We Need A Better Health Care System
Posted: Wednesday, August 05, 2009
by Jean Horst
My health care coverage isn't working for me. Well, it's technically working for ME, but not for my whole family. Here's the deal. My husband isn't eligible for private health insurance. He has several "risk" factors that the private companies don't like. He's about 40 pounds overweight, he takes blood pressure meds, which keep his blood pressure controlled at a very normal number. Also, apparently at some point in the past (most likely after a car accident where he suffered a back injury) he took too much tylenol. There are liver numbers in his blood work that the insurance companies don't like. The kicker is that he's never been hospitalized a day in his life, he's barely ever sick - but based completely on possible future risk, he has been denied coverage time and time again. So, finally after the required number of rejections - he became eligible for our state's "high risk" pool coverage. State law says that the Pool must charge TWO TIMES the going rate for a private policy to insure that there is no competition... I'm sorry, that is insanity. It's horribly expensive. However, he's one of the lucky ones - we can now afford to pay through the nose just to have him covered. At least our entire financial future isn't any longer in jeopardy over something like a bad car wreck.
Now I'm going to rant a little. I am so tired of all the rumors about the Democrats wanting to kill all the old and/or terminally ill people. In my experience the only people who try to scare the crap out of me are the ones who want to sell me something... think about it. Who do you think is behind all these internet horror stories?? Nine times out of ten it originates with the health insurance companies. I'm also tired of people who are retired and who are happily getting their healthcare through Medicare telling me I need to be so afraid of the bogeyman who is going to come in the night and pull the plug on my heart/lung machine if I get sick. So Medicare is good for the retired, because they deserve it but my husband in his 40's just needs to tough it out for the next 20+ years until he too becomes one of the deserving ones??
Something needs to be done about the current state of things. Our health care system is great if you can access it. But if you can't, it's very bad.
Now I know some of you are just frothing at the mouth to blast me about how I just don't know how bad it's going to be. Take your best shot - I already know how bad it IS.
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More commentswe are way behind many other western nations,in our health care and we are 34th, in the world ,for infant mortality and life quality issues!Thanks Paul, I decided at the beginning of writing my article to just keep it personal and not even go into our infant mortality rate or the state of the health of those who are on the low end of our socio-economic ladder. Thanks for mentioning it.
I know of a young woman who is battling late stage, breast cancer. The biggest reason she's in the latter stages is because she didn't go to the Dr. soon enough - she didn't have insurance, was afraid of the costs and waited much longer than she would otherwise have.
There HAS to be a better way.I am so sorry.So many people die of this cancer thats it sad that we dont yet know more.Interestingly and sadly,its never breast cancer that one dies from ,its from breast cancer cells which have lain dormant for up to two years( after breast removal )which then come out of hibernation and kill people,supposedly in remission, by attacking vital organs and bone and bone marrow;if we,as researchers, could find out why these cells behave in just this odd way,more lives could be saved.Paul,If you actually read the entire report from the Centers for Disease Control, you will see that, "Because the majority of infant deaths occur to very preterm infants, changes in either the percentage of these infants or in their infant mortality rate can have a large impact on the overall infant mortality rate."Part of the reason for the high percentage of preterm deaths is due to the number of multiple births (also from the CDC), which has increased significantly with the number of in vitro fertilization implantation techniques now being performed.When you take into consideration that many of the European countries, as welll as China, are having fewer children than here in the States, I would think that those issues would effect the percentages as well. They are trying not to get pregnant and succeeding quite well.I also question how our lifestyles today could have an impact on these numbers. My niece, a healthy dentist with very good healthcare, lost twins (very preterm) 2 years ago and a boy (also very preterm) this year. She is under a lot of stress and, as a dentist, stands all day long. She wants to try again...my feeling is that should she get pregnant and want to keep it, she should cut down her hours and concentrate on having a baby. But then I'm old-fashioned and a bit conservative.NancyNancy,
You are correct that our infant mortality is linked to lifestyles (stress) and births of multiples, but that does not account for our numbers. Socio-economic status and the availability of health care is a much greater factor in that equation. There are some questions about how the data is gathered and reported since the line between "miscarriage" and "death" is different from country to country. Even with all that, the areas in the United States with the highest infant mortality rates are those areas with the poorest people with the least access to adequate health care and information.
Also, "infant mortality" is a number "per thousand live births", so it's doesn't change based on how many people are trying to have babies.
To really address this problem, it will take a lot of change on a lot of levels: health care access, lifestyle adjustments, and education.
Good points and well written article. I think something should be done but I don't think the current plan is much of an upgrade.Thanks Jeanine,
I appreciate your comment. I guess the thing is if someone does not have any available health insurance, pretty much anything is an upgrade. That being said, those who have decent coverage are worried that they'll get a downgrade. That's pretty much the two sides of this equation. Thanks again for reading and commenting!
Jean
Hi Jean, how are you? I think most of us agree that something needs to change, the problem is, its difficult to come together on an agreeable and worthy change. With Art's chronic and extreme asthma condition, there is no way he qualifies for am individual policy. The only reason he is covered is because I work for a company that offers coverage. Granted, I pay $637.00 a month to have it, but I am grateful that I have a job that has the ability to offer private/group coverage to its employees. Not all states have this, but Oregon has two plans that say no-one can be denied care regardless of ability to pay - We have 2 types of hospitals - non-profit and private. The non-profit hospital is one of the most sophisticated hospitals carrying some of the nations top heart surgeons and specialists in other areas. All who have no coverage can go there and by law cannot be turned away for inability to pay, even if you are there for a sore throat. This is the same with many of the clinics. The other program is for single moms and their children, or if married, only the children are covered. I think this is a perfect solution, and I wish all states had this option. I would like our government to consider the program that was successful in Hawaii for a long time until the citizens abused the system by finding a loop-hole in the program. Close the loop-hole and we have a great program. In short, it allowed Private Insurances and Businesses to continue as they do today, while offering a state funded plan for families that worked for companies that did not offer insurance plans. The problem was, people who could afford to maintain their group insurance coverage cancelled and hopped over to the free one. I think a big part of the problem is the members of our society that are greedy and expect everything for free and want to sue for 5 million dollars because they claim they didn't know hot coffee would be hot! I think the first step is putting caps on lawsuits and throwing ridiculous claims out of court - bottom line is we are in this mess because of greed - over priced services, due to rising costs of doctor's insurance, due to sue happy people. Any way, my brain hurts, too much thinking for one article :-) Praying for change - change of hearts and wisdom for our leaders to come up with a plan that they would feel comfortable using. Excellent article girl!! Blessings to you! TThanks for reading and leaving such thoughtful comments, T! I love the system that Oregon has. Texas has a "last resort" system, but they are not allowed to charge competitive rates - they are required to charge 2x the rate of private insurance. Anyway, from what I've seen, the congress really IS trying to find a dual system to allow private/public options for those who don't qualify. The other interesting thing is that is is the INSURANCE COMPANIES who are pushing for mandatory coverage for all. They have stated that they will stop denying coverage, they will take out surcharges for women and "future risk" ONLY if the government makes health insurance mandatory for all, like auto liability insurance. Interesting, huh?
Anyway, I very much appreciate your thoughts and ideas. Seems like we could solve this thing, huh? :)
Jean,Medical insurance as we know it know is ripp-off. We need a change, and President Obama has the plan.Thank you for sharing.Sincerely,LawrenceThanks Lawrence! I think I pretty much agree.
Jean,Thank you for this article. I just came back from 7 months in Ontario and everyone I spoke with up there loves their health system. It has changed my attitude totally about healthcare... I agree with you that the scare tactics used by those against it are not fair... having very little income myself at this point in my life.. I certainly like the idea of everyone being covered.Thanks Jay!
I just hope cooler heads can prevail. I see a lot of the scare-the-heck-out-of-people emails going around. I was in Europe in the spring and got to compare notes with people there, and like you, it changed my mind quite a bit.
For those of us who profess a faith in Christ, what ACTUAL amendment or measure proposed in the Congressional health care reform plan, violates the clearly stated and rightly divided word of God? If that can't be pointed to in any profound or significant way, then my follow-up question would be: what components contained in the plan for health care reform actually helps to support a Christian perspective on how we address the needs of the sick and the infirmed? --- 1 John 4:1 KJVHmmm, great questions, Edward. Frankly, I had not actually thought to look at this from those angles at all, so now I'll have to ponder this awhile! Thanks for reading!
Brilliant article!I can understand why you're annoyed because most people would be, wouldn't they?Thanks Cameron! I think most people would be annoyed! :)
Great article! The scare-mongering on this issue has been ridiculous, almost unbelievably so, with suggestions of the proposed system being designed to kill old people etc.While there are surely flaws in the changes proposed, they are at least a step in the right direction principle wise - decent healthcare should be available to all, not just the wealthy.Hey Ben,Thanks for the comments. I'm with you - we have to start somewhere on this issue. There are just too many people left completely out of the current system. What amazes me is that many of the people who stand to benefit the most from the changes are the very ones protesting the most...
Then again, I suppose they are being targeted the most with all the scare tactics for that very reason.
I am in the UK and yes we have our problems with health care but as you point out, we do at least get some health care if we need it. We still have the money problem, if you have money you will get seen quicker and get better treatment but at least its not a prerequisite! Your article reminds me of the Denzel Washington movie "John Q" and as us Brits look on from afar we (I at least) am always dumbfounded at the state of things there.Crazy! Great article and well worth a rant! Julian PS...thank you for selecting "summer soul" as your pick of the day...a first for me in that section of searchwarp! Much appreciated.Julian,Thanks for your comment & I've enjoyed your articles.Thanks for submitting!I think much of the rest of the world looks on dumbfounded at our health care system or lack thereof. But you know, over here we have all of these people who can't afford to get the treatments they need, but they're just so proud of themselves for not taking anything from the government... You're right. Crazy!
Hi Jean, Excellent article, and I couldn't agree more. With one possible exception. Some of the 'socialist' contries who provided health care to everyone do a very good job with it. I'm speaking from my experience with my German friend, Ute. I think if all the politicians who get very good health coverage had to manage like most of the rest of us, they might sing a very differnt tune. Or if we didn't allow big business to make major contributions to political campaigns.Also, thanks for making my Special Friendship article your pick of the day. I'm honored.Thanks for the comment, Joyce! You are absolutely correct about some countries handling this very well. I know some who live in the UK and France who are very satisfied with their care.Welcome to SearchWarp, I hope to hear from you more!
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