As Americans, are you satisfied with your health care system?
I am Canadian and although our system is FAR from perfect, I appreciate universal health care. After watching Michael Moore's sicko, I couldn't believe some of the things that happen with health care down in the US. I couldn't imagine being told what I can and can't do by an insurance company whose sole interest is profit. Of course, I suppose the people who have the best insurance don't mind the system one bit but it seems seriously flawed. Americans, what do you think about your health care system? Have you had bad experiences with it?
heyteach2008-02-10T23:17:30Z
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I'm chronically ill and most of my life I've not had health insurance and thus have also been unable to afford much of the care I NEED.
I have not seen "Sicko" because Moore doesn't do his homework and stages things. I've seen clips and his interviews and caught him in several lies so I will watch it for free on TV, but not before then.
The American health care system was hijacked some time ago by those who are lawyers, "businessmen," and politicians and doctors suffer as much as patients do at the hands of the incompetent who are greedy and drive up the costs of health care.
I will not waste time recounting the bad experiences I have had with the system, almost all as a result of seeking treatment on the rare occasions I've had health insurance. I will instead offer a SENSIBLE plan which is being roundly ignored: I want QUALITY, ACCESSIBLE, AFFORDABLE health care for all. That means preventative care (physical with follow up). Real medication (no Medicare "donut holes" the really ill are ripped off again.) No bogus ridiculously low "caps" on needed medical procedures. No abuse of the ER. No paying for the silly with the sniffles to go to the doc for free. No more bankruptcies over medical bills. I want THIS plan that ends abuse of the taxpayer, takes the burden off employers, provides price transparency, and ends the rip-off of the US taxpayer at the hands of greedy insurance CEOs (which has been repeatedly documented). http://www.booklocker.com/books/3068.html Read the PDF, not the blurb, for the bulk of the plan. Book is searchable on Amazon.com Cassandra Nathan's Save America, Save the World
That said, the problems with the system are government meddling, most of it unconstitutional AND the refusal of the government to ENFORCE both contract law and antitrust laws. There is one more piece to the puzzle that would eliminate the bulk of problems: price transparency. IF we had a free market, prices would drop dramatically as they have with procedures such as LASIK and plastic surgery which the third party payers don't have their fingers in so the costs are quite reasonable.
Linda Peeno, MD testified that SHE had often denied treatment JUST to save the insurance company money (http://www.thenationalcoalition.org/DrPeenotestimony.html)
Furthermore: "the vast majority of health insurance policies are through for-profit stock companies. They are in the process of “shedding lives” as some term it when “undesirable” customers are lost through various means, including raising premiums and co-pays and decreasing benefits (Britt, “Health insurers getting bigger cut of medical dollars,” 15 October 2004, investors.com). That same Investors Business Daily article from 2004 noted the example of Anthem, another insurance company. They said the top five executives (not just the CEO) received an average of an 817 percent increase in compensation between 2000 and 2003. The CEO, for example, had his compensation go from $2.5 million to $25 million during that time period. About $21 million of that was in stock payouts, the article noted.
A 2006 article, “U.S. Health Insurance: More Market Domination, More CEO Compensation” (hcrenewal.blogspot.com) notes that in 56 percent of 294 metropolitan areas one insurer “controls more than half the business in health maintenance organization and preferred provider networks underwriting." In addition to having the most enrollees, they also are the biggest purchasers of health care and set the price and coverage terms. “’The results is double-digit premium increases from 2001 and 2004—peaking with a 13.9 percent jump in 2003—soaring well above inflation and wages increases.’" Where is all that money going? The article quotes a Wall Street Journal article looking at the compensation of the CEO of UnitedHealth Group. His salary and bonus is $8 million annually. He has benefits such as the use of a private jet. He has stock-option fortunes worth $1.6 billion." --Save America, Save the World by Cassandra Nathan pp. 127-128
"Insurance Companies Robbing Patients Robbing patients to pay CEOs leads to unprecedented medical insurance corporation greed. Thursday, January 3, 2008 8:52 AM By: Michael Arnold Glueck & Robert J. Cihak, The Medicine Men" http://www.newsmax.com/medicine_men/medical_insurance/2008/01/03/61543.html
Unlike Moore, I do my homework and the problems speak for themselves. The system IS fixable and not by HIS erroneous take on Medicare. In the US, Medicare is going bankrupt. In 1998, Medicare premiums were $43.80 and in 2008 will be $96.40--up 120%. "Medigap" insurance is common because of the 20% co-pay required for service. Medicare HMOs are common because they reduce that burden without an extra charge in many cases. HOWEVER, many procedures which used to have no or a low co-pay NOW cost the full 20% for the HMO Medicare patient. ALSO the prescription coverage they tended to offer has been REDUCED in many cases to conform to the insane "donut hole" coverage of the feds. Doctors are leaving Medicare because of the low and slow pay AND because the crazy government wants to "balance" their Ponzi scheme on the backs of doctors. "That dark cloud lurking over the shoulder of every Massachusetts physician is Medicare. If Congress does not act, doctors' payments from Medicare will be cut by about 5 percent annually, beginning next year through 2012, creating a financial hailstorm that would wreak havoc with already strained practices.
Cumulatively, the proposed cuts represent a 31 percent reduction in Medicare reimbursement. If the cuts are adjusted for practice-cost inflation, the American Medical Association says Medicare payment rates to physicians in 2013 would be less than half of what they were in 1991." http://www.massmed.org/AM/Template.cfm?Section=vs_mar05_top&TEMPLATE=/CM/ContentDisplay.cfm&CONTENTID=11037
I am satisfied with the American health care system. I know our system isn't perfect, but nobody's is. I have thought about Universal Healthcare, but I don't know if it would work. For one, the wait time. I watched a documentary on Universal Healthcare in other countries, and people have to wait so long for simple services because so many people want the services. If we didn't have to pay for healthcare, people would abuse the system and go to the doctor at any sign of anything that may be wrong. Like: "Hey, I have a runny nose, let me run to the doctor."
I think that any industry with competition helps. With competition, you can't settle. Everybody has to strive to be the best otherwise they won't succeed. From the doctors standpoint, they can't make as much money as they want because their salaries would probably been around the same...only depending on the amount of patients they see, I would guess.
I don't know everything about Universal Healthcare, but I wish people would educate themselves on what this means, and not just promote it because it sounds good.
BTW, I have no complaints with my health care. the only issue I have had is with the physician itself, not the insurance.
I have two terminal illnesses, I have insurance.... I have pretty good insurance, HOWEVER, it does NOT pay for everything I need to stay alive... I have 3 machines that I use every day that are NOT totally paid for by insurance... I have to RENT them and pay half.... Prescription drug costs are OUTRAGEOUS in the USA.... Some people spend more on MEDICATIONS then they do their MORTGAGES or rents... I know people who's MONTHLY prescription costs are over $700 a MONTH out of pocket. and they NEED these drugs to stay alive.... I used to think a life was PRICELESS, but the American health care system HAS put a price on it... ELDERLY people in this country go without proper medical care SOMETIMES because they can't afford their drugs or their expensive medical devices they need to survive... My mother is a CANADIAN citizen and had heart surgery a few months ago IN CANADA........ she paid nothing but saw the charges that she WOULD have paid... the same surgery in the USA costs more then TRIPLE what it costs in Canada... the same EXACT SURGERY... Lawsuits in this country have jacked up malpractice insurance for doctors so much so that they HAVE to over charge patients to recoop some of that money back... but there are INSURANCE COMPANY executives that drive around in $100,000 cars and live in $1 MILLION homes while the hard working people who PAY their insurance premiums are getting ripped off on a DAILY BASIS and in some instances have to choose MEDICINES over FOOD or HEAT...
Somewhat. My healthcare provider changes a lot due to company negotiations, and I have not had a problem with it yet.
And I heard about the story of the organ transplant girl as well. Thing is, the health care provider agreed to pay for the procedure (others had been suggested earlier) with due time to help the girl. Unfortunately, neither the parents or lawyer of parents could be gotten hold of, and in the interim, the parents decided to pull the plug. Odd. Course, that's from memory. which might be shoddy.
Ours is the best system in the world When you had your bird flue scare in eastern Canada Who did you run to for help Yes the CDC in America That women that drove 500 miles from Alberta to America to have her six kids Why.There are problems with every system But please don't take M Moores word for anything I know he is popular all over the world Why ? He likes to try to put America in a bad light Which of couse is yours and others National pass time But why do you run to America when you need help? Can you understand why some of us feel the way we do about you?