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Entry bubble Health Care Reform

By: Joanne | June 16, 2009 | Category: Health

Two doctors standing together, holding a clip board

The topic of health care reform is everywhere. It’s on the TV, the radio and the conversation is even happening in your living room. We’re in for some big changes…maybe.

Personally, I think it’s a good idea to look for ways to improve the system. This weekend I was talking about health care reform with an older man that I know. Before he was old enough for Medicare coverage, he didn’t have any health insurance. Because he had no health insurance, he lived in terrible pain every day because he needed knee replacement surgery, but couldn’t afford the price tag: $30,000 per knee. When he turned 65 he had the surgery and now he’s a new man – mobile, productive, pain free. So he’s one person, but don’t we all know someone who has suffered either physically or financially?

I’m lucky because my employer helps with heath insurance costs. I still pay a lot for health insurance each month, but I’ve got it good compared to so many people in this country.

Here’s my biggest concern about health care reform – I’m afraid that the voices of the people won’t be heard - so speak up. If you think we need health care reform in our country, let the President know. Share your story and ideas for improving our health care system with the Department of Health and Human Services and also contact your representatives in congress and tell them how they can reform the health care system to better serve you.

| View Comments [15] | envelope E-mail This Entry | Tags: care   health   illness   injury   insurance   joanne   medicare   reform  

Comments (15):

blue comment bubble Posted by Jerrold on June 16, 2009 at 02:10 PM EDT

I also am old enough to recall the days before health insurance was necessary. I believe a lot of the problem with health care is caused by government interference (rules & regulations) that result in inefficiencies. I would like to hear some of the successes resulting from all the rules and regulations, but mostly it appears those will be successes of socialism, whereby one taxpayer supports a taxtaker, itself an inequality.

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blue comment bubble Posted by clutter buster on June 17, 2009 at 12:51 PM EDT

Looks like our president will answer your questions on ABC

White House to Host Primetime Televised ‘Conversation’ On Health Care June 24


http://blogs.abcnews.com/thenote/2009/06/white-house-to-host-primetime-televised-conversation-june-24.html

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blue comment bubble Posted by Mike Oliphant on June 18, 2009 at 07:27 PM EDT

I sit on the board with Utah association of Health underwriters and http://www.BenefitsManager.net as well as http://www.HealthInsuranceSource.net for health insurance reform. Several interesting changes took place with H.B. 188 passage earlier this year that seems all too familiar on the federal level. The spirit of the bill allows private market place remedies. It essentially guarantees insurance providers a "no loss" or "no gain" over competing carriers in the insurance exchange portal which is http://www.UtahInsuranceExchange.info. On the surface it seems not to be attractive to participating carriers (voluntary at this point). But you have to understand the carriers’ goal is to cover their administration fees. That can be accomplished now. The other half of the equation is providers and their billing practices that need to be reformed. That is on the agenda. Keep an eye on Utah because the national health care debate seems much the same ground we have already covered.
In http://www.UtahInsuranceExchange.info which is the beginning of a state sponsored program addresses issues on a local state level that the federal level might look at. Coming from an underwriting background I know where the dime falls. I am of the opinion that large waste occurs from providers billing for procedures that developed "no outcome". Insurance carriers are not the only bad guys on the block. In most of our purchasing decisions....don't we pay ONLY when we know that we will get a desired outcome? Why is it if you ask the doctor how much a particular test or procedure is he doesn't know? Shouldn't providers be held to a transparent cost standard?
You must be in the health care business from some interaction point to make statements of fact in the face of historical changes. When you are in the system from any touch point (insurance, provider, hospital, Medicare or patient) you get the “real issues” because of real time experience.
I often quote the Switzerland health care system as an example of tough questions that we will have to face at some point down the time line. Did you know that premature babies are not resuscitate upon birth if they cannot draw breath? Did you also know that is the same with “senior care” experiencing system failure or failures? They don't extend life of a senior with multiple failures like intubation as example. Anyone in the business of paying claims knows that the single most expensive bills in what we call “shock loss” is within NICU for newborns and seniors in acute / intensive care / hospital.
The Swiss apparently made decisions made based upon cost vs. quality outcome. Are we as a nation prepared to make that type of decision or to define when to incubate, resuscitate a newborn or a senior? To define the conditions and rules of practice? With a litigious society I think not. This is why we need tort reform. Without tort reform medical provider costs will never drop. Liability costs with medical providers are nearly half of operating expenses. With health insurance carriers it translates to about 10% of every premium dollar collected.
I don't think we are hearing about tort reform because most of the house and senate on the federal level are lawyers and have practicing law firm interests / ownership. In the healthcare system there is no total innocence. Insurance executives with bonuses, doctors overbilling, hospitals overbilling because the street gang thug got dropped at their door with no insurance. The lawyers are there to stir the pot and promise lavish fortune at the end of the PERCEIVED misery chain. Am I saying we don’t need them? No, but I am saying there is clear and documented abuse of the legal system that awards outlandish claims in the millions for a $20,000 mistake. Ambulance chasers being the most abusive. What about those that educate their clients on defraud and then use the legal system to pirate insurers?

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blue comment bubble Posted by P. Wynn Norman on June 20, 2009 at 06:14 AM EDT

I've had to choose jobs based on health care, instead of on what I felt comfortable with. I wish the word could be spread around--especially to the opposition which argues for freedom, freedom, freedom--that easy, affordable access to health care will free a LOT of people to do what they love, instead of what they must.

Right now, innovators like me sacrifice and risk a lot to bring a new product or service to market. A health care system that worked effectively and efficiently would free up even more of us and expand the entrepreneurial spirit that made America great.

Please tell that to the Republicans. Thank you.

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blue comment bubble Posted by Paul on June 21, 2009 at 10:48 AM EDT

President Obama made some strong, encouraging statements Thursday for sweeping health-care reform by the end of the year, addressing critics of his proposed “public option” plan
During a meeting at Southwest High School, Obama said he strongly believes that health care reform should include “a public insurance option.”

Obama began the meeting by saying, “The reason is not because we want a government takeover of health care. I've already said if you've got a private plan that works for you, that's great. But we want some competition. If the private insurance companies have to compete with a public option, it'll keep them honest, and it'll help keep their prices down.” I pulled this from http://www.americancoverage.org

True?

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blue comment bubble Posted by Kathy Kraetsch on June 23, 2009 at 12:31 AM EDT

Would you please tell me why smoking is not banned? Period.
Why make new laws regulating smoking? Why play games with this drug. This makes absolutely no sense what so ever!

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blue comment bubble Posted by Joanne on June 23, 2009 at 10:49 AM EDT

It's a good point Kathy - by now we all know that cigarettes contain dangerous drugs. It would be best if nobody smokes cigarettes. In my humble opinion, if cigarrettes were banned, I would worry about crime and violence - think about what happened during prohibition when the government tried to ban another dangerous drug - alcohol. There's no easy solution, but I think the best solution is to reduce demand for cigarettes. Educate children about the dangers of smoking and encourage them to never start and support people who want to quit. Need help quitting anyone? Here's help: http://www.smokefree.gov/

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blue comment bubble Posted by Uncle Brice's Blog on June 24, 2009 at 04:18 AM EDT

[Trackback]
Single payer health insurance is in trouble in Congress. It becomes more and more evident everyday that many Senators and Representatives have sold themselves to the health insurance industry and that meaningful health insurance reform may be a fleeti...

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blue comment bubble Posted by Ron Korn on July 08, 2009 at 08:57 AM EDT

Health Care reform will never occur in the United States. Pharmaceutical companie's have made doctors and the drug companies rich on a pay to prescribe policy for decades.
Odds are the patiented drug your doctor has precribed for you is just like a cheaper generic drug but your doctor was paid a honorarium as part of a "clincial study" to investigate the drugs' efficacy on his patients.
If government regulated healthcare there would be a significant reduction in drug costs.
The amount of redundancy in drugs today is enormous. There has not been a significant break through in medicine for 40 years. The government system designed to help bring break through drugs to market i.e., National Institute of Health has become a feeding ground for drug companies interested in marketing "me-too" redundant drugs.

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blue comment bubble Posted by El Paso on July 08, 2009 at 04:41 PM EDT

I suggest we expand County Hospitals using the US Public Health Service for the uninsured; all pharmacy services can come from those hospitals for bulk pricing. Giving Health insurance for free by the government is too expensive.

Work with each Governor in each state and nationalize the US State/County Hospitals and expand them. Run them like the VA and Military.

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blue comment bubble Posted by Darrel on July 10, 2009 at 07:36 AM EDT

Get Government completely out of the health care business.
This is one giant step of many to Socialism.
The money system is also on its way to Socialism.
The Auto industry is also on its way to Socialism.

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blue comment bubble Posted by teaChR232 on July 18, 2009 at 12:15 PM EDT

Healthcare Reform shouldn’t be as complicated as Neuroscience, but it is. So many of our nation’s leaders are so wrapped up in bureaucracy and wealth that their only fear is of losing their own celebrity status and financial support. It is we--the citizens who will be paying the price for their rash decisions over the next few weeks. A mere thread holds the expanding seams of years of excessive spending in our healthcare system. I am but a lowly taxpaying peasant who works as a school teacher, but I know first hand what its like not to have healthcare. Three teenage boys without health coverage is an insane reality for my family. My employer offers healthcare, but it will cost me nearly $600 per month to add my husband and children to my health plan. Bills and mortgage payments leave me around $200 extra each month which is used to put gas in the cars so we can make it to work every day. We don’t have expenses for entertainment, nor do we have a private jet that we can fly to Paris on romantic excursions. I’m not a surgeon, or a politician, but it seems to me that there are some serious issues with affordability in the insurance industry. It could be that hospitals over-bill insurance companies for inexpensive items and procedures. It could even be that hospitals over-bill because the uninsured can’t pay their high medical bills. Regardless of the exact chain reaction of reason, government does need to step in and make a change. So many people in society are out there trying to take advantage of common peasants like me. From the doctors and hospitals to the pharmaceutical companies that push their drugs, government leaders need to realize that they work for the people, not the corporation. I propose a potential solution, at least in part. The VA Hospitals around the country are a far cry from what I envision, because they are in need of a serious makeover as well. The government could create facilities within major cities where the uninsured and the under-insured could go to seek treatment. Unlike the state and county Health Departments, these would be state-of-the-art hospital facilities. These Federal Hospitals could use cutting edge technology through research. The facility could provide resources for those entering the medical profession to work off student loans and federal aid by giving 1 year of service in exchange for wiping out thousands in education debt for nurses, doctors, pharmacists, and various other medical and administrative positions. Payments could be on a sliding scale with the funds going to operational expenses. Those uninsured with pre-existing conditions could come to these facilities and expect the same high quality care as those with health insurance coverage. Surgeons and Clinicians could donate their services for the most impoverished areas and write their fees off on their annual tax returns. Yes, this would be very costly, but not as costly as providing coverage to every American citizen at the tax payers expense. The government funds ridiculous things in this day and age. Presidents should not be jet-setters, nor should they be socialites at this crucial time in our history. Government needs to lock down frivolous spending and stop taunting the common folk with possible solutions and theatrics. There are way too many who pay no taxes at all, but yet receive thousands to spend each year from refund checks. It is easier to sit at home and do nothing if the government will pay your way. Weed out the unnecessary spending and make some cuts across the board, the same way all Americans are having to do in their own households. In my adulthood, I have wavered between political parties in an effort to choose who would do the most for the American people. I now stand unaffiliated because there is no political party who will do the most for the American people; they must stand up and do for themselves. History has show that in a depression, survival of the fittest prevails. It is very sad that much of our nation will be too ill from a battered system to survive. Those who have sat and refused to work, refused to flourish in our great country will not survive. Education is attainable, healthcare is attainable. It just takes the entire nation to come up with a solution, not wealthy politicians who have never known what it’s like to go without adequate healthcare. I encourage everyone who reads this to email their senators and representatives before they jump into something that will impact our children and their children for years to come.

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blue comment bubble Posted by Joanne on July 20, 2009 at 09:40 AM EDT

teaChR232's right - we need to contact our elected representatives in Congress to let them know what we want, so that powerful health care industry representatives aren't the only voices they hear. Here's where you can find contact information for the elected officials that represent you - copy and paste this url into your browser: http://www.usa.gov/Contact/Elected.shtml

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blue comment bubble Posted by Stacy on July 31, 2009 at 06:09 PM EDT

Many Americans don’t understand that getting the government involved in health care wouldn’t be radical: the government is already deeply involved, even in private insurance.

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blue comment bubble Posted by John on August 09, 2009 at 06:17 AM EDT

Now is the time to start recalling/removing/impeaching our elected representatives before they vote for healthcare and cap-and-trade against our will. Now is the time to mobilize.

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