We've Been Trapped Inside a Bad Health Care System So Long, We Don't Even Know How Much We're Missing

What is http://healthcare09.org/ ? ...

No policy positions? No Names? No Way !!!!

We need Single Payer HR 676 no doubt but signing on to an organization that doesn't have their policy positions stated sounds fishy to me ...

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My husband and I are self employed and have no health insurance. When faced with the choice whether to pay a substantial portion of our meager and erratic income for health insurance we quickly realized that having this would not make us healthier or wealthier. It really was a choice of continuing to eat a healthy, fresh vegetable and lean protein diet or sacrifice that for minimal health insurance coverage with high co-payments and a cheaper high carb diet with cheap fatty cuts of protein. It has been a decision I have not regretted. I do wonder, though, why everyone I know who does have health insurance takes so many kinds of pills, especially pain and antidepressant meds. What is up with that?

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This sickcare system does something else that's not generally considered. It affects how doctors practice and what they apparently hold most dear, and it's to the extreme detriment of patients. When money is the central focus of any system, it becomes corrupt. Medicine is no different.

With due respect to those doctors whose first concern is their patients, too many are more concerned with money. The result is refusing to see patients without insurance. It's not taking the time to do research when a patient comes in with something not well understood. It's doing assembly-line surgeries - a very common practice now. It's pushing drugs that result in more money in their pockets, without regard to potential effects on patients. It's pushing unneeded tests.

Even this article doesn't see the depths of the problem. It assumes that everything the med system does is necessarily to the benefit of people, and that it's only the lack of medical care that's a disaster. Unfortunately, this isn't always true. People suffer from both not receiving and from receiving medical care.

Many of us believe that more harm than good is done by modern medicine. That doesn't detract from the good, but for those who've been harmed, the idea of it being necessarily for people's benefit is laughable.

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I like to say that for many(the uninsured)they have been denied quality affordable care.

But for most of us (the insured) we have been both duped and swindled by greedy interests. Some of them should go to jail.

Time and $ have run out.

We will see long overdue US health care reform in 2009 and it will include a public health care option.

Dr. Rick Lippin
Southampton,Pa

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Since September 2006, after I was terminated due to revisions of my workplace, I have made a lot less money, and I had to pay for COBRA and then an individual HMO class policy. The big change has been not being able to add monies to my retirement savings also deeply affected by the huge drop in the stock market. As I am 54 years old, my opportunities for the income I used to have are pretty much gone and along with higher costs for medical care and insurance, will drain my retirment savings at some point.

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wow!!! hard to imagine not having the insurance company as my part time unpaid job while we are paying them to do a specific job!!!

question... how does the canadian system pay for itself??? what is the overall tax rate for an average family today if it is from payroll deductions, or think I remember being told somewhere along the line it was paid for by an end use sales tax on most everything...

might seem silly to ask at this stage of the game, but just can't remember right now... someone jump in here please???

back to coffee...

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I got sick eighteen months ago, with a genetic condition that I was pretty sure would eventually creep up on me, since both my grandmothers and my mother all had it. Mine hit me early, in my late twenties. It resulted in chronic anemia and lack of any iron stores whatsoever (ferratin) for years on end, in a revolving cycle. Eighteen months ago was when it got bad enough to require treatment.

I'm in Canada, so:

1) When I asked to see a specialist, it took a couple of weeks to get me an appointment - but once I did, I was booked for a simple surgery that works about 80% of the time within a couple of weeks.
2) Meanwhile, I was off sick from work, using my work-based benefits to take the time I needed to get my iron levels up higher.
3) When the low ferratin resulted in depression (a common but little-known side effect) I took up nearly an hour of a doctor's time explaining how overwhelmed I was, and getting help in the form of counseling while still working on the ferratin levels. No meds were pushed on me for the depression.
4) When the first surgery caused a complication that had me back in the emergency room a few months later, I was on the table for surgery within six hours. A few months later, the problem was permanently fixed with a much bigger surgery. (This is a surgery that is hard for a young woman to get in the States, because the doctors worry that a woman might change her mind about permanently giving up her fertility. Many women in their early thirties can't find a doctor who will do it. When I said I wanted it, my doctor switched from "options" to "explanations of the procedure" without blinking an eyelash - because I wouldn't be able to sue him if my only problem was that I changed my mind, anyway.)
5) Through all of this, my total expenditures have been only a few hundred dollars - for iron pills, for other supplies related to my illness, and for parking at the hospital. That's it. I have no remaining sick time, but I didn't have any unpaid days, I didn't lose my job, and there was not one single co-pay in sight.
6) My return to health is being monitored by my GP, with the help of a nutritionist, because my underlying condition is likely to lead to type II diabetes if I don't get on top of that now, and I'd like to hold that off as long as I can.

Meanwhile, I had a friend in the States going through a very similar medical story. It took her a year longer, two doctors who turned her down, losing her job and nearly her house, and a thousand dollars in co-pays. Now, her insurance won't pay for the nutritionist who could help her manage her condition so she doesn't get Type II diabetes.

So who got the better service? Yes, I had a couple of waits of a few weeks, and had to wait two months for my surgery - which gave me time to prepare to be off work and be really certain I wanted it. But all told, I got the care I needed. My American friend did not, and she paid more for it.

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My Canadian friends in Toronto and Vancouver Island don't believe the stories they hear and the stories I tell them either. I tell them to always appreciate that they live in a civilized country - not the USA.

Sara you lay out the case well and I have noticed the differences. When I visit Toronto and see where my friends work I am struck by the way the workplace is so much more relaxed than ours. People in Canada are generally treated like human beings on their job, not like serfs.

Speaking of small business, I've been running one for two years without health insurance. when it comes up I tell my customers (in this very red county) that one accident, one invasive procedure, one serious illness and the business they love so much is gone, gone, gone. Many of them, however, are imbued with the stupid Puritanism that had not poisoned Canada - they fervently believe if you can't afford health insurance, you probably don't deserve it.

Now I have health insurance thanks to Cleveland's domestic partnership program and the fact that my SO works for (shudder) JP Morgan/Chase which offers the benefits to one domestic partner. I had to move into Cleveland for it and away from my mother's house where I had been caring for her and her numerous maladies. If it weren't for Medicare she would have been dead years ago or locked in a nursing home. But you do what you have to do down here. I've told people when I didn't have insurance that if I had a heart attack, I'd rather die on the way to the hospital than spend the rest of my life trying to pay medical bills no honest man could pay.

But Sara, it's not going to happen. We now live in a country totally dominated by business interests and their bought and paid for Congress who could care less what we want. There's a lot of war material to spend money on to defend us from the latest bogeyman. In my youth it was the Godless Commies, now it's the Godless Islamists. Funny that. In the meantime a system that one would have expected to see in Dickensian Britain is now accepted as the standard for America.

And when you get down to the core of why the American people accept this it comes down to: the 'haves' have been scared by the industry and the cons to believe they will 'lose' what they have AND that medical care and their taxes (the ones not now spent on war) will go to the stereotypical 'welfare mothers' (read: minority) who don't 'deserve' it.

It's a sad, sad situation and I don't see any improvement in this culture.

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This was highlighted in the Year 2000 by Barbara Starfield

http://www.health-care-reform.net/causedeath.htm

The situation has almost certainly got worse since then.

Whilst in the UK, the National Health Service has deteriotated considerably since it was started after WWII (when the UK was in a state of almost complete bankruptcy), the NHS is still functional.

Anyone in the UK can see a Doctor or go to Hospital and receive immediate treatment which is usually of a very high standard for FREE.

Of course the system isn't perfect, but it is there for everyone.

Similar care is available throughout much of Europe.

However, the UK system is being corrupted by US influence - particularly with Doctors vastly over-precribing drugs.

The major problem with health is caused by poor diet and lifestyle. Whilst drugs can mask symptoms - for example they can lower blood pressure and cholesterol, they cannot resolve the root cause of bad health. There is a great deal of evidence that long term use of an enormous range of drugs cause significant harm. The side effects then tend to be treated with other drugs. People think they are receiving good health care - when in reality their body is being poisoned for the benefit of Drug Company Profits.

Drugs are of course useful - particularly on a short term basis - and can save lives for certain specific diseases.

But the real life saver is not to get ill in the first place. That can be achieved by a healthy diverse diet using natural foods that have not been processed, together with taking at least a reasonable amount of exercise.

Stress is a natural and normal part of life, but the body is designed to overcome the symptoms of stress by vigorous exercise (fight or flight scenario). But the modern world results in stress build up, that tends not to be released by exercise - but masked by drugs or alcohol.

It is an exceedingly good idea, to not take any form of drugs or alcohol for several days a week - and instead go for a long cycle ride and enjoy the natural dopamine released by the body as a result of the vigourous exercise.

Sure you might fall off your bike and kill yourself - but on the other hand - the exercise might keep you alive and healthy for another 30-40 years.

RIP Michael Jackson. I suspect what really killed him was doing relatively nothing for over 10 years - and then doing far too much in a short space of time to prepare for a most Gruelling schedule of doing 50 shows in London at the O2 arena.

He should have ramped up very gradually. A 50 year old man - cannot suddenly become a young athlete again - if he has taken 10 years off.

Tony

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Canadian health costs are soaring, instep with the aging population and issues like obesity. And Canadian health providers want to be well paid. However all in all, Canadians are willing to pay for it through their taxes. We forgo a super expensive military budget, and obviously other things, to make sure everyone has good basic medical care. The government, knowing it is stuck with the bill, has extra incentive to promote prevention and healthy life styles. Almost no one wants it any other way.

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I didn't give up anything, because I don't have that ability. I can't afford it - period. I went to the hospital and charged thousands for a small, short visit where nothing was done. I can't pay my bills. Please help me. Help us who can't afford it. Give us single payer.

-Matt

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good article jobs that we hate......Need for health care is the present day version of indentured servitude, But, need of affordable dental care is the worst totalitarianism of the times. I get sick, my copay's are small compared to the cost of a root canal......
It is way out of proportion.Dentists are the true ruling elite and the worst rip off artists of the century.Their cost structure is pre -medicare era.

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My choice: seek medical care for myself or veterinary care for my cat.

I am on Medicare, but the annual deductible is higher than my monthly income. Typically, on my first doctor visit of the year, I get billed for a lump sum that is more than I can afford to pay (it's either that or forgo food, utilities and hope my landlord understands when I can't pay my full month's rent). Thus, I either put off seeing the doctor as long as possible or end up ducking collection calls for months on end (thank the gods for caller ID!).

Last year, a cat who had been part of my life for nineteen years got a serious infection at the same time I got quite sick. I could pay a vet bill or a doctor bill but not both. I chose to spend the money on my cat and weather my own illness without help. Here's what made the difference: my vet let me pay in installments that I could afford; my doctor's office, a large clinic attached to a local hospital, would not.

The cat died; I ended up not seeing my doctor for another six months, when my escalating complaints finally became too uncomfortable to ignore.

That's no way to live.

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avoid going to the MD office until it is an emergency. Medicare Plan B takes over $90.00 a month out of the SS check. Maybe that is not much to some people...then there is still a deductible plus they pay 20% of non hospital bills. So a lot of elderly skip Pan B of Medicare, keep the $90.00 and hope for the best. When the person has to pay 20% of a $500.00 blood test, maybe they say forget the test.

Plan A costs nothing monthly out of the SS check BUT when they are admitted to the hospital the cost up front is about $1,000.

Thr Government Plan for the elderly, Medicare is NOT FREE.

I see a lot of 3rd world people on TV that actually look healthier than our citizens. Our elected leaders are living in a fantasy world, and are DRUNK on taxpayer $$$ and the perks offered by corrupt lobbyist policies.

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Medicine as currently practiced today in America is all about profit! I am grateful that I have health insurance for which I pay dearly! To say that I am "satisfied" with it is equivalent to a slow drip on the forehead with water. I have high payments, deductibles, and lest we forget every year my premium goes up! Not to mention that when I needed it most a few thousand dollars of my bill was left to me! That those crooks, liars, and shills we affectionately call Congress are obstructing any real reform because it will affect their bottom line is an understatement at best!

For all of the bs talk about "free choice" and "competition" - please tell me what about a single payer option will not force the Industry to change their behavior toward those they continue to rip off with high premium payments, denial of care coverage, and double speak?!? You better believe that if Congress got treated the same as the "average American" with coverage - they would change their position quickly! Those obstructionist Congresspersons - need to feel the heat from their constituents whether you have insurance or not! Call, fax, email - tell them to get off their ever so cushioned butts and finally do what is right for the nation - not the corporations!!

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I went without health insurance for 20 yrs when I had my own business. It was all I could do to afford the bills.

I finally got a job that provided health insurance, paying $180/mo for my premiums when I started. After the premiums doubled, my company could no longer afford to pay. They gave me a raise and said it was up to me to pay my own insurance from then on. I have no health issues and on no medications, my premiums went up to $400/mo, then $500/mo. within one year. They recently wanted an increase to $600/mo so I had to up double my deductible to keep my payments at $500. I am sure it will go up by next year. I haven't gotten a pay raise since Bush was selected president and there's no raise on the horizon in this economy.

My (first and only) new car, back in 2001 only cost $320/mo. If I add my homeowners insurance, flood insurance, windstorm insurance, auto insurance (including uninsured motorist insurance), THE BULK OF MY PAYCHECK GOES TO THE INSURANCE RACKET! All with deductibles and deniables! (And they always turn to the tax payers for bailouts during a crisis.)

I AM MAD AS HELL AND I AM NOT GOING TO TAKE IT ANYMORE!

Sushi
"There are more important things in life than money...but they all cost money. "

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And this even with a Democratic majority all the way. But hey, better to keep FUCKING the lives of others by more "deregulation" for Corporate America to keep poisoning us espcially Big Pharma, more war funding so that we end up with more war casualties dead or alive and run the VA into the ground, keep doling out more bailouts to Wall $treet, keep preaching "pro-life" while continuing pro-death, etc ... isn't it? At the rate Obama, Warner, Bayh, Pelosi, Reid, etc ... are showing their true colors, if any of those motherfuckers lost their lives, they wouldn't be missed. I'd much rather mourn for Michael Jackson than any of those bastards in Washington !

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One scare tactic to stop reform on health care is just saying it will mean greatly increased taxes.

Of course that's true. But it's also true that a family might pay $5000 more in taxes and save $10000 a year in other health care costs they would have otherwise paid. Or the employer would save that $10000, which could then be negotiated into having higher wages.

I'm an American also living in Canada, and it's all true. This last year I've had a serious illness, seen a whole bunch of specialists, had tests, and haven't paid. Doctors also love it because they get to focus on the actual medicine which is why they got into it.

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etc. I would own my house and be debt-free at age 64. As it is, I am laid-off and on unemployment for now with little hope of finding any gainful work. I am a veteran, so I get healthcare through the VA that is based on my past earnings, not present situation, so I still have to pay, but it is not extremely expensive as are private insurance plans.

Is this a great country I fought for, or what. Fuck the bankers and Wall Streeters. Perhaps we'll meet in the street soon.

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I spend little over $800 a month for our health care coverage. The co-pays go up, the deductibles go UP. The monthly costs go up and the coverage goes DOWN, go figure. Seems we are screwed no matter what!

RT
Absolute Anonymity

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This is a little off topic. However, education was mentioned in the article. Colleges and universities have now fixed it so that what used to take 4 years now takes 6 plus. Tuition is off the charts. Administrator and faculty salaries and benefits are scandalous. After we get done with health care, I hope someone starts talking about the education fiasco in the U.S.

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Not sure how it plays in, but my employer contributes 90% of my health plan, leaving me with a $26 bill every couple of weeks for me + spouse. That lets us forgo my wife's plan, which is significantly higher and of significantly less value to us.

Now, would my employer really pay me another ~$7,000 if they weren't subsidizing my health care? Or would FEMACare care simply take that money from my employer AND me via a taxes, and then deliver me something that might hopefully approach the care I already enjoy?

A "public option" (great frame, by the way, reminiscent of "No Child Left Behind") would be fine, as long as it was paid for by the folks it covered. You know--if the public really did have an option as to both enrolling and paying for it.

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No one in Canada ever died because they didn't get health care? That is the most bald faced lie I have ever heard. Canadian hospitals have quotas on how many of each type of procedure they can do and if they are over limit you can't get your life saving procedure.

Oh well, as long as I get to go on an international vacation every year and manage my investments why should I worry about that. (I can always go to the US and pay for it since I always go on international vacations and have investments).

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This article reminds me of watching the Mike Leigh movie "Life Is Sweet" some years ago. In the film, Jim Broadbent plays the head of a working class family. In the course of the plot, he breaks his leg and is not able to work for some time. I thought the rest of the film would be about the family losing their home, the older daughters going out as sex workers, etc. I was actually quite anxious about how this fictional family was going to end up. But none of that happened! This movie is from Great Britain. They have national health insurance and unions and unemployment insurance(although I forget what it's official British name is).

Watching this family have a medical crisis in their chief breadwinner without it becoming a financial disaster was enlightening and transformative. Folks, we don't have to live this way.

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The author forgot children! I am a single woman, 39 with a good income ($70K+). I recently bought a home (thanks to the recent housing problem, although I feel for the previous owners at whose expense I surely benefited.) I am a Federal employee with the same benefits as our legislators. I have GOOD health care for which I pay top dollar. In spite of having one of the best systems of most people in the US, I still don't use it to its potential. In fact, I tend to under-utilize it, but frankly, even when I have used it for the basics, I am still saddled with bills that luckily I can pay. Most of the people I know fall into this category. The insurance companies make tons of money from people like me who pay the premiums, but don't, for one reason or another, stretch the limits of their healthcare, and frankly, we’ve heard so many horror stories that we are AFRAID to. We will go to work with a sprain, cough, stomach ache, because that is our job. Don’t be fooled. A LOT of people with “good” healthcare do exactly what I do, “save it” for when we mistakenly think it will do us good. There are tons of people who did just that, and ended up in BANKRUPTCY ANYWAY, living healthy, paying the premiums, and then when it counted, lost everything because of steep runaway bills. Although it does pay for MD visits, the flexibility in most insurance plans is not where it is needed. I may not need 10 office visits for GP, but when I break my arm or deliver a baby, I will still be saddled with charges ON TOP OF MY INSURANCE. Delivery charges can be staggering, and I often wonder at all the young mothers that I see, HOW DO THEY DO IT?
I am in excellent health, with no dependents. I can only imagine what those add-on would be. I have colleagues who are either married, and use 1 spouse to cover the entire family, or colleauges who use one person to cover an entire extended family, including children. If the second scenario was ever caught, there would be dire consequences, but this is more common than one might think. I don't for a minute underestimate how lucky I am, and thank goodness I have never had any major medical emergencies. For a single person, I spend THROUGH THE ROOF to buy food of the best quality that I can (GOOD LUCK)and spend dearly to keep my pets in good health. As I get older, the body requires more (nature of the beast), and I will probably not leave Federal service to keep the health care. In the end, however, when I see my paycheck, and the amount of money that goes to healthcare ALONE, I can only be glad that I can afford it, because it certainly doesn't seem worth it. I would LOVE to be able to share it with someone who couldn't afford any, but without dependents or fraud, that cannot happen. Healthcare in thois country is but one wasted resource, but I am terrified to be without it.

I realize that this particular demographic may not seem worthy of sympathy, but when you ask what I’ve given up, I can tell you. I don’t have kids, and probably won’t because the idea of being single and trying to negotiate the health system with a healthy one or two is mindboggling. Its not just direct health care, it’s the childcare, the childhood injuries, my illnesses, their illnesses. Healthcare actually responds to overall well-being, and in the case of children that is everything.

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There would be little incentive for joining any union.
The conservatives gotta love that!

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You know, this article pretty much cements what I have been thinking about lately. Looking back, I simply don't remember my parents having to worry about healthcare anywhere near as much as I am worrying about it these days. It is even worse for my children who have gone out on their own and no longer can be covered by MY healthcare insurance policies.

I simply cannot seem to get my mind around what changed over the last 20+ years but SOMETHING has changed drastically. In my childhood days, my parents never seemed to have to make the heart-rending decisions on whether to eat, pay the mortgage, pay the utility bills, etc. vs. pay for any healthcare issues for the family.

My parents were not rich by any stretch of the imagination. However, they somehow managed to raise us just fine and we were always taken care of whenever we became seriously sick, injured, or needed medical attention. I don't remember if my father always had health insurance provided by his employers but he changed jobs quite a bit and we always seemed to have affordable access to health care whenever we needed it.

What changed? Now, my mother is terrified about healthcare - and she is covered by Medicare. Myself and my children are paying a very large percentage of their income for health insurance if we can even find or hold it - and my children are very healthy and have never been hospitalized since being out on their own!

It seems to me that our entire nation is transfixed by a palpable fear about continued access to affordable healthcare. Concern over this issue is practically running our lives now and consuming ever greater percentages of everybody's incomes. All indications are that the problem will get much worse before it gets better - if that ever happens at all in my lifetime.

Unless we as a country finally decide to do something permanent about this problem, it will continue to grow and may eventually consume us. The arguments about how to pay for it are pretty much smoke screens because it should by now seem obvious that we have no other option than to FIND A WAY TO PAY FOR IT SOMEHOW! We have no alternative. It is not moral for a nation to ration something as necessary as healthcare based solely on ability to pay. If you do this you are essentially saying that "If you need somebody to treat you medically and you cannot pay for it upfront, then I guess you just should crawl off somewhere (preferably out of my sight) and die". My heart bleeds for you but, you see, I have to look out for MY health and the health of MY loved ones and "you are on your own"!

This sort of philosophy is not something a country should be proud of IMHO. But apparently, it is the current price of being American and part of "the great experiment in free-market capitalism". However, looking back again - I don't remember my parents agreeing to this philosophy...

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if we don't try something, lets give single payer a chance. The PEOPLE DEMAND IT!

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My health. Why? Because I'm a cancer survivor, and no insurance company would take me because of my "pre-existing condition."

If my cancer returns, I'm dead. No one will treat cancer without insurance. Period. And no one who has had cancer and then lost insurance can get coverage for cancer again.

The American people are giving up more than ever to keep this broken system. Their system has deemed me not "worthy" of big expenditures, not important enough to save if I get sick again. Well, guess what? I deem this fucked-up system too broken to warrant saving!

Single payer for ALL. It's the only humane way.

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It sounds like Canada has government of the people, for the people, by the people. From down here in corporation slaveland that sounds like a great idea!

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So it is Being Reported in The UK that Michael Jackson's Doctor Has Dun a Runner

FUCKING DOCTORS

"Police ‘searching for Jackson’s doctor’
Staff Reporter Published:Jun 26, 2009

LOS ANGELES — Los Angeles police were reported to be searching for Michael Jackson’s personal doctor to question him over allegations that the star received a potentially fatal dose of the painkiller Demerol before his death yesterday afternoon"

People are Going To Get ANGRY

Tony

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When people say they are "satisfied" with their health insurance, it's quite likely they are not being asked the right questions. I have relatively good insurance, as insurance goes these days, but I am far, far, far from satisfied with it. And mine is only good because I work for the school system, which is essentially a state job where I live.

My premiums are only a little over $130 a month, but that doesn't include dental or eye glasses. I also have copays and have to pick up the tab for whatever the insurance company refuses to pay. When I count up all the little costs, it's a whole lot more than I'd pay in a tax increase for single payer. Even so, it's a bargain compared to most people's insurance. And I haven't had any major illnesses, either.

I have a friend who is dying of cancer. I went to visit him after he came home from Duke where he underwent an innovative treatment that did not help him. His wife related some of the hassles she encountered while dealing with the insurance companies, and I offered my opinion that we need single payer health insurance like every other industrialized country. My friend said he disagreed, that it would entail yet another layer of government bureaucracy. Because he is so frail (and in spite of the fact that he, in his better days would have loved a lively argument about this), I didn't say, "Oh, like the bureaucracy we have to wade through to send our kids to school, get firefighters to come to our homes, or call 911 for help." And I didn't say that at least we wouldn't, as he is doing, leave our spouses in debt - in spite of having insurance.

It's amazing how steeped in misinformation people are. Yes, I am sure that there are Canadians who have serious reservations about their system, and I did read the post by one of them here. Perhaps people in Canada do die from lack of care, but it's far fewer than it is here, and they don't die from exposure to the elements after going bankrupt and becoming homeless.

I know at least two people who have declared bankruptcy due to medical bills. I know some who had to get jobs working for someone else rather than maintain their own businesses because of medical insurance costs. I have co-workers who are in debt because of medical problems that were not completely covered by their insurance. I have family and friends who can't afford insurance and live from day to day worrying about what will happen if they get sick or hurt.

It's easy for people who are healthy to say all we need to do is eat well and get exercise and then we won't need insurance, as some posters to this article have done. But what about people - like at least two of my friends - who got rear-ended by another driver and wound up with serious injuries. Of course, these should have been taken care of with the auto insurance, but one of them was hit by an uninsured driver, and my friend was told he'd have to sue his own insurance company to get the payments from his uninsured motorists coverage.

Anyone out there who doesn't despise insurance companies? There may be some, but I don't know anyone.

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Would love to see pieces on what people are doing to not have medical bills. Lost count of the number of medical articles I have read just this past year, about how many medical problems are preventable with lifestyle changes. And how most people want a pill or easy, quick solution. If someone is over weight they need to realize the weight didn't go on in a week or month and it wont come off in a week or month. And what about food choices? Life demands self discipline, but few people have the balls to tell people this! No one holds a gun to your head demanding you buy the junk food, fast food, bad food!

Working with the poor in third world areas I see healthy happy people who eat beans, rice, fresh fruits and teas. None of the hamburgers, huge pizzas, high corn syrup beverages. Even 'health foods' have labels that we need to read, since big corporations will show whole grains and dried fruits on the packaging and people assume the item is 'healthy'. But look closer and the item is loaded with fat and corn sweeteners. Another thing that bugs me is items that say 'less fat'. 'low fat', and people assume the item is healthier and that they can eat more. But read the label and its high in calories. And not at all healthy.

And what about issues like drug and alcohol. These demand huge amounts of money to treat. Yet, we see little being done to keep people from ever trying them. We live in a 'me' society where people demand they be allowed to be FREE. Yet when their freedom becomes an addiction they want someone else to bail them out. Same with people who refuse to be physically active, eat wise, get enough sleep and other preventative measures.

As for issues like broken bones etc. How many people have a walk in closet full of clothes that when added up to a value of 10k? How many people spend $5 a day at Starbucks? That's $150 per month that could be put toward an affordable health care policy for issues like broken bones. Personally I don't like or do fast food. But when I see people in cars lined up at McDonalds day after day, spending an average of $10 I figure that would be better spent on a healthcare plan. Not to mention eating junk means poor health. So its a double whammy.

Now I would like to know how do we afford a government healthcare for everyone whose lifestyle choices are causing the majority of problems? Unless you plug the leaks all we will have is a major gusher later on.

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And crooks in the "health care" rackets, and the crooks in government who we pay to protect us from the other crooks hold all the good cards. Both groups have ensured that we're unable to get what we want, and that we'll continue to be ripped off.

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I went through a medical situation where I contacted the insurance provider, (Blue Cross), and was given information by a benevolent representative of the company, and during the conversation the issue of corporate involvement was discussed. Now we can't seem to escape corporate control in ANY aspect of our society. Corporations were established as servants for the benefit of THE PEOPLE, no longer is this the case. This is what has changed, WE NEED TO TAKE CONTROL BACK FROM CORPORATIONS!

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I fear being murdered in my sleep by Newt.

I keep the blinds drawn.

He is the Antichrist, a shadow on the sun.

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How to pay for it? Get out of Iraq and Afghanistan, tax the rich at half the rate Eisenhower did. Problem solved and then some.

Not surprisingly none of that is going to happen amy time soon. Bill Maher summed up why last Friday in his "New Rules" segment. In a nutshell the people are moving left of center left while the democrats are now right of center (the new republicans) and the republicans are way, way right of that these days - and prone to blatant lying.

To get anything major done for the common good st this juncture will take massive civil protests and unrest. Until that happens we will find ourselves in an increasingly Orwellian world - and the only western country, as far as I can tell, where one can go bankrupt because they had the nerve to get cancer or have a stroke.

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And if Americans could travel more, they'd find out that even some so-called Third World countries have better health care than the US does.

And if you go to France of Cuba or Nicaragua or Venezuela, residents can't even comprehend the US phenomenon of not taking vacation time at all in order to stay on your employer's good side, something common in the US.

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As an observer from the other side of the big pond where Health care is central to polltics
it was sobering for me to read this article.
It comes down to a fundamental question - what is the point of the USA as a state?
It appears to be to make war and support the wealthy but until you understand that Americans should be able to run the state ( only joing!) You are stuck with state you are in. Free health care for all, as I can expect in the UK, requires that the state picks up the tab.
So what is the USA for? Why does it exist if it cannot prouide what you need?

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I remember an Alternet article calling Texans right wing crazies for the mention of succession.
I don't know about that, and would rather fix the system by purging it of all democrats and republicans and other lying, elite fascists.
Either way, I'm sick of the feds taking something like 4x what the state gets, and doling out tiny pieces of it back with strings attached, all so they can use our taxes to force us to support mass murder, oppression and the slicing out the world for large multinational corporations.
I can't call anyone crazy for wanting out of that. I'd call some people crazy for being complacent with supporting it.
Even though single payer would save people money, I'm still for saving at least 300 Billion/year from the defense budget. I'm kinda thinking if we invade less countries and wage less psychological and covert insurgent campaigns domestically and abroad, our need for spending more than we have and as much as the rest of the world combined may diminish some.
Maybe we can take some money from the war on drugs and get some tax dollars instead of making criminals and convects of non-violent people who just want to chill.
Maybe we can save some money by not opening a whole new division of the FTC to track things bloggers say online. If it's anything like Obama's campaign "truth squads", they'll just use it as an excuse to stifle people from mentioning things he doesn't like but his people get a license to BS. Yeah, I don't want to pay more for that either.

Will that cover it? Oops, single payer would save money on essentials, and bring down the costs of voluntary services. Never mind.

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I have environmental illness form exposure to our toxic air, water, pesticided foods and imported material items, (one of almost 15% of the US population!) and I just found out I also have a genetic disease that is triggered by things in the environment and certain foods, etc. I am fully disabled and have been since 43 yrs. old.

It used to be that once you passed the unbelievablly high hurdles of getting your Social Security Disability, and after the lawyers took 25% of your back SSDI payments, you could count on health care. If your health is that bad then you need medical care, right?

This isn't a choice any person I know would make, it's not like going on vacation or frittering your moeny away.....it's your luck of the draw to have a genetic illness, although we, as a Nation could change how toxic things are, if the Feds wanted to.

Well, that also means you have Medicare at an early age, and at first that was like the prime insurance because the Feds paid the bill. Not any more..... In fact, I have likened it to being in some type of "health care death camp" for disabled and elderly.

My story gets worse each year, and I am not even 60 yrs. old.....plus the Feds are telling me that this insurance is going broke and I'll be uninsurable, too.

I also get Medicaid as I am living on so little, and that pays for the premiums. Now, I get billed for part of those, pay co-pays for meds, pay for deductibles at the ER, can't find any doctor in my state to even take Medicare, and I can't get the doctors who are familiar with my illness AT ALL! So, I fly on donated air miles to Washington state from Alaska for a doctor, air ship my medicine that I need and pray I don't need to go to the ER while I am filing bankruptcy (having borrowed the money for that from my 81-yr. old parents)and filing paperwork to have the money I owe at the hospital written off. What?!?!?!?!

I have been put on a protocol of treatment that uses high, high doses of vitamins and minerals and other natural things that my body has used up or didn't have, for my illness, that is compounded by a registered pharmacy and prescribed by a specialist, but is not covered by Medicare part D because there is a law that forbids Medicare from paying for vitamins and mineral therapy....you see this isn't pharmaceuticals! This would include vitamins for scurvy and rickets, too! My treatment costs me over 75% of my disability income each month! Now, it seems to me that when I have to petition Congress to have my medicine paid for to get well, while I am fully insured, that we have more than one health care problem. They are named INSURANCE COMPANIES, BIG PHARMA AND EACH AND EVERY ONE OF OUR CONGRESSIONAL DELEGATES. I had hoped that Obama would use his power as Pres to get this fixed, but now I think I had better get my affairs in order.....

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Over here in Australia we have a system called medicare which provides free health care for those who are unemployed or disabled. Even people with jobs can access the medicare system and pay a nominal fee to see a doctor or go to hospital.
You guys are being ripped off something awful.
I strongly suggest you investigate our system and agitate with you local politicians to try to get some sort of similar system in America.

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I can't quit, it's that simple. There simply are no other viable employment options for our family in terms of health insurance.

I really want to go out on my own and start a business, but there is simply no way we could afford health insurance with my spouses pre-existing condition. The Republicans like to talk about protecting and fostering a free market, but by propping up these 7 mega-conglomerate health insurance companies, they are really hell bent on quashing entrepreneurs.

It's either raw greed, insanity, or flat out stupidity that keeps the Republicans towing the same tired line. And when it comes to the voters, I have a hard time believing it goes much beyond the last option.

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I just saw that the Republicans are protesting to ABC News because they GAVE the PRESIDENT free Air Time to Talk about Health Care . That would of course be like when THEIR President was using the airwaves to LIE us into Iraq . They had NO PROBLEM with THAT . Hey guys you lost and the PRESIDENT gets to use his Bully Pulpit to advance his Agenda
You have to love these guys they are calling their Group GOP Caucus for Fairness . That's RIGHT the same people who are afraid the FCC may reinstate the Fairness Doctrine are complaining about Fairness .

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Of course we have to pay for Universal Health Care! I would like to see what 5% added to tax on Gross income would yield. I really think it would pay for the system and cost less for MOST Americans than the amount paid, whether by employee or employer in our current system.

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Wouldn't it be nice, if we in America had the same kind of healthcare as those crazy Canadiens and those dastardly French. We could, if we would elect people to Congress who would be willing to actually represent their constituents, instead of the people whom fund their campaigns. Vote people, find a candidate willing to live on 168,000 a year, do the people's work, and leave after two terms in the senate or six in the house. Reduce military expenditures by 300 billion a year. Get out of Iraq and Afghanistan. Close all but ten bases worldwide. We in America spend over trillions of dollars on healthcare and the only one benefitting are insurance, pharmeceutical, and healthcare companies.

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I would have already gone to the doctor with the funny thing on my arm that isn't very big yet. (I get Medicare in 6 months.) I also would not have to fail to get the lab work my doctor ordered because I already owe them money; and they won't do it until I pay it off.

Fortunately we do have some social insurance for disabled folk, so my wife, who had a stroke, is covered by Medicaid due to blindness and our VERY, VERY low income. (This from someone with a Masters Degree and a Bachelors in Medical Technology.
After reading what you've said it is even tempting to move to Canada. I can't, so I'll continue to work for health care reform.

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Sooooo how many Americans go to Canada for their surgery? Well, I can't hear you. How about a short list of YOUR no-cost improvements?
How about a list of the costs to a patient to have the inefficient fed gov-meant gumming up the works? We all know anything the gov-meant starts costs 3-5x what they always say to sell it to you socialist suckas.

Try making sense just once..oooo, you can't...liberals are Oz landers basing everything on feelings and others taxes...please don't pretend you have a clue...or that facts matter to you...

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I am truly stunned by the figures in the article 22000 people die because they Cant Afford health care, $15000 per year to have it.

in Ireland the healthcare system is straining to breaking at the moment but from my own personal experience I pay 800euro($1120) per year for Health Insurance for myself and my daughter. I recently had to go to hospital and have a colonoscopy and endoscopy performed. Total cost to me 250euro($350) including GP, Consultant and 6 week course of medicine. Total waiting time 2 weeks, after the initial GP visit had a consultant visit within 4 days and then procedure 1.5 weeks later.

The Irish system is far from perfect but I would not be able to afford to be sick if I lived in the USA and would probably end up being one of the 22000

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