare? It\'s just not an option. HOW not IF should be your only debate. Create the best damn system in the world! Thats what you do.","pt":"Apr 14, 2010 01:30"},{"nm":"Nancy ","rs":"0","ms":"As a nurse, I have watched the doctors get paid less and less by insurance company reimbursement.....to the point that they are running like hampsters on wheels in order to keep up with their overhead. There are things that I do not like about this bill but hopefully it can gradually be changed to make it better. There are good things in it, as well especially for children and people with pre-existing illness. No one was going into Family Practice because those doctors were so overworked. We are now having to offer incentives for young doctors to choose Family medicine. I choose to stay optimistic, look for the good and make it better.","pt":"Apr 14, 2010 01:30"},{"nm":"I.C.","rs":"0","ms":"I am in my sixties and it has never entered my mind that I would ever live in a marxist dictatorship but as I watched the process and look at the reality of this bill I cannot but think we have taken many steps down the road to that end. I veiw with saddness what I consider the beginning of the end of the America that I love.","pt":"Apr 14, 2010 01:29"},{"nm":"G. Reece, California","rs":"0","ms":"It was a very telling report. There is so much money at stake that these leaders will sell their soul to control it. This reflects our current political situation as pulling out all stops, even tossing out morality, to get what one wants. &quot;Bribery&quot; is how one politician described their own process. Why can they get away with what your or I would be thrown in jail for? Our current population is too large for so few to be sealing our fate. The numbers may have been representative 200 years ago, but it is now out of hand. I am afraid we will never reign it back in. We will eventually go the way of other collapsed nations. We have less to fear from foreign enemies than from the greed that is within.","pt":"Apr 14, 2010 01:23"},{"nm":"John Drzal","rs":"0","ms":"I wish Frontline had focused more on the negative impacts of health care reform. The Democrats have ensured dominance of the insurance industry over health care in this country, impose a mandate on Americans to buy a private product, and threaten to turn the IRS loose on insurance scofflaws. If anything, there will be upward pressure on the premiums you and I pay, as a result of this law. Yet, Frontline seemed to go out of its way to report the gushing praise of Washington pundits who marvel at the double dealing of Washington insiders. Frontline was right about one thing. Democrats will pay a heavy cost. Democrats will not get a contribution or vote from this life long Democratic voter.   ","pt":"Apr 14, 2010 01:23"},{"nm":"Jim ","rs":"0","ms":"I think with also reading the responses to this program, that it would have been well suited as a 2 hour program. Was it the right thing to do at any cost? There are still questions unanswered that time may only have the answers for . Hopefully, the medicine isn\'t worse than the disease . I too would have liked to hear more responses from both sides of the isle. ","pt":"Apr 14, 2010 01:18"},{"nm":"Shirley Lewis","rs":"0","ms":"You did a fair job covering the health care crisis; but you left out a lot - like the $500 billion stolen from us seniors; like the back room deal made with AARP that sold the seniors down the river; like the severe cuts that are going to come to medicare - so we are not only being robbed of our health care money but we are also being robbed of the future health care we will need.  The whole thing for us seniors smells of bait and switch.  You didn\'t report about the student loans being taken over by the government by this health care bill and about how the students will have to pay a hefty health care tax to get their student loan money.  You need to know that the anger in this Country over the health care bill passage for all age groups has not diminished one bit.  Yes, this will come at a price - some of which will be - everyone who voted for the health care bill will be voted out of office in November and President Obama will be voted out of office in 2012.  ","pt":"Apr 14, 2010 01:14"},{"nm":"sue robinson","rs":"0","ms":"As an admirer of Frontline, I am horrified by the partisan nature of this piece. The adoring portrait of President Obama is sad. This bill was passed in spite of very strong opposition by the American people. Yet we are portrayed in this piece as ignorant hysterics instead of deeply concerned Americans. We begged, we pleaded and we demonstrated in the finest tradition of this country and the Democrat elites treated us like garbage. &quot;Un-American,&quot; Pelosi said. For Frontline to ignore these facts in this important film is shameful. To use as \'press\' sources a series of liberal reporters pretending to be professional journalists and to use only the voice-overs of Rush Limbaugh and other talk radio commentators in opposition was disgusting. Shame on Frontline. For Frontline to find film of only the angriest and most vocal citizen opponents to illustrate our reasoned opposition to this legislation is a travesty. This piece was a romantic rendition of an ugly chapter in American politics, and suggesting that President Obama ever wanted to work with Republicans is not factual. We will remember in November. We will remember this sham work by PBS and the government-controlled press. ","pt":"Apr 14, 2010 01:13"},{"nm":"Michael","rs":"0","ms":"Dear Frontline and to all Americans:\n\nRather than post comments dealing with the film\'s style, let us deal with the real issue and facts. The United States of America is broke. The reason why it is broke is due to the fact that it is still spending $2.5 billion a month in Iraq, increasing its commitment in Afghanistan, and running a secret war in the border areas of Pakistan with drones and targeted killings, much like the Israelis do, which the American taxpayer subsidizes to the tune of millions of dollars a month. Iraq and Afghanistan are the first wars in American history which have been fought without increasing taxes. Just like Reagan, Bush the Younger increased military spending and cut taxes. While dear citizens, you mull over that, I\'ll be sitting here in Canada not worrying about losing my home when I get sick, choosing my own doctor and not having to go to my local drugstore for a needle and thread to sew up my own leg if I accidentally cut myself. America has been living for generations on borrowed money. Lower taxes always sound good, but it is worth the potholes you drive over, the bridges that collapse and schools that produce illiterate citizens who can\'t find their own country on a map? Obama and health care (if you think they are both a problem) are the least of your worries. Worry when the Chinese call in their loans. Be very afraid. You have but two entities to blame for this: the Republican Party for selling you figures that don\'t add up and dreams that most will never attain and yourselves for believing them. What the rest of the world finds so amazing about this debate at the most basic level is why does a country that has so much potential and examples of goodwill outside of its own borders tear itself apart over what the rest of the industrialized democracies consider basic to the functioning of a free society? My dear Americans, you live not in a democracy, but an oligarchy. Republican or Democrat, what does it matter? They are like identical twins facing each other in an argument with mirrors behind them. Turfing Democrats out and/or electing Republicans in November will not solve your problems. Many of your problems are beyond any solution. The American Dream is no longer for the many, but only for the few. Your lives are only measured by how much money someone else can make off your existence. With Obama\'s election, the rest of the world thought that America had finally grown up and found something deep inside itself that had been missing for many years; I guess the rest of the world was wrong.","pt":"Apr 14, 2010 01:11"},{"nm":"CLL","rs":"0","ms":"I agree that several key parts of the story were not addressed such as the cost issues (when has the government ever estimated accurately about real costs?) and the use of &quot;reconciliation&quot; as the final thrust to pass the bill.  However, I did receive insight into why some of the left were so disappointed with the final outcomes.  Additionally, I think it illustrated just how involved Rahm Emanuel has been all along.","pt":"Apr 14, 2010 01:06"},{"nm":"Tired of Politicians ","rs":"0","ms":"This entire health care bill has completely soured me and will NEVER vote Democratic again. Obama lied to get elected than used typical corruption he pledged to eliminate to get this entitlement program passed.  ","pt":"Apr 14, 2010 01:04"},{"nm":"Jerry","rs":"0","ms":"Frontline gave a pass to senator Chuck Grassley from Iowa.  Grassley used to champion the cause for the reduction of wasteful government spending and the average man.  Then when he got a taste of power in 2000 all that went out the window.  He sold his soul for power and influence.  Frontline should have shown Grassley talking about the death panels to constituents in his state.  Lieing to them about what was in the health care bill and helping to feed their fears and anger.  But instead they choose to show him as a victim.","pt":"Apr 14, 2010 01:02"},{"nm":"Slowping","rs":"0","ms":"Reconciliation. Never heard it once.nuff said.","pt":"Apr 14, 2010 01:01"},{"nm":"CZ75B","rs":"0","ms":"Now that my health care is covered I\'m smoking again! I really missed it.","pt":"Apr 14, 2010 01:01"},{"nm":"Mike","rs":"0","ms":"I asked my Congressman at my kitchen table if health care costs were an issue when a family of four paid $3000 a year for health care 18 years ago. She thought lowering Capitial Gains tax to 15% would be a priority. I thought to myself, who benefits the most from lower Capital Gains, no one in my neighborhood? The lower Capital gains tax benefits the likes of Ms Leona Helmsly &quot;the little people pay taxes&quot;. Today health care insurance cost is $17,000 a year. 47 million without health care, 45,000 deaths, and 900,000 family Medical bankruptcies every year. One in 100 families in every neighborhood in America have a major medical issue resulting in bankruptcy. A 63 year old, worked all his years to pay off his house in our state is allowed to keep $20,000 of his house equity, the rest of the equity is used to pay his medical bill. I notice Grassly and Hatch, who fabricated the Bankruptcy bill of 2005, Hatch said someone who declares bankruptcy is a &quot;deadbeat&quot; including the 100,000 college kids who do every year. Hatch toots Conservativism, he talks of the problems of our country are Liberals and the left, when in reality, he, a former Corporate Lawyer, has Flim Flammed the Country, stealing from the Middle Class for the benefit of his Rich buddies. Hatch talked about deals, he makes them all the time, the millions in bribes he takes from Corporate America to line his pocket with. Unfortunately, we have a Money driven Congress, like Hatch and Grassly. The Republicans should not be so smug to think in October they will reap the rewards of the being the &quot;party of NO&quot;. Those guys thumbed their nose at the major problem of this country, 30 years of Price Fixing in the name of 10% Annual Profit at the expense of sick people. It was not an accident, the laws passed by Hatch, Grassley and the &quot;Conservatives&quot; for Corporate American and the Rich and Elite, 1% who own 38% of the wealth of this country at the expense of the demise of the Middle class is going to come to an end. Hatch and Grassly need to find a soft chair to sit on retired after they are kicked out of Congress. They can talk about the &quot;good ol days&quot; as both are not with the 21st Century.\nI hope our President continues to deal with the damage and theft of America these past 30 years by so called &quot;Conservatives&quot; who are really the Rich and the wealthy, the 10% who own 70% of the wealth at the expense of everyone else and duping the average American majority. People are starting to wise up and the Crap of Conservativeness is just that, CRAP.\nThe health care law is not perfect, but a huge step to stop Price Fixing of the Health Care Industry and Cartels that is strangling America.","pt":"Apr 14, 2010 00:57"},{"nm":"JD","rs":"0","ms":"Hearing the promotions the past several days leading into this program, I thought finally PBS might finally step up to the plate and present a true, unbiased depiction of Obama\'s bag of dirty tricks used to get this bill passed.   Par for PBS, they dressed it up, excluding many of the worst offenses used to ram this bill through.  Even had to continue with the Bush bashing, with which we were continually bombarded by PBS during his term of office.  What a disappointment!!!","pt":"Apr 14, 2010 00:44"},{"nm":"Jacob","rs":"0","ms":"A decent left-wing critque of the health care bill, marred by too much emphasis on personalities and interpersonal conflict, and too little information about the actual provisions of the bill. \n\nCongratulations, though, for putting to rest the myth that the bill is &quot;socialism&quot;. The bill that passed was Republican- and conservative Democrat-friendly: free market to its core, with much of the regulatory and cost savings teeth ripped out when the public option was axed. Conservative Democrats and Republicans will be to blame if the the program is too expensive, because they weren\'t willing to hurt the profits of their corporate donors.","pt":"Apr 14, 2010 00:43"},{"nm":"RAM","rs":"0","ms":"A decent presentation of this &quot;ordeal&quot; that our country has just experienced. But the end was very dishonest and incomplete, making it appear that once Obama hit the campaign trail to sell the bill, everything and everyone suddenly fell right into place and the final process/vote was a breeze. Far from the truth--the last weeks and hours were the most contentious and deserved just as much, or possibly, more detailed coverage than the early negotiations and concessions. Perhaps Part II could pick up with the &quot;Slaughter Rule&quot; ploy, reconciliation, the executive order on the abortion issue, and the 11th-hour arm-twisting and pleading...and also include a more thorough and honest account on the early discoveries and reactions to the crammed-through bill after its passage (which had to happen so that we could find out what\'s in it.) Might even top off the continued version with sound-bites from the key Congressional players\' comments to illustrate just how well they respected and represented all of their fellow Americans during this historic time for our country.","pt":"Apr 14, 2010 00:42"},{"nm":"Jerryin Colorado ","rs":"0","ms":"Frontline tried to bring at least a little clearness to the issue, but failed to discuss what Medicare-For-All would bring to the American people! Of course, Obama & Company did not let it be explained either, instead letting the Right Wing define the issues and instill fear of progress.  Never have there been so many untruths about an issue as this! Why on earth would people prefer to trust an insurance company bureaucrat to make life and death decisions about their health, as they do now, motivated by PROFIT, rather than have the protection afforded by Medicare??? \nVoting in Republicans will insure that Medicare and Social Security\'s days are numbered!!!!  You only have to look at what they did when they pushed through the Part D fiasco in 2003!!  An economic disaster that did not have Republicans up in arms.....such hypocrites!!!\n","pt":"Apr 14, 2010 00:31"},{"nm":"Rocky Romero","rs":"0","ms":"Excellent program; almost balanced; as balanced as a PBS show can be. Very interesting & informative on what it takes to get something done in Washington. Missing are two critical topics; 1)what\'s actually in the bill/is it really an &quot;overhaul&quot; of health care as proclaimed since nothing is being done about the two largest costs of healthcare: doctor fees (which are maintained high by artifically restricting the number of medical students that can attend medical colleges) and hospital costs and 2) why Congress would pass a bill that 63% of the American population rejects; does President Obama just not care about the 63%?. This is a major shortcoming of the program but the rest of it shows how it\'s lobbyist deal-making, Washington as usual, this time done with stronger &quot;deal-making&quot; skills...Chicago style strong-arming. Very intersting and very effective...","pt":"Apr 14, 2010 00:30"},{"nm":"Eddix","rs":"0","ms":"We can all agree that this new law is less than perfect ... even Obama and Pelosi would agree. The value is in starting the process of change. There will be plenty of opportunities with this and future presidents to make changes such as adding the public option. We the people have to continue the good fight and not allow this to be the end.","pt":"Apr 14, 2010 00:26"},{"nm":"Kyle Christensen","rs":"0","ms":"I am about as far &quot;left&quot; as you can get, and, this bill is not only not &quot;historic&quot;--it is a farce and I expected Frontline to reveal that--shame on ya!\n\n&quot;Obama\'s Deal&quot;??! You barely covered half of them!\n\nFB--Just because &quot;something has to be done&quot; (and it does) doesnt make this bill worth the paper its printed on...I worked in the industry for many years...the insurance industry just handed the Left their ass on a platter!","pt":"Apr 14, 2010 00:21"},{"nm":"TC","rs":"0","ms":"Give the American people some credit. I think people know that backroom deals have always been a part of the political process. These deals have become such an issue due to the fact that President Obama ran a campaign implying and stating directly that he would change the way Washington does business. ","pt":"Apr 14, 2010 00:21"},{"nm":"aquaviva","rs":"0","ms":"This Frontline was a joke and a disappointment.  Nothing on how the bill was rammed through on reconciliation, the abortion controversy, etc.  And it barely touched on how the bill passed without a single bipartisan vote.  Can\'t wait for Nov 2010 where the Dems will reap at the ballot what they\'ve sowed.  The people are extremely upset.   \n\n ","pt":"Apr 14, 2010 00:12"},{"nm":"John de Clef Pineiro, Esq.","rs":"0","ms":"If you\'ve followed and been involved with health reform, this documentary will only add a few more details; but if you\'ve been out of the loop, it can help you become more aware and understand how the struggle for change in health care morphed as a result of the various contending forces and moneyed corporate interests that impact on our federal political system.\n\nFollowing the great victory for the corporations delivered by the Supreme Court\'s right-wing majority in the recent Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission decision, we are all more likely to see and hear the presence of corporations as we proceed from here.\n\nIn all of this, the contending choices for U.S. voters seem clear enough: do we want government of the people, by the people and for the people, or government of the corporations, by the corporations and for the corporations? \n\nAnd implicated by this choice is &quot;who should our electeds be working for&quot;: the people (i.e., the common good) or the corporations (i.e., the private interests)? \n\nAs the recent health reform struggle revealed, the status quo has clearly been skewed in favor of &quot;caring for&quot; the HEALTH and WEALTH of the private insurers, while disfavoring the HEALTH and WEALTH of the public. The health reform act that is now law has shifted the balance somewhat in favor of the public. \n\nBut Citizens United underscores whether this country has now reached a real crossroads in its evolution. Do we become more a nation where GOVERNMENT WORKS FOR THE PEOPLE or where GOVERNMENT WORKS FOR THE CORPORATE STATE? \n\nAt the very least, we can anticipate a growing awareness in the U.S. that this is the choice confronting us as we watch candidates begin to bathe in public, awash with corporate contributions.","pt":"Apr 14, 2010 00:02"},{"nm":"Kyle Yost","rs":"0","ms":"I thought this was very informative and can\'t believe the corruption that is in politics.  I don\'t know how politicians can sleep at night by taking money that is so shading and not listening to what the majority people want.  I can\'t wait until November so we can vote out people that are taking money for there own interests.  I can\'t believe the amount of debt our country is in we need to stop spending ridiculous amounts of money on wasted projects!!","pt":"Apr 13, 2010 23:58"},{"nm":"benilda tillman","rs":"0","ms":"Be still everyone of you that do not agree with this bill. Several reasons: it was time, go back to our constitution and your Bible. There are no provisions listed for after slavery; what then? What about the poor? Look to your national government and really see who has perpetuated this farce of America, your individual States. They (national government) always  step in and do the right thing. Back deals are here to stay.  We will be just fine.  Who told you to be afraid?  Lets keep it real, and see how the goverment is going to tweek this bill.  We have got to improve the statndard of living in this country where more people can be healthy and work more years into their future as we contribute to every good cause.  Prevention is another key. The party of &quot;NO&quot; has some stuff in store for you also. So what if lots of Dems lose seats in Nov., it\'s all about doing what\'s best for AMERICA, All THREE- HUNDRED MILLION Plus of us! Goodnight.","pt":"Apr 13, 2010 23:55"},{"nm":"Fay Graeff","rs":"0","ms":"Leaving out the abortion issue (among other issues) is typical of PBS, but it certainly denigrates the journalistic value of your program.  Independent reporting reports the facts, not just selected ones. Your far lean to the left devalues your reporting as it is so off balance.  Too bad. There is such a need for honest reporting.You did depict the lack of morals and  character in Washington.","pt":"Apr 13, 2010 23:51"},{"nm":"Daniel","rs":"0","ms":"I always look forward to watching Frontline for it\'s in-depth quality programs.  Watching the latest program on Health Care reform I was reminded why I enjoy the program so...right up until the last 10 minutes.  The entire program was devoted to the tribulations experienced in trying to pass the bill, and in the end not even a mention of the strategy utilized -- namely \'RESOLUTION\'.  I am struggling to come to any conclusion other than that which reinforces the conservative critics of PBS for the obvious deliberate decision to not include even a mention of the method.  Disappointed, to say the least, in the producers to consciously and conspicuously ignore the obvious.  Mostly, however, just sad that I have now lost faith in something I believed in - unbiased journalism from PBS.","pt":"Apr 13, 2010 23:47"},{"nm":"mary ross","rs":"0","ms":" I felt the story was incomplete and did not even begin to fully explore the misuse of the reconciliation process to ram through legislation of such sweeping magnitude. The ending suggested that democrats may pay a big price for this legislation but it also claimed the passage a victory for Mr. Obama which certainly is not how fully half the american public feels. Frontline should not have judged this passage a victory when the means of obtaining this end were not justified. It would have been helpful if Frontline had maintained its objectivity and explored exactly how using reconciliation for sweeping reform was not the same as using it to extend the bush tax cuts or to balance the budget, both of which do not set in motion massive changes that take more than the flourish of a pen to reverse.....","pt":"Apr 13, 2010 23:41"},{"nm":"Monte H.","rs":"0","ms":"Should\'ve been a two part documentary. No mention of reconciliation ,no mention on how the process was belittled by rule changes and the like, to ram this bill down our throats.  \n\n\n\n ","pt":"Apr 13, 2010 23:37"},{"nm":"Ashley","rs":"0","ms":"I love Frontline see less bias. On the other hand Max Bacus and some of the Republican leadership had me very disappointed. I hope they get voted out of their Senater or House seats. I also wish lobbyists was baned that will be the only way we can get real issues fix. I hate politics! ","pt":"Apr 13, 2010 23:31"},{"nm":"Bradford Zak","rs":"0","ms":"Take a look at FRANK RICH with the NYT:  &quot;The Rage Is Not About Health Care&quot;\nI was expecting Front Line to touch on this clear argument, its not about Health Care, is about fear in the whites becoming a minority.  Just come out say it.....\nLink: \<a href=&quot;http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E07E1D9153FF93BA15750C0A9669D8B63&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=2&quot;\>http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E07E1D9153FF93BA15750C0A9669D8B63&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=2\<\/a\>\n\n&quot;In fact, the current surge of anger -- and the accompanying rise in right-wing extremism -- predates the entire health care debate. The first signs were the shrieks of \'\'traitor\'\' and \'\'off with his head\'\' at Palin rallies as Obama\'s election became more likely in October 2008. Those passions have spiraled ever since -- from Gov. Rick Perry\'s kowtowing to secessionists at a Tea Party rally in Texas to the gratuitous brandishingof assault weapons at Obama health care rallies last summer to \'\'You lie!\'\' piercing the president\'s address to Congress last fall like an ominous shot.\n\nIf Obama\'s first legislative priority had been immigration or financial reform or climate change, we would have seen the same trajectory. The conjunction of a black president and a female speaker of the House -- topped off by a wise Latina on the Supreme Court and a powerful gay Congressional committee chairman -- would sow fears of disenfranchisement among a dwindling and threatened minority in the country no matter what policies were in play. It\'s not happenstance that Frank, Lewis and Cleaver -- none of them major Democratic players in the health care push -- received a major share of last weekend\'s abuse. When you hear demonstrators chant the slogan \'\'Take our country back!,\'\' these are the people they want to take the country back from.&quot;","pt":"Apr 13, 2010 23:26"},{"nm":"AMG","rs":"0","ms":"Insurance and drug industries are deceitful and dangerous, especially ignani and Tauzin,  they only want to profit off of American\'s sicknesses.  Those who are against this movement are wealthy, or have health insurance and the money to pay for it (including Congress).  You will never see those who are against this, refuse medicare or social security, yet they want to deny coverage for all others.  Republicans will never agree with anything this administration does, that is their quest.  We need the public option - we need single payer.  The priorities of this country to pay for wars, tax cuts for the wealthy, are skewed.  We have many people in this country that need help and are not expendable. ","pt":"Apr 13, 2010 23:25"},{"nm":"Leo Larios","rs":"0","ms":"I am satisfied with this documentary, Succint and shows most of the main elements of the HC debate, which I have personally followed in detail. I feel compelled to add that I quite don\'t understand the exagerated views -in my opinion- that demonize backroom deals. It has always been done by all parties throughout our political history. This law, although shorter in reach, has brought us I believe a good first step toward the goal of true universal HC. It is a matter of social justice, it\'s about what is right, it\'s about our fellow citizens. I have a hard time understanding how anyone would believe in denying the delivery of social justice. Accept it, freedom is not free. Health care as it was structured costs us more than it will with this law and much more than doing nothing. We pay for our families and for those who are uninsured anyway in hidden costs; might as well do it right and not add more to the costs. We are not becoming a socialist government that\'s a farse. What is true though is that we are no healthier than many other developed countries but far more expensive and less covered. Yes, I did not like many of these deals, but I can also see the forest from the trees. The President has scored a bonus point in my book. Yes, Let\'s take America back I say, the real American spirit where one can dream, learn, create, work and succeed; Anything less than universal health care only truncates the real American ideals.","pt":"Apr 13, 2010 23:25"},{"nm":"Tracy","rs":"0","ms":"The politicians in Washington were told by the people they are suppose to represent, to kill the healthcare bill.  So it appears that they don\'t represent us now. Instead they represent their own agendas.  November is coming.  It appears to me that the democrats have committed political suicide by passing the &quot;healthcare bill&quot;.  \nThere are also a few, maybe several republicans, that need to be replaced also.","pt":"Apr 13, 2010 23:03"},{"nm":"David Budavich","rs":"0","ms":"What was this? What was the point of this story?  This was advertised as a look of the inside deals that were made to pass the bill, but all I got was a review of the known process.  Could we have had a discussion on how many of these deals made it through the process?  Maybe we could have discussed the impact on mandatory coverage.   How much are the insurance companies gonna make on this?  How much are the pres\cription drug companies gonna make?  Who is going to have to start paying them?  \n\nAs far as investigative journalism goes, this could have been made from cutting together some youtube videos with a slightly different voice over.  I am embarrass for frontline for thinking they put together an in depth look. ","pt":"Apr 13, 2010 23:03"},{"nm":"Dr. Bernie Saks","rs":"0","ms":"As a Democrat and a physician I was not in favor of this bill, but now that it is enacted feel that we need to give it a chance.  I am certainly in favor of some of the insurance reform, but realize that it is not the insurers as much as the third party payer scheme that is getting us into the most trouble. Abolishing pre-existing conditions, lifetime limits and dropped coverage are all good. But still what controls the poor utilization in the system that is really driving us to bankruptcy? I have insurance, use it little and have 40 percent premium increases because I am pooled together with patients and doctors who squander medical dollars to satisfy their own interests.\n\nWe need accountability in medicine regarding the purchase of health care. Dissociating that payment process by indemnity insurance will not do that. We will never control costs unless we control utilization. Utilization controlled internally is called CONSERVATIONISM and controlled externally is called RATIONING. We are on a crash course toward rationing because we cannot control our utilization. If monies are taken out of your paycheck PRIOR to medical services being rendered and if insurers will never give you a dividend at the end of the year for being healthy or a cost conscious consumer you create the ‘buffet mentality” of patients “wanting it all” to get their monies worth and doctor willing to oblige and “do it all” because they get paid for doing something (rather than wellness).\n\nUnless we control utilization we are on a course towards insolvency where the next government bailout will be to the health insurers as they  take all comers and have artificially low premiums in a setting of ongoing high volumes of claims paid for inappropriate utilization.\n\nRepublicans did not want to consider a single payer system and Democrats did not want to consider HSA’s, but those concerns can still be addressed and established state by state.\n\nRepublicans don’t like the single payer system because they equate it with government running health care. So instead we could put the insurance component out to bid regionally amongst private insurers (competition would be fierce) and then treat the winner as a utility. This would have reduced administrative redundancy and profiteering. In essence we could create a non-governmental single payer system. This would satisfy the proponents of the single payer efficiencies and deal with the concerns of detractors who then could not contend that government would be running medicine. Republicans and people in general have not been picking up their pitchforks protesting and railing against the utilities. The utility model may be imperfect, but it is much less imperfect that the insurance model and its poor regulation. Insurance is an easy utility as there is little infrastructure and provides the least critical component in the health delivery model.\n\nDemocrats do not like HSA’s because of the perceived financial exposure of high deductible insurance (HDHP). However, Republicans and others rightfully recognize this as a model where personal accountability is paramount. If  HSA’s  are structured where the premium difference between high and low deductible insurance is used to fund the individuals HSA , this merely shifts first dollars to the individual from the insurers making HSA’s a cash neutral event for the patient at worst (if they use up their deductible) or a cash earning event at best with cost conscious consumerism/healthy lifestyle change (if they do not reach their deductible limit).\n\nWe then establish a “medical coach”, an individual or organization free of profit motive to advise the patient, if they want to take advantage of this advice. If not, the patient can still make their own decisions based on their personal needs and desires, to use or conserve their own HSA’s as they see fit.\n\nWe will never control costs unless we control utilization. Nobody wants rationing. The indemnity business model undermines the reward to the patient for controlling utilization, but instead rewards the insurers. Creatively structured HSA’s reward the patient for controlling utilization without the typical downside potential associated with  HSA’s. I will continue to offer my employees an HSA and HDHP and fund the HSA for them. That puts first dollars in their hands rather than to the insurers and rewards my employees for good behavior/ cost conscious consumerism while still providing them catastrophic care security.\n\nGoogle “theintelligentHSA” to read how we can still deal with issues of “cost” in medicine rather than the “price” of medicine.\n","pt":"Apr 13, 2010 23:01"},{"nm":"Steve","rs":"0","ms":"Really interesting but no mention of the uglier last minute deals and political fallout -- Barney Stupak (career over) and the affirmation that no federal funding would be used for abortions, not to mention Evan Bayh\'s retiring from Congress, largely at his disgust over the bill. And Republicans hanging out a &quot;Don\'t Tread On Me&quot; flag during the vote, egging on protesters, and fear of violent upheaval the weekend after the vote passed. The loss of Stupak and Bayh are important with regard to the ominous legacy the bill leaves come November.","pt":"Apr 13, 2010 22:51"},{"nm":"Matt Henderson","rs":"0","ms":"Obama and his team did not understand how important it would be to have a filibuster-proof majority in the U.S. Senate, given the current state of the Republican Party. If he had, he would have personally campaigned for Jim Martin in his December 2nd runoff election against Saxby Chambliss in Georgia. Martin and Franken would have made 60, and that was BEFORE Specter switched. And then the Democrats put the dirty lobbyist Paul Kirk in Kennedy\'s Senate seat! They deserved to lose the seat just for that! Naive, weak, corrupt, ineffectual Democrats vs. bat-sh*t crazy Republicans. ","pt":"Apr 13, 2010 22:51"},{"nm":"Ross","rs":"0","ms":"POORLY done never discussed all the bad stuff in the bill;all those pages and people still can\'t buy insurance across state lines to create real compotition ","pt":"Apr 13, 2010 22:50"},{"nm":"Nancy Hansen","rs":"0","ms":"It is disgraceful that a mandate to purchase health insurance has been sold to this nation as health care reform. This nation desperately needs real health care reform. This bill, thanks to Obama\'s deal,is most certainly not the reform that we need. I stand with the Doctors, Frontline refered to them as activists, who disrupted Senator Baucus\' hearings last May. We need single payer.","pt":"Apr 13, 2010 22:45"},{"nm":"Glen","rs":"0","ms":"Good job, Frontline!\n\nThe American public voted on Obama to enact real change.  Obama and Rahm threw real change under the bus from the gitgo by making backroom deals with the health insurance and pharma industry.  The Republican game plan was clear very early on as vocalized by Rush Limbaugh, the Republican party leader at that time - they want Obama to fail.  They would clearly oppose any effort made by Obama.  Obama\'s effort to deal with the Republicans threw any chance at real reform even further under the bus. What resulted is nothing but a health insurance industry bailout almost exactly as proposed by Republicans in 1993/1994 rather than real health care reform.\n\nThe result was too much for an American public which had just witnessed the largest rip-off of the American taxpayer with the bank bailouts.  Obama and the Democrats have alienated both their base and the independents that voted for real change, and energized a Republican party that should have been on the ropes for the next twenty years.\n\nWhat America needed was someone willing to fight for real change like FDR with the New Deal, instead they got Hoover, and more of the same.  Now, the future of America is up for grabs with no good alternatives for the American public. Both the Republicans and the Democrats have been exposed as supporting the financial elites rather than the middle class, and the voter effort to throw the bums out will further ensure that the elites remain firmly in control.\n\nObama could have proposed Medicare for everybody.  He would have lost in DC in 2009, but he would have won at the ballot box in 2010 and 2012.","pt":"Apr 13, 2010 22:38"},{"nm":"AL","rs":"0","ms":"A cliffhanger of a story, but the ending was a little mysterious.  If not a single  Republican voted for the bill, and the Democrats lost one vote with Kennedy\'s seat, and yet they had enough votes to force the issue, why didn\'t they just ram it through before?  This should have been fully explained.  Was Obama\'s belief in bipartisanship not ended months before, with the obvious intransigence of the Republicans?  Why didn\'t he ram it through before they had time to whip up all the ignorant furore?","pt":"Apr 13, 2010 22:37"},{"nm":"Michael Adams","rs":"0","ms":"At the end of the health care debate, the &quot;deal&quot; was not about Obama, but the &quot;spiritual state&quot; of our union, which made deals necessary to get &quot;reform&quot; done.* Author Howard Zinn indicated that if Americans really understood our form of government, and acted accordingly, we could get things done no matter the president. The problem is that we have two &quot;dictators&quot; that presently rule-greed and ignorance. They are the father and mother of self interest. Untempered self interests breed disunity and crossed purposes that are antithetical to the notion of e pluribus unum. This will lead to systemic failure, when any culture ignores the ramifications of volition in light of the absolute immutability of Cosmic Law-the very foundation of our existence.\n\n*The word &quot;spiritual&quot; has no religious meaning in this context.  ","pt":"Apr 13, 2010 22:36"},{"nm":"Jon","rs":"0","ms":"The healthcare industry who crafted the so-called 2700 page o\'bama healthcare \'reform\' package, was allowed to do so by o’bama,  so that their bottom line would not be disturbed, and o’bama would get ‘his version’ of a healthcare bill passed into law.\n\nThis is tantamount to having the fox write security measures to protect the very chickens the fox was trying to eat, and we have congress, the president, the lobbyist\'s, and the healthcare industry telling us what a \'wonderful\' thing this is for America.\n\n‘Wonderful’ for the healthcare delivery insurance companies, drug companies, and the doctor’s who did little to protest the passage of this bill.\n\nWhat this legislation really accomplishes, is that it will be business-as-usual for the healthcare industry, supplemented by 30-40 million uninsured people who will be added as customers to the insurance giants, or get fined for not buying into this scheme.\n\nKeep in mind, the healthcare industry insisted that they be recipients of these 30-40 million new ‘customers’, and that to move them into the role of ‘customer’, the o’bama administration was required to ‘stimulate’ these un-insured to become customers by instituting a fine.\n\nClearly, this scheme is the American way, as perceived by o’bama and his many minions.","pt":"Apr 13, 2010 22:34"},{"nm":"Gene Roman","rs":"0","ms":"Senator Hatch speaks as though the &quot;backroom deals&quot; that helped health care reform move forward started with this president.\n\nIt\'s been part of our political system since George Washington.\n\nHow do you think the Master of legislative deal making, President Johnson, helped establish the Great Society?\n\nSee PBS\' The American Presidents\' (LBJ) interview with Jack Valenti for details on how presidents enact legislation.\n\nGene Roman","pt":"Apr 13, 2010 22:29"},{"nm":"Barbara Goodrich, Ph.D.","rs":"0","ms":"When I heard about this coming Frontline, &quot;Obama\'s Deal,&quot; I was skeptical that it would be objective, since I remembered that PBS in Denver had  refused to include a Single-Payer advocate in a public debate on healthcare reform in the 1990s billed as including all possible positions.   \n\nMy husband assured me that Frontline was reliable, that it would be a great documentary.\n\nYou aren\'t, and it wasn\'t.\n\nWhy didn\'t you include that the Tea Party hysteria was astro-turfed, not genuine?    It would have taken 15 seconds.   Instead, you left your viewers with the false sense that the Tea-baggers were informed, not manipulated by Fox News and a few corporations.\n\nWhy did you let stand the incorrect claims that health care reform is immensely complex and difficult?   It\'s only difficult in the sense of the rest of us having to confront powerful economic interests insisting on continuing to profiteer.  Medicare-for-All, aka Single-Payer, is surprisingly simple, and all the other industrialized countries have managed to solve this purportedly insoluble problem.   Pointing that out would have taken no more than 30-45 seconds, and you didn\'t do it.   Indeed, I don\'t remember the phrase &quot;Single-Payer&quot; being used once in the main 56-minute documentary.  \n\nYou pointed out correctly that the Republican party was &quot;playing hardball&quot; in order to pressure Republican legislators to vote a party line.  You  omitted to point out (it would take 3 seconds or less) that the Democratic party for some reason opted not to use similar strategies, even when as a result we now have a pro-corporate mandate without even a public option, and reforms that are mostly toothless.    \n\nI had been eager to recommend this documentary to friends, neighbors, colleagues based on my husband\'s prior assessment of Frontline.   But now I can\'t in good conscience.   It was a distorted, superficial piece, and despite a veneer of pro-progressive style, decidedly biased to the center-right in actual substance.   The message it was obviously designed to deliver was: &quot;Well, the majority of the US electorate who want a public option [you omitted that fact, too] must just give up and compromise away their most important goals with all those informed, principled far-right wing people, and all those powerful corporations.  Really.  We\'re powerless to do anything without them.&quot;     \n\nThat\'s false, and promotes a toxic learned helplessness among your viewers.  \n\n\n\n\n\n      ","pt":"Apr 13, 2010 22:27"},{"nm":"Josh M.","rs":"0","ms":"This was a very informative but I feel it left some very important facts out. This seemed more of a documentary on Obama and his emotions, not on healthcare. The huge problem with this healthcare plan is that it\'s built on good intentions, and thanks to this episode everyone should realize that there is really no way to regulate any of what is planned without more back-door deals and creating either a much larger deficit. If one of the most liberal states elected a Republican to combat this bill, especially one that has state run health care that is hemorrhaging money. Shouldn\'t that say something? Or is that just too practical?","pt":"Apr 13, 2010 22:27"},{"nm":"Tom","rs":"0","ms":"Can\'t wait until November!!!\nNew people in Washington.\nRepeal this bill and help business truely put people back to work.\nWe don\'t need more taxes, we need REAL change and not smoke and mirrors.\n","pt":"Apr 13, 2010 22:23"},{"nm":"Mike","rs":"0","ms":"Not a word on the abortion issue or the resignations and retirements that followed passage of the bill. Why not? Cutting room floor, ran out of time, not newsworthy enough to mention when elected representatives compromise their integrity and abandon their principles and constituents? How can such a corrosive process and those who orchestrate it be trusted to spend the taxpayers\' money wisely and legitimately?   ","pt":"Apr 13, 2010 22:21"},{"nm":"Annette","rs":"0","ms":"The story was well-presented, very non-partisan, everything was fact-based. I personally believe the Federal government has way over-stepped their boundaries into state\'s rights, and individual inalienable rights. Speaking as a conservative Democrat, with 99% certainty, after seeing the bi-partisan public backlash against this bill that mock\'s our Constitution, I can predict that every single Democrat who voted for this bill will lose their seat in November. Their votes for this bill were political suicide. The unprecedented loss of Democratic seats come November, should be enough to show Obama that American\'s now are fighting against him and not with him.","pt":"Apr 13, 2010 22:21"},{"nm":"Sarra Beam","rs":"0","ms":"My thought after watching that documentary on health reform is that Obama wants to finally bail out the American people and not the banks, etc... I find that the Pharmaceutical company and insurance companies was the spark that evolved into an inferno- they didn\'t get their way and in turn scared people who did not like Obama in the first place. There have ALWAYS been dealing on capital hill and there ALWAYS will be. I also saw that Republicans cannot work along side anyone but their own party, and are very unprofessional. Sorry to say it because I used to vote Republican, but that is how it is for me. I work at Dr. office and I can ASSURE you that the pharmaceutical business makes way more money than you can even imagine....so does the insurance. Why would we want them to tell us how to run this country? When we and patients are DECLINED ALL THE TIME for health care, why should we let them tell us what to do? Good, and even documentary. Thank you.","pt":"Apr 13, 2010 22:21"},{"nm":"Michael C. ","rs":"0","ms":"This is such a great documentary that sums up the whole health care battle. As a student, I watched the health care debate as it happened in the news, but this documentary gives great insight in how this whole thing unfolded. I am glad that health reform eventually passed, because it helps the helpless, the poor, the American people that deserve healthcare who do not have it. It was the right thing to do. ","pt":"Apr 13, 2010 22:12"},{"nm":"Nick Lento","rs":"0","ms":"\nJust watched your excellent summary of &quot;Obama\'s Deal&quot;.   The bottom line here is that the insurance industry got what it wanted from the start, a mandate forcing every American to buy their faulty product....with no public option.  And in the process, they managed to consume a full year of the Obama presidency and cost Democrats the Kennedy senate seat in a blue state.\n\nThe fact is that the insurance and pharmaceutical industries have, literally, billions of dollars to spend on terrorizing the American public with all manner of demagogic lies.....and more billions to spend on lobbyists and on campaign &quot;contributions&quot; (which are tantamount to legalized bribery).\n\nThe shame of your program is that you only gave single payer advocate, Dr Margaret Flowers, about six seconds on the screen.  If the American people actually understood what single payer is and how it would work in comparison with the status quo.....the ginned up &quot;tea party&quot; movement would be dwarfed by a hundred million informed and activated smart people demanding real reform.  Tragically, the insurance industry has been successful at keeping any real in depth public discussion of single payer far far away from the eyes, hearts and minds of the mass of the American people.  The watered down reform we have now is only marginally better than nothing...our nation deserves better\n","pt":"Apr 13, 2010 22:11"},{"nm":"Norman Wagner","rs":"0","ms":"The American people overwhelmingly told our representives that we didn\'t want the Obama healthcare. The arm bending and closed door deals that happened to get the socialization of our healthcare is one of many reasons America didn\'t want this bill pushed on us. The cost of this bill and the Obma economic math in which it was said to balance the budget which it will not do.The forcing of Americans to have to have Health insurance is unconstituional.  The other countries that have socialized healthcare are suffering from long wait times and poor medicial care. ","pt":"Apr 13, 2010 22:08"},{"nm":"RD Roman","rs":"0","ms":"November will tell the beginning of the end of this story. Frontline did a good job of hitting the highlights but missed the real underlying facts. Americans are not at all happy now that they are beginning to see just HOW Washington really works. The ugliness of the passage of Healthcare may just be the straw that broke the camels back. Certainly more to follow.","pt":"Apr 13, 2010 22:06"},{"nm":"Nikk Katzman","rs":"0","ms":"You should have mentioned &quot;reconciliation&quot; in the last segment. That is, after all, how the final deal was done.","pt":"Apr 13, 2010 22:06"},{"nm":"Darren Ryan","rs":"0","ms":"Extremely disapointing. Though visually stunning, I found this episode sadly one sided. Why was the President\'s version of Health Reform presented as the only version of health reform? Why was there no mention of the abortion debate, and the last minute executive order? Why were there no journalists represented who do not work for left leaning news organizations? In my opinion, this came off like a documentary about a sports competition rather than something that will seriously effect every citizen of the United States. ","pt":"Apr 13, 2010 22:04"},{"nm":"Kathy Foley","rs":"0","ms":"This was such a disappointment. There was no mention of the abortion issue and the buyout of Bart Stupeck who has now resigned because of his vote. This program did not tell the whole story, and I thought that PBS would be truthful this time because we all just lived it. \n\nWhat a missed opportunity to show the country that PBS could be fair. ","pt":"Apr 13, 2010 22:03"},{"nm":"sheri michigan","rs":"0","ms":"It will take many years for the country to heal from this awful process.I am 60 yrs old.I have never seen so much anger toward a president,in my lifetime.It is espescially sad that this happened with our 1st president of color.He could have done so much good,and so much healing.His ego,was his downfall.Sometimes you win the battle but lose the war.The worst part is that he seems incapable of learning from his mistakes.Thrash talking and finger wagging is very unprofessional,and unbecoming for a president.","pt":"Apr 13, 2010 21:58"},{"nm":"Dave Holmes","rs":"0","ms":"Was it really necessary to digitally obscure virtually every still photograph in this one hour documentary?","pt":"Apr 13, 2010 21:57"},{"nm":"Edwin Lord ","rs":"0","ms":"Issues not covered in the bill, is accountability of doctors, and the fee schedule. \n\nAccountability such as at Tenet Hospital in Sacramento where coronary bypass surgery was encouraged on healthy patients, after completing an angiogram in the name of profit. The Sacrmento Hospital was the most profitable hospital for over three years by doing un-necessary invasive surgeries. Needless to say the hospital is now closed. Until greed is taken out of the equation, doctors will always bill the maximum amount under the fee schedule for a medication, diagnostic procedure or surgery.  \n\nThe other question is do you want Wall Street running a nursing care facility?","pt":"Apr 13, 2010 21:49"},{"nm":"RB","rs":"0","ms":"Something has to be done.  Our healthcare system is about to get crushed under the weight of its own cost.  Anyone against changes to ur system is in denial, is rich or poor and getting their care paid for.","pt":"Apr 13, 2010 21:19"},{"nm":"Chris","rs":"0","ms":"I can\'t watch this. We have been sold out once again. We went from universal coverage to mandates to make Wellpoint, United, Aetna, et al even wealthier than they are now in a matter of days. No fight. Just capitulation. I\'m gonna be ill but I guess I better wait until 2014 so I can pay more for less care. Great.","pt":"Apr 13, 2010 21:11"},{"nm":"Ernie Gray","rs":"0","ms":"I can\'t even watch the program because of the overuse of the aftereffects blur tool.  Normally FL has great production but I\'m sorry to say that this is very distracting.\n\nDon\'t let your post production team sabotage the great journalism FrontLine is known for.  ","pt":"Apr 13, 2010 20:25"},{"nm":"Ivy Medina","rs":"0","ms":"Dear Frontline,\nFor me,this was a tremendous victory. I had hoped to see change in health care in my lifetime. President Obama had kept his promise,and it was a huge step that he had undertaken. Were there many deals made and compromises made in order for this historic bill to be passed? Yes. Will we get to see the entire reform in place this year? Parts of it,yes. Other parts,it will take time. Was the bill weak? Yes,it was. Does it need to be tweeked a bit? Yes,but all great legislation does not begin strong. Take a good hard look at social security,medicare and medicaid. All of these programs were weak in the beginning,and now they all help milions of people each and every day to lead a much less complicated life.\nDoes the donut hole instantly disappear? Will Medicare Part D be eliminated? Will seniors have to do without coverage? Under this new law,the answer is no. The President\'s health care reform will see to it that seniors will get more assistance to pay for their pres\cription drugs.\n\n What did I come away with from this story? The word is hope. I believe in my heart and in my soul that this new law has been way overdue.\nNow everyone will be able to afford their health care and do away with copayments. They can go to the doctor without the worry that they will not have the copayment to see their doctor. The American people will no longer have to be concerned about going to an emergency room because they do not have health coverage. These concerns will soon be eliminated,and yes,we can all breathe alot easier.\n  Families who have children or older family members with pre-esisting health conditions can now get the care that they need in order to live\na better life,with no concerns about an unstable future for their loved ones. This is progress,this is change. A change for the better.\nThat is what makes the Obama Presidency an advocate for change for all of the people of our country,not just the select few.","pt":"Apr 13, 2010 20:04"},{"nm":"Catherine","rs":"0","ms":"The despicable tactics used to pass Obamacare underscored the irrelevance of the mainstream media. Many Americans turned to alternative media outlets for news and information about the Health Care Reform bill because the MSM never questioned the absurd assertions our president kept making regarding the HCR bill. The Tea Partiers have been unfairly smeared as racist loons but as a NYC Tea Partier, I can assure you that racism has nothing to do with the anger you see out there. We feel TAXED ENOUGH ALREADY and we know that this bill is something the country cannot afford and it will destroy the best (if not perfect) health care system in the world but will still leave millions uninsured. This bill imposes massive costs on already bankrupt states and will inevitably force insurance companies out of business. Look at what\'s happening in Massachusetts. That\'s Obamacare on a small scale.","pt":"Apr 13, 2010 18:09"},{"nm":"Terry B. Brauer","rs":"0","ms":"It was indeed an historic moment ... it deflated millions of supporters of Obama and Democrats, reinforced the tradition of corrupt deal-making, burst the bubble that Obama would \'... change the way business is done in Washington ...\', broke several 2008 campaign promises, failed to significantly address spiraling healthcare costs, and deferred so many elements of rational healthcare public interest policy development that the impact of the legislation will be benign for several years, if at all.  ","pt":"Apr 13, 2010 17:53"}]}); });