Thoughts on Healthcare Reform

Over the last few weeks I’ve gotten many questions and comments from family and friends about the proposed healthcare reform bill that is currently being debated. Not too long ago, I wrote a similar blog that outlined my disgust with the current healthcare system we use in America. This blog will most likely be much harsher, offend more people, and touch on more controversial issues. This is what I think:

Death Panels (a name quickly picked up after the lovely idiot Sara Palin). This is actually a Private-Public Advisory Committee that will talk with the patient about healthcare options that are available to them, like a living will, DNR procedures, hospice, and other details that an individual may want. At no point does the bill state that a patient will be denied healthcare because they are “too old” (another lie being spread). This section of the bill merely states that a doctor will be reimbursed for their time spent discussing these options with the patient. Furthermore, nowhere in the bill does it say that this consultation with your doctor is even mandatory…so if you don’t want to discuss end of life options with your doctor…DON’T!

However, there is some truth to these death panels that Sara Palin likes to talk about. Unfortunately, for her, these death panels are also known as private health insurance companies! Everyday, people are denied of what could be life saving surgeries, because private health insurance companies can refuse to pay for them. On top of this, the insurance companies don’t even have to keep track of who they deny, and for what reasons. It can range anywhere from typos on their paperwork, to so-called preexisting conditions. Ridiculous doesn’t even begin to describe these idiots like Sara Palin who refuse to think before they speak.

Here is an example I found on salon.com of our current death panels.
“-- In June 2008, Robin Beaton, a retired nurse from Waxahachie, Texas, found out she had breast cancer and needed a double mastectomy. Two days before her surgery, her insurance company, Blue Cross, flagged her chart and told the hospital they wouldn't allow the procedure to go forward until they finished an examination of five years of her medical history -- which could take three months. It turned out that a month before the cancer diagnosis, Beaton had gone to a dermatologist for acne treatment, and Blue Cross incorrectly interpreted a word on her chart to mean that the acne was precancerous.
Not long into the investigation, the insurer canceled her policy. Beaton, they said, had listed her weight incorrectly when she bought it, and had also failed to disclose that she'd once taken medicine for a heart condition -- which she hadn't been taking at the time she filled out the application. By October, thanks to an intervention from her member of Congress, Blue Cross reinstated Beaton's insurance coverage. But the tumor she had removed had grown 2 centimeters in the meantime, and she had to have her lymph nodes removed as well as her breasts amputated because of the delay.”

Moving along, I was recently speaking with my parents, and they were expressing concern about the fact that my dad needs a liver transplant. Apparently, some idiot Salt Lake City doctor that has been watching Fox News, scared them into thinking that if this bill passes, only people under the age of 35 will be getting transplants! WHAT?!?! On top of this, there have been rumors spreading very quickly, that if this bill passes, the government is going to “ration” healthcare. Again, why is it so much easier for people to get angry at the government for something that it’s not even doing, rather than get angry at private health insurance companies that are already rationing healthcare so that they can increase their profit margins?!?! Furthermore, after I heard this, I searched the entire bill, and nowhere does it mention anything about rationing organ transplants so that only the young receive them. Sorry. Just another blatant lie being told to spread fear about Universal Healthcare.

Another concern that I hear quite often, is that it’s just going to cost too much. While I agree that health care reform isn’t going to come free or easily (just as everything else), I do not understand how people can so easily put a price tag on the well being of our fellow Americans! It’s going to cost too much? I suppose it’s simply evidence of the selfish people that we have become, when the first thing that we are concerned about is money. My answer is that there is no such thing as costing too much when it comes to people’s health, and that even if our government is already involved in fighting two wars, trying to turn around our economy, or a number of other things, the time for healthcare reform is always NOW! Furthermore, the current bill that is being proposed (which I think won’t even begin to solve our problem, but I’ll get into that later) has what is a called a public option. Where people who aren’t offered insurance through their employers, or can’t afford to purchase it on their own, can buy into this public option. The public option will be entirely funded through premiums received from those people who buy into it. The thought is that the public option will force private insurance companies to quit dropping people’s coverage based on things like pre-existing conditions, and offer enough competition to keep their costs low. This leads me into another topic of debate.

Many people at the town hall meeting I went to were upset that the government was going to be competing with the private health insurance companies, and they felt that this would be unfair to our free market way of doing things. It’s shocking to me that people are making this argument, and actually seem to believe in what they are saying. Why would anyone stand up and defend a private entity whose success is based around the number of people that they can deny coverage to? Also along these lines, I heard another argument. I was talking with someone recently, and he asked where we were going to get all the doctors to cover these 47 million or so people that are currently uninsured, and are going to start going to the hospital now if they get insurance. It took me a few minutes to compose myself, and slow down my ever increasing heart rate. This, along with the concern that there are going to be longer lines for surgeries and Dr.’s visits if we make it so that everyone has access, irritates the hell out of me! Somehow, Americans have convinced themselves that if they have money and can afford health insurance and expensive operations; they are somehow more worthy of these healthcare benefits, than those who cannot afford it. How pathetic and disgusting.
Other people like to complain that we are rushing healthcare reform and that we need to slow down and make sure that we get it right. Obviously, these are the same insured Americans that already have access to all of their healthcare needs, and forget that about 18,000 people die every year because they don’t have health insurance. These are the same people who forget that since the 1940’s Democrats have been fighting private insurance companies and healthcare corporations for a form of Universal Healthcare. More recently, Hillary Clinton attempted in the 1990’s to lead us in reforming our healthcare system, but just as we’re seeing happen today, the private health insurance companies and large healthcare corporations, are throwing millions of dollars into the debate to continue to scare people into thinking that a form of Universal Healthcare would somehow lead us to communism. Again I say, ridiculous.
Americans, whether they accept it or not, are among the luckiest in the world. We live in a country that values an individual’s ability to make their own choices. We believe in freedom of speech. We believe that anyone should be allowed to practice whatever religion they choose. We believe in the freedom of the press. We believe that if someone doesn’t like the way that our current government is being run, they can stand up and say something about it, or even run for office themselves. We believe that everyone, no matter what their income status, their race, or gender, should have the right to an education. We believe that everyone should have the right to feel safe and protected in their own home, and have put police and fire departments in place to ensure that this happens. Along with hundreds of other things, it can easily be argued, that America is the best place in the world to live. However, Americans are still unsatisfied, and although we pay fewer taxes than most democratic countries, we still complain that we pay too many taxes!! I’ll never understand this.
This proposed bill doesn’t even come close to giving us the healthcare reform that we need and deserve. In trying to appease the Republican Party, we have sacrificed far too much in this bill already, and I think we should simply start over. However, I do feel that doing something is much better than doing nothing, and that we need to do something as soon as possible. Nevertheless, if it were my choice, here are a few changes that I would make to the current bill being proposed.
I would get rid of private health insurance companies all together. I do not believe that anyone should be making a profit off of our illnesses, especially the large profits that these companies are making. They had their chance; they did a shitty job, now it’s time to get rid of them.
Since I would get rid of private health insurance companies, this one seems obvious…but just in case taking the private insurance companies out of the picture wasn’t an option, I would take health insurance out of the hands of employers. By doing this, employers would quit discriminating against employees based on their age, sex, or health status. This would also save employers huge sums of money that could go to raises in pay, or hiring more people to work for them.
Through government funded grants, I would force hospitals and dr.’s offices to switch to electronic record keeping. This may sound harsh, but it’s 2009! There is no need for a nurse or medical assistant to spend hours trying to decipher chicken scratch written by their peers. I know that the older people are, the harder this is for them to accept, and they feel that somehow their information is less safe if it’s stored on a computer, rather than in some random filing cabinet. Get over it. The government is not out to get you, gather all of your information, and then use it against you. Your insecurities are costing us far too much time and money, and causing costly mistakes.
I would do away with Big Pharma! I would allow pharmacies to purchase drugs from other countries that are cheaper, if pharmaceutical companies refused to lower their prices. I also wouldn’t allow them to advertise to anyone other than doctors, and get rid of direct consumer advertising. I would also increase government regulation of drug companies, and I would not allow them to patent the drug for 20 years…maybe 3 if they are lucky. I know, I’m harsh.
I would pay for out healthcare through a dedicated Value Added tax, which we currently don’t use in the United States. When people whine about having to pay higher taxes, I would remind them that even though I don’t have children, I still pay my taxes so that other kids can go to school. I would remind them that even though I’ve never had to call 911 or use the fire department, I still pay my taxes just in case one day I may need to. I would also remind them, that even though they are completely healthy today, tomorrow might hold a different story.

Ok, so I think that I’ve hit on the majority of issues that I’ve heard people discussing. I’ll end with a quote from my last blog about healthcare that I feel sums up many of the reasons why something needs to be done!
“In his recent welcoming address to Pope Benedict XVI, our lovely and oh-so-caring (former) president Bush said “Americans believe that the measure of a free society is how we treat the weakest and most vulnerable among us. So each day citizens across America answer the universal call to feed the hungry and comfort the sick and care for the infirm.” Hmmm…perhaps as the said this he had forgotten about the 47 millions Americans that currently don’t have health insurance. Or the 9 millions children that don’t have health insurance. Or the 18,000 deaths that will occur this year due to lack of health insurance. Or the fact that over 50 percent of all bankruptcies occur because of medical bills!!”

Oh…I also heard that people are worried that they are going to be paying for the healthcare of illegal aliens. Again, not true! Under the bill being proposed, a person would have to show proof of citizenship before they could buy into the public option or get a subsidy. Under my plan, they would be taken care of, because they are human beings, and we should not deny healthcare to anyone.

Thanks and have a great day! :0)