When you stop and really think our PISS FUCKING POOR healthcare delivery system, how can you NOT....

[Stinky The Clown]

..... be REALLY PISSED OFF?

[vi5]

1. At this point I think about it a lot...

My son is 18 months old and during that time has spent approximately 7 months all added up in hospitals. He has 16 hours of home nursing a month and has had a dozen operations in his young life.

It's incredibly difficult to navigate the entire process of doctors, nurses, insurance, billing, deductibles, stop-loss amounts, etc. and my wife and I have great insurance, great relationships with all of my sons 7 or 8 doctors as well as the nursing and medical equipment companies and we also havethe luxury of both time, education, and demeanor to review every submission and review every bill and find the mistakes and push for corrections and push for re-submissions, etc.

How people who have no insurance and don't have the luxury of either the time, money, or background to be able to deal with the system is beyond me.

[yardwork]

6. I'm sorry - I hope that your son will do well.

He's lucky to have such caring, loving parents.

[vi5]

17. Thank you.

He has progressed so much. And that's what kills me day in and day out is that I realize how much he's progressed precisely because of the care we have. Precisely because our insurance is good and on top of that we can afford to supplement his care and his therapies. We've been in and out of hospitals with him enough to see that there are so many kids out there who are not just in worse shape than him physically and medically speaking but also with family's with no insurance and no means to handle the situation as they should be able to.

[EmperorHasNoClothes]

11. I've been through that too, and you have my sincere sympathy

Our son, at 4 years old, is finally getting past some of that. I still spend at least an entire working day every month doing nothing but dealing with medical bills.

The whole system is set up to squeeze out as much profit as possible, no matter what the social costs. People get a bill for something that should have been covered, their complaints to their insurance company go unanswered, they are sent to collections, and they finally just give up and pay the bill. I honestly believe the health insurance system in this country is more crooked and evil than pretty much any other industry.

[Johonny]

16. This is the thing I don't understand

I hear all the "good" things the US does better, faster than other countries. I wonder why they would suddenly get worse, when single payer health insurance removes much of the overhead from the current system?

[EmperorHasNoClothes]

20. The only thing that would be worse under single payer

is the insurance companies' profits. That sums it up completely. Opposition to single payer is about nothing more than MONEY.

[Johonny]

26. may be

But most Americans and American corporations lose money on the system. I think the dirty secret might be the positives of our system only exist because it ignores 1/6 of the population. If it actually had to accommodated another 47 million people might end up with some of the same negatives as France, Canada... s the survival rate of the US really better than France or Canada, or do 1/6 of Americans simply die without being diagnosed? As far as I can tell there's a fear factor that you won't be able to buy yourself to the head of the line anymore. Even though most Americans already can't. People are often bad a calculating risks. Hence the odd number of people concerned about estate taxes, death taxes and the high brackets of income tax, even though most people will never reach have to worry about them. It seems odd but the privilege of the aristocracy seems more accept here than say in modern Europe.

[CTyankee]

24. Because repubs have convinced people that they will "get something worse"

if they opt for universal, single payer coverage. Because they believe that all those people come across the border from Canada to get an operation they can't get in Canada, yadda, yadda, yadda.

These are not repub operatives spouting this nonsense. They are ordinary working people who somehow believe this crap.

We've got to face the fact that A LOT of voters think this way!

[phantom power]

2. St John McCain assures me we have the best health care in the world.

It must be true.

[One_Life_To_Give]

9. It is, if yiu can afford it nt

[madinmaryland]

3. But, shouldn't people be allowed to shop for the best health care available?

Let the free market solve all of our problems.

:sarcasm:

[CTyankee]

25. Actually, I think that's the end game in Hillary's health care plan.

She says let the private plans compete with government plans for your health coverage. She is betting on the fact that when you see that you get great coverage at a lower cost from government plans you will desert the private plan, thereby letting the free market do its thing. Whenthe health care companies can't compete, they'll slowly go out of business and then go into another line of work...

[EFerrari]

4. I can't be pissed off. I can't afford blood pressure screening

let alone meds. (I swear, that's where the whole issue finally winds up for some of us.)

[taught_me_patience]

5. I'm satisfied with it

My sister was diagnosed with cancer six months ago. She had many tests and specialists examining her with in days. The speed that everything moved was incredible, and she was undergoing chemotherapy with in 3 weeks of diagnosis. She finally ended up being cared for by a top notch oncologist here in Los Angeles. She's had surgery and been in the hospital numerous times. She has now beaten cancer and I attribute it to the speed and excellence of her care.

It has also not been an undue financial burden on our family.

[yardwork]

7. Obviously, your sister has good private insurance. What about the millions who don't?

I'm glad that your sister is doing well, but what about all those who are denied the healthcare she received, simply because they have no insurance even though they are employed? What about them?

[taught_me_patience]

14. I agree that it is sad that people do not have health insurance

I think we should, at the very least, require employers to provide health insurance to all employees working more than 30 hrs/week. A single payer system would be better, though.

[Stinky The Clown]

15. How nice of you to think that.

WHAT ABOUT PEOPLE WHO CAN"T GET WORK BECAUSE THIS ECONOMY IS FOR RICH PEOPLE????????

People with attitudes like yours PISS ME OFF as bad as any insurance company.

[Manifestor_of_Light]

18. This economy is certainly not for educated people.

Education doesn't mean shit in getting a job. It's who you know, and whether you're under 40. If you're over 40, they don't want to pay you for experience and education. You're just supposed to live on air between the ages of 40 and 62, I guess.

[yardwork]

22. Large employers receive huge federal tax benefits for providing insurance.

These benefits are not available to small businesses and the self-employed. We can "require" all employers to provide health insurance to their employees, but what do we do with the many who can't afford the premiums for their employees? Throw them in debtor's prison?

It's more than "sad" that more than one-third of this nation's citizens - the majority of them children - have no health insurance. Their inability to access health care drives up everyone's costs. When people have no health insurance, they postpone seeking medical care until they are in crisis. It is far more expensive to treat somebody in the Emergency Department than it would have been to treat them preventively in the doctor's office.

Our country loses billions of dollars in lost productivity and increased health care costs because we block at least one-third of our citizens from access to the kind of care your sister got. And that's not to mention the ethical implications of giving some people life-saving medical care while denying it to others simply on the basis of where they work.

[taught_me_patience]

29. My mother must provide insurance for all employees

that work more than 20 hours of her small company (50 employees). This is the law in Hawaii and a burden to small businesses. If you can't provide, then you have to lay-off or go out of business.

I agree with your second and third points, though.

[cushla_machree]

31. typical

Your attitude, that is.

Because You, or in this case, your sister has great insurance, then things are ok, though pity people don't have insurance. I have worked full time, 40 hours/wk for the past three years, and never has any of my employers given me insurance. Its too costly, so you see many places hiring 'temps' or seasonal employees. There are millions of people who work more than one job, who never get the option of health insurance. Either its not offered period, or they employers (like walmart) or the insurance companies themselves price you out of the system.

Requiring employers to offer health insurance will never work. They are always ways to avoid it....not to mention that it would probably bankrupt a lot of companies.

You know what? I had great insurance for most of my life. Blue cross and blue shield. I NEVER had a problem. When i was booted off that plan, then i realized how bad the situation is. A lot of these plans are only insuring the healthy...then those that they are required to take on, they price out of the system. One insurance company priced me at 625 a month due to the fact that in high school, i suffered from anemia. Pre-existing condition, you see.

If our country forces companies or individuals to acquire health care, sure people might get covered. but because the insurance companies would not be able to game the system like they do now, the quality of plans would go down, and the costs to the consumer (not to them, of course!) would go up. Just a bunch of high deductable plans...i just applied as in individual to blue cross HMO in my home state....the c0-pay for the ER is 20%. SO you figure, 100,000 hospital stay (Say you get in a car accident)...you gotta cough up 20,000 in case. the deductible was 3,000 and the medication deductable was 300. At that rate, whats the point of getting insurance????

[EFerrari]

8. If I wind up with the same condition, I'll just have to die

because I couldn't afford even the DX testing.

[Hekate]

12. I'm so glad for your sister & your family. Now, should she have to find a new insurance carrier....

...she will discover that all future cancer diagnoses (gods forbid) and treatment will NOT be covered at all, because they will be considered a pre-existing condition.

Her health insurance is very likely job-related. If she's a minor, the job in question is her parents' -- meaning she will eventually age-out of their plan; also, your parents better not change jobs. If she's an adult, she and/or her husband better not ever leave her/his current job. Sure, there's COBRA, but the monthly premiums are a killer, and it's only good for 18 months or so.

I, too, have a good health plan through my husband's employment at the local college. When our son had a devastating accident 15 years ago we were eternally grateful for it -- but getting past the BS of letting remotely-located clerks decide whether completing his facial reconstruction was necessary was beyond my emotional capacity at that time, and I am also eternally grateful that my husband was able to do it.

We are now close to retirement, and due to my husband's health sometimes we think about whether he should leave early. But no. Not only does he love teaching, but we can't really afford to pick up the premiums on our own. We can't even buy another health care plan should we need to because both of us have so many "pre-existing conditions" that the exclusions would make it meaningless.

We are the fortunate ones, you and I. The difference is that I see that millions of people are not, and that millions more live with this fear in the backs of their minds: if I lose my job for any reason, I will lose my health care.

The US has a Third World health care delivery system. By that I mean that a person living anywhere in the world, no matter how primitive, can have access to the "best health care in the world" if -- and only if -- they have the money. It is outrageous that we, the proud USA, have sunk to that level.

Best of luck to your sister in her full and complete recovery. Your family has been through a very scary time -- may it all soon be in the past.

Hekate

[WillowTree]

27. "....better not change jobs."

Please stop spreading this misinformation. The first iteration of HIPAA in 1996 changed that issue for the most part. If you have medical insurance through your employer and change jobs, the new employer's insurance cannot invoke a pre-existings conditions clause unless there was a break of more than 63 days between the termination of coverage under the old plan and the first date of eligibility under the new employer's plan. (If the new employer has a waiting period between date of hire and the date when a new employee becomes eligible to enroll their plan, usually between 30 and 90 days, then there cannot be a break of more than 63 days between termination under the old plan and the first day of the waiting period.) This applies to virtually all employers with 20 or more employees.

Misstating facts diminishes your argument rather than enhancing it.

[cushla_machree]

32. my friend just changed jobs

And while the new insurance cannot evoke the pre-existing clause on her and deny coverage... (She has diabetes)...there is no rule saying HOW much your insurance will cost.

SO, if you have a pre-existing condition, the other poster is correct, better not change jobs or you may not be able to afford your new premium!

[taught_me_patience]

28. You are correct

she will now be a slave to a corporation (or state job) until she's eligible for medicare. She's only 27 now, so its a long way to go. That part of it sucks and is frustrating.

[Stinky The Clown]

13. Its funny how different people have different viewpoints

I have pretty good insurance, too. I pay a LOT of money for it and I am most fortunate that I can afford it. On February 9, it will be one year since I had a heart attack. My care cast me virtually nothing. I am now taking lots of drugs and my meds cast me about $20 a month in copay. My wife has some issues that also require medical monitoring and meds and she pays about the same for meds, and maybe $10 a month for doctor bills.

So yeah, we're pretty happy, too.

But let me tell you why ***I'm*** pissed off abut this.

There are so fucking many people who do NOT have any way to get quality health care. I CARE about them. I care about those people that the hospitals dump at shelters. I CARE abut those people who have no choice but to use emergency rooms as their primary care. I CARE about children who have parents forced to choose between health care or feed.

I CARE about others. To care only about me and mine is just too ...... Republican for me.

Let me edit to add ....... if I ever have to change insurance or if I ever lose it, I am FUCKED. Royally Fucked and as good as dead. That's not a figure of speech. If my heart meds are not kept up and if care by a cardiologist is not covered I WILL DIE.

I am one bad week away from dying. Many of us who are 'well off' are as well.

[Javaman]

10. Re-watched Sicko this week...

I was at first pissed, now I'm frustrated. I predict the next time I watch it, I will very depressed.

[Snarkturian Clone]

19. Yeah, our healthcare system sucks ass.

I wish someone out there could put together a practical plan for nationalized healthcare... I just fear that our population size, heterogenous culture, regionalism, and class structure will get in the way of any program we try to bum off another country.

Maybe we should do it like police and fire depts where local government entities will cover small regions for healthcare...

I don't really know enough about it to be sure that it would work... any suggestions?

[SalviaBlue]

21. I'm in an OK situation now too.

I have good coverage. But I care about others that don't have coverage. I think "there but for the grace of God go I" when I hear about people without coverage who are in need.

I really think this is the difference between republicans and democrats for the most part. Cons think "I got mine, what's the matter with you that you can't help yourself?" and Democrats feel the pain of those who are suffering and want to help.

[Vinca]

23. It's truly amazing the differences in coverage.

I'm self-employed and can't afford coverage. My husband is also self-employed, but has a chronic condition and can't buy health insurance at any price. I would actually try to find a normal job in order to get health coverage for us, but I deal with chronic pain from an untreated sports injury and just can't do it. It's a horrible situation - the lack of insurance has really impacted my quality of life.

[Pavulon]

30. Sadly your experience

generally varies with your income or quality of coverage. There are excellent resources here.

[redqueen]

34. Does no one care about anyone but themselves?

[redqueen]

33. Why would anyone who's covered waste their beautiful mind on that?

*sigh*