Health Care Industry Spending $1.4 Million Per Day Lobbying Against Reform

[Phokus]

Originally posted by: GuitarDaddy

Originally posted by: spidey07
What exactly is broken with the best health care system in the world here in the US?

For starters

I have no choice in medical insurance, I can take what my employer offers or pay 3x the price.

Over the last 15yrs the 2 companies that I worked for changed insurance 12 times and the coverages, rules, contacts, supported doctors and hospitals changed almost everytime making it impossible to keep any continuity or personal rapport with doctors

I take the top plan offered by my employer through Aetna for my wife and I pay including a company subsidy 23k per year to cover the two of us, but the insurance is pretty much useless for my wife because she has had MS for 20+years and they deny everthing and none of the medication that see takes is on their "formulary" so they aren't covered either.
I also have to pay through the noze to insure my 20yr old healthy son because he's not a full time student and doesn't qualify for my company insurance

Because of my wifes condition, I have spent the last twenty years dealing with Insurance companies and the medical establishments. And I just laugh when I here the defenders of the right preach the fear of rationing:laugh: I would take rationing from an Iranian mullah over the denial based insurance system that we currently have. Make no mistake those that would like to scare you so much with the threat of rationing, are flat out dening care to deserving people and profiting from it in the name of capitalism. How is this better than rationing?

I have lost jobs and been denied jobs because of my wifes condition because of insurance.


I got more but no time

Spidey07: "ok, so private healthcare may be inefficient, may be wasteful, may not cover everyone, may screw over people like you and your wife and others with pre-existing conditions, and just plain doesn't work, but at least it's not SOCIALIZED HEALTHCARE!"

Conservatives are the reason why America can't have nice things.

Sorry about your story bro. :\

 

[theeedude]

Originally posted by: charrison

Originally posted by: senseamp
UHC means universal health care. It does not mean everyone's care will be from the government, just that between private and public option, there will be universal coverage.
You are confusing it with universal SINGLE PAYER healthcare.

The govt option could very well mean the end to the private option as govt with deep pockets(read plenty of tax dollars to subsidize care) could easily exterminate the private option.

Right, just like bus system exterminated the private car.

 

[charrison]

Originally posted by: senseamp

Originally posted by: charrison

Originally posted by: senseamp
UHC means universal health care. It does not mean everyone's care will be from the government, just that between private and public option, there will be universal coverage.
You are confusing it with universal SINGLE PAYER healthcare.

The govt option could very well mean the end to the private option as govt with deep pockets(read plenty of tax dollars to subsidize care) could easily exterminate the private option.

Right, just like bus system exterminated the private car.

Well if the govt is going to run the health system as a well as it does buses, why are we even talking about a public option?

 

[theeedude]

Originally posted by: DLeRium
However as for your wife, this is rather unfortunate and this is a flaw with our nation's health insurance programs and not being able to care for those with pre-existing conditions. UHC will only solve this by forcing everyone to pay more in taxes.

Better than not solving it at all

Well, you could just raise premiums on private care. It's the same way. Perhaps regulation is needed. I'm not very familiar with pre-existing conditions so I can't say much, but I do know it is a tragic thing that our healthcare system can't accommodate for these individuals, and I believe that we need to fix the private healthcare system to address this.

It's good that you know it's tragic, but private healthcare system has failed to address this, so it's time for a public option

Ok look the HSA thing was only brought up because I believe the current HSA plans you can get now WHICH INCLUDES a high deductible insurance plan are extremely worth looking into. BTW, wiki defines HSA as:

A health savings account (HSA), is a tax-advantaged medical savings account available to taxpayers in the United States who are enrolled in a High Deductible Health Plan (HDHP).

Ok, we're talking about this kind of health care. If you want to get technical and say that the savings account itself does not refer to a HDHP combination, then fine, but we're referring to this kind of healthcare plan that you can buy or opt for under an employer and it's known as an HSA plan which by default is accompanied by a HDHP.

A lot of employers simply contribute to your HSA account and then it's up to YOU to manage the rest. I believe this teaches people to be responsible about their money and in a sense it allows them to really get out of the whole system of a HMO/PPO. However consumers are still backed by a HDHP which is a safety net in essence if things go wrong.

HSA's have been available for a while, yet failed to address the problems with our current healthcare system, and number of uninsured has not shrunk.

As for pre-existing conditions, this is once again a totally different thing. How does UHC address this? And can't the same be applied into private health care if the government plan is simply a competitive program with the private plans?

Are you playing dumb, or is this a serious question?
UHC addresses this by covering people who private plans refuse to insure due to pre-existing conditions. If private plans could do it, why haven't they done it already.
Also, realize that the status quo is not sustainable, so options are we can offer a public option to patch holes left by the private insurance system, or we can get rid of the private insurance system and replace it with universal single payer (public) coverage. So by fighting public option, you are probably going to end up with single payer system in the end. So by all means proceed.

 

[theeedude]

Originally posted by: charrison

Originally posted by: senseamp

Originally posted by: charrison

Originally posted by: senseamp
UHC means universal health care. It does not mean everyone's care will be from the government, just that between private and public option, there will be universal coverage.
You are confusing it with universal SINGLE PAYER healthcare.

The govt option could very well mean the end to the private option as govt with deep pockets(read plenty of tax dollars to subsidize care) could easily exterminate the private option.

Right, just like bus system exterminated the private car.

Well if the govt is going to run the health system as a well as it does buses, why are we even talking about a public option?

Are you defending the status quo?

 

[charrison]

Originally posted by: senseamp

Originally posted by: charrison

Originally posted by: senseamp

Originally posted by: charrison

Originally posted by: senseamp
UHC means universal health care. It does not mean everyone's care will be from the government, just that between private and public option, there will be universal coverage.
You are confusing it with universal SINGLE PAYER healthcare.

The govt option could very well mean the end to the private option as govt with deep pockets(read plenty of tax dollars to subsidize care) could easily exterminate the private option.

Right, just like bus system exterminated the private car.

Well if the govt is going to run the health system as a well as it does buses, why are we even talking about a public option?

Are you defending the status quo?

Not at all. I think there are many fixable things in health care today that dont involve bringing more govt in.

 

[Via]

I'm NOT for denying coverage pre-existing conditions. The insurance companies don't do it but it doesn't mean they don't want to help you. Get over it.

Absolutely priceless.

 

[Suspicious-Teach8788]

Originally posted by: senseamp

Originally posted by: charrison

Originally posted by: senseamp
UHC means universal health care. It does not mean everyone's care will be from the government, just that between private and public option, there will be universal coverage.
You are confusing it with universal SINGLE PAYER healthcare.

The govt option could very well mean the end to the private option as govt with deep pockets(read plenty of tax dollars to subsidize care) could easily exterminate the private option.

Right, just like bus system exterminated the private car.

The bus system was never meant to compete directly with the car. If you're saying the bus system isn't designed for you to get from A to B as fast as you can but to provide a network so that you can navigate your way from A to B through transfers and a little walking, then fine. Then if you compare UHC to the bus system it will FAIL.

So you're telling me a public plan is supposed to give me half assed coverage? If I want to get to the grocery store I go from my driveway to Safeway's parking lot, but with a bus I walk to the next big block before I can find a bus stop that might or might not drop me right in front of Safeway? So a public plan would then require me to line up in some ridiculous queue and hope that I get the service I want right?

Now if UHC is supposed to compete directly with private insurance then well, cost-wise it will win simply because the Federal government pumps billions if not trillions into the system and considering we're in the red, why don't you let the private insurance companies operate in the red too if you want a fair playing ground. When you subsidize this with taxpayer money, yeah you're going to have trillions of dollars to play around with. It's no longer people paying for their own coverage, but everyone paying for a few people's coverage.

Originally posted by: Via

I'm NOT for denying coverage pre-existing conditions. The insurance companies don't do it but it doesn't mean they don't want to help you. Get over it.

Absolutely priceless.

Yes insurance companies don't insure people with pre-existing conditions like diabetes because they want to see you die in the streets. Really. They say "Fuck you, I want to see you rot in the streets like a kid in Somalia would." Believe what you want, but for insurance to take in a high risk pool is very difficult from a business perspective. If the one goal of UHC is to insure those with pre-existing conditions by having a government plan that would cover you regardless of your health issues, then how's that any different from forcing private insurers to cover you? Oh I get it, the government has a load of money, so why not offer incentives for insurance companies to cover people with pre-existing conditions. Bottom line is if you want UHC to solve this, it's like saying why don't we just throw everyone's tax dollars in to cover a few people who have pre-existing conditions. Ok, but if you want to do this, why do we need a government plan? I'd rather put these people into a high quality healthcare provider like Aetna or Blue Cross or whatever. There are ways to make use of what we have already, considering it's the best in the world.

What makes you think people with pre-existing conditions will get better treatment through UHC? Because the people who will run UHC will welcome you with open arms and give you hugs and kisses and don't want to see you die in the streets? Because people in the UHC system are angels sent to Earth to save the sick and dying?

 

[shadow9d9]

Originally posted by: charrison

Originally posted by: senseamp

Originally posted by: charrison

Originally posted by: senseamp

Originally posted by: charrison

Originally posted by: senseamp
UHC means universal health care. It does not mean everyone's care will be from the government, just that between private and public option, there will be universal coverage.
You are confusing it with universal SINGLE PAYER healthcare.

The govt option could very well mean the end to the private option as govt with deep pockets(read plenty of tax dollars to subsidize care) could easily exterminate the private option.

Right, just like bus system exterminated the private car.

Well if the govt is going to run the health system as a well as it does buses, why are we even talking about a public option?

Are you defending the status quo?

Not at all. I think there are many fixable things in health care today that dont involve bringing more govt in.

Bull, our problems are how they make huge profits.

 

[sandorski]

Bill Moyers had a great show on part of the issue tonight(assuming it's not a rerun). His guest was a retired Cygna(sp) PR Exec who is disillusioned with the Healthcare Insurance Industry. Recommended viewing.