President Obama made three observations in his news conference today about healthcare that I want to comment on.
#1
Some 70+ percent of people are happy with their health care insurance.
#2
There is no safety net for those who lose healthcare insurance.
#3
If those who oppose public healthcare insurance do so because they think the government will do a lousy job then that opposition makes no sense.
Response to #1:
I am glad that such a high percentage of people are happy with their healthcare. They probably have not had to pay out of pocket when a catastrophic illness causes the insured to hit the $1 million cap or they have not been close to someone struggling to find care for a catastrophic illness who has no healthcare.
At $17,000 a pop for one bag of chemotherapy drugs that $1 million cap can happen fairly quickly. Yes that is how much it costs. That is why people go bankrupt in this country trying to get care for their children and loved ones. If the drug companies do as they have today and cut the cost by 50% that is still $8500 for one bag. As we say in the South, how white of those drug companies.
EVERY time President Obama refers to healthcare costs he recalls his mother dying in her hospital bed on the phone and worried about bills. Anyone who has seen that knows it is maddening and so terribly sad. They NEVER forget and NEVER forgive.
Imagine that was you. You are dying. Your friends and family are with you. Your last conversation . .. your last thought was about say a phone call to an AvMed (just as a hypothetical) on-staff oncology nurse trumping your oncologist’s prescribed regimen because she who has never met you, examined you, or read your medical records somehow knows what cheaper treatment you really need. Your argument with them is your last thought.
Response to #2:
Even if you have healthcare coverage as an ethical and moral human being you should care about those who don’t or who may encounter the scenario in #1. It is called empathy. It is called caring about others’ pursuit of happiness as well as your own. Or was the Declaration of Independence just all about you?
If you lose your job or your company goes under (think GM, Sharper Image the current list is endless) you too could lose your healthcare and have nowhere to go – particularly and probably if you have a pre-existing condition. Or you might find it at the tune of something like $700 a month. So if you can’t practice empathy then try enlightened self interest.
Response to #3:
If the government does a lousy job then the private healthcare companies who truly believe in the capitalist business model will provide better care and thus continue to make a profit. There is a reason that McDonald’s sells more French fries than any other company in the world. They make them better and they make them cheaper.
If healthcare companies can’t make a profit when deprived of a private monopoly then perhaps their profits are actually being made on the back of sick and dying patients (that is why a chemotherapy bag can cost $17,000!) or because much of their administrative costs are actually being paid by business owners. Republicans like to remind us most business owners are small business owners.
If that is the case then private healthcare insurers are most likely not making a profit due to the quality of their product. Why did the Bell system make money all those years before losing its monopoly? Were the phones better than they are NOW?
Doctors, nurses, and other healthcare workers will continue to be paid if there is a government system. The United States will never run out of sick people. If the insurance companies can’t make it without the crutch of a private monopoly then guess who no longer gets paid? Insurance company executives or immoral, unethical employees like the previously mentioned oncology nurse will lose their income. Forgive me if I shed them no tears.
I hear Walmart is hiring and former insurance employees can work there. They don't offer healthcare benefits.
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Prison Tatts
impermanentlife
Greer McVay
evaritol
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Delia Yeager
Salon.com
Comments
I'm watching the House hearing on their health reform bill right now.
If you're interested:
http://edwork.edgeboss.net/wmedia-live/edwork/16137/300_edwork-2175stream_070124.asx
"Imagine that was you. You are dying. Your friends and family are with you. Your last conversation . .. your last thought was about say a phone call to an AvMed (just as a hypothetical) on-staff oncology nurse trumping your oncologist’s prescribed regimen because she who has never met you, examined you, or read your medical records somehow knows what cheaper treatment you really need. Your argument with them is your last thought."
This just breaks my heart.
I believe that broke President Obama's heart. He will not give up.
I've been down this road, too, and although I didn't need chemo, the possibility that I might need Herceptin was discussed . When the oncologist presented the scenerio (as we awaited test results) he said that Herceptin would be his recommendation, but that it might not be covered AT ALL by my insurance, in which case, I'd probably not want it, because it was so expensive.
Okay. We all got that? "This can possible save your life, but maybe you can't afford it."
I was lucky enough to be able to say---"If it's needed and not covered, I'll find the money." But (1) not many people can say that and (2) even I meant "I can find the money for *some* number of treatments."
We need health care reform and we need it NOW.
Anyone who has even a short term experience with serious illness or injury in this country harbors anger that has been simmering for years. I can't even talk about my mother's chemo without that anger bubbling up. Don't get me near someone who works for an insurance company!
a) simply not having insurance
b) copays and deductibles
c) potentially high out of pocket limits
d) annual payout limits
e) lifetime payout limits
f) noncovered services
Under the current system having "insurance" doesn't necessarily mean very much. You can have insurance and still go bankrupt or not be able to obtain care because it costs too much.
It will be interesting to see if we end up with any significant health care reform. The current system is heavily rigged in favor of insurance companies. Given the amount of money that they pay out in campaign contributions -- known in other contexts as bribes -- I don't expect very much.
#3 is the most interesting, I think. That line of reasoning has been travelling around the web for weeks now, and I am glad someone on the national stage finally mentioned it on national television.
Why is that private health insurers are scared of a system they claim can't and won't work? If it won't work, then it will wither on the vine when people decide to switch from it to private insurance.
The fact of the matter is that insurers are scared because they know they don't have a product or business model that can cut costs to compete with a public option.
I was one of those that worried that the government would screw up any universal healthcare program. I've seen how impossible Medicare/Medicaid/Medicare Part D is to understand and utilize. I'm a pharmacy tech. I can't tell you how much paperwork and phone calls I've done in order to help someone get their prescription covered. These are people with coverage.
What I don't understand is that most developed countries have universal healthcare. Why don't we look at their plans, decide what we like and what we don't like, and start implementing it. Too easy, right? Sigh. I guess so.
If your husband could become self-employed and if small businesses had a better cash flow from not having to pay those administrative costs for insurance companies I am convinced that creativity and entrepreneurship in this country would skyrocket.
m.a.h.
I had herceptin treatment every week for 52 weeks. $17,000 a bag.
Mr. Mustard
I am sorry that happened to you but hope that your son got the best care possible.
Lea
Yes the Centrist Dems worried more about their own re-election than truly representing the best interests of their citizens least likely to speak up for themselves deserve that special place in hell reserved for that oncology nurse at the insurance company. They are committing sins I would be very afraid of committing.
Ardee
I don't know where he got the percentage. Just quoting him.
Sheepdog
It will be a cold day in hell before this makes EP. But that is fine.
Mishima
You provide a succint list of what needs to be fixed.
So rationing at the expensive end, as he mentioned, would enable us to take money and cascade it downward toward child immunizations and preventative health care.
But we the people also do not like the idea of hearing no to an HIV positive person who demands a liver transplant after being turned down by the HMO and ultimately getting it, thanks to public pressure, only to die six weeks later. (This happened in Boston a few years ago.) That liver cost $300K. That's a lot of measles/mumps/rubella shots.
Thumbed.
"If you lose your job or your company goes under (think GM, Sharper Image the current list is endless) you too could lose your healthcare and have nowhere to go – particularly and probably if you have a pre-existing condition. Or you might find it at the tune of something like $700 a month. So if you can’t practice empathy then try enlightened self interest."
And they act like Cobra is a good thing...well not if you want to eat and buy your meds. Rated and posted for friends.
but I agree with you that they make them cheaper. =)
many americans seem to see empathy as a weakness. we have to reinvent community or civic feelings in our society in order to enact health care. on a serious note, thanks for posting this.
I listened to that press conference too and was glad that whenever people start calling obama passive it seems to make him rise like a phoenix (remember the primaries)....but he needs help. we have to organize campaigns and really hit our "moderate" democrats...they could make the difference between reform that we need and a whole lot of nothing and more corruption.
rated!
The problem is that insurance is the sperm of Satan, and patients are the vaginas it gets plugged into. The pregnancy they cause is what is killing us. They live on us being sick only often enough to think we need insurance, because it is the well, who work and pay, who pay *their* bills. The sick? The dying? Just so much afterbirth. I really REALLY hate insurance and I frankly don't think the government could possibly screw us up worse than we already are.
I spit on you, Health Insurance Devil.
I hope that we get a humane single-payer system in my lifetime. I'm not too hopeful, though. We have just gone too far in the direction of selfishness and self-interest in this country. Compassion and care for our fellow humans seems to be less and less common.
On and on. And I've got great insurance. People would kill for my plan. If I keep fighting, things will eventually get paid. But it's a daily stressor, and I feel caught between the medical providers and the insurance, being ground down to powder.
Good post.
Look at all the countries whose citizens live longer than we do, they are all nationalized health care.
It is the only the way this will work.
And for those who poo poo a national system, why is it every retired person I've ever met counts the days till they qualify for medicare?
Often postponing many much-needed procedures till they can enroll in the program.
It would benefit everyone!
Excellent post! I think the government can do as fine of job of messing up as Big Corporations can.
I still praise my company on their insurance but they are switching the prescription plan to another provider and, though, not a big deal in scheme of different, it still effects my pocket book, if I can afford it at all, I have some blood pressure meds, been keeping the BP good, the old insurance, my out of pocket was like $0 for a 30 day supply. Now, under this new plan, because the meds are not on their "Approved" list, it will cost me $100 for a 90 day supply.
It's like, wow, go from like probably 20 bucks total cost/30 day to whoosh $100 bucks. EEK!!!
I'm tired of this idea that businesses have to provide health care for their employees. The only reason we've evolved to expect this is because only employers can afford it! And that's b/c they are getting fantastic rates b/c of the volume of workers they are covering. The individual plan people like me end up paying 10x what the Boeing employee pays.
Employee health insurance is a huge problem for very small companies and start-ups.