American SiCKO Begins Union Organizing for Patients

[marmar]

from MichaelMoore.com:


Wednesday, September 5th, 2007
American SiCKO Begins Union Organizing for Patients

DENVER – Larry Smith has had enough. Smith plans to take his medical records and his medical payments from Medicare and insurance for his on-going care to a doctor that supports universal, single-payer health care. No more feeding the beast of for-profit medical groups determined to push more patients – and therefore more revenue – through the door every hour rather than offer the level of care being paid for by millions of Americans.

"No more apologizing for getting sick after a lifetime of working and paying for health insurance only to watch everything be lost in an instant to high premiums, deductibles, co-pays and out-of-pocket costs -- and then still have doctor groups deny my care because I cannot pay them more. My father always said you can’t get blood out of a turnip, but in this system, my father has been proven wrong," Smith said.

As a patient of numerous specialty groups and specialists over the past 20 years, Larry has seen the system which benefited wildly from his business as a patient morph into one in which he must now beg for adequate care. The 63-year-old Denver man is taking the first steps aimed at organizing his fellow patients to demand the quality of care for which they are paying and to demand meaningful health care reform.

Smith is walking away from the largest cardiology practice in his area – and the same practice that treated his father all the way through a heart transplant, death and income in the hundreds of thousands of dollars from Smith family insurance and savings – and Larry is transferring his care to a Denver cardiologist that supports universal health care.

"Ask your doctor if they support universal health care," Larry said. "Look around that waiting room at the signage. If the first thing you see is the reminder that payment is expected BEFORE your doctor's visit, consider checking out this group a bit more before you turn over your life or the life of someone you love to them. What assurances have they given to you about your satisfaction or your well-being based on pre-payment for service?" .....(more)

The complete piece is at: http://michaelmoore.com/mustread/index.php?id=911