Healthcare reform?

I can't answer your questions about how this would affect your job, but I can recommend the FactChecks website as being politically unbiased...  and most of the good websites I've been checking out to read about healthcare reform have pointed people there.

http://www.factcheck.org/

 opinion... i think our current healthcare system could use a tremendous amount of reform. starting with the insurance companies IMO. i dont think a "universal" healthcare plan is a good idea. we have that for a certain sector of the population already and it doesnt work properly (medic-aid and medicare).

 for a very biased and somewhat funny take on "universal" healthcare, watch "sicko". :D

 I'm also interested in getting straight up factual information because I don't feel like I am particularly informed either...

 I just watched Sicko last week and while it's definitely super-bias and yes funny, it's also a little scary because it does point out some serious issues.  Definitely makes you want to get the facts behind everything...

Personally I am against it, but I try to keep an open mind.  The one thing that concerns me greatly is everyone seems like they are trying to hide something..that to me sounds like something fishy is going on and they don't want us to know about it.  That scares me.  I have older parents and I have great concerns about rationing healthcare, etc.  My parent's friend has been basically confined to a wheelchair waiting for a hip operation in Canada and still doesn't have any idea as to when he will get the operation he needs, because his need isn't great enough.

 In an attempt to avoid what I need to be doing............

I lived in the UK and worked for the NHS for 7 yrs and I worked in healthcare here prior to moving to the UK.

My personal opinion is that this country (US) is in dire need of health care reform, our life expectancy stinks, it is all waaaaaaaaaaaaaay too costly and the insurance companies and pharmaceuticals are laughing all the way to the bank.  There is something terribly wrong when people lose their homes because they had a stroke (or doG forbid worse).  In this time where no job is safe and even if you don't lose your job you may lose insurance coverage, when people are paying a higher monthly fee to be 'insured' (and usually aren't for many things and have a low ceiling with high deductables) than they do to live somewhere, where an 11 yo cancer survivor has maxed out her lifetime insurance benefits there can be no doubt that something has to change and yes I note all the above points at insurance co's.  However pharma's are the same.  I know how much drugs actually cost as I was in charge of purchasing various drugs in the UK for our department.  Those same drugs here are in many instances 100x more expensive here - ONE HUNDRED TIMES MORE EXPENSIVE!

So I personally believe that a government option that can be purchased like a private policy is a good idea.

As for socialized health there are many, many benefits and some downsides. I do not think it is possible to change our system completely thus the idea of having a government option that would provide competition for the insurers is to me an excellent one.

I will tell you that having been hospitalized while living in the UK it is obvious they don't have the money that US hospitals do - then again they can't build new hospitals because there is no room to build so they have Victorian facilities that are constantly being upgraded - but my care was excellent.  I received all the treatment i needed in a timely fashion AND when I was released that was that.  No months of disputed bills and requests for thousands of dollars that the insurer was to pay but they bill you and threaten collection agencies etc.   No loss of my home because I was ill, no denial of services because it was a pre-existing condition, no fees at all (they are essentially paid via an income tax by everyone - which is sort of like paying for insurance if you think of it)  I didn't have a private room but I can live with that LOL

I really need to get back to work but will add that there can be delays in some areas for some things, rarely desperately long and even more rare for it to be diagnostic test for something serious.  I waited 3 wks for an MRI once.  here my insurance doesn't cover MRI's so if I have a spare grand I could get one tomorrow.  however in the UK we had 'private' coverage as well that cost @$75/month.  With that I could get that test within a week.

Which would you prefer?

off to work............................

 

I'll just speak from my experience - I live in Canada I think our health care is great. I have had good experiences with it. My fiance used to ski (freestyle) competitively and used to break himself all the time, he was always fixed up in no time. I have known a number of people with cancer who have received treatment very quickly. I have also known a few people who needed knee surgery of one kind or another and have gotten it without too long of a wait. My fiance and his friends alway say that they could never live in the US and ski because they could never afford the medical bills when they hurt themselves, which inevitably, they will do. We have had friends break a collarbone or tweak a knee in the states and tough it out and fly back here to have the surgery. The biggest complaint I hear all the time here is that to get a good doctor you pretty much have to go to the city. The smaller towns here are really lacking qualified doctors - well at least lacking a doctor that I would allow to cut me up.

This is a touchy subject, and I for one am tired of the "scare tatics" some goverment officials feel the need to use. And they are being pushed to use it by scared private insurance companies. They should be scared. I can give you some facts.

Most mental health insurance has different rules than your medical. They can and do restrict: co-pay, number of benefits, deductible, caps. IE: you can have a card that says you have a $20 co pay, but when I call for your mental health benefits your co pay can be higher, they call this higher copay for a "specialist".

Most mental health insurance is covered by someone other than your insurance company. Thus you have to fight with 2 sections sometimes to get bills paid. They very rarely communicate with each other.

Most Mental health benefits are now handled oversea's. Yes folks, that company your paying actually hires people outside the states to quote your benefits. Argentina and India are the main ones. And they have accents, heavy accents and they cannot answer any questions outside of standards, misquote benefits and are very hard to deal with.

This company covers a total of 10 people, with deductibles included, we pay $27000 a year for coverage. That does include basic eye and very basic dental. That is insane. Why?

There are restrictions, they can stamp what ever they want with a denial, they take 60 days or longer to pay. Some payments can take as long as 6 months. They have the upper hand and are laughing hysterically all the way to the bank folks, on your hard earned money, pain and suffering.

What they are doing to the people here is criminal, and we allow them too. Shame on us.

I just wish someone would be HONEST and explain what they are planning on doing.  Tell me what the plan is in a language we can all understand.  If they can't/won't then I frankly don't trust them...rep or dem., doesn't matter.  STOP LYING AND TELL US WHAT THE FRICKING PLAN IS.

Sorry, I just wish they would tell us and until they do I cannot support changing my medical coverage which is amazing BTW to something else which I have no idea about.  Honestly, would you change your plan to something else that you have no information on based on trust, because that is what they are expecting us to do.  To trust a bunch of politicians...yeah, that's not going to happen.

If someone can't/won't explain it, then there is something in there they don't want us to know about...if not, they go ahead and tell us.

mrstjohnson

I just wish someone would be HONEST and explain what they are planning on doing.  Tell me what the plan is in a language we can all understand.  If they can't/won't then I frankly don't trust them...rep or dem., doesn't matter.  STOP LYING AND TELL US WHAT THE FRICKING PLAN IS.

I totally agree and quite frankly, I think the only way to know for sure is to read the legislation. Unfortunately, that legislation will likely go thru several major and minor revisions, so you'll also need to read each amended version. My head hurts from listening to each side though and it's hard to imagine that anything could possibly pass at this point.

Regarding the high cost of pharmaceuticals, I just read an article in Readers Digest last week and it explained that the reason we (in the US) pay so much more is that we ultimately pay for the R&D. I don't know why it's that way other than that Pfizer, Merck, etc. are here in the US. The article did point out that IF we have reform that greatly reduces the cost of medicine, companies will likely cut back on R&D. Not sure what the answer to that problem is, but I thought it was interesting.

 One of my biggest questions and concerns is in regard to who decides that a family can afford to pay the premiums and not get financial help from the government? It's all well and good for them to say someone with 'x' income can afford this, but what happens to that family in reality when they actually have to find a way to pay for it? When we lived in Bryan/College Station, we had insurance through my husband's job. BUT, we couldn't afford to use it. Yeah we had it, but we couldn't swing the co-pay and out of pocket expenses to actually use it. So in reality, what good did it do us? That is what I am afraid of with the mandated health care. You either have it or get fined through your income taxes to the same amount. And if you manage to fit it into your budget, but still can't go to the doctor unless an emergency happens - who is going to pay for the care that is required in that emergency?

I just wish the president and congress would slow down. Yeah, we need reform, but quit trying to shove it through just so you can say you did it. This is such a huge, encompassing problem that trying to form legislation as quickly as they are, is going to make things so screwed up in the end. Take your time and get it right. Don't screw us over just so you can say you are the president that got health insurance for the masses passed. Do it right, and I'll have more respect for you!

stardancnminpin

I just wish the president and congress would slow down. Yeah, we need reform, but quit trying to shove it through just so you can say you did it. This is such a huge, encompassing problem that trying to form legislation as quickly as they are, is going to make things so screwed up in the end. Take your time and get it right. Don't screw us over just so you can say you are the president that got health insurance for the masses passed. Do it right, and I'll have more respect for you!

AMEN!

No health care plan is perfect, but I don't think many of the people on Medicare would  be willing to give it up either. My understanding is (and I may be wrong) that those of us who have insurance already would keep it. Every time I see people on TV at one of those meetings going on about "how hard they work to pay for their insurance" I feel like poking them in the eye through the screen.  Do they not understand that many people cannot afford to pay out of pocket for insurance, nor do they work for companies that can afford to pay benefits? Or would they rather see the poor just curl up and die for lack of medical care? Even if the reform isn't perfect, it would cover those who need it for the basics and that would be a huge improvement.

Joyce

A few things come to mind - WHY do people persist in thinking they cannot keep their current coverage if they want to?  Talk about putting FEAR into the equation-  If I still had the insurance I had 10 years ago, I would be scared about losing it, too.  I realize there's a fear that companies will opt out of current insurance situation in order to have employees choose the government option - however, there are provisions in the bill that preclude that from happening.  I think too many of us watch/read the news and hear the screams of fear, versus the talk of reason.

I totally agree that there needs to be clear information broadcast to us all.  It's there if you seek it out...yet, as someone else pointed out, it's currently shifting and being amended.  Go to the government pages available, scroll thru even politically biased places like AARP and you will find the info you want.  It's not going to be spoon-fed to us any time soon, I don't think. 

For years I've watched insurance coverages provided by employers decrease, while prices out of employees' pockets increase.  Maybe that hasn't happened to you - be thankful.  I'm beyond thankful to live in a country where phenomenal advances in medical science is available, and I think if there isn't some churn of income to medical research companies, pharmaceutical companies, etc, we wouldn't have the advances we do now.  There just wouldn't be funding.  If the gov't was the ONLY option, I do think we'd get waaay bogged down in bureaucrats arguing what is appropriate to fund and what isn't.  I think there should always be private options. I don't know that a government option is the answer, but I do know that CHANGE is long overdue. 

I also agree that trying to rush reform makes it prone to so many preventable issues.  I think the push is because there hasn't been enough done to get the cogs moving in the past.  I'd rather create deadlines and move swiftly, but not enact anything until it's right.  Rushing to put something into place is how we got No Child Left Behind, and that blows!

.stacer.

I'll just speak from my experience - I live in Canada I think our health care is great. I have had good experiences with it. My fiance used to ski (freestyle) competitively and used to break himself all the time, he was always fixed up in no time. I have known a number of people with cancer who have received treatment very quickly. I have also known a few people who needed knee surgery of one kind or another and have gotten it without too long of a wait. My fiance and his friends alway say that they could never live in the US and ski because they could never afford the medical bills when they hurt themselves, which inevitably, they will do. We have had friends break a collarbone or tweak a knee in the states and tough it out and fly back here to have the surgery. The biggest complaint I hear all the time here is that to get a good doctor you pretty much have to go to the city. The smaller towns here are really lacking qualified doctors - well at least lacking a doctor that I would allow to cut me up.

 

I was gratified to hear from a Canadian about a system that is all too misunderstood down here.  The fact is that almost all rural areas lack qualified docs - it's not a function of the health care system, it's a function of the fact that highly educated people often want to live closer to cultural centers.  

To Cyclefiend - I don't know how you can say that Medicare and Medicaid don't work - my late fiance would have been dead years ago without those two insurances.  If the system was generalized then the docs who refuse to treat poor people with that coverage would have to treat everyone.  And, granted, dental, hearing aid, and vision should be part of everyone's coverage.  I should NEVER have had to choose to have teeth extracted because I couldn't afford the co-pays to have the proper work done, and we all know that dentition is important for health, so are we really saving anything by not covering those procedures fully???   Many of you aren't as old as I am, but in my youth, when you went to work, your company paid your health insurance, and you often got great coverage - Blue Cross Master Medical mine was called.  Then someone had a bright idea to introduce "managed care" and suddenly we all had co-pays and inadequate coverage that we basically pay for ourselves.  Some deal in the wealthiest country on earth...  I want the Congress to have the same coverage I do, and vice versa.  Then you would see real reform.