Wing nuts and crazies have come out of hiding once again in the arguments against Universal Health care. What is wrong with America to constantly create enough fear that people are willing to vote and act against their own self-interest?
As I sit and enjoy the perfect Mexican weather I look on with disbelief at the healthcare debacle going on at home in the States. What never ceases to amaze me is the idiocy of the American public. As usual, they are ready to believe the scare mongers and act against their own self-interest.
At the moment, no matter what side of the fence you are on with respect to President Obama's health care program, the facts are basically uncontroverted.
There are between 46 and 48 million Americans with no health care provisions.
The United States has the highest health care costs in the world with per capita spending of over $4000. Some studies put that figure at close to $6000 per person. Never mind, even at the lower figure we are the world's most extravagant.
As a whole we currently spend approximately 16% of the country's Gross Domestic Product on health care.
And, the results are not great. We rank in life expectancy in the world between 27 to 29 depending on the survey and year taken. Surely not a great result.
The USA is the ONLY first world country that does not have a universal health care system for its citizens!
Approximately half the bankruptcies in the US are caused by uninsured medical bills.
So, in order for our country to try to come into the twenty-first century by providing health care for all it's citizens, the administration has to fight a coterie of wing-nuts who scream and lie about health care.
Who is against universal health care? Easy – Republicans for one. And why? Generally because many of their campaigns are financed by large companies – like pharmaceutical, insurance, health care providers.
The cost of health insurance has risen to astronomical levels. As an example, before my husband and I reached Medicare age, my small company provided our health insurance. It cost just under $1400 a month for the two of us. We had to buy it through our company as it was the only way to not have pre-existing conditions exclude us from the ability to buy insurance. And, by the way, we had Kaiser Insurance. I previously had California Blue Cross for my company but the premiums continuously went up over $300 a month per person and I could no longer afford it.
With today's structure, you cannot get family insurance with a pre-existing condition of any member, and insurance carriers can dump you out if you develop a condition that is costly. Let's say you have family health insurance and your child develops leukemia. Not only can your premiums skyrocket if you are lucky enough to have the insurance continue, but the insurance company can refuse to renew your policy. Also, you have to prove it was not a pre-existing condition you were aware of at the time you applied for the insurance.
I hear nutty arguments against universal health care. "If we turn it over to the government, they will mess it up and it will be disorganized." This is one of my personal favorites. Having dealt with private insurance, I can tell you that the worst mess is trying to get your paperwork through Blue Cross. That is a disaster! When I had it for my company, we had to spend hours and hours on filling out forms, fighting with the company, dealing with employee after employee whose sole job was to find a reason to refuse to pay.
With Medicare (run if you please, by our government, you dummy if you don't know that), I just present my card and pay the co-pay. There is no fighting, no plethora of paper, no idiot bureaucrat to deal with. It runs smoothly, and in an organized fashion. You can't be canceled; you can't be dumped for a pre-existing condition. If you lose your job, if your company wants to cut back on benefits, you are still covered.
I still keep Kaiser as my supplemental provider. At the moment I pay a $5 co-pay, but it changes from year to year. It's never been higher than $15 a visit since I've been on Medicare. Social Security deducts $40 a month from my check and pays Kaiser. It is easy, simple and not a problem. When my husband was dying from ALS, he had excellent treatment with specialists, tests, medication and caring support groups. We could not have asked for more.
My friend, Melinda Bates, author of the book "Clintonista" available on Amazon, was recounting the insane arguments she has been hearing at the town hall debates on health care. Things like and hysterical "Don't let the government mess with my Medicare!" Well, that's interesting, Medicare is the government!
There are the advertisements lying, as usual, about the possible ramifications. Check out who pays for them and you might be surprised. Look to see if they aren't supported by some health insurance plans or pharmaceutical organizations.
Yes, a lot of things that might change with a universal health care plan. The uninsured won't have to go to emergency rooms for treatment any more. The cost of a doctor's visit under universal care would be much cheaper, like $5 to $20 depending on the plan, as opposed to a current visit to emergency which runs in the thousands. Several years ago I had chest pains late at night. We called Kaiser and they told my husband to rush me to emergency. I was there for about an hour and the cost was $1800! It was picked up by my insurance. Also, while the bill I received was for the full amount, with a notation that I was not to pay but it would be billed to Kaiser, when I got the paperwork from Kaiser, they had paid less than $500; a negotiated reduction in payment because I had Medicare. Hummm. Wasn't that interesting? Medicare had pre-negotiated costs for treatment with the hospital.
What most people don't think about are the hidden costs of medical care. Private physicians can pay in the hundreds of thousands of dollars a year for malpractice insurance. This is passed along to the patient as part of their fees.
Pharmaceutical companies have high costs for research and development. We don't want to stop that, but the cost is added to prescription costs.
However, there are millions upon millions of dollars a year spent on advertising. Had anyone ever heard of "restless leg syndrome" before it was advertised on TV? How about the new prescription for growing eyelashes? Could you be interested in a new medication for depression that might cause thoughts of suicide? And need I mention erectile dysfunction medication… The cost of all these ads is passed on to you, the consumer of any prescription medication those companies produce - even if you have no interest in having your penis erect, your eyelashes grow, having possible thoughts of suicide or stopping your legs from having "creepy-crawly" feelings.
In the past, new medications were advertised to physicians, the ones who ultimately determine if their patients need them. Now, the pharmaceuticals are creating a new breed of patient who will besiege their doctor for every new medication that comes out on the market. Maybe universal health care will alleviate this in the long run. I for one would be happy not to watch ads for erectile dysfunction, but then again, I'm not too happy with the ones on sanitary napkins and tampax either.
But, once again, the American people are letting the nut cases loose in the debates. The hysteria will mount and those who need health care most will be swayed by lies like "this will ruin the best health care system in the world" – not! We have a broken, non-working system now that leaves roughly a sixth of our entire population uninsured. What are they thinking?
Or, "Do you want to let some bureaucrat dictate your health care?" This is my favorite actually. It is the dumbest of the dumb! At the moment, your health care, other than if you have Medicare, is actually dictated by not only a bureaucrat, but a computer that will deny your claims and throw you out of coverage with your private insurance. If you are twenty or more pounds overweight, your premiums will go up. If you develop an illness that may cost the insurance company some money, they can cancel your plan. Those are the actual bureaucrats who decide your health care options. None of this can occur with the government plan.
Once again the Republicans have geared up their scare machine to frighten Americans into acting against their own self-interest. The lies are marching on to spin old people into fear that health care reform equals death. How can you deal with a country that accepts fear-mongering as a way to line their pockets? Rational thought and argument can't compete against little old ladies screeching at town hall meetings.
Hey, this is one time where I don't care very much. I have Medicare and it works very well, thank you very much US government!
So, to all of you wing nuts out there with your scare stories about how terrible universal health care will be and you winging about the President's desire to take care of you, I make this wish specifically for you – may you have a recurring illness that causes your private plan to cancel you, or may you lose your job and health insurance, or move to another job with no health insurance, or just for drill, forget to pay your insurance premiums the week before you have an accident. Then, when you are left hanging out to dry with medical bills in the hundreds of thousands of dollars – real easy to come by – please, don't come to me with your sad story. I'll have the same sympathy for you as I have for all those who voted for George Bush to have a second term whose houses are now in foreclosure. Ho-hum!
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