Elizabeth Barrette (ysabetwordsmith) wrote,
Elizabeth Barrette
ysabetwordsmith
  • Mood: angry

Health Care News

Recently I found these articles on American health care (or lack thereof):

Insurers Revoke Policies to Avoid Paying High Costs
Joanne Silberner, NPR News: "According to a new report by congressional
investigators, an insurance company practice of retroactively canceling
health insurance is fairly common, and it saves insurers a lot of money. A
subcommittee of the House Energy and Commerce Committee recently held a
hearing about the report's findings in an effort to bring a halt to this
practice. But at the hearing, insurance executives told lawmakers they
have no plans to stop rescinding policies."


Insurance companies do everything they can to avoid giving money to sick or injured customers. This causes extreme stress to people at a time when they most need support, and it often makes health care unavailable to people who need it. Sometimes the result is crippling or fatal. I do not believe that this is moral, and I do not think it should be legal. It demonstrates that America values money over humanity.

Dean Baker | Spreading the Wealth to the Insurance Industry
Dean Baker, Truthout: "This is the time when the excrement starts hitting the fan. The lobbyists are in overdrive, rounding up members of Congress just like the cowboys of the Old West would bring in the herd. The industry groups will also have their friends in the news media working overtime hyping any possible obstacle to health care reform. And they are filling the airwaves with scary ads, warning that people will never be able to see a doctor again if meaningful health care reform passes."

Like I can afford to see a doctor now? Or afford the treatment if I get sick or injured? Not bloody likely. And I don't want other people running around sick and breathing their germs on me either. If America is really as "great" as the Republicans say it is, let's see it do something actually impressive, like taking care of all its citizens. That would impress me.

Insurance Companies Refuse Autism Coverage
Thalia Assuras, CBS News: "An estimated one in every 150 children in America has autism and the number of reported cases is growing. The total cost of caring for an autistic child can reach a staggering $5 million. Parents are increasingly demanding that insurance companies cover the newest treatment."


With autism on the rise for various reasons, this is a really stupid action. A handicap tends to have a family-size footprint, so lack of coverage doesn't just mess up the victim but both parents and any siblings. How well do you think parents will focus on the workplace with an untreated autistic child at home? I'd like to have workers' minds on their work, and not wondering if their untreated autistic child is going melt down.
Tags: economics, news, politics
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  • 6 comments
mariness

mariness

June 23 2009, 04:08:35 UTC 12 years ago

Not to mention the people that stay at jobs solely because they don't dare to lose the health insurance for their sick child.

When I worked at a university, which despite its other issues offered excellent health insurance, I met a number of parents in just that position - parents unsatisfied with their jobs, but not able to find jobs that would provide full and/or immediate coverage for their kids. So of course they stayed at the university - but unsatisfied workers aren't good for anyone, and certainly don't help create an efficient workplace.
ysabetwordsmith

Too true!

ysabetwordsmith

June 23 2009, 04:16:29 UTC 12 years ago

I've seen a lot of that myself. Once you or someone in your household has a "pre-existing condition" -- and in today's miserably unhealthy America, almost everyone has one or more chronic problems -- it's difficult or impossible to get coverage from any other company. Meanwhile the old insurance company is trying to get you off its rolls any way it can.
erisian_fields

erisian_fields

June 23 2009, 04:27:52 UTC 12 years ago

I know a family with a child with cystic fibrosis. Both parents had good jobs and they had a nice house--until the child was diagnosed with CF. Insurance dropped them like a hot rock and they made way too much and had too much to get any help with medical bills. So, he went into business for himself (no work-provided health insurance) and she was needed at home to take care of the child. They had to sell nearly everything to pay off existing medical bills and now that they have nothing left, the child gets bare minimum treatments that MediCal allows. Thank goodness she doesn't have one of the nastier forms of CF or she'd be dead already. Those treatments aren't available to anyone who doesn't have some seriously deep pockets.
ysabetwordsmith

Yes...

ysabetwordsmith

June 23 2009, 04:46:05 UTC 12 years ago

I hate seeing people work really hard and then lose everything for a reason that wasn't their fault. Bankruptcy should be for people who make stupid mistakes. It shouldn't be what happens to families where someone gets sick. There's a lot of talk about how taxing the rich discourages people from working hard. I think the fact that working hard doesn't give you financial security -- you're always just an illness away from disaster -- is a bigger discouragement because it affects so many more people. Anyone can get sick.

Deleted comment

ysabetwordsmith

Thoughts

ysabetwordsmith

June 23 2009, 22:05:34 UTC 12 years ago

>>I predicted problems with care and coverage when it became the big thing to run these companies like standard businesses, over a decade ago. The bottom line became the only truly important thing.<<

Yes, I saw this disaster coming from a long way away, too.

>>Persons clearly outside the health profession began to decide who got care, or even if they received any care at all. <<

I believe this should be illegal. Perhaps we could charge it under "practicing medicine without a license." Health decisions must be made by the person whose body it is, with the input of whatever health care professional(s) they see fit to consult.

>>Oh, and the Republicans DO make sure America's "important" citizens are taken care of, meaning the wealthy and powerful are pandered to at every turn.<<

I think one of the smartest things Canada did was make sure the public system is everyone's system so the politicians can't pander to themselves alone. I wish we could take away the golden health care those bozos in Washington all get.
fayanora

fayanora

June 24 2009, 09:47:24 UTC 12 years ago

The whole point of insurance companies is to pay up when a legitimate claim is filed. If this isn't already illegal, it ought to be.

America started out being really great, but it's gone a bit rubbish lately.