June 21, 2011
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What do you think?
An interesting discussion has developed over here about health care in the United States. The Canadian bloggers seem to think that we would rather not have universal health care and I did not feel like I could speak for the whole country, but this is what pretty much I said:
Many citizens of the U.S. are not rallying against universal health care. We can see the need for it, but our government is trying to implement it by demanding everyone have health insurance (like one has to have car insurance if they own a car) but health insurance companies are one of the primary reasons we have spiraling costs of health care in the first place, so that seems like the wrong way to do it if you ask me. If you wreak your car and your insurance company finds some way to keep from paying all or part of the claim, you just end up riding the bus, getting a crappier car to replace the one that was damaged or you chip in some of your own cash, but you are back on the road again eventually.
With health insurance, the stakes are much higher if the insurance company is successful in their efforts to stiff you to keep their stockholders happy. People can die or get in much more serious trouble while fighting for the benefits that they already paid for with their premiums. If they cannot afford payment for treatment from their own resources after paying premiums to their health insurance company while they pursue this fight, (hopefully with some help from someone who is in better health then they are since dealing with these guys takes a LOT of stamina) then they are screwed.
Years ago, I had the worst time getting our health insurance company to pay for the ONLY asthma medicine we found that worked for our daughter. (I often wonder if some of the stress-related illness I now deal with can be directly attributed to the constant battles I fought with those various companies–hubby’s work usually went with the lowest bidder for health coverage, so even though he has been with the same company for more than 20 years, we have tried just about all of them and there is very little difference between them, in my opinion) After we finally triumphed in the battle for the medicine that actually worked for her, they then excluded costs related to the drug delivery system (children under 12 cannot effectively use the inhalation device that comes with most asthma meds, rendering them pretty much useless without a delivery system) so from the time she was 18 months old until she was in middle school we had to pay for that part of her treatment ourselves IN ADDITION TO the premiums we paid every month…
The health insurance companies are making all kinds of deals with drug companies, but instead of making things more affordable for the consumer, we are told which drugs/treatments are allowed (even if your own doctor disagrees with them, they will not pay for anything they do not deem “medically necessary”/economically advantageous to said insurance company) without a HUGE fight. If after a long battle you miraculously convince them to cough up the resources for the treatment/drugs you need, you will be filling out paperwork on a regular basis after that for as long as that treatment/drug is required. The difference in the amount of resources this costs providers is so great most of them offer two options on pricing for services: the fee for service rate (MUCH lower since they aren’t having to use all their human and computer resources to submit the necessary paperwork to justify the necessity to insurance companies) and the insurance rate, which is significantly higher. One guy I know was quoted a price for a specialist that was THOUSANDS of dollars lower for not having to deal with any insurance companies!
So yes, if universal healthcare in the U.S. means being told I MUST have health insurance, I will not be happy about that since I am convinced that they have contributed significantly the increases we now have in health care costs. If I am allowed to purchase the type I prefer, I might be okay with it, especially if it means that some of the folks that have had to sacrifice having basics like food and clothing to pay for medical care could get some help…
I was wondering what my xanga friends thought about this topic. I would love to see any thoughts you might have in the comment section below…
Comments (6)
To be honest with you, we have been very satisfied with our health care coverage here. I have had Blue Cross Blue Shield for years. I don’t feel a need for a change for myself..
If the government gets involved it will only get more complicated with mountains of bookwork and no treatment until they approve which mean we will all die in the meantime!
Well, it does happen. Free doesn’t mean good or quality or approval granted for what you need. It’s scary. If doctors decide to go away because it doesn’t pay then maybe we’ll have to go back to witchdoctors! Auugghhhhh!!!
Washington does need to go after the insurance companies, the trial lawyers (cap settlements!), the drug pharmacuticals and the lobbyists for all these companies. But they won’t because they are owned by them.
It is a shame that when we needed a lawyer to represent us in a car fire almost 10 years ago, that no one would do it. I called almost 100 of them… went down the yellow pages of the phone book, but not one would take it. Why? Because when I had the good sense to get my daughter and myself away from the burning vehicle before it… say… exploded… we forgot to get hurt. And if you don’t get hurt, you don’t get represented, because there was no money in it for them. (The PT Cruiser caught fire because Chrysler forgot to let us in on the recall – which when it goes untouched could cause a fire – like it did!)
I have Crohn’s Disease. The meds for it are horribly expensive. Like in the thousands of dollars a dose. But I go in pain, because I can’t afford it. Maybe I should go rob a bank for one dollar like the man in Gaston, NC did so he could get healthcare.
I don’t know if you knew Haynes94 here on Xanga. She died in November of ovarian cancer. She beat it once, went in remission, but when the symptoms came back, the doctor begged and pleaded Blue Cross for certain tests, which would pinpoint exactly where the cancer cells were (so they could get a jumpstart on treating it), but BCBS deemed it unnecessary, and unwilling to pay. Then, when the doctor kept appealing, BCBS’ lawyer shut him up. Well, Holly’s cancer didn’t wait around for rulings and appeals. It spread. And it killed her. And it left behind a husband, two young children, and two golden labs to mourn for her, not to mention family and friends.
medi care (goberment) wants me to drop my insurance and take theirs…mine will cover the cost of my anti rejection pill…theirs won’t…cost wise…with my insurance, 300 a month and all the meds and tests and exrays I need…with theirs…500 a month just for said pills mind ya that they do not pay for and limited meds, tests and exrays…my check is 564 a month…I see the savings of going my way…does the goberment…no…sure for some it might work…for others no…smile
ps
sorry this is late but better late than never right…
Thank you for explaining your situation so well.
I thought the whole point of universal health care was to get rid of insurance companies. They have no say here in Canada.
What I don’t understand, is why America is the ONLY industrialized nation in the entire world who is at the mercy of insurance companies and do not have universal health care. No system is perfect, ours isn’t. But it is a hell of a lot better than what you Americans pay for and put up with.
Surely there is a system you could copy or adapt to everyone’s satisfaction.
@Bricker59 - we do have a government-run health care system for retired people known as medicare. it is by no means perfect, either, but it, along with our government-run pension program (aka social security) has kept a lot of retired and disabled people from having to make the tough choice between medical care and basic needs like food or rent. because of some very irresponsible financial choices our national leaders have been making for many years, we are in trouble now and our current leadership may not be able to keep it going for much longer. many people (including me) are concerned about how those needs will be met in the future…