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This Isn’t About Politics. This Is About Basic Human Rights, Health Care Reform
As thyroid patients and patients with chronic conditions, our medical expenses are outrageous. Some of us have lost our homes, while others have lost the ability to work; and as a result, our insurance. Undoubtedly, this is just the tip of the iceberg. In fact, post-diagnosis, many of us are no longer eligible for private health insurance. Sadly, we don’t get the treatment we need; we’re forced to put our lives at risk more than we already have. This on top of everything else, we should tolerate?!
We struggle daily to manage our conditions, add to that finding a doctor willing to partner with us in achieving wellness, add to that the inability to afford insurance and, or treatment for our respective conditions and what do we have? Death, unless you know something I don’t.
Additionally, those without a chronic condition who can’t afford insurance shouldn’t be denied basic health care; nobody should. Health Care Reform is a human rights issue, not a political issue.
Recently, we posted about Martin Bosworth’s death, a dear friend and fellow community member. He struggled to get insurance and couldn’t. He fought passionately and dedicatedly for health care reform. Our comments applauded his efforts and celebrated his endeavor. Let’s continue fighting.
What can we do for health care reform, for our community and every American? Over the next 48 hours, urge everyone we know to contact our local congress person. Call Washington and the District Office. Click this link for details.
In case you missed it: Please read today’s Going For The Throat: Awareness, Or How My View Of The World Reads Like A NATO Press Conference. Robyn’s post is about the necessity for universal awareness and more. In my opinion, this sentence embodies her post: “Because, what I do know is that it’s all related to our health, we just don’t know it yet. “Robyn Davis Hahn. Many people have shared their thoughts with Robyn. We encourage you to continue connecting with her and each other.
Tags: contact congress, HCR, health care, health care reform, health care reform bill, health insurance, health insurance for all Americans
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54 Responses to “This Isn’t About Politics. This Is About Basic Human Rights, Health Care Reform”
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No matter what your political views are. We can agree to disagree. What we all can agree on is we need health care , we need health insurance, we need someone to listen to us and all others that have an illness they can not afford to take care of without proper insurance.
If anybody needs health care reform it is us. If you want help you have to fight for it, you have to not worry what your friends, family, co-workers or anyone else thinks when it comes to fighting for your health. I would rather lose a friend (?) than not take care of my health. We have an opportunity to fight for our health. What are we waiting for ????????
BRAVO, ELAINE!!! FANTASTIC CALL TO ACTION. 100% AGREED. Hands clapping, you are a queen.
I couldn’t disagree with you more. As a person with Hashimoto’s, Celiac and hypothyroidism I have gotten lousy care from 4 of the 5 traditional Doctors I’ve been patients of. The one great Endo who treated me ended up closing her practice because insurance companies shut her down for treating with T3 and other hormones they didn’t want to pay for.
For the past 4 years I’ve been receiving excellent quality health care from an Integrative Medicine office – the practitioner are credentialed in both the traditional and alternative medical worlds. Of course, for this great care I have to pay out of pocket – their office doesn’t accept any form of insurance because they want to be free to treat patients according to what works for them, not according to insurance guidelines and regulations.
In essence, if socialized health care passes, as a tax payer I will be forced to pay for health care I can’t use and then pay AGAIN for the health care that actually addresses my needs.
I have a hard enough time affording my visits that cost $300 an hour and paying for my labs out of pocket and paying for my compounded thyroid replacement out of pocket without adding an increased tax to pay for health insurance for the entire population on top of it.
Contrary to popular belief, the opposition to the proposed healthcare bill is not due to a callous disregard for the real suffering of real people. We all acknowledge the need for healthcare reform, but this bill is not the answer.
Please read this: 5 Things You Should Know About Obama Care http://ow.ly/16OF7l
Jessica – We respectfully agree to disagree. As a tax payer, the cost to us is nominal, not astronomical. Our tax dollars go towards anything but health care. Why shouldn’t every American have the right to health care? Why shouldn’t that be a basic human right? Moreover, health care reform is a ‘public option’, not socialized health care.
I digress, we respectfully disagree.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts and speaking up!
I sincerely hope that this country will see the light soon and get the healthcare system it deserves. – Those who claim, and I heard it said so often, that the US has the best system in the world, live under a tree stump. The only category the US system really excels in, is its exorbitant cost. There the US is indeed world leader.
Statistic after statistic, other industrial countries are doing a better and more efficient job.
What good is a system like the current one, if you cannot afford it, or if you can’t even get into it.
Wake up! Wake up! Wake up America!
HD
WOW, HD. Wake up is right. In this country, health care is treated as a privilege, not as a basic human right and that is unconscionable. We can’t tolerate this any longer. Those of us with chronic conditions and other health issues sadly lose their lives because they can’t afford treatment.
As you said… We’re supposed to be this great system?!
Wake up! Wake up! Wake up! (My new slogan for the next 48 hours), thanks. HD.
If you’re in the DC area and wish to hear the president’s address about health care reform:
President Obama will be speaking on the urgent need for reform in Fairfax, Virginia at George Mason University’s Patriot Center this coming Friday, March 19. Doors open at 9:00 AM EDT and the event kicks off at 11:30 AM. This event is free and open to the public and doors open at 9 AM. No tickets are required for this event.
EVENT LOCATION:
The George Mason University Patriot Center
4500 Patriot Circle
Fairfax, VA 22030
Thank you for sharing, AD!
Brenda – Thank you for sharing your thoughts and for providing a link to more information.
This plan, in my opinion, is a start. It, by no means is the answer. It’s the beginning of change with respect to health care being seen as a basic necessity, not a privilege.
The only thing I have to say is that this is a very political issue.
Melanie – Why do you think this is a political issue and not a human rights/health care issue? I would love to know your thoughts on it.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts!
Wow….a can of worms was just opened up.
For those that disagree with the Health care reform, may I ask….What do you suggest we do?
I personally am open to any suggestions or anything thing that will get the health care we need and deserve. Yes, deserve. Every living person deserves to have decent health care.
I do not consider this a political issue. It should not be a political issue. Who I vote for has nothing to do with my illness. I come from a very political family. We do not talk politics at the dinner table, but we do talk about our health. Doesn’t everyone??
By the way the reason we do not talk politics is we do not all vote on the same side. That is probably the most healthy thing we have going.
I am sure this will get to be a very heated issue. But, shouldn’t our health and how we can get covered for our care be the most important issue? Jessica this may not be what you need, but it is needed by your thyroid brothers and sisters. You have decided to go in the direction you are and living in this country we all have to decide how we will take care of our illness. As a tax payer I pay for many things I don’t like or agree with. Just part of living in the great US of A
What ever we believe, what ever party, what ever we decide to do with our lives…..we still have one thing in common…we have a Thyroid Disease that needs to be taken care of. Agreed?????
Elaine – I love your outspokenness and appreciate where you are coming from. In fact, I am glad that each of us have such strong feelings regarding health care.
Like you, I believe this isn’t a political issue, rather it’s a human rights issue. As I stated above, health insurance shouldn’t be a privilege, it should be a basic human right. HD made a great point when he mentioned other countries that have a public health option.
Elaine — Great points, kid. I love that you made us think a little bit more.
xo
I agree that this bill is a START at getting everyone cost respective health care. Ever hear the phrase “Rome wasn’t built in a day” our health care won’t be either.
Medical bills here are too expensive. I had nose surgery and was charged an EXTRA $800.00 dollars to have an extra Anesthesiologist to WATCH my surgery. Initally we paid the cost but then fought it with the insurance company and hospital. Once we realized it we were furious. Has anyone seen the video on CNN about medical bill costs? Most hospitals add a ton of extra stuff to your bill – because your insurance company doesn’t look at an itemized bill. That’s why our insurance is so high – we are paying for extra items!
Digging into the can of worms …
A number of countries (e.g. Canada and the UK) have decided that healthcare should be provided like roads are provided, like education is provided, like police and fire protection are provided, like a judicial system is provided. In those countries HC is paid for through taxes.
Other places (like Germany and Switzerland, and Massachusetts for that matter) have decided that each citizen is be required to carry health insurance. In those countries insurance providers are not allowed to reject anyone because of their prior condition, or their occupation.
So, either group sees health care as a vital issue, that either is provided, or is insurance against it is mandatory. (After all if you drive a car you also have to carry a mandatory insurance).
HD
I saw the CNN report. It was amazing how different the costs for certain procedures were. Sometimes one place charged more than double what another place wanted. – I pays to shop around if you!
But as HypoGirl said, who does that? Who even sees an itemized bill? And if there is only one hospital in town (like in our town) then of course they have a quasi-monopoly.
HD
My personal wishlist for Health Care Reform:
1. Do away with prior conditions
2. Do away with life time dollar limits
3. Take your health care with you when you change or end a job
4. Do away with rescission (dropping someone when they get sick). Unless there was proven criminal intent involved.
5. Create more real competition among the providers (this could include a public option).
HD
Hypogirl;
I agree, Rome wasn’t built in a day. If this passes, it’s one small step towards change in the RIGHT direction for a public option. We need a public option, IMO.
PS: You’re right, they get your ass on ‘the extras’.
Katie
HD;
Very interesting. I didn’t know those facts re: Mass, but I did know about insurance abroad. I’ve benefited from a public option because I sat my A-Levels in the UK. The care I received was absolutely great. I’m not saying that there aren’t issues with health care abroad because I know there are. However, we need the same option.
Insurance shouldn’t be a privilege. I find it absolutely mind boggling that in this country (USA), it is.
Katie
HD/Hypogirl, I didn’t see the CNN report, but I’m going to look for it online.
HD – Your itemized list KICKS ASS!
For those who are interested: Here is a link that compares the Massachusetts plan with the current Senate plan. http://is.gd/aMEQ9
HD
HD – Thanks for adding that. I’m clicking now.
If you are interested here is the Sanja Gupta Video from CNN
http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/bestoftv/2010/02/24/ac.health.bill.cnn?iref=allsearch
Thanks, Hypogirl, I was looking for that. You’re a peach, sistah.
Katie, HypoGirl,
This doesn’t seem to be the same program I watch (now I am not sure anymore it was on CNN). Anyway, the reporters shopped around for certain medical procedures (like a colonoscopy) and the difference in what various places charged was just astounding. Sometimes more than double from one place to another. One could literally save thousands of dollars by shopping for medical procedures. – But, as I said, who actually does that look at the bills? But maybe we all should though!
HD
Brenda,
I appreciate your point of view. – But please tell me, what kind of a plan (if any) does the “opposition” to the current plan put forth? Does the opposition think that the way things are today is OK? I am listening….
HD
I totally and absolutely agree with Jessica and Brenda. My story is almost an exact copy of J’s with slightly different diseases. Went to 10 conventional doctors, pcp and specialists, whose hands were tied and minds controlled by insurance companies, before I finally gave up and started going to a private holistic practice and paying out of pocket for everything – visits, treatments, meds! By the way, did you hear Sanjay say towards the end of the video that the high cost of those itemized hospital supplies includes the costs for people who don’t have insurance or simply cannot pay? We are already paying for the uninsured. I don’t want to pay anymore. Let’s actually reform the insurance companies we have, not let government take over the running of the health care industry. The government is not capable of EFFICIENTLY running such a huge industry while delivering QUALITY healthcare at the same time. It’s Pie in the Sky.
Carol,
I pose the same question I asked Brenda? Where is the plan of the “opposition”? – So you don’t like the system? But what would YOU change (if any)?
Please enlighten me.
HD
Two points for Brenda and Carol
Kudos to you if you can pay out of pocket-most can’t. Just got my bill for the hospital part of my thyroid operation which was $12,975 (this doesnt include doctors fees or anesthesia) I pay $60. Imagine what this would mean to those people who need an operation and don’t have insurance to cover it.
My tax dollars are funding unneccesary wars-do I like this? Nope. I would much rather fund something positive like maternity or pre-natal care for people who aren’t as lucky as me.
wow – all these comments.
I’m all in favor of health care reform – reforms that actually lower health care costs and keep Americans their freedom and liberty. But this bill ain’t it, gals. In fact ever since I first heard of Obamacare I have been totally scared for my life – and often say “my government is going to kill me”. IMO, Obamacare means TSH only testing and Synthroid for all. Mark my words.
Btw, health insurance/care isn’t a “right”, it’s a commodity…a good. One may think that everyone is “entitled” to health care, but that’s a different can of worms. If health care is a “right, why not food? clothing? housing? a car? a big screen TV? Again, these are goods. They aren’t “rights”. Don’t get me wrong – i understand the problem. And saw it developing years ago (i used to be in benefits administration) – but the consumer (us!) and physicians are as much to blame for creating this situationas the insurance companies. And don’t get me started on how gov’t mandates have screwed up the insurance part. So folks need to stop demonizing insurance companies and everyone take some personal responsibility for creating this situation. Overtreatment is a problem too in this nation; and maims and kills.
Wow – what a hot topic, huh?
btw, i have insurance – never use it – like the gal above I pay out of pocket for a good doctor (and it’s reasonable!). My insurance deductible is so high anyway…and btw, health insurance does not guarantee timely health care. Just ask some Canadian friends.
And personally, I don’t think Obamacare is about health care – just control. I feel like I have maybe 3 more days to live in the America I have grown up in and loved so much. If it passes, we’ll have a single payer system in 4 years as the insurance companies will go bankrupt (of course that’s the plan)and then the gov’t controls my body. Of course, the whole country is on a unsustainble path…with the worse yet to come. Prepare. Stockpile meds. 🙂
“The government is not capable of EFFICIENTLY running such a huge industry while delivering QUALITY healthcare at the same time.”
Stop quoting the media and start reading healthcare stats and reports. Medicare is the most efficiently run (and quite quality) healthcare program in the United States. Go ask your grandma if she is interested in giving it up to pay premiums to private insurers who would spend the bulk of it on advertising and CEO salaries instead of on her actual care.
Do you have health insurance now? I do. In the course of my cancer care, I have spent almost as much time on the phone juggling paperwork, claims, and pre-approval processing as I have in doctors offices. How is that efficient?
Now on to the quality part of your claim. When patients with health insurance are forced by health insurance processing boards to take the cheapest standard of care instead of the most effective standard of care – how is that quality?
Due to a paperwork snafu, I didn’t have health insurance when I was diagnosed with cancer. Then nobody would give me insurance because I had a pre-existing condition. Under this current broken system I had to lie, cheat, and break the rules in order to stay alive. Had I not, I could have died. If I had died, maybe they could have tossed my rotting corpse on your doorstep and then you could have figured out what to do with it Cindi and Brenda.
Has anyone “Paying out of Pocket” thought that they may never have to Pay out of Pocket again on this plan? I understand we will be taxed for it. But probably no where near what any of us are paying now. Just a thought.
Cindi, I do the same as you and see a doctor outside my network. However, all my out of network costs goes towards my deductible. I just have to fill out the paperwork and send it in. Once I meet my deductible I will see an in network provider (for blood work etc..) because it is covered. Does your plan offer this? You might reach your deductible faster. I pay for it – might as well get some benefit from it right?
Comparison of health care overhead:
Canada (where HC is run by the provinces): overhead 1%
US Medicare system: overhead 3%
US Inurer run system: overhead a whopping 31%
Source: http://is.gd/aNxTX , «, «, « a really good read!
HD in Oregon
HD – regarding shopping around for procedures, you’re right. i think as patients, we also have a responsibility to ask our doctors to tell us what the cost is for recommended procedures. Do you ask? Do I ask? Does anyone ask?
Great food for thought. Thank you.
Hi Carol – Thanks for sharing your thoughts with us and expressing your point of view.
I hear you. I’d like to share a few thoughts, please and thanks. Those of us with insurance also pay exorbitant out of pocket expenses. Insurance companies don’t pay for all Western medical expenses. The cost of insurance, especially for those with chronic conditions is insanely high.
My point in expressing this, is that whether one patient is doing ‘Eastern medicine’ and another is doing ‘Western medicine’, we all get screwed.
Though this bill isn’t perfect, it’s a start. We need radical health care reform for insurance companies, uninsured individuals and insured individuals. Additionally, doctors are in the same boat we are regarding health insurance.
The cost to us for this health care reform proposal is nominal. Every American deserves health insurance, in my opinion. I don’t think insurance should be a privilege, I think it’s a basic human right. Don’t you agree?
I look forward to hearing back and I appreciate that you took the time to share your thoughts.
xo
Donna – Thank you so much for sharing your point of view and expressing your opinion regarding this issue.
xo
Cyndi;
Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts, great food for thought.
You make interesting and valid points regarding rights (housing/food/clothing). However, I’m curious as to why you don’t think insurance should be a basic human right? If we look at countries like Canada, England, etc. they have a public option, as well as private insurance. Many people use the public option only, while others use both and some just use the private option.
Insurance companies are already going bankrupt because they aren’t getting reimbursed from doctors/hospitals because patients can’t afford to pay their insurance bills.
I think the entire landscape of health care is a mess, period. We’re all suffering, including doctors and hospitals. We’ve made health care ‘a business’ and because it’s become a business, we as patients suffer and get the short-end of the stick.
In my opinion, though this plan isn’t the perfect plan, I do think it’s a great beginning. We need to start somewhere, don’t we?
Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts and expressing your opinion.
I digress… I don’t think this is a political issue. i really think this is a human rights issue.
Kairol – You hit the nail on the head when you said Medicare is the most efficiently run (and quite quality) healthcare program in the United States.
Everyone I know on Medicare has never once complained about the quality or efficiency of the care.
Excellent point.
Hypogirl, out of pocket is a great point. With insurance after, after, after meeting my deductible, I’m still screwed. The costs per month for insurance and out-of-pocket expenses exceed 2,500 a month. This is ridiculous. The cost of insurance makes up over $500 of that.
If I had the public option, I could have a ‘flex plan’, if you will. Some things I will want and need to use my insurance for, while others, I’ll be able to use the public option for.
HD – Thanks for providing those statistics and the link. Jaw. Floor. Unbelievable.
I find this statement demeaning and an attempt to trivialize a very valid argument
“Stop quoting the media and start reading healthcare stats and reports.”
Don’t assume that because some of us disagree with you that we are just robots repeating some media phrases. We could easily say the same about those parroting the talking points of ObamaCare.
Medicare is going broke, no one argues that point, and healthcare providers can verify that Medicare is extremely late in paying their bills. Obama himself admits there is massive waste and fraud in Medicare. Efficient? Hardly, unless we redefine the word
Name one gov’t program that is run efficiently. Because I’ve been around a good number of years and have yet to see one. When an entity knows there is a limitless supply of money (taxpayers), and no accountability as there is in the private sector (those in gov’t rarely get fired for poor performance), there is absolutely no incentive to hold themselves to the same standards as if they were a private business with a finite supply of money.
A recent story tells us Walgreens is now refusing to take new Medicaid patients. We will see this trend continue because no business can continue to operate at a loss, and those touting ObamaCare do not seem too concerned with these, saying that profits are ‘evil’ so we must penalize evil ‘big’ businesses. If the trend of Walgreens spreads throughout healthcare, the logical next step is the gov’t using their Chicago tactics to step in and take that freedom away from private business and force them to operate at a loss, until the business has no choice but to close up shop.
As for cancer, the NHS in England is a great example of how choices for treatment are limited. A US women’s Cancer group has come out against ObamaCare for these very reasons, not wanted women’s choices to be limited.
When something is free, the demand will skyrocket and the costs will escalate quickly, and of necessity meds, procedures, diagnostics, etc, must be controlled and limited. In England those over 55 are denied expensive life-saving surgeries and treatments in favor of those younger. Just check out the story of the American woman who ended up getting sick with serious kidney problems while in England. A horror story for sure, and unfortunately not unusual. The examples and statistics abound if one is truly searching for the truth.
I am on many health forums, and over and over, those in England, Canada, and other countries with gov’t healthcare are astounded at the choices we have–how we can change doctors if we are not satisfied, how quickly we can get in to get things done, the choices in medications that we have.
‘Free’ healthcare does not equal ‘timely’ or ‘efficient’ healthcare.
And for the record, We have to pay outright for our insurance, and I had to get a separate policy from my husband and son due to pre-existing condition. My deductible is huge, and we cannot easily pay for all this. I just recently paid of the payments of a huge hospital bill I incurred several years ago. But let me tell you emphatically, I will gladly make sacrifices in other areas so I can maintain my freedom to choose who I want to see and what meds I want to use, and so my doc can also do this. With ObamaCare, docs will be told what rigid algorithms to follow and their autonomy to do what’s best for the patient will be gone.
And I want to have natural dessicated thyroid, which people in England are not allowed.
There are solutions to this problem that don’t involve such sweeping, onerous gov’t control. Many alternative plans have been offered, but Obama & Co. refuse to even consider them. So don’t believe the headlines that no solutions were offered, it patently false.
Let me keep my freedom to choose how I take care of my body. Obama himself is on record as saying that eventually private ins. would be phased out and we will all be on gov’t care, and employers can’t wait to dump us all into it. They will gladly pay the fine for not covering their employees.
I am furious that under this proposed plan I will have to give up my high-deductible plan and be forced to buy a ‘gov’t-approved’ one, meaning we will have to pay much higher premiums.
If you think HMO’s are bad, with their rationing of care and restrictions, gov’t healthcare is like an HMO on steroids, except worse, since we will have no choice to change to a PPO.
hypogirl,
my deductible is so high – that i never reach it…so i haven’t bothered to submit the medical bills for my physician that isn’t covered by my insurance. The only reason my husband and I have the employer insurance is for the catastrophic expense coverage. And yet we’re paying a high premium cause folks love those office visit copays and RX copays – which we don’t use.
I would LOVE to have the option of buying the type of insurance WE need and across state lines so that we have some say so in our health insurance costs – and could put our medical dollars where we want too: catastrophic insurance coverage and out of pocket dollars for my physician who “gets” thyroid disease and is an integrative physician.
I’m wondering how these docs who don’t accept insurance are going to be handled under Obamacare. Will they still be allowed to practice? For how long?
Under the proposed bill, the government does NOT run the healthcare system. They do NOT hire and pay your doctors. They do NOT run or pay the local hospital(s) in your town.
There is nothing in the bill that will “ration” healthcare. Your medical decisions are still up to your doctor (and are then endlessly argued against by your friendly “for profit” health insurance).
Yes, the bill will put restrictions on health insurers (but the government does that to other industries as well. E.g. car safety rules). Insurers have abused they current system long enough, if you ask me.
If you want to drive a car, or fly an airplane, you must carry mandatory insurance. If you want a bank loan for your house, you must carry fire insurance. – So, why is it so horrible if you have to buy health insurance as well. If you are working for an employer that covers you with healthcare, you’re paying already (in the form of reduced wages). The people of Massachusetts seems to have gotten used to their system (established in 2006 and signed into law by a Republican governor), and it required mandatory insurance.
The, oh so bad and socialist, systems in Canada and the UK, rank higher in cancer survivability and general death rates; they have lower infant mortality than the US. France ranks first in health care quality according to a WHO report, and guess what, they do require that each citizen carry insurance. – I said it before, the only category the US currently exceeds in – is cost per capita. Huge cost!
As to certain medication not being available in certain countries; this goes both ways, there are drugs, that the European Union declared safe and effective for years, that the US FDA has not (yet) approved.
Getting back to France for a second, there you pick your insurance company from a list of private insurers; but then you can go to any doctor in the country. All “must” take “all” insurances. None of the nonsense of “oh you need to drive 150 miles, there is no doctor “in system” in your town.
Just a few more thoughts in reply to recent comments.
HD
Dear Thyroid,
Yes, I have, on occasion, asked the price for a needed procedures. – Just recently I called my endo up and asked if the thryoglobulin really needs to be tested each and everytime my THS is tested. He agreed with me, and it saves me about $50 out of pocket per test.
HD
oh HD – are you really that naive? Have you not heard obama’s 2007 words about transitioning into a single-payer system…even pointing out that Canada didn’t do it all at one time? did you not hear his interview the other night when he said this wasn’t done all in one fell swoop? can you not see how the insurance companies are going to be put out of business?
my husband manages a small company. let’s see…he can pay a $750 fine per employee to not cover them….or thousands to cover them. what do you think he will choose? how many customers will the insurance companies have to lose before they go out of business? and then they are forced to cover pre-existing conditions with no cost attached on that to the covered person. does car insurance work that way? life insurance? of course not. insurance companies have a 3% profit now…this is going to be putting them in the loss category. and then voila – single-payer government mandated health care. but then that’s the cloward-piven way. but don’t be naive about the gov’t not being in total control after this bill passes with rationing on the way.
I noticed this comment by a doctor elsewhere today on the health care bill: Being a physician, I can tell you if this passes, it is the beginning of the end for the best health care in the world. At our national meetings, there are as many foreign docs there as US docs because this is where all the new innovations are occuring. This bill happens and ALL that will dry up. It will be lowest bidder not what’s best for the patient. They WILL ration care saying that a certain treatment is not effective. No joint replacements over 75 because you will not live long enough to make it worthwhile and pain pills and a wheelchair are cheaper!
I don’t know why obviously smart people don’t see all this…i really don’t…but there is no pie in the sky, folks…our congress is getting ready to dismantle the best system in the world…and sunday, if this health bill passes…it is the fall and decline of America. I’ve been crying all day. laugh at me if you will…but I’m 54 years old and this is the saddest thing that will have ever happened in my lifetime. I loved my America.
Cindi,
The bill is online. Please read!
😉
HD
Socialized medicine doesn’t happen overnight. It starts out with all these mandates and controls in a bill with a couple thousand pages. And Obama has said himself on video that his goal is most certainly to go to an all-gov’t-run system. To deny these mandates and controls are not headed toward socialized medicine is to deny what Obama himself has said and to ignore the path other countries have taken. The gov’t will be taking over 1/6 of the economy, and Obama said he wouldn’t do it ‘right away’ but that we would eventually get there.
It DOES ration my healthcare choices when it tries to tell me that I MUST buy insurance, and that I will be fined if I don’t, and that I can only buy ins. approved by big brother gov’t. Which means increased premiums for us, meaning less money to spend on actual healthcare. When the gov’t is paying the bill for millions more people to have healthcare, and the medical community is already saying they cannot stay in business with what the gov’t pays, what on earth do you think will happen? Studies are already showing doctors are planning on retiring early if this passes, and those who were considering going to medical school will choose another profession. So with less doctors, and millions more patients . . . .well, you do the math.
And you think putting restrictions on ins companies will not cause many to go out of business? When this bill forces them to cover pre-existing conditions, even when someone will now be able to buy insurance only days prior to going in to get a pre-existing condition treated when they should have bought the ins. prior to that? I know so many people, especially young ones, who could afford ins. and refuse to buy it, preferring to spend their money on expensive cars, iPhones, homes, etc. And studies show this is quite common. They don’t want to make the sacrifices many of us make in order to buy their own insurance. They want to play, but expect those of us who sacrifice to have insurance to pay their way. When the ins. companies go out of business because they simply cannot make a profit due to these big brother gov’t mandates, and being unable to compete with the gov’t plan, that also restricts my choices. Rationing means getting less of something, by whatever means, and that is exactly what will happen.
The fact remains and the studies show that there are hundreds of thousands out there who could afford ins, but choose not to, and they see nothing wrong with expecting everyone else to pay. Sorry, this just doesn’t fly in my opinion. Whatever happened to being proud to take care of yourself and being ashamed to take assistance from others? Now it’s “I’m entitled and you should pay my way” I, for one, am sick to death of struggling so we don’t have to have assistance, only to have more and more taxes taken out to support millions who are scamming the system. (And this does not apply to those who are truly in need)
I was raised in MA and still have friends and family there, and I can tell you they HATE the mandatory ins. regardless of what you might read or hear on the Obama networks. “Getting used to it” does not make it good or right. With that reasoning, I suppose I could ‘get used to’ the gov’t limiting my healthchoices and telling me I can’t have an expensive operation because I’m over 55, but that’s only because it’s done at the point of a gun (so to speak) and I wouldn’t like it and it would be right. Cindi has spared me having to go into the specifics of why it is bad.
The statistics about those countries have long been refuted, and it’s simply not true that their cancer survival rates are higher. The US leads in advance drug research and new drugs to fight cancer, which is why so many from other countries come here to get treated. While it is true there are some drugs in Europe that we’ve not yet approved, they are minimal compared to what we have here that their healthcare will not allow or pay for.
Every country with healthcare is facing a budget crisis and are having to face the fact that it is unsustainable. They are all going broke and simply cannot continue to provide what people expect without rationing and increasing taxes, and their tax rate is extremely burdensome already, with most having to drive tiny cars and live in tiny abodes because so much of their paycheck goes to pay for this ‘free’ benefit. I read about this stuff every single day and the information is out there for anyone to see.
I’ve met many people from the UK and they are amazed at our standard of living and choices we have. We live in a humble home, by American standards, but a friend from England thought we must be rich to afford it. We were shocked at the prices of things he was telling us about, much of price being the high taxes necessary to fund these ‘free’ entitlements.
Of course the cost per capita in the US is higher–people’s choices of drugs, surgeries, diagnostics, treatments are not limited to the extent they are in countries with gov’t HC. It’s comparing apples to oranges.
They get their costs down by rationing and limiting available drugs, treatments, etc.
My husband owns his own business that is finally getting off the ground. We are over 50 and have been very concerned about having enough money for when we can no longer work. We do not want to have to depend on gov’t assistance, which is meager at best. Now we are very discouraged, because he will be forced to pay for insurance for the guys that work for him. They are retired, work on a contractual basis, and understood that we don’t provide it (heck, we can barely afford our own). They were OK with that, but with this bill we will be forced to provide it. And we will now be considered ‘rich’ for tax purposes!! It’s ludicrous, but most people who clamor to ‘stick it to the rich’ have no idea that the term has been redefined by Obama & Co. to include people like us who are fortunate to have anything left over after making ends meet. If anything, the gov’t should be giving people and small businesses tax breaks so that we can afford to grow and employ more people and take care of ourselves, rather than slap onerous taxes and mandates on us so that we are forced to let people go and have one person do the work of two.
Ultimately, though, it boils down to constitutionality, and the founding fathers wanted to be sure the powers of the FedGov were very limited in scope, because they saw the history of Europe and how gov’t ALWAYS amass more and more power, restricting liberties, and do so by promising safety and security in many forms to the masses. I love to read the Constitution and the writings of the Founders, and it is very clear that it is not the role of the FedGov to provide welfare. The powers not expressly enumerated to the FedGov in the Constitution are to be reserved to the states (10th amendment).
If, as some believe, the Constitution is no longer relevant, then your freedoms as guaranteed under it are irrelevant also. It is the document that has made this nation the most free, prosperous one in history. If we are willing to ignore or bypass it to impose someone’s vision of utopia, we do it at great peril. Once that door is opened, it will never again close.
Recent news: Caterpillar is backing away from Obamacare because it will cost them 100 Million to cover all their 150,000 employees.
So if this passes, it’s a pretty sure bet they will get rid of many employees. This is a huge burden for businesses.