US Health care: More Money, Less Health

[Nitro Express]

If the Canadian system is so great, how come all my relatives in Alberta come to the US for their operations? Oh yeah. They can get in faster and choose their doctor.

[Blaze]

I actually found I had more choices paying my medical bills in cash. In fact, my doctor gives me a cash discount because he has to have a staff of four people just to handle the medical/insurance billing. I have to be on a CPAP machine at night and when I went to buy my machine I got a cash discount and got to choose whatever machine I wanted. The medical equipment supply company has to have six full time people to do their medical/insurance billing. The way medicare/medicade and insurance works these days is your doctor has to bill you for the huge staff they have to have to handle the beurocracy and stupidity. Any old timer will tell you the doctors started charging more after President Johnson started medicare/medicade.

In the US I can buy my own CPAP machine from whoever I want. In the UK you cannot buy your own CPAP machine. The state ran medical beurocracy has to issue you one. No choices and it takes forever to get one and hopefully you don't die of complications due to severe obstructive sleep apnea while waiting for one.

This works great, I always had super health care when I paid cash. However, this style of care breaks down when you get a catastrophic health condition.

[FORD]

McClatchy Washington Bureau

Posted on Mon, Mar. 16, 2009
Commentary: Obama should offer public health insurance to all
Ramon Castellblanch | The Progressive Media Project


President Obama should provide all Americans the choice of a public health insurance plan like Medicare. He shouldn't just leave us a choice of private insurance companies, none of which could offer decent coverage.

The public health insurance option is attractive for several reasons.

First, it would lead the way in lowering administrative costs. It wouldn't need to make a profit. It wouldn't need to pay outsized salaries to administrators. Public health insurance programs have administrative costs nearly 10 percent below those of most private insurance policies, according to the Department of Health and Human Services.

Second, since a public health insurance option would not be under pressure to pay shareholders, it would be more able to invest in quality health care through prevention and in advising doctors about the latest research on the most effective treatments – rather than on the most profitable ones.

Third, the public insurance option would provide beneficiaries with reliable coverage. Private insurers are notorious for dumping people with little notice. For example, a decade ago, when Congress restricted private insurer profiteering in the Medicare program, insurers quickly dropped coverage for millions of seniors. As a result, many were left without access to their doctors and to needed medical care.

Finally, a public plan could be held more accountable for its decisions than private insurers. Choices about what to cover and how to pay providers could be openly debated whereas private insurers often decide behind closed doors which doctors you can see and what treatment costs are reimbursable.

Private insurers know that, if they had to compete fairly with a public option, they would have to offer affordable, high quality, reliable insurance or lose. They could not get away with ripping off the government as they currently do when, according to the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission, they overcharge it 14 percent to cover Medicare beneficiaries.

So, private insurers have made blocking competition from a public health plan their top priority in this year's debate over President Obama's health plan. They will spend millions to influence Congress and the White House to allow them a free hand in looting new federal investments in health insurance.

For those who want an end to exorbitant insurer profits and our country's long string of health care reform fiascos, it's time to stand up. We should demand the choice of a public health insurance plan. With it, our country would finally get health care reform that bails out those needing health care, instead of those selling private insurance.



ABOUT THE WRITER

Ramon Castellblanch is an associate professor of health education at San Francisco State University. The writer wrote this for Progressive Media Project, a source of liberal commentary on domestic and international issues; it is affiliated with The Progressive magazine. Readers may write to the author at: Progressive Media Project, 409 East Main Street, Madison, Wis. 53703; e-mail: pmproj@progressive.org; Web site: The Progressive | Peace and social justice since 1909. For information on PMP's funding, please visit http://www.progressive.org/pmpabout.html#anchorsupport.

This article was prepared for The Progressive Media Project and is available to MCT subscribers. McClatchy-Tribune did not subsidize the writing of this column; the opinions are those of the writer and do not necessarily represent the views of McClatchy Newspapers, McClatchy-Tribune or its editors.

© 2009, Ramon Castellblanch

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[swage33]

When I was like 5 or 6, they had me on Ritalin for a little while. And this is the early 70's, before big pharma was anywhere near this big. Knowing what that shit did to my metabolism, I could never do that to a kid. Let alone something more fucked up like anti-depressants or whatever.

Were your parents freaky beatniks? Who the fuck puts a 5 or 6 year old on behavioir meds? Sorry ass failures, thats who. Reminds me of that Simpson's episode, "You gotta help us, doc, we've tried nothing and we're all outta ideas!".

[FORD]

At least my parents didn't meet at the annual family reunion & cross burning.

[swage33]

At least my parents didn't meet at the annual family reunion & cross burning.

That brings back memories and as I recall our fathers were men and our mothers were women and we were all well disciplined and well behaved. But then, our parents actually tried to raise good people. Seems to be a lost "art".

[FORD]

That brings back memories and as I recall our fathers were men and our mothers were women and we were all well disciplined and well behaved......

...But then, our parents actually tried to raise good people. Seems to be a lost "art".

[swage33]

For anyone paying attention to this little exchange, let me explain what is going on here. Ford and I disagree philosophically....we have engaged each other personally and, having nothing intelligent to offer, Ford has assumed the typical Nazi posture of likening your enemy to something despicable. The Nazis likened Jews to rats so as to influence public opinion against them. In this instance, Ford has chosen to liken me to a Klansman. Now, do what Ford wants you to do and hate me for I am a Klansman....please join Ford in your hatred of me....he is trying so hard to influence your opinion. Although this tactic is old hat, this is top shelf shit for Ford. Show him some respect and hate me as though you would hate a klansman. Even turds need affirmation.

[FORD]

You and your boyfriend Lardbo the Burbank Bitch used to brag about being Klanswomen. So don't bother with the revisionist history.

[swage33]

I bragged about being a Klanswoman??????? But, I have a penis.....I must be a KlansMAN...just like you said. Pull up your pants, dude, I'm done spanking you.

[Blaze]

Interesting

[Nickdfresh]

The costs of health care need to be managed, because we sure are not getting our money's worth...

And as far as the drug companies, they are too busy pounding money into advertising for erectile dysfunction drugs to bother with new antibiotics...

[Angel]

If the Canadian system is so great, how come all my relatives in Alberta come to the US for their operations? Oh yeah. They can get in faster and choose their doctor.

What the FUCK gives people the idea that we don't choose our own doctors? I've NEVER understood that one! We choose our own doctors. We can't see a specialist without a referral from our GP. That stops people from unnecessary visits to specialists. If you don't like the specialist your GP has referred you to, you ask for to see someone else. Simple.

Surgery wait times are based on need. A girl I work with tore her achilles tendon last month, she had the surgery 12 hours after the injury. My bosses my mother just had a heart attack, and will have her bypass surgery as soon as she is strong enough to survive it.

Hips and knee replacement surgeries have long waits, and they definitely need to do something about that.

I had my new pacemaker within 2 weeks of them deciding I needed a new one last year.

In a nutshell, all surgeries are triaged... life & death come first, and then it is all based on how it impacts the patients well being and quality of life.

I'd be curious to know what surgeries your Alberta relatives have gone to the States for...

[Angel]

How so ??

And I will admit to staying as far away as possible from medical administration because my job is to deliver health care...

I don't care who has money, insurance or neither. I treat them identically, as many of my peers do...

The Doctors, Nurses and other health care professionals aren't the problem, aside from being an ever increasing shortage of the above, and with the baby boomers at retirement age, the demand for health care will multiply significantly...

The problems are administrative and complex, but government isn't the answer...

How so? Your infant mortality rate is much higher than ours, your life expectancy is much lower, and per capita spending is double what ours is.

The problem is that you think the government is much more involved than they are. It's not a socialized medicine program, it's a health insurance program. Most provinces pay premiums (around $40 per person). I happen to live in a province that doesn't have premiums, but we do have higher tax rates to compensate for that.

[Nitro Express]

This works great, I always had super health care when I paid cash. However, this style of care breaks down when you get a catastrophic health condition.

Basically it breaks down when you run out of cash and that is what health insurance was all about. It used to be the patient paid cash and then insurance kicked in when they couldn't. This is the old health care we had before the govt. got involved in it.

Once lawyers could sue the insurance providers and people abused their health coverage and big pharma went crazy it all snowballed into a FUCK THEE fest.