Current events

[Mdlftr]

Just to start a new thread here: Does anyone think the President's health reform plan will go anywhere? Does anyone think health care reform is necessary? Or NOT necessary?

Curious as to what real people (outside the newspapers and ads ) think.

Mdlftr

[CelticMuscle]

I am in favour of the idea of a centrally backed healthcare system that is free at the point of use, but do wish that people who say that our healthcare system in the UK is useless would state if they had experienced it firsthand or not. If they had, then I would agree that there are times when our healthcare system does fail, but if they have not experienced it then I would ask them to shut up and experience it first hand then comment.

[Mdlftr]

The Washington Post has a good article in this Sunday's Outlook section. It seems that everything most American "know" about the health care system in other countries is wrong. For example: they are "all" state run programs (not true. Japan has private sector insurance). They are all poor coverage (not true. Many have coverage as good as the U.S. --- for less money).

Worth checking out the article for a quick recap on an important subject that will affect a majority of Americans at some point in our lives --health care coverage.

Mdlftr

[FuzzyKB]

Originally Posted by Mdlftr

Just to start a new thread here: Does anyone think the President's health reform plan will go anywhere? Does anyone think health care reform is necessary? Or NOT necessary?

Curious as to what real people (outside the newspapers and ads ) think.

Mdlftr

[COLOR=lime]About 40 minutes ago I went to all of the trouble to write a detailed series of events explaining my reasons for an absolute hatred of the current system. See, it has effected me personally. I watched three friends who were covered by Kaiser Permenente die because it was cheaper to do this than to do anything meaningful to help them. I watched as care was denied, medical complaints that could have resulted in early diagnoses were ignored or denied as a matter of corporate policy and those under Kaiser Permenente were not even given more then the cheapest treatments to keep them in comfort as their respective ends came.[/COLOR]
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[COLOR=#00ff00]My own Mother died in 2001 because after a heart attack her HMO refused to pay for Cardiac Care Unit or any kind of sophisticated diagnoses. She was moved from an acute care hospital after a heart attack to a rest home facility where she was not even attached to a cardiac monitor. [/COLOR]
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[COLOR=#00ff00]After her death I found out to make a long story short that the Attorney I had contacted had won 52 cases against this same carrier for the same thing and had another 40 cases pending based on denial of care. [/COLOR]
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[COLOR=#00ff00]What was worse was that I learned that denial of care is being protected by the courts and the legal system because even under extreme cases of abuse nobody is held responsible and the payouts and deaths caused by denial of care simply become a cost of doing business for companies that are being protected by the system.[/COLOR]
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[COLOR=#00ff00]I will go into detail on my experiences if anyone wants to hear it, but, I will state that the ONLY system that will work period is a single pay system that takes stockholders, corporate profits, and bonus collecting CEO's out of the picture. The rest is a joke and it is that simple. . . .[/COLOR]
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[Mdlftr]

Hello FuzzyKB<

Thanks for your lengthy, pointed post.

It is very helpful to me to hear some facts, as opposed to "spin" about the reality of the current system. While I personally have never experienced the denial of care you describe, and am healthy (knock wood!) I can appreciate that for those with more severe conditions, such as heart disease or long term chronic conditions such as diabetes or hypertension, the current system may "ration care" as the euphemism goes, in order to lower costs.

On a slightly different issue, I do not understand the current allocations of insurance coverage. For instance, under Medicare, a wheelchair is covered, because it is considered "a durable medical device". However, hearing aids, which more and more people need at younger and younger ages (1 in every 10 from ages 18 to 65, 1 in 3 after age 65 on average) are NOT covered by insurance and must be paid for completely out of pocket. If society were truly serious about restoring or promoting people to full participation, particularly in the work place, these would be covered.

Fuzzy, off line I'd be interested in hearing more details. Feel free to PM me.

Thanks,

Mdlftr

[WhoDunIt]

One thing that really pisses me off about this whole debate is the insistance that Obamacare "will" have death panels, yet not one word is said from the other side about these insurance comapnies doing the same damn thing!