It’s a no-brainer for the rest of the world, but in America politics can make issues very complicated and drag them forever. No changes have been made to our health care system for more than 40 years despite a few attempts by Democrats, the last of which was by the Clinton administration, being shut down by Republicans and health insurance companies. This issue can get so complicated, it’s important to remember the fundamentals.
There are five indisputable facts that no political party disagrees with:
• Health care is the second biggest contributor to our budget deficit (after wars).
• The U.S. spends more than twice as much on health care per person than any other nation, and the cost keeps increasing every year.
• Today, 45 million to 70 million Americans have no health insurance. Last year, 18,000 Americans died because they’re not insured, and 1 million American families went bankrupt from medical bills. These numbers rise every year.
• According to the United Nations Health Department, the U.S. health care system ranks 37th in the world.
• Among G-20 nations, ours is the only one that doesn’t have a single-payer universal health care system.
Even Switzerland, “the European capital of capitalism,” voted to test the universal system for a decade, then permanently adopted it. With these facts alone, a 10-year-old could tell us how to fix our health care system.
For the U.S. president, things are never as black and white for three reasons. With a two-party system, one party will always try to crush the other to gain or maintain power. Americans are not as educated as the G-20, according to the UN Education Department, and are “too loyal” to their political party. And health insurance companies are among the top four lobbyists.
The only way health insurance companies can make profits is by denying coverage. It’s called capitalism. If you have a pre-existing condition, they won’t cover you because you’re too risky, as your medical bills will most likely exceed the cost of your health plan. If you want insurance, they will offer you dozens of options. Most Americans can only afford the minimum coverage, which is sometimes provided by their employers. So if you can’t afford maximum coverage and one day require a complicated (and therefore expensive) surgery or even cancer treatment, it’s most likely not covered by your health plan. So you can be very sick in bed and battling health insurance lawyers until you die, as President Obama’s mother did.
You may spend years paying off medical bills that often result in family bankruptcy and the end of the American Dream. Like Clinton, Obama knows that trying to replace private health insurance companies with a public universal health care system during his first term will almost guarantee failure at re-election. Taking advantage of the current economic recession, adding more urgency to fix the bankrupting health care system, Obama is instead proposing an optional public plan to compete alongside private insurance companies, in order to improve competition by lowering costs and improving quality of care.
Today, insurance companies are spending $1.4 million a day to stop his health care reform bill. This money comes from the profits they’re making from denying coverage to sick Americans. This money is spent on 3 things: advertising that uses fear tactics to mislead the public; paying congressmen on both parties, which explains the disagreement among Democrats, to vote against Obama’s bill; and campaign contributions.
While the fight in Congress is about power, not the people, the debate among Americans comes down to one question: Is health care a human right or a privilege for those who can afford it? Despite what critics may say, socialism makes sense in certain functions of society, like K-12 education.
Can you imagine cops and firefighters run by private companies? Imagine your house is on fire. You call 911, but they say they can’t help you because you don’t have insurance or tell you to wait 10 minutes until they verify your insurance information. Most Americans don’t recognize health care as a human right because ours is the most individualistic society in the world. Not to mention, if health care was provided by the government instead of employers, businesses would save a fortune, and people who lose their jobs, especially during recessions, wouldn’t lose their health care coverage too.
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www.uoregon.edu/~jemmali/healthgeist.htm
Thanks for spreading the word.
Thousands of Oregon children without insurance can now get coverage for their medical care — and by January the same will be true for all youngsters in the state, following Gov. Ted Kulongoski’s Tuesday signing of “Healthy Kids” legislation.
The Democratic governor’s signing of House Bill 2116 into law clears the way for one of Kulongoski’s longest-sought goals: bringing all Oregon children into the ranks of the insured, especially those whose parents don’t have access to private coverage and have not met low-income standards to qualify for the state-run Oregon Health Plan.
“We will, at long last, bring health care to every Oregon child,” Kulongoski said.
Through a combination of increased “provider taxes” on most Oregon hospitals and a new 1 percent tax on health insurance premiums, Oregon is adding 200,000 uninsured children and poor adults to the ranks of the insured.
Hospitals eventually supported the tax, because it’s expected to be fully offset by new federal Medicaid dollars coming to Oregon by the jump in state health care spending. Insurance companies stopped short of supporting the plan, instead agreeing not to oppose it while warning that it would drive up health care costs for companies and individuals who pay for private insurance.
Kulongoski said Congress, in the midst of its own debate on overhauling health care coverage, could take a lesson from Oregon.
“Together we have set Oregon on the path to create a health care system that will be a model for the rest of the nation,” Kulongoski said.
Dr. Bruce Goldberg, head of the state Department of Human Services, which oversees the program, encouraged all families without insurance for their children to register now, either online or by telephone.
Dr. Stacy Nicholson, a pediatric cancer specialist from Portland, said he looks forward to the time when he no longer will have to treat uninsured children only after their conditions have worsened.
One patient, a 14-year-old boy, came to see him with a grapefruit-sized tumor on his neck, Nicholson said. His parents had delayed treatment for months because they had no insurance for themselves or their son.
“I’ll never forget the look of fear on his face and the look of guilt on his parents’ faces as we talked about his cancer,” said Nicholson.
Under the 'pay for outcome' pack, supposedly best practices as 'recommendations' would simply help them make a better decision, and the government won't still have to meddle in the final, actual decision-making process as a non-expert.Thank You !