Health Coverage for All — Is It on the Way?

If I thought the Government was any better at it than private firms I would be for it. This current situation with the economy proves to me that they mess up more than they fix so no, Government should stay away….

“Interesting to hear that it sounds like consensus plan is being pursued with all players at the table, as opposed to a blanket government dictate. ”
Sadly, all those at the table have something to gain.
1. lobbyists representing consumers
**thought: I figure these consumers are the ones WITHOUT insurance.
2. physicians, hospitals
**thought: getting tired of NOT being paid by those in #1
3. big insurance companies
**thought: See ALL those in #1 as MORE MONEY FOR THEM
I particular don’t trust ANYTHING an Insurance Co. is ON-BOARD with. They want to make MONEY. Could care less about you and I, except taking our Money.
I agree with David.. our Government is A MESS. They screw up most of everything they touch.

It’s about TIME>
My Mother is dying because she can’t afford healthcare. She’s been doing menial jobs her entire life – never taken a dime from the government and now she can’t get healthcare for her lung issues and heart problems. Why is that OKAY? There should be healthcare for all, it’s a human RIGHT to be able to live – it’s not only for the people rich enough to afford it. How would you like it to sit here watching your mother die while you and your siblings work long, hard hours trying to afford medicine for her when doctors won’t take her without medicine. She’s literally gasping for air and hospitals turn her away because she can’t pay upfront. There’s something wrong with anyone who thinks that is okay. She still works every day taking care of your children being paid a pittance and no she’s not illegal, her family has been here since the Mayflower. If she were mexican or illegal she’d get free healthcare from our “government”

“Why can’t we get rid of the leeches in our society before we start handing out money.”
Because an unfortunate fact of democracy is that those leeches get a vote, and lots of leeches equals lots of votes equals lots of people put in power and kept there by leeches. What kind of people do you think a leech votes for?

There is a lot of waste in the medical system. A single payer would help with the billing nightmare that multiple insurance companies cause and cause some oversight on the vast amount of waste regarding medical care choices by physicians. I have seen doctors prescribe expensive brand name medications to patients because “they have insurance”, instead of the generic medication which would work equally well. My doctor couldn’t find the results of one of my blood tests, so she just repeated it, leaving me to pay the additional bill. Instead of being able to have my miscarriage treated for 300 dollars at an abortion clinic (The baby had died inside me and needed to be removed surgically…basically by an “abortion”, or D&C. I was turned away by protesters who verbally attacked me – that’s horrible to do to a woman who just lost her child!), I had to go to a hospital and have a procedure that has cost me $5000 so far (and I HAVE insurance, this is what they didn’t pay) and I keep getting bills even though it happened last May. For the same thing that could have been treated for $300, I have paid $5000, with no difference in the end result. I found out later that there are some pills I could have taken to make my uterus expel the baby, and that would have only cost $50, but this option was never offered to me…probably because I have insurance (therefore, my doctor thought they would pay for the expensive procedure). I’m sure I’m not the only person to have endured unnecessarily expensive medical care when there was a simpler, less expensive alternative. Multiply what I spent by the number of people having medical procedures done…huge amounts of money are being wasted.

First of all, a big player seems to have been left out — the American people! Second, if you are going to mandate that everyone buy insurance in THIS economy, it had better be damn cheap! Third, if you try to construct universal health care with the same paradigm as we have currently it will look like the same old system with the same old inefficiencies. You must remove the 800 pound gorilla first — the managed care providers and insurers who are responsible for 80% of the health care markups this country has witnessed in my lifetime. Reducing it to health care providers and patients will go a long way to reining in health care costs. That is a role the government could play — by providing the “management”, leaving the actual health care to the providers. Imagine – 100% of your health care costs actually flowing to doctors, nurses, and other direct care providers — instead of the non-medical fat that is currently clogging the arteries of our health care system in this country!

While awaiting new legislation, remember we are in the middle of flu season, and there have been some serious consequences this year. There is good news, however, on the flu prevention front, and we can protect our precious children, with this innovative and imaginative new program: Germy Wormy Germ Awareness for Germ Transportation Vehicles ages 2 –7. They learn in a drug-free and fun way how to keep from both catching AND spreading germs. Since my child started it in daycare we are no longer playing the “pass the germs game”. If you have and/or work around kids, this is priceless. No doctor visit required!
http://www.germywormy.com
Give kids a PLACE to give their germs to – instead of you!

Are you Kidding me just look to our neighboors and I mean relly look dont take the goverments word or the word of the press they are bought and paid for. If Canada and Cuba can do it instead of giving away our futures to remedy the failing economy “please whose idea was this” put it toward health care reform and get some people involved that dont stand to make money from our current health care industry. Put in a few good patients and Doctors who believe in the oath that they took.

If devoloped countries like those in Europe and Canda, and tiny and underdeveloped ones like Costa Rica and Cuba have health care for all of their citizens, while the United States can not do the same….Is it not shameful for us?
It is because of money? well, let’s start by cutting down on this huge military budget full of fraud and unnecessary expenses abroad and concentrate ourselves in our domestic priorities.

We have health care for all — all who can afford to pay for it that is. People who lose their job and cannot pay COBRA to keep their health insurance are out of luck. People who work low paying jobs can’t afford health care insurance and the programs set up by the State to “help” low income people are understaffed and ill equipped to help even themselves ! Of course we have Medicare – a system that legally kills of senior citizens as it pays very little for the treatment Medicare DOES pay for and they deny all too many necessary treatments.
If a senior citizen can’t afford to pay the copays they don’t go to the doctor in the first place. We need socialized medicine – get rid of all the fat cat insurance companies who deny patients benefits – I would like to see the CEO’s of health care companies have to struggle to get health care like the working class does and socialized medicine would even the field for all of us – it would be better than what we have now.

We can have a universal healthcare ie ”socialized medicine like most of the ”civilized and some not,nations have .”very easily by revamping our entire corrupted greed ridden system..btw Jhw 539,go find a skid row in any city USA and theres where you’ll find the bodies of those who couldn’t pay the rich ass hospitals …for services rendered….I’ve seen it!…and you need to get out more,and the rest of you nay-sayers should get off your butts and scream”Life is more important”…..donl

I work in Health care. I know what the problem is and it is the Insurance Companies. Now they want to require EVERYONE to carry insurance! Look at the cost of the program for those who have pre existing conditions! It costs more than I make in a month. I can only imagine what the universal plan they propose would cost. I don’t have insurance right now because I have pre-existing conditions and can’t find insurance that I can afford. An exam at my office is $140 but the insurances pay us $30 for one. They pay very little for the services and unfortunately the uninsured pick up the bill..ridiculous! If we got rid of the problem (insurances) we could lower the cost of health care and everyone could afford it. What we need is an investigation of the insurance companies and regulation of the amounts they charge and pay and we’d all be able to afford to go to the doctor.

Elna Hughes said “socialized medicine would even the field for all of us – it would be better than what we have now.”
Since when is it better to have to wait 6 months to have your gall bladder out? Since when is it better to not have your leg set in a timely manner because you don’t stand for your job & you can walk with a cane for the rest of your life? Because that is what you will be faced with under Universal Healthcare. Both of those things happened under the U.K.’s system.

We do have health care for all. Its called those of us with insurance pay for the poor people (and often illegals) that can’t afford insurance. Its great for them because they can’t be refused treatment at the emergency room, and its free. Who would want to change that system?

It’s not only the insurance companies screwing you, it is also the doctor. Just look at your bill. It is not un-usual for the doctor to charge me 300 dollars for a 15 minute checkup. The doctors run up charges. I’ve seen probably 30 doctors over the past 30 years and I believe they were all guilty of fraud. I did hear of a medical facility in Tennessee that posted what they would charge for various procedures. So many came that they could not serve them all. All the American people want is a fair shake and do be treated with dignity. Follow the money and you will find the problem isn’t our ability to help everyone but the greedy doctors and insurance people.

http://expatyank.wordpress.com/2007/07/27/universal-vs-socialized/
http://www.yesmagazine.org/article.asp?ID=1498
both good reads

ellsbells930 The Basic insurance should cover annual check up, immunization and prevention, and it has to be mandatory. So many young people come to the doctor’s office with an illness which can not be treated because It is too too late.

I’m all for it as long as your employer that provides have care for and his retirees are NOT ALLOWED to dump you on the Federal Plan. If you choice to stay at the level of Health Care that your employer provides you should be able to do so…. But I’m sure this will give the employers the ammo to kid all their Employees off on the taxpayer….This is wrong!!!

In America, working white people didn’t want to pay taxes while poor black peole got free health care, that’s why there’s no NHS like in England or France. Those countries didn’t deal with racist issues like in the US. Go watch the documentary “Sicko”.

Somebody told here that all people with cancer smoked cigarettes and everybody with liver disease have been drinking, therefore they should pay up. Well, there are hundreds of serious conditions that are not caused by bad lifestyle at all and I hope this “Jason” will get one, he certainly deserves it.

Alena – that’s the difference between us. If I had a big presentation, I would not call in sick, no matter how sick I was. I would crawl into work if I had to.

A by-product or our challenging economic times has focused bankruptcy on the cost of health care – this is a time in our civil evolution that we must look with encouraging eyes to the problem of health care for all. …………
http://thefiresidepost.com/2009/03/01/of-bankruptcies-and-health-care/

If you want to understand what is driving health care costs I suggest you read “Disease, Diagnoses and Dollars by Robert M, Kaplan. The book argues that the overuse of medical care by health providers and patients is driving up costs and placing patients at unnecessary risk without any real health benefit. Preventative care has become focused on the selling of expensive drugs and procedures to healthy people. The new book makes clear that overuse of healthcare has serious implications for both our health and our economy.

1st poster is absolutely correct. We already have, due to court actions and public conscience, “universal health care”. It is very ineffecient and expensive though. People use ERs for routine procedures and do not use preventative medicine/advise.
However, I don’t like Obama’s plan to eliminate doctor-patient privledge and to centralize ALL health data in some governmental database with access but untold number of government, and private, employees. This information could be used against people for political purposes, in divorce proceedings, in civil trials, in criminal trials, to take away gun ownership, and who knows what else. This information that Obama wants to collect and distribute would include any medical procedure, alcohol/drug use, sexual behavior, psychology history, psychiatric history, your DNA, etc. Very scary and very Orwellian.
We need a universal payer system but not at the expense of ALL of our private health history!

The debate about the “need” for universal health insurance in various forms may continue for years. However, few comment on exorbitant charges by many doctors, hospitals, etc. to tose who are uninsured and largely unrepresented. Some hospotals/doctors give discounts to uninsured, but many charge uninsured patients up to two-three times as the rates for the same service to patients covered by medicare or other insurance. While this may be viewed as further demonstrating the need for universal health care, requiring that uninsured clients who pay within a reasonable time receive rates equal or below the lowest rate charged insured clients may offer a quick reduction in costs to many deserving citizens unable to obtain insurance coverage, including for “pre-exitiang conditions.

The Sate of Affairs on the American Health care Delivery System
The Health Care delivery crisis in America has many prongs. To start, I know because I have been a ‘doctor’ at the patient’s end of medical treatment recently. Medicine has grown automatic, and with the introduction of surgical robotics, who knows if we’ll soon be treated via a flat screen by an online physician or worse, a talking computer. Don’t laugh; it’s here! Some might prefer this approach. It certainly saves time, possibly money, who knows?
But if Electronic Medical Records succeeds in automating medicine to where the Doctor is reduced to a “plug and play” ancillary member of the health care provision system, and patients’ privacy rights are foregone altogether, we [as doctors, and patients] have only ourselves to blame! We have allowed it, and further, have encouraged it. Like now, we are waiting around for the same special interest groups to write laws on our behalves. Undoubtedly, many forces have conspired against us to bring it on! But the government and a large number of physicians have ‘bargained with the Devil’ (HMOs, PSO’s,) and generally the ‘Organized Medical Industrial Complex’ who perpetrated the destruction of that sacred tenant of yore that was the doctor~patient relationship, which existed from the 18th through 20th century up until the triumph of managed care over conventional medicine.
The managed care industry continues to perpetuate the lie that cost-savings are necessary and inevitable, or medical costs will bankrupt our economy. Never mind that they perfected a system that channeled health care spending from patient care vertically upward toward executive compensation. Some making 1 one BILLION dollars in bonuses at end of the 2006 fiscal year!
The public, and the federal and states’ governments were sold a ‘cheaper alternative’ to traditional health care delivery which excluded keeping and choosing your own doctor. Usurping the individual’s power of decision and choice, brought on the restriction or elimination of participating doctors or “any willing provider” which, traditionally was the open and free-market system utilized by the indemnity style plans of yore. Which were mandated by statute to pay fairly and equitably for your covered health care. Free-market is the term so skillfully manipulated by politicians, attorneys, and corporate CEO’s when touting the fundamental benefits of our capitalist system. Defying these core democratic free-market values, the Managed Care Organizations created the “primary care physician’s gait-keeper and the specialist physician closed-panel with capitated specialty care, disease-specific treatment guidelines, and industry funded medical studies supporting the company’s treatment guideline, all of which translated into limitation of care. A term now touted for this is evidence-based medicine. Sounds great, but many of these are guided from industry-funded studies, which exclude contradicting data that is not considered in the final statistical ‘evidence’ for the basis of supporting a balanced successful outcome. The company touted such mantras in the sacred tenant of “prevention”, but the cost savings never truly materialized. The aging demographics of the American population, employer based health care coverage, globalization and exporting “good” jobs prevented it. Not to mention that the gait-keeper [primary care physician] system has sworn loyalty to the insurance carrier. Its cost saving structure relies on delaying or avoiding the expense of diagnostic tests, keeping patients from rapidly obtaining the test, scan, or specialty referral to quickly address their concern. In many cases, once performed, the diagnosis was found too late for the test to do any good.
The public fought back, but the government in protecting the corporate special interests’ bottom lines, instead of the people’s, outlawed individuals’ rights to litigation against the HMO. Instead, they were allowed to sue the doctors, hospitals other direct healthcare providers, and they did. What else could they do! So change came, and HMOs began to act more like conventional insurance carriers were before medicine became “managed”. The result is that instead of limiting care, they cut the reimbursement. The result is that CEOs make all the profits that the HMO organization saves by not paying fair fees to the doctors and providers. So what cost savings were achieved? None! Who made all the money the HMOs and CEOs! Who lost? The patients and their doctors. And your political representatives that we elected to congress to safeguard our rights, did so except the corporations’ rights were protected like individuals’ rights and, as such, they contribute more in campaign finances than we could ever contribute individually or as a conglomerate. Why? Because it’s intended to be a vicious circle and it will remain so for the foreseeable future.
Unless a leader with enough of a public mandate is able to stand firm in protecting the individuals he/she was elected to represent against the special interest lobby culture in Washington, the Status Quo will prevail. A new administration in the executive branch can do much to steer the political winds of change in favor of a more balanced approach to resolving the health care woes of our country. Critics and think tanks sponsored by the same special interest groups with hidden agendas, will accuse them of touting a populous socialist agenda. But even them will agree that a reimbursement system that channels profits from “delivery” narrowly toward upper executive management compensation is simply failing to recognize that management is only good at demonstrating share holder equity and corporate profit margins in-keeping with over-inflated stock prices which allow CEO’s to cash in preferred stock options. We all know how they have managed to blind the public and the Wall Street pundits during this financial meltdown with all the truculent trickery known to any forensic accountant: Cut labor costs, eliminate coverage for certain expensive treatments calling them “experimental”, establish preexisting clauses that deny coverage when you need it [why even have insurance?], make the pre certification process a nightmare for physicians’ staffs when trying to get you a diagnostic test your doctor says you need, medicate you with drug panaceas until you can’t function or die from your illness! Ask the federal government to place all the Medicare eligible persons in an HMO advantage plan by making the traditional Medicare plan more expensive and less affordable to a population that funded it with their payroll taxes in the first place. Funny that the Congress spends the Medicare and Social Security trust funds by extracting the money for unappropriated spending and put IOU’s in its place. Then call the system unsustainable, when in truth, its one of the few government entitlement programs that is self-funding! I never understood why the public outrage never scorned higher. Are we really that naïve? I say ‘not’!
And I sincerely hope Mr. President, you hold steady in your sincerity, appoint cabinet members with same principles that can restore the balance you so proudly adhere to when discussing the injustices brought by special interest lobbying efforts and its undue access to government policy. Avoid the recommendation of a industry-filter health care ‘Czar’ who can be easily overwhelmed by the demands of special interests’ influence. Please remember that unlike what most believe, Physicians cannot be the sole segment attributable to rising health care costs, nor can the bear the full burden of cost-cutting schema, over-regulatory documentation requirements, and administrative blame-games pursuant to fraud, abuse and over utilization guidelines. Although everyone buys into the concept of eliminating excessive spending, most of the public is flabbergasted at Patients spending less ‘quality’ time with their physicians and more with ancillary staffs, because their doctor must comply with the whole gambit of documentations requirements mostly intended to delay or deny coverage for reimbursement of the same diseases people have suffered since medicine was invented. If the health care system is supposed to work as intended, we must remove the secret advantage built into the laws that allow insurance carriers to play these ‘coverage’ games which allow them to deny claim payments, exclude necessary treatment, reduce physician fees to bare-bones rates, and deny preexisting conditions. Change is needed now. COBRA is unaffordable, and ‘group plan’ policy clauses must be extended to help individual plan coverage limitations, which allow carriers to exclude a single family member from a new underwritten policy plan, or load the policy with preexisting coverage exclusions and riders.
Sincerely,
Alberto Abrebaya DPM, DABPS, FAPWCA.

Although I have empathy for those without health care, I do have a problem with reform being shoved down my throat by a bunch of legislators that I am not convinced are doing it for the good of the masses.
My first question is what is the percentage of those without health care compared to the total population?
Next, how many are above and below the poverty line?
Finally, with this being such a hotly contested issue, why not bring it to the vote of the american people??? In the past we used majority rule to work out problems. Now it seems that the vocal minority outweighs the silent majority. A public vote would take this matter out of the hands of the career politicians (both parties)and place the decision with the ones who will in the end have to pay.
Currently there are already various programs assisting folks with health care issues in the below poverty level. In Mobile, AL, there are clinics that provide a visit and RX for only $10, $25 for dental visits. Also there is the “All Kids” program for children, and veterans hospitals for vets. I believe that programs like these should be spotlighted and if need be, provided additional funding, before we initiate another government agency to spend my money.
I believe if I’m going to fund reform anyway, expanding Medicare and medicade is a better solution.