HEALTHCARE PROGRAMS NEED IMMUNIZATION
By Steve_in_KC on November 29, 2008 at 9:40 AM in Current Affairs
I’ve noticed a lot of Boomers in this crowd. Quoting Beatles lyrics, or reminiscing about where you were when you first heard John Kennedy had been shot. If this fits you, then I hope you remember President Lyndon Johnson’s “Great Society,” a collection of programs that had their roots in the Kennedy Administration. It was from John and Bobby Kennedy that came the seeds for Johnson’s hallmark achievements: the War On Poverty, the Civil Rights Act, and Medicare/Medicaid.
The Republicans still seethe about the “tax and spend liberals,” a phrase that harkens back to this period, and indeed to Franklin Roosevelt. If you take the combined programs of FDR’s New Deal and Johnson’s Great Society, you have the backbone of modern life in America, for which every American should be grateful and proud. It was a much under-appreciated era.
Democrats had planned to have another round of life improvement programs to implement after the elections. That’s unlikely now, with the economic crisis. Foremost among these programs was to have been a National Health Insurance plan for US citizens.
The Clinton Administration first tried to implement a national healthcare program, promoting it during the campaign of 1992, and making it nearly their first order of business in 1993. Bill Clinton stunned Congress and the media by announcing he was delegating promotion of the plan to his wife, Hillary Rodham Clinton. I’m sure you all remember that!
“Rodham??? The First Lady of the United States is using her maiden name? Since when does the First Lady try to push a bill through Congress? Are you kidding me? Socialized Medicine!?!?”
Yes, NQers, despite our differences with the Democratic Party this year, there have always been valid reasons most of us are not Republicans. This is one of them.
For an easy-to-read timeline about the original Clinton Healthcare Plan, see http://www.pbs.org/newshour/
A National Healthcare plan has long been Hillary’s primary political issue, and of course Obama stole it from her and made it part of his campaign. I seriously doubt he can make it happen. Frankly, I doubt she could either. With record deficits and the economic meltdown, this country just can’t afford the luxury right now.
The need for a National Healthcare Plan lies primarily in assuring coverage for those who cannot afford private health insurance. The closest thing we have to fill that need is Medicaid, financed jointly by the federal government and the states, providing health insurance to more than 50 million low-income people. Obviously, if we don’t have a Universal Healthcare plan, we should at least expand Medicaid. But, just this month, after the election, there have been further cuts to Medicaid.
On November 8, this article appeared in the NY Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/
A few highlights from that article:
The Bush administration on Friday narrowed the scope of services that can be provided to poor people under Medicaid’s outpatient hospital benefit.
Public hospitals and state officials immediately protested the action, saying it would reduce Medicaid payments to many hospitals at a time of growing need.
The new rule conflicts with efforts by Congressional leaders and governors to increase federal aid to the states for Medicaid as part of a new economic action plan.
Matt D. Salo, a health policy specialist at the National Governors Association, said, “The new rule is consistent with the administration’s effort to squeeze, shrink and flatten Medicaid spending.”
Then, this article appeared November 26 in the NYT: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/
Highlights:
A new federal rule gives states sweeping authority to charge premiums and higher co-payments for doctors’ services, hospital care and prescription drugs provided to low-income people under Medicaid.
The rule, published Tuesday in the Federal Register, is expected to save money for the federal government and the states. But public health experts and even some federal officials predicted that many low-income people would delay or forgo care because of the higher charges.Under the rule, states can, in many cases, deny care or coverage to Medicaid beneficiaries who do not pay their premiums or their share of the cost for a particular item or service.
The administration acknowledged that “some individuals may choose to delay or forgo care rather than pay their cost-sharing obligations.”
Public health experts said such delays could cause serious health problems, requiring more expensive care at a later date. Many Medicaid recipients have chronic illnesses, use numerous prescription drugs and frequently visit doctors, so the burden of even modest co-payments can become substantial.
Some of the strongest arguments against initiating a National Health Insurance, or as the Republicans call it, “socialized medicine,” have been nonsensical declarations like “you won’t be able to choose your own doctor.” No, that would be HMOs. They always try to make it sound like all health institutions will be reduced to the level of the free clinics in slum neighborhoods. The truth is that the insurance companies, pharmaceutical companies, and associated businesses have a nice little cash cow going with the current system, and they don’t want it disrupted with government interference.
If we can’t have a national healthcare system, then we need to broaden the coverage of programs like Medicaid, and bolster programs like Medicare. If we can at least put more money into these, we can leave the private system alone, and those of us enjoying health insurance paid by our employers can continue unabated. We don’t need to overhaul the whole system immediately, but we do need to ensure that the poor, the disabled, and the elderly have affordable options for their healthcare needs. Medicaid and Medicare, along with Social Security, should be at the top of our lists as Sacred Cows, to be nurtured and expanded, not destabilized and reduced.
This is the first part of a longer article I am still working on. The next part will be about my experiences with poverty, and the debacle of how GWB’s Medicare Prescription Plan was rolled out in 2004, the pain and suffering it caused to many people as they lost the Medicaid Prescription Assistance, and my experiences playing a small role in trying to help those people who were most affected.
I look forward to reading your comments on this, and I am bracing myself for another barrage of OT posts about lawsuits over Obama’s birth certificate, Larry Sinclair, and Michelle’s awful taste in clothing.
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Steve, I am in 2 minds over this. I understand the reasonings of both sides of the aisle. In the end, initiating a National Health Insurance might be too costly and too much of a burden. Idealistically, its a noble idea, but realistically, it may be unworkable.
And the last sentence of your article is a snark and unwarranted, in my opinion.
Actually, I don’t see how you can say that. There are all sorts of national health care systems in place all around the world, and once you take the profits for shareholders of insurance and medical services providers out of the mix, the price goes down per unit of health care. I know, I know, people can claim that there is no such thing as ‘pure’ national health care, etc., or that it has ‘failed,’ etc., but if you look closely at the timelines showing when those claims started being made, they closely correlate with the election of conservative government that then proceed to try to mix in as much ‘free market’ ideology as possible, and go about wrecking things.
Gvt-run health care programs are the best deal people can get, and actually improve quality of life overall, not just specific health outcomes.
PS/BO never intended to try to enact Hillary’s health care plan. Only Hillary ever intended to do that. BO’s platform at every stage made it quite clear that he was happy to leave lots of room for corporate greed, and that is why nothing will really change.
PUMA!!
as I stated in the post, I understand the reasonings of both sides of the aisle.
I will stay on the subject of health care.
President Hillary Clinton should be implementing a sound program for the entire country. Oh well!
We had a low-income program here called TN.Care, which from necessity has been stripped to the bone…and fraud played a part. Many state workers were initially allowed in the program, when they could have gotten their own coverage.
An acquaintance of my had to travel, by bus, to Knoxville for a broken foot, for no one could see her here.
We had excellent coverage with our employer, but have just completed a major change-over…we were essentially passed off to Medicare, rather than retaining the company plan.
While we are grateful to have coverage, we no longer have dental or vision…just bare minimums.
I love that any fraud government programs gets highlighted yet the rampant fraud in the private system, something we all pay for, too, gets ignored. Bias, anyone?
Healthcare is fast going down the tubes…witness my shock re: Medicare. Apparently, unbenownst even to me and I consider myself pretty darned informed…it’s no longer possible to buy those cheap prescriptions (ie, 3 months supply for $10) if you have Medicare. Nope, now they force you to go through Part D…which means, the full price is applied to the “donut hole” as usual…which means, you probably will be in the donut hole, esp. if you use inhalers, like I do. So, my last two prescriptions amount to over $700 out of pocket!!!
And, surprise suprise, the monthly premium for Part D,which started out at $10/mo. then went to $18, is now set to rise to…..$30/mo.!
I remember hearing Teddy K. bellowing about improving Part D…and then NADA from the Democrats once they swept into office in 2006….CRICKETS!!! Not part of the first horrible 100 days, I guess….
It’s a TOTAL SCAM, shuffling papers and money around so that the insurance and pharma industries make out like bandits, and we pay for the honor….believe me, we are the ones LOSING MONEY while they laugh…
I just reviewed my bills, etc. for my taxes to see what I’ll be deducting next year as I move money out of a traditional IRA into my Roth (and try to avoid paying taxes on THAT!)….I get about $12,000 in SS every month (with Medicare premiums deducted)…and my bill for this year’s medical and dental is over $8,000 which includes the Medicare D premiums, the supplemental policy I buy, which costs DOUBLE the norm because I’m on disability)and out of pocket dental and prescriptions and doctors who don’t accept Medicare (specialists) but who file for me, with my paying the difference.
That’s it in a nutshell. Don’t get old and have health problems…you’re SCREWED!!!!
Now, a bit off-topic, but not much…Bill RIchardson at Commerce…the guy who didn’t deliver healthcare here in NM after a big fanfare….it’s touched on in one of my links in the piece below…Sufficew to say, this sucker will have his hands in EVERYTHING, and will have more power than Clinton at State ….believe me, he’s an S.O.B just like Obama…and I bet you he’ll have something to say about healthcare….You will be amazed at the reach of this…
Bill Richardson at Commerce: Scary
http://insightanalytical.wordpress.com/2008/11/29/bill-richardson-at-commerce-scary/
Judas Richardson? God help us all.
I get about $12,000 in SS every month
You get $12,000 a month?????????? That’s $144,000 a year. I think that must be a typo. Don’t you mean $1200 a month??
Bush is still trying to kill off the poor isn’t he? Katrina was effective enough I guess. Sigh.
That’s wasn’t effective enough. Sigh again.
I am probably alone out in left field in this, but why would this not be the perfect time to impliment universal health care? I mean, it would be a infrastructure investment. It would help working americans and american businesses. It would also help keep the medical health industries afloat. If we go into a depression big time, medical health expenditures will drop big time. People just can’t afford $30 a pill or $1,000 hospital emergency room visits. Insurances will cut back on coverage. They will have to. There is not enough rich people to keep all these medical people and industries employed.
Because this is not about implementing programs to benefit those millions of Americans who require government programs to sustain a decent standard of living. This is about redistributing wealth and power among the already wealthy and powerful. (Evidence the Congressional refusal to regulate Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac because the recipients of risky mortgages constitute the political base who elected them; while Fannie and Freddie fund the political campaigns of Congresspeople, who authorize the bailout of Fannie and Freddie when they go belly up from making faulty loans to the people who just re-elected the Congresspeople who…
There are so many facets of our healthcare system that need restructure, I don’t see how anyone can say “let’s fix healthcare this year”. This is going to be a mammoth and years long change, if and when it is begun.
Healthcare just isn’t about finding a way to help poor people find insurance to go to the doctor. What about our nursing crisis? Nurses are the backbone of the healthcare delivery system but they are dropping in numbers, getting older, moving to more lucrative and less stressful employment. Studies clearly show that patient outcomes are dependent upon quality and quantity of nursing care, and we’re already experiencing serious shortages with worsening predictions down the road.
This is just one of the many tentacles of this healthcare monster that is out of control, but we’re going to have to address each one. There is no one package to fix “the healthcare crisis”.
Because the insurance companies and pharmaceutical companies lose out with Universal Health care and they have made sure ever since the Clintons attempted to bring hope and change to American Healthcare to keep this from happening. They loved Obama. We will not get Universal Health care (which BTW is different than Universal Health Insurance-Clinton and Obamas plans were that) until we get a really strong leader who really wants to make America better even if the corporates get pissed off.
I just want to add that Universal Health Care is socialized medicine, but that term doesn’t have to be a bad term. I hate Michael Moore now, but as he puts it, it’s no different than having the police, fire and public libraries. Those are Government funded and run programs, too, and they are great! Just imagine if you had to pay the fire department to come out to your house in a fire, instead of them just responding to all. Fire and police only for those who could afford it? That is a basic need, just like healthcare. We should all have the healthcare we need. All of us.
Is America prepared to have the discussion on when enough medical attention is enough? Or are we going to keep everyone on life support forever?
I think that health care “for all” is a great concept. But we better establish some perimeters. My mother — God bless — is 94. My father who was 51 died when she was 48. She had four children under the age of 18 who attended college and she received Social Security benefits for all of us until we graduated from college or left early. I can’t begin to imagine how much money that was. I know there are plenty of people who die before taking one dime, but that is becoming less and less the rule. We need to make sure that we are not creating a legacy of moral decisions to a generation that is going to be faced with huge financial realities. Those two — when juxtaposed — can set up very bad consequences. Either way. IMHO.
You are spot on.
Death benefits are no longer paid until children finish college, as in your day. It ends when they turn 18. (My husband died when our child was 16 and that is how/when I found out.)
I just cringe whenever the right-wingers cry about nationalized healthcare taking away their choices and that they would be an unnecessary middleman and an impediment to quality care.
As though the insurance companies aren’t middlemen, don’t limit choices, and aren’t an impediment to quality care.
Then there’s the gnashing of teeth over lawsuits and that frivolous lawsuits are at the root of the high cost of medicine. Of course, these same teeth-gnashers never discuss the battery of lawyers the insurance companies have to ensure that you don’t get the coverage you paid for. That is apparently OK because it is “just business”.
And don’t get me started on hospitals that charge you an arm and a leg for everything from single-use gauze pads to a few liters of breathing air to a room that costs more than a week’s stay at a 4-star hotel but with much shoddier service.
Like the auto industry, the healthcare industry is in need of reorganization. A return to non-profit status for hospitals might be a good beginning.
I agree I nearly died after transporting my hubby to the ER the cost on the ambulance was over the top we live less than half a mile everything was listed and billed for even the $4 for the rubber gloves…
Considering the Dr gave him different meds which caused the problem had I of known I could of taken him myself…
Hmmm….I think Ethical Common Sense might be a good start. Most folks don’t work to change stuff until it directly affects them…
For example, the AMA fought Healthcare reform until it seriously began to affect the membership rolls and Med School enrollment…Now they are all for it…sheeesh!
Too many folks are making obscene profits & pointing the finger outward ( usually blaming the other side or the great unwashed poor ) Truth is there will be change because the circumstances will warrant it…We will either have universal healthcare and bite the economic moral bullet…Or we will have a continued slide toward a Dickensian social strata…where the Poor and Feeble just flop over and die & we will bite the economic and Moral bullet for that…
The moral or economic bullet.
And I am left to wonder which it will be but have no illusions that either choice will leave one group or another angry.
Hmmmm…I guess it depends. Me? I’m philosophical and frankly…fairly old fashioned about it with regards to my own life. I expect that when I get a Modern/Urban ailment…I’ll just die of it. I hav’nt been able to afford going to a Medical doctor in 10 years…chuckle…If I get cancer I’ll probably find out about it shortly before I die from it like my great grandmother ( a stoic Swede who just upchucked blood one day and who worked into her 70’s…went to a hospital and when they opened her up she was riddled with stomach cancer…She was dead within a month…died at home…)
When I needed a tooth fixed I was going to just have it pulled as this was cheaper $85.00 and I would just chew on the other side…chuckle…But a kindly dentist took pity on me and helped me save the tooth as it was a molar and I’m only 48 so I’m grateful…I think it just depends on how you feel about stuff…As I get older I’m less afraid of dyin I guess…Or have a more realistic view of constructive suffering ( How very Catholic of me )
hey catholic, stick around. Dont die on us.
LOL…Nah…Day at a time…So far I’ve got it OK…I can walk and I can work. Walking as a primary form of transportation has it’s limits but it keeps me fairly trim…I only but what I can carry in a backpack…chuckle…
Walking is very healthy and will keep you in shape. In all probability, we’ll kick the bucket much before you do.
Ethical common sense. I like that Workingclass -but is there enough left of either to bring together. Certainly not for politicians. A lack of both seems to be a pre-requisite for the job.
Health care is going to change. It has to. It is unsustainable in its current form. It is too expensive. Quality is going down. It is another giant bubble ready to pop.
The system is not set up to truly resolve illnesses. Nor really prevent illnesses. It is too specialized and fragmented to do that. It merely treats as necessary to the extent that there are $$ to cover. Change is coming, we need to have this discussion otherwise we will be stuck complaining after the fact, about what the politicians decide is best.
Here is a recent example…My kid heard a doctor worry over her ( muscular neck when she was 13 and was taking medication for ADHD diagnosed and prescribed by a Psychiatrist…The pediatrician is a skeptic ) Now my older sister had a goose egg sized nob in her neck at the age of 31 which turned out to be Thyroid Cancer. So I freak out and agree for the doctor to run Blood tests which showed a Big Fat NOTHING…and learned later that the doctor was chatting with my kids father who is also an ADHD skeptic despite the empirical evidence of how meds and behavioral counseling helped my kid turn it around so dramatically as to be the success she is today…I go on the net and learn as much as possible about Thyroids and such…That was 5 years ago.
Last month my kid calls me about her neck…I tell her to go to the campus nurse and see if she feels anything unusual…she does KINDA…I read to my daughter the symptoms out of the medical paperback from the drugstore ( Poorman’s diagnosis ) She has none of these other symptoms and may be having a fit of homesickness but in any event What can I do about it 1200+ miles away? Her father carries her on perhaps the worst of Medical Insurance policies which has something called preventative care that is not preventative…Here’s how we ended it…She and I decided she was not dying and that it could wait till she got home in December…And we’ll check it out then…COMMON SENSE…
When your Poor you just do the best you can with what you got….If she has a real goose egg I’ll find a way God Willing…There has always been a way when it came to the kid so I just try to remember that I guess…
Policy makers are stuck in a rut because their hands are tied by special interests and the inevitable entanglements. We have a broken health care system. It gets so bad they have to try and fix it. They will slap a bandaid on it because the special interests problem prevents real reform.
We are seeing the same fundamental problem with the mortgage, banking and credit crises. Bottom line: a crisis is viewed by our “leaders” as another means to pick our pockets and/or maintain a strangle hold via some window dressing bullshit “commission,” “investigation” or “congressional oversight (an oxymoron) hearings.” How do we fix the generally morally bankrupt and corrupt human spirit is the real problem. One I’ve been working in for 20 years.
Until we figure out how to reprogram ourselves to act more in the service to others mindset (as opposed to service to self) we will continue to see the nauseating cycle of problem, “reform” and problem. Most glaring example I can think of: You would think we would have learned from the Vietnam war not to invade Iraq under false pretenses.
I think you get the dismal picture I am painting and the need for a totally different strategy if we ever want to achieve sustainability as a species.
Well said!!
Why thank you Choo Choo Magoo! I immersed myself in the campaign and have strayed away from where my inner voice tells me to be: working on long-term species survival and sustainability. Now that the campaign is over, I am returning to my passion: systemic change. All is not lost, I learned more about the bedrock problems from this election.
Sadly, we actually had a chance for wise stewardship towards sustainability and were robbed of it by the usual extremists who pretend to have all the answers then continue to raid the treasury of money and the “bank” of our hope, once they gain power. Elitists ideologues motivated by ego, lust for power and greed on the left and the right are killing us. I hope more people get off the damn treadmill and join me on what constantly gets ignored as people are sidetracked: curing the disease and not just treating the symptoms.
People are easily sidetracked by manipulators that present black and white only positions like pro-choice versus pro-life. Somewhere in the mix pro-solution and pro-compromise get lost. And then these manipulators profit from the division. Yes, people can actually start out sincere in their beliefs when they start an organization. But does anyone honestly think a large organization really wants solutions once they gain power from the division? Solutions equal loss of power and paycheck for these organizations.
I do not pretend to have the answers how even to achieve long-term sustainability and reform of the human spirit, but at least I recognize the problem and will nag the crap out of people until they at least spend some energy on these important issues! I’m looking for solutions, not more of the same.
I posted a reply, but the spam filter ate it.
If you want email me for it. galtspizza AT gmail DOT com
Looks like nasuS rescued my comment from the spam abyss.
Thanks!
Single-payer Medicare for All will not be more expensive that what we, as a country, spend now on healthcare. We will pay into it as we do now with the payroll tax. It will actually save money because the insurance companies will no longer be skimming off their 30 percent cut.
The problem is that our corporate overlords want that money for other things, things that we the taxpayers don’t want. They want to vacuum up every cent we have for their own benefit.
Why oh why do we always note how expensive healthcare is without mentioning how expensive other programs are?
Nobody ever says we can’t expand any military programs because they’re too expensive.
Beebop, concerning your mother’s situation when she was widowed: “and she received Social Security benefits for all of us until we graduated from college or left early.” How is that a “bad” consequence? That was a great investment for the country, as I would hope that all four of her children did better than they would have done had they been forced to quit school when your father passed away and instead have (perhaps) become tax payers.
Similarly, a single payer system would eliminate a lot of waste in our system that goes into massive denial of claims. As problems get treated early, rather than waiting for emergency room attention, they are less costly. As each mother has prenatal care available, there are fewer premature infants. Businesses get the burden of health care (or much of it) lifted off their shoulders and can become more competitive. I think it is a great time to move forward.
djmm
Sorry. I don’t for one minute want to sound ungrateful. But how is it the government’s job to educate the children of a man who dropped dead of a heart attack? I appreciate it no end. Trust me. But if we are going to criticize young women who have children by multiple fathers for welfare, then we have to examine WELFARE in all of its “costumes.” My mother never went to work after my father died. We were blessed to have that income. But college loans, scholarships, etc. are more enticing when you really need it. As Randy Pausch said, the walls are there to keep out the people who don’t really, really want it. I am sure that no one at the Social Security Administration — or the Veterans Administration — expected my mother to live to receive benefits for almost 50 years. But there is no such thing as a free ride.
[...] HEALTHCARE PROGRAMS NEED IMMUNIZATION : NO QUARTER For an easy-to-read timeline about the original Clinton Healthcare Plan, see http://www.pbs.org/newshour/forum/may96/background/health_debate_page1.html. A National Healthcare plan has long been Hillary’s primary political issue, … [...]
[...] HEALTHCARE PROGRAMS NEED IMMUNIZATION : NO QUARTER The Clinton Administration first tried to implement a national healthcare program, promoting it during the campaign of 1992, and making it nearly their first order of business in 1993. Bill Clinton stunned Congress and the media by … [...]
Thank you. But I can’t help think that America is getting what they chose.
American’s OVERWHELMINGLY were saying they believed Health Care is a RIGHT. And that we should have national health care insurance. O-shit! was saying NO, he would not even try for it. When he started his campaign for president, he went to a health care forum with absolutely NO PLAN to talk of. He didn’t want to give health care. And when a young girl asked him that he had NO information on any of his websites either about health care, he BARKED at her and claimed he only has been running for president for some weeks now. He then headed up to New Hampshire to have an intimate gathering with a newspaper, to see what he could get away with.
This group told him stories, what they wanted. O-shit came back with. Well, I don’t want anything like Canada has and from what I’m hearing, all you want is something for emergencies. The crowd was confused and replied, NO.
So O-shit came up with something to sell to the people while keeping his donors comfortable that this was the best compromise he could offer-mandatory for children only and offer insurance for others.
And, I bet it won’t get done anyhow.
This was discussed about much. That O-shit was not offering Universal Health Care and the folks still voted for him. SOOOO?
It’s incredible, isn’t it. And otherwise intelligent people still tout the fact that, BO’s campaign donations came from $5 and $10 contributions.
Lower income workers pay in for a longer time and generally collect for a shorter time (don’t live as long as affluent people).
Basically, the powers-that-be just want us to work as much as we can and then keel over and die when we cannot work anymore. This provides max benefit to them and least cost.
Universal HC could probably be provided at no more cost than what we have. Right now the administrative (and advertising) costs are probably almost half of the expenditures. (Don’t forget increased staff in doctors offices just to handle paperwork.)Insurance companies sometimes spend more denying claims than it would have cost to provide the care!
Universal HC would take the burden off of employers and help our workers be more competitive across the globe.
There are many good and important points made above. I am too young for Medicare, but too old to find a decent job in this economy. No HC for me, even though I have worked my whole life. I think many people are going to die in the coming years.
Society is not a monolith, but it really appears that our present culture does not place much value on life, or even health. (I am also one of the minority of people who are not on prescription medication!) There is no percentage in caring about people who do not have a lot of money - unless you can skim from the money allocated to help them.
Good points. Business would not only be more competitive, but new businesses would have a chance. Workers would not be chained to jobs they hate. Think of all the creative people with something to offer who cannot even think about leaving a job with benefits to start a business. Such a waste.
And people are already dying from lack of healthcare–22,000 a year. Needlessly. I always frame this as seven 9-11’s a year. We get completely hysterical about 3,000 deaths and even go to war, but 22,000 non-terrorist caused deaths each year just don’t seem to move us in the same way.
I worked for years in long-term critical health care and saw bills of hundreds of thousands mount up on patients who many times were vegetables. Either the government ends up paying for this, or institutions eat the cost. Yet a functioning member of society, without health insurance, would be hard put to receive a routine colonoscopy to prevent one of the greatest causes of death, not to mention treatment costs, in the nation. Government money is spent for one-on-one health aides to wheel severely mentally disabled individuals around shopping malls and into libraries (where I’ve personally watched the worker park the patient to the side and play computer games him/herself). It seems to completely depend upon who can lobby and get the funding for particular programs. But, once a patient is in the system–say he comes to the ER complaining of abdominal pain and cancer is diagnosed–he’s not going to be turned away, and somehow the treatments will be paid for, ultimately by the government if necessary to the hospital, rehab center, nursing home, or whatever facility the patient uses. If we can’t manage to implement national health care, it would make much more sense and be more economical if all of us just had access to affordable health insurance.
yes. The care is very uneven - some excessive, some inadequate. It has long seemed to me (and I worked in HC also) that the people in the middle were the worst off.
Actually, I should have made the distinction between terrorists from abroad and the economic terrorists here at home. Because being uninsured and sick does invoke terror. Or imagine the terror of being insured yet still not covered.
We can’t afford NOT to have single payer health insurance right now. It would save the country $350 billion a year overall, and we’ll need every penny we can scrape up to pull the Masters of the Universe out of the hole they have dug for all of us.
Of course, we’d have to find work for all the insurance company clerks whose job it has been to deny coverage and deny claims, but maybe we could put them to work as hall monitors in the George W. Bush Presidential Library.
Carolyn Kay
MakeThemAccountable.com
Steve in KC - Thanks for the article. I look forward to the next installment.
I’ve been given 2 different interpretations of a Medicare issue; does anyone have any experience with this? Background: aledgedly married couples may make up to 160K annually in a “windfall profit” without incurring incremental increaseses in their Medicare part B payments, single people may only make up to 80K in “windfall profit” without incurring “windfall profit” increases on their part B payment. Supposedly this “windfall increase” refers to withdrawing funds from IRAs, 401Ks, surrendering annuities or other insurance products, selling a home or other property, etc. Those who contend this is the rule can’t/won’t site a specific law & say only, “the law changed a few years ago”. The professionals on the other side of the debate stick steadfastly to their position that the above streams of revenue are not 1040 income & are irrelevant to the issue. Who is correct. (no moralizing please)
Oh, the incremental increase in the Medicare part B payment takes effect the year following the “windfall” & is calculated by your tax return…
I believe a 401(k) has to be rolled over into an IRA when employment is terminated or retirement. Ordinary IRA withdrawals are taxable income(because the funds were initially not taxed), but the assumption is that in retirement, income will be lower, thus the tax bill will also be lower. Couples/individuals over age 55 may take advantage of a capital gains tax break on the sale of a house once.
Medicare Part B payments are deducted directly from SS payments and are a percentage of the SS payment. Other income has nothing to do with Medicare once you are retired and receiving SS/Medicare benefits.
re: Preventive care and benefits -
My Dad has Medicare. So he is in an HMO. I was looking at his policy to see if he had certain benefits. Someone from Blue Cross had been in touch with him on it. Turns out the big new benefit is that they give you information on your condition. Less info than you could find on the internet or in the library! She had sent him a DVD. He does not even have a DVD player. I told the lady that I guess this is what the insurance company provides these days instead of actual services. And they call it a benefit. I also told her that the DVD she sent was really not helpful - it was more appropriate as a cursory overview for lower level HC workers.
Nene, Thanks for your input however I’m getting this info directly from SS higher ups….hope some else also has input…I’ll keep checking back
nene, please understand I’m getting conflicting info fro SS higher ups, lawyers & cpas, this isn’t something i just dreamed up
[...] is a series of comments from this thread: Healthcare Programs Need Immunization Comment by Galt | 2008-11-29 [...]
[...] is the last of three installments in a series. The other two, Healthcare Programs Need Immunization and The Bad Old Days ran here on NQ within the last week or so. The opinions expressed here are [...]