1995-My disabled father died at the Mayo Clinic, Billed $440,000.

[Union Yes]

I remember it vividly, like it happened yesterday.

I was 25 at the time and still somewhat naive about the ways of the world. Just out of the Army after a 4 year enlistment. High on life and ready to take on the world. Then I arrived home and saw my father in his frail state. He was suffering from wasting syndrome caused by heart complications caused by childhood Rheumatic Fever. I hadn't seen him for about 2 1/2 years and couldn't believe how much his health had deteriorated in that time.

He had no insurance and could only afford an occasional doctor visit.

Seeing him in this fragile state, I knew I had to get him to a good hospital. I offered to drive him to the Mayo Clinic in southern Minnesota, an 8 hour drive. He agreed but was reluctant to go. He was worried about surviving the trip and his lack of insurance. I told him that we'd admit him through the emergency room and go from there.

The Mayo ER accepted him and immediately placed him in the intensive care unit. He spent the next month in ICU being nursed back to health so that he could undergo major heart surgery to replace the defective heart valve destroyed by his childhood fever. The surgery was a success and he pulled through it. He was sent back to post-op ICU to once again nurse him back to health. He battled like a warrior for the next 2 months in ICU and it actually appeared for awhile that he would pull through and return to health. Sadly, his overall frail state was too much and his heart gave out. He died in peace at the Mayo clinic with his family at his side. He was 57.

He spent the last 2 years of his life on Social Security disability. 3 days after his death while planning his funeral, a thick letter arrived in the mail from the Mayo Clinic.

His bill for an almost 3 month stay in ICU and a major heart surgery- $440,000. 1995 dollars, imagine that bill today.

The sickest part of all of this, a surgical procedure to repair the heart valve was available 2 decades before his death. At an estimated cost of $50,000. The problem was that he could never find a hospital that would do the procedure because he was uninsured. He could never get insurance with a preexisting heart condition. A vicious cycle that too many Americans are caught in to this day.

I remember battling with Medicare over the phone for 2 months after his death. They finally agreed to pay the bill.

In a 2 year span my fathers ill health cost almost a half a million dollars. Paid by Medicare and SSDI.

1 persons ill health cost almost $500,000. Think about that number. Multiply it by the number of sick and uninsured Americans. Then we can see why Americans spent 2.2 TRILLION DOLLARS on health care in 2007.

After watching my father fall victim to the disgrace known as for profit health care, I've been a life long fan of single payer universal health care.

I've seen cost estimates for single payer. 200-400 billion dollars annually.

Our current system of for profit health care costs us $2.2 TRILLION and that number will explode due to job losses and loss of insurance due to the economy.

$2.2 TRILLION+ VS $400 BILLION.

$2.2 TRILLION for a system that still denies health care to any who can't afford it.

$400 BILLION for a system that covers ALL.

THERE IS NO EXCUSE TO DENY SINGLE PAYER.

THERE IS NO ARGUMENT TO SUPPORT THE VILE DISGRACE, THE GREED DRIVEN EVIL KNOWN AS AMERICAN FOR PROFIT HEALTH CARE.

60% of Americans now want Single Payer.

It is time to mobilize.

If we don't march on Washington and demand Single Payer, we may never see it.

Along with many DU'ers I watched those Patriots protest Sen Max Baucus and his panel of insurance thugs. Doctors protesting-what a beautiful thing to witness. The tears flowed as I thought of my father and the power of that protest. A very moving message.

I know many DU'ers have experienced a similar story. Either their own health or watching a loved one suffer under the current health care system. This issue hits home for almost every American.

The need for Single Payer couldn't get any clearer.

The time for Single Payer is now!

Peace.

[Canuckistanian]

1. A very moving story

Single Payer NOW.

[geckosfeet]

2. Agreed - thanks for discussing. You make two very strong fundamental points.

1. Estimates for single payer are a fraction of what is spent on the current health care 'system'.

2. Even if the cost estimate was the same (or more), single payer is designed to cover EVERYONE, not just those preferred by insurance companies.

3. (This ones mine) Covering everyone for humanities sake is the right thing to do.

[Union Yes]

4. Thanks for adding.

#3 may be the most important point of all.

Peace.

[Joe Bacon]

46. The Health "insurance" racketeers have to go!

My parents lost their house paying for my mother's medical bills. The last 20 years of her life was just hell. Because she was 55 and she never worked, she couldn't get any help from Social Security and Dad made too much money from construction for her to get SSI or Medicaid. Dad had health insurance thrpugh his union, but the beancounters keep finding new ways to deny or delay payment every chance they could. It got to the point that I had to send money home every month to help them and I had to borrow on credit cards to cover their expenses. I even had to bust my IRA to pay for a surgery my mother needed that the beancounters refused to cover even though she was in agonizing pain.

These fucking pimps ruined my life. i gave up having a family, buying a house or car or having a life because I'm indebted to the credit card loansharks. And when I see Max Baucus whore for these pimps it makes my blood boil. I'M MAD AS HELL AND I'M NOT GONNA TAKE ANY MORE SHIT FROM MAX BAUCUS ANYMORE!

Now the pimps running this racket are diverting whatever money they can from denying claims to buying off the Republicans and DINOs like Max the Whore Baucus to make sure that they keep the racket going.

Max Baucus, I am serving notice on you that your whoring days are over.

The pimps running the health "insurance" racket are going out the door and we are going to force single payer down your throat whether you and your fellow gutless Evan Bayh DINOS like it or not.

Now Max, you wanna get down on your knees and beg for your pimps like a whore does for theirs?

Well, Max, how about if Bernie Sanders adds a couple amendments that would include...

1) Federalizing all insurance regulators. No more state insurance commissioners that can be bought off one by one.
2) Declaring that insurance is a public utility and has to be tightly regulated
3) Requiring ALL insurance companies to be mutualized--they must be owned by the policyholders. NO STOCKHOLDERS MAY HAVE ANY STAKE IN ANY INSURANCE COMPANY!
4) Policyowners will vote for the board of directors of these companies.
5) All companies must accept anyone for health insurance irregardless of their conditions and their premiums will be fixed by Federal regulators.
6) Claims must be paid within 30 days
7) Failure to pay claims timely will result in the company paying an additional 12% penalty to the policyholder.
8) No employee of any health insurance company shall be paid more than 80% of the salary of the President of the United State. No stock options. No profit sharing. No deferred compensation. No other "salary incentive or enhancement".

[inna]

80. all thes proposals sound great, but unfortunately.... unrealistic.

:(

[Joe Bacon]

103. they are only unrealistic if you sit back and do nothing

I am standing up and fighting for Single Payer. Are you?

[John Q. Citizen]

86. I oppose federalizing regulators. i want to be able to sue a company in state court. Why

are you for less oversite? Less people looking?

Why 12%? Where did you get that number from on #7?

[Joe Bacon]

102. 50 state Insurance Commissioners make 50 different rules

Nothing in my proposal denies you a right to sue in a State court. I can tell you from experience that its easier for the pimps running the insurance racket to buy off state commissioners than it would be to buy off a Federalized system where everyone in America would be treated the same way by these racketeers

[John Q. Citizen]

122. The insurance industry likes your idea to eliminate regulators and replace them

with one place to go, the feds.

So when a guy like bush is in power, the industry doesn't have to worry about state regulation. All they need is the go ahead from bush (or the next bush) and they are free to do what ever they want.

That doesn't sound good to me.


That is how mortgage companies are regulated - By the Feds. How is that working

[tsuki]

3. My Mother was in the hospital for 2-1/2 weeks with Pneumonia. There

was one nurse on duty for a certain number of patients (I am going to have to find out the number.) No medics, orderlies, or CNAs. Just the nurse.

I was there every day, feeding, bathing, changing her diaper, making sure she did not pull the breathing treatment gizmo off, and getting her up.

Her bill, $102,000. Medicare and Tricare for Life paid $19,000. We walked out without owing a cent.

That is single payer in action.

BTW, as a small business owner, if I could only collect twenty cents on the dollar, I would be in debtors prison. I am sick of the inflated bills (almost $6,000 at day) to snare the uninsured.

Single Payer NOW!

[Union Yes]

13. Moving story. Thanks for adding.

[Bette Noir]

33. Exactly.

Self-pay (uninsured) pay several times what insurance companies or Medicare pay, because they have no one to negotiate reduced rates for them. It's like going to a used car lot, and having to pay whatever the salesman feels like charging.

As a retired RN, I'm in a solid position to say that the profit motive is utterly incompatible with the delivery of quality health care.

[tsuki]

35. After two weeks of watching those nurses zoom around trying to

do everything but mop the floor, I told one that they needed to unionize. It was too much for them.

Employee Free Choice Act now!

[Union Yes]

45. True.. EFCA now!

[ThomCat]

105. It really is a deliberate trap for the uninsured.

The people who have the least money end up paying the most, and go the farthest, deepest in debt.

The system is rigged so the ones who need to pay the least pay the most instead. :(

It is set up this way deliberately with very artificially high "base rates." Every insurance company then gets a steep discount from that base rate based on their volume.

You, as an individual, pay the base rate without any discount. The base rate is set artificially high so that if the hospitals can only collect a percentage of what they bill you then that percentage is still enough to ensure that they are profitable.

Think about that. They screw you with deliberately high rates, driving you into bankruptcy because this guarantees that they will make a profit even if you can't pay the whole bill. They expect to collect less than the whole amount so they deliberately over-charge. x(

[WI_DEM]

5. A very moving story and your dad was a real fighter! I do have a question

today most hospitals offer Uncompensated Care programs and with the criteria that my hospital uses with your dad having absolutely no insurance and only social security he would have gotten 100% write off of his bill if he applied for the program. But this was 1995 and I'm curious did the Mayo Clinic/hospital offer this to you? We are instructted to discuss Uncompensated Care with every self pay (meaning no insurance) patient and anybody who inquires about it. But I'm not sure if hospitals were pushing it back then like they are now.

[Union Yes]

11. Thanks for the kind words.

I was pretty involved with discussions with hospital officials throughout his 3 month stay regarding his billing. Nothing was ever mentioned about the program you referred to. I'm guessing it didn't exist in 1995.

Medicare will insure a person on SSDI after 2 years. That was part of the problem. He hit the 2 year mark at the time of his death. It's such a complex system that it's hard to explain and understand.

Hope that answers your question. Thanks for asking.

Peace

[kaygore]

63. But here it is the hospitals taking the hit and the cost goes up for everyone

We have become a nation focused on what we see as our own self-interest and fear that something might be taken away from us so that someone else might have a little something that we can't see the bigger picture or the truth.

The vested interests prey on our fear and ignorance.

[Enthusiast]

111. The vested interests help

foster a climate of ignorance and fear.

This is why Faux News and Rush Limbaugh serve such a vital function. They spread enough misinformation to get the job done. People are finally starting to wake up. The insurance industry killed the goose that laid the golden egg. They could have rolled in high clover forever if they would have tamped down their greedy inclinations.

[Juche]

6. $400 billion is the savings, not the cost of single payer

Single payer would cost rougly 2 trillion or so. Aside from that I agree with you. Add in the ability to let medical care be determined by public interest, which is to get the most cost effective healthcare possible (and not corporate interest, whose only goal is selling the most expensive treatments they can, irrelevant of whether they are necessary) and we could eventually save a trillion or more a year.

[Union Yes]

15. I've heard 2 Trillion is the cost to convert to SP..

from our current free market system. But I won't flat out dispute what you said. Thanks for adding.

Then the annual cost would $400 billion to maintain. Achieved by regulating the cost.

Regardless of who is correct, the cost savings is so clear.

That aspect by itself shows the need for Single Payer.

Peace

[truedelphi]

95. We have just given like 3 to 14 Trillion to the Bad Boys on Wall Street

In maneuvers that are illegal, and against every bit or morality any thinking person could possess.

yet when it comes to health care - we re told it is too expensive. Why? Becuase it is for the average person, and not for some fat cat.

We gotta get rid of the parasite class at the top.

[SOS]

78. The savings on single payer would be about $1.4 trillion

Using Sweden as an example:

Medical costs per person/per year in Sweden: $2,700
100% coverage for all citizens.
Life expectancy: 80.63 years, ranked 7th in the world

Medical costs per person/per year in US: $8,000
48 million with no insurance, millions more underinsured.
Life expectancy: 78 years, ranked 45th in the world

If we had a system identical to Sweden, the total expenditure would be $810 billion.
Current US spending is $2.2 trillion so the savings would be $1.4 trillion.

We are already pay the cost of single payer three times over.

Sadly, the insurance companies purchased our corrupt, despicable Congress.
The odds of getting a Swedish system are zero.

[Juche]

92. Using % of GDP would probably be a better guage

I'm not an economist by any means, but I'd assume % of GDP would work better since that takes into account the higher income in the US vs some European countries. Then again, most of that wealth is concentrated at the top.

Either way, places like Taiwan, Japan & the UK give everyone decent healthcare for 8% of GDP. We spend 16%. Most OECD nations do it for 10-11% of GDP.

Here is my understanding of the economics of healthcare.


If we had bulk purchasing power and streamlined administration (which would come from single payer) we'd save $400 billion a year.

Roughly $800 billion a year in healthcare goes to healthcare that has no noticeable benefits to people's health. This is due to a lack of transparency and probably corporate influence peddling high priced treatments that don't work better than cheaper treatments. In the stimulus package there was 1.1 billion devoted to studying healthcare to make it more efficient.

So I'm sure if we really worked at it and totally restructured healthcare we could save a trillion dollars a year by having single payer and actually making the goal of healthcare to provide the most health improvements per dollar spent. Our current system is designed to sell people the most expensive treatments possible (that is how medical companies make money) while the goal of insurance is to deny as many people as many treatments as possible. Its an effed up system.

[Enthusiast]

112. And we can copy the Sweden

model whole cloth.

Our despicable corrupt congress was very cheap, considering.

[Earth Bound Misfit]

7. K & R...

Unions can (and SHOULD) be at the forefront to begin to take on social and political issues like single-payer, and become a TRUE VOICE for ALL working people.

Great post, thank you for sharing your story.

[Captain Hilts]

9. Businesses - big or small - should be at the forefront of this. nt

[Earth Bound Misfit]

12. You're right, but I won't hold my breath waiting for that to happen. n/t

[avaistheone1]

124. The Business Roundtable has a seat at the table for the govt decision on health care

The problem is that 35% of the membership are companies providing health insurance or other health commodity.

So despite other businesses' being negatively impacted by health care costs, the Business Roundtable is not going to go against 35% of their own membership.



Single payer needs a seat at the table.

[KharmaTrain]

8. Sorry For Your Loss...

I've seen this issue from two sides. Just like your father, I walked the final miles with both of my parents. My mother suffered from Altzheimers for the last 5 years of her life, and while it didn't require the intensive care your father did, until we found out what was afflicting her, she went into several hospitals with the bills going into 6 figures...and then in her final year, when we could no longer take care of her deteriorating situation, she was in a nursing care center. Fortunately, she had supplemental insurance (to cover what medicare didn't). While I had to pay the lion's share for her nursing care (since I chose the best home I could) at least she had two ways to cover her illness...options. It's what every American should have.

The other side I've seen was helping with my father's medical practice...dealing with the billing and with the insurance companies. I am highly critical of the current system as we encountered many times where the companies were "playing god"...telling us that the diagnoisis was wrong or procedures and medications weren't needed or were the wrong one without ever seeing the patient, just checking their tables and "procuedures". The fear of malpractice has made many doctors turn to the HMOs and PPOs...it's a system that desperate needs reform. Let the doctors do the medicine, not the insurance companies....and one major component on this would be tort reform. Set up a better way to adjudicate malpractice...have a board that can quickly throw out superfluous/cattle call suits but allow those that were due to incompetence to go quickly to a trial or arbitration...cut down the legal costs that the insuracne companies claim is why their premiums are so high. I won't even go into big pharma and the games they've played...but this deals with those insured.

There's the big matter of the uninsured and I strongly favor a single-payer option for ALL. If a person wants to opt out and buy their own, they should have the right. Or, if a person isn't satisfied with the government offering, to have an affordable supplemental program...again, as an option. Bottom line is that no one should be turned away from medical attention due to costs and to create a better system that encourages prevention and based on medicine, not profits.

To those who wish for the insurance companies to go away...not gonna happen. They do and can have an important place in a reformed system, but in conjunction with a government program, not in place of one or as the only option.

[Union Yes]

19. Great points.

I also support private insurers offering supplemental and competing plans. With strong government regulation.

You also brought up a major point-nursing home care. The costs have long been crushing. Unaffordable to too many.

Thanks for the informative reply.

Peace

[Hamlette]

30. Great points. We already have a model for what you call "tort reform".

I'd advocate moving much of our tort cases (personal injury lawsuits, including medical malpractice,} to a system like workers' compensation. It is a no fault system. If you get injured on the job you get wage replacement, medical expenses, and a smallish but not unreasonable payment for permanent disability. If you dispute what the insurance pays, you go to an administrative hearing with independent administrative law judges who do only workers' compensation so they know what they are dealing with. Case is over in a couple of months at very little cost.

Same could work for medical malpractice. People see lawsuits as a winning lottery ticket (trust me) and believe they will get rich. If they knew all they were get was compensated for their loss, far fewer of them would fight it out. Car accidents should be handled the same way, through an administrative process. (Can you tell I do administrative law? I worked all three sides of workers' compensation for 10 years, I now do unemployment and welfare. It's a great system. I worked in "regular" courts for 10 years before and that system, sucks, even though for what it is may be the best we can think up.)

We still need a tort system for "punishment" value: companies that act badly by selling unsafe products, and for malpractice you would need to insure that the profession policed itself. If not, you might need a governmental agency to do it (like OSHA does for employers) or to beef up licensing agencies. For car accidents the criminal courts "police" bad actors.

Two statistis that shape my position (single payer) on this:

1. The US pays more per capita for health care than any other country in the world yet we rank 37th in terms of quality of care. People in 36 countries get better health care than we do.

2. 95% of the health care costs you will incur in your life you will incur in the last 2 years of your life. We might, as a society, have to make some hard decisions. My father had expensive treatments and surgeries in his final years that did not improve the quality of his life but might have prolonged it slightly (a few months?). We should never have agreed to it.

[KharmaTrain]

44. Cost Containment...

Thank you for your enlightening post. Putting more meat on the bones.

A couple of observations:

I'm fully in favor of arbitration panels, but the sticky wicket here is who is on that panel. No doubt any attempt at tort reform will meet heavy resistance from lawyers lobbies, and that will have an impact as they have a lot of sway within the party. Senators will have to face down some big money contributors. The devil in the details would be able to create a balanced system where true malpractice cases can go forward but that the legal expenses (which are higher than many settlements) are capped or minimized. Knock down the legal costs and you'll see overall costs drop measurably.

The question of "quality of life" is at the core of individual choice. While you may feel that the costs of prolonging a life a few months was maybe a big too high, for others, every moment is precious. It's choice...and a government subsidized health care system with a large pool of participants and revenue could negotiate prices downward where no such leverage exists today. Some may believe in a utopian solution where all are treated the same...they won't. The rich will always find ways to get better care. The prime motivation is to make the choice one of quality of life rather than the price tag.

Lastly, I am a strong advocate of a preventative rather than catastrophic system. As a kid, I remember my father seeing 20-30 patients a day...$5 a visit. People would come back every 3 or 6 months...get checked and not only have peace of mind in knowing they're being looked after, but keeping overall costs down by catching problems before they mount into major expenses.

Cheers...

[Hamlette]

69. I'm not in favor of arbitration panels

I've worked with those too, sometimes they work but I think admin law is a better model. It is not arbitration but with a judge who has a specialty. Both sides get to have their own docs present evidence then the judge appoints an independent doc. The independent docs were great and would work here even though it is "against" doctors because it would be a no fault system. The patient would be paid for the difference between what happened and what should have happened.

And I agree with you about prolonging life. People should have the choice. But negotiating prices downward is not going to get us where we need to get. One of the problems is in a competitive system, every hospital/clinic has to get the latest/greatest machines. In many cases, one extra-expensive-only-used-a-few-times-a-month machine could be shared by several hospitals/clinics. And the biggest problem with malpractice (which accounts for about 2% of health care costs in the US) is the hidden costs, doing tests where none are necessary. As a lawyer, there is no doubt in my mind that my doc does more diagnostic tests on me than are necessary. All docs do. A problem with this is Americans fell like the tests are necessary and will have to be weaned off of them. Doctors complain all the time that a patient is just not satisfied unless you do some tests. My parents lived in Scotland. When they went my mom, who had high blood pressure, was taking 17 pills a DAY. The doc in Scotland told her: "we don't do it like that here. You need to lose 20 lbs, walk at least a mile a day, and quit smoking. I'll give you drugs for 4 months only. Then I want to see you again and your blood pressure should be normal." My mother is brilliant and of course she knew she should do all those things but when the doc put it that way, she did it. And four months later her blood pressure was normal.

If we develop a mind set that those 17 pills a day are not only bad for my mom but bad for all the taxpayers and we all sink or swim together, we'd have been health and better health care. IMHO

Big Pharma is a more difficult problem but I think there is a middle ground. (If I see another erectile disfunction commercial on TV I'll go nuts!)

[cabluedem]

43. What purpose would the insurance companies serve in single payer? nt

[KharmaTrain]

47. A Deeper Question...

Can the government run a healthcare system? And how long would it take? If the government became the lone insurer, how could it handle existing insurance policies and then transition them into a national system? And then...who do you get to run it? Someone without any taint of Insurance company experience? And where do these people come from?

The dream of some that insurance companies will somehow vanish or be outlawed as a key to health care reform are in for a rude awakening. The solution will have to include the existing system...with stronger oversight and regulation along with competition. The government can and should be an insurance option for those unable to afford otherwise...an estimated 46 million...not the 300 million if the insurance industry is imploded.

[bvar22]

59. "Can the government run a Health Care System ?"

Hell Yes!
The government has done a wonderful job with the two systems already in existence: MediCare and the VA.

[Thothmes]

88. Not in some of the VA hospitals I have seen in the last

45 years. I would not wish my worst enemy be confined in a VA hospital.

[ejpoeta]

114. i think the biggest problem going on with va is lack of funding as well as

doctors and retention. my dad would go to the va and was always seeing a different doctor every time he went. I think the VA could be a great system if it were funded properly and didn't seem to get all the doctors that no one else would take.

[Thothmes]

118. You are correct as far as I am concerned

Funding veterans care is a lot less glamorous that funding wars or new weapons. As soon as the shooting stops, the VA budgets are in jeopardy.

[bvar22]

123. The VA has been underfunded & overlooked for 30 years.

MediCare and the VA have been under attack by For Profit "agents" for years. The Republicans (and "Centrist" Democrats) would love to PROVE that "government doesn't work".
Incompetents & Cronies have been appointed to manage the systems, and effective oversight has been overlooked ( and sabotaged).

The disclosures of the treatment at Walter Reed were horrifying. There are many stories of mistreatment at the VA.
OTOH, my parents were both veterans of WW2, and we received very good treatment from the VA through my childhood.
Many of my friends are veterans of Viet Nam, and are receiving their health care through the VA today. Many of them will criticize the VA (long drives, etc.), but just TRY to take the VA away from them, and you are in for a battle.

The point I'm making is that both Single Payer Systems (VA, MediCare) are far better than the For Profit systems the rest of us are required to use, and far. FAR better than the systems available for those without Health Insurance.

Both of our current Single Payer Systems need more funding, oversight, and streamlining, but the systems themselves have worked well. You can find "horror stories" in all of the countries that offer government guaranteed Health Care, but what you can't find are people willing to trade their health system for what we are forced to use in the US.


Try this little experiment:

1)Find a Veteran, and tell them they have to give up their VA benefits and start buying For Profit Insurance from the Health Care Industry.

2) Find a Senior, and tell them they have to give up MediCare and start buying For Profit Health Insurance from the Health Care Industry.

[KharmaTrain]

94. A Wonderful Job??

Are you collecting or have had to use the system? Have you been to a VA hosptial? The system is far from "wonderful". And that's handling a small number of people...not 300 million.

The system is invaluable for those who can't afford their own insurance, but it doesn't cover everything...just the basics. In caring for my parents illnesses, had we not had umbrella coverage, we would have paid thousands for services not covered by Medicare.

[DollyM]

106. Medicare and VA are totally different in how they are run

My husband and father both used VA. I could tell you stories that would make your blood run cold about VA. My father died because of the negligent care of VA and my husband nearly lost his foot to an infection because VA was too cheap to send him to see a specialist. The best day of my life just about was when we were able to get medical cards so my husband could go to his own Dr. locally and get good care based upon his need, not upon cost like VA does. If VA functioned like Medicare and Medicaid, it would be wonderful but they don't. You have to drive miles to a VA clinic or hospital (70 miles one way from us), wait for a Dr., wait for tests, wait for prescriptions, you could die waiting and my father did. VA released him home with no plan of care and no prescriptions. He was 78 years old and lived alone and had been hospitalized with pneumonia. He was still weak and pale when they discharged him from the hospital. I told them it was too soon and the nurses answer to me was "we need the bed." His prescriptions didn't arrive for 10 days after he was discharged. He died two weeks later.
My husband was hospitalized five times in one year for the same infection in his foot that Va kept treating with the same cheap antibiotic. He needed to see a specialist but they didn't have a podiatrist on staff and they refused to send him out to see one. Aside from the financial toll of him missing work, (he had no benefits from his job)we were billed co payments for all these hospital stays! I fought VA for over a year on these and finally won but I will would never put anyone through the experience of using VA healthcare unless they were a criminal!

[stopbush]

67. You've bought the kool ade on SP.

Single payer is a government-run INSURANCE OPTION.

The government would offer consumers the OPTION of buying an INSURANCE POLICY from the government, rather than from a private insurer.

The government WOULD NOT RUN THE HEALTH SYSTEM!!! The health system would continue to operate as it now operates. The government would NOT choose your doctor for you. The government would NOT deny you treatment, because the government isn't acting as a medical establishment, they are acting as an insurance company.

What WOULD happen is that the government would set limits to what it would pay for treatments. The determination for what they would pay would not be decided arbitrarily, but through research and the crunching of real numbers. So, if a procedure COSTS $5,000 to perform, that's what the government would pay. If an elitist doctor believes that his expertise gives him the right to charge $15,000 for the exact same procedure, then he has every right to toss that into the free market and see how many takers there are that will pay him three times the going rate for the procedure. Patients will be the second people to balk, right after the private insurers who will tell Mr Doctor that they aren't going to pay him any more than the government is willing to pay. The patients will balk when Mr Doctor tells them that $10,000 of his fee is coming out of their pocket. And when they say "no," they'll go out and find a different doctor who is just as good if not better who will perform the operation at the going rate. As the number of people opting for single payer increases, the rationale for overcharging for procedures diminishes.

Once that happens and Mr Doctor starts to lose significant business, he'll be forced to accept patients at the going rate. That might cost Mr Doctor his second and third sports cars or the house in the Hamptons, but, so be it. If the track record of single payer health plans in countries around the world is any indicator, he will still earn a salary in the top 20% of earners.

And he'll have the satisfaction of viewing himself as a public servant along the lines of police and firemen, only better trained and better compensated, rather than a capitalist on steroids who earns his inflated salaries on the ill health of others.

[KharmaTrain]

96. Eliteist Doctors?

Now whose drinking kool-aid? There are many who want a single payer system where the government does it all...not as an option. Or there's the debate of making health insurance mandatory. That's not the issue.

I'm in favor of a government LED program that covers costs (including preventative) for anyone, but leaves open the options of umbrella coverage that would, if you ha read what I had written, could help keep costs for the overall system and help provide better quality services for those on the lower rungs...better than the non-care they now get.

So it's "elitist doctors" that are a problem? My father was a physician for over 50 years and worked his ass off...many a night getting a 2am call and having to run to the hospital or to a patient's home. I have other physicians in my family as well as close friends, and I have yet to find one who is "elitist"...they are trying to save lives and make a living. BTW...do you have any idea of what malpractice insurance is these days?

Bottom line is insurance companies aren't going away...either a system can be devised to work within the existing system and reform it or gut the whole thing and take chances of a new beauracracy added to the many other. I want people to be able to choose their doctors and, if they can afford better care, they should have the option to purchase into it.

[wolfgangmo]

74. So your argument is...

... if I may paraphrase.That the government would not be able to find enough qualified employees with health insurance experience within anyones lifetime because, some how, magically, the bloat of bureaucracy in private insurance employees would somehow, magically, not look for work with the federal government or the single payer entity and would instead go find work at, where? McDonalds?

[dflprincess]

91. Pretty much the same "purpose" they have now - nothing

Health insurance companies only exist to make money for their shareholders.

[bobbolink]

58. You're sadly mistaken about tort reform. REMEMBER, with single payer,

there will be much less malpractice "insurance", and MUCH MUCH fewer law suits.

BECAUSE, people now MUST sue just to get the medical care they need!

If they can get care for mistakes, then there is much less incentive to sue.

Take away that option, to sue, and all you have is more suffering and more death.

Does that matter?

[KharmaTrain]

119. I Said Reform, Not Abolition

Just like in any walk of life, you will have frauds or slopiness...and I never advocated eliminating law suit...my concern is long overdue tort reform. I was involved with several "cattle call" cases...a patient had a procedure go bad. Instead of suing the doctor they suspected, EVERY doctor who saw the patient was named in the suit as well as the hosptial administrators. Almost always these suits either get preened down or settled out, but the costs involved to ALL doctors was needless and their insurance premiums increased, which then was passed along to patients.

One hopes that in a more competitive system, emphasis will be on care and competency, but the option must always remain open for those who have legitimate caess to move forward and those that are meant to shakedown doctors and hospitals need to be quickly thrown out and discouraged. That's tort reform.

[wolfgangmo]

71. Tort reform is a suckers bet and a red herring.

Most lawsuits are thrown out. Less than 2% of those filed ever see the inside of a courtroom. Insurance companies include in tort reform proposals the amount that they have decided to settle for. If they didn't settle and fought the 2% of suits that get to a court room, then their costs would be lots less. They are lying through their teeth about the facts of lawsuits.

The main cost of losing a legal battle is ongoing lifetime health care, a factor that would not be a factor in single payer. The fact is that insurance companies don't want single payer because they would not have to negotiate with a large entity that had the law at their backs and the resources to take them to task . The insurance companies prefer to have us broken down into small groups and individuals because they can pick us off easier, deny claims, wait for us to die and then pocket the profits.

Tort reform is a red herring. Don't fall for it.

[Thothmes]

89. Will the Government System

require a Ferres Doctrine to protect them selves.

[enough]

10. Union Yes, that is a heart-rending and infuriating story.

I have another story from the other side of the great divide in America. When my mother was 85, she was operated on for a heart-valve replacement. They thought she was a good candidate in spite of her age because she was very fit in every other way. She had the valve replacement, surgery a great success, but somehow she never really recovered, all sorts of complications and spent six months in the ICU, then the next two years in and out of the hospital for at least six extended stays. Oxygen 24/7, kidney and lung complications, etc. etc. I can't count the number of high-tech "procedures" that were done multiple times before she finally said ENOUGH. She died peacefully in her bed about two weeks after we called in Hospice.

The out-of-pocket expenses for this intensive three-year multi-surgery effort to keep an old woman alive as an invalid? ZERO. Not a single bill was ever presented for anything. (Except sometimes for the TV in the room at the hospital.)

My parents had superb health insurance from their lifetime as public school teachers in Delaware. In the entire last five years of her life, she never paid a copay or wrote a check for any medical care. I found this to be mind-blowing. I must admit that I sometimes thought the level of treatment she was subjected to was influenced by her level of insurance. I had to ask myself if they were treating her beyond what was really humane.

As a self-employed person who has struggled to find ways to pay for my own health insurance, I was amazed by the difference between my mother's experience of the medical system and my own. We really do live in a divided world.

[Union Yes]

17. You nailed it. Thanks for adding.

Our health care system is only good for people who are lucky enough to have decent insurance coverage through an employer or retirement plan. Or for the super rich who can actually afford it.

For the less fortunate, who can't afford it, it's a nightmare. All part of the 2 Americas. Sad indeed.

Peace

[yellerpup]

14. The lead story in the Business Day section of the NY Times this morning

has a headline: "Hospitals Pay for Cutting Costly Readmissions" - Subheadline: "Follow-up care is good medicine but not always good business." Since we know this is true we must demand that our health care system be rebuilt so that medical care and prevention come first. We don't need middlemen in the formula. Sorry, I don't have an online account to provide a link. Take profit out of healthcare and we will be able to afford it and get the care we need. Sorry about your dad.

[Union Yes]

16. Well said. Thanks for adding.

[stray cat]

18. I assume the bill was not paid which is an entirely additional problem with the system

Thats why it has to be mandatory that all participate in a program. Although of course the most tragic is that your dad could not get a lifesaving surgery performed.

[Greyhound]

20. K&R

HR 676, were it passed today, would still take over a decade to fully implement.

People before profits.
:kick: & R

[lonestarnot]

21. Single payer! YES!

[dem629]

22. Moving, powerful and well-told story. I am sorry your dad had to go through that.

No one should.

Your post reads like a testimony before a congressional panel. May I suggest submitting it in writing to every member of Congress?

[Union Yes]

25. Thanks. I am working on a version to email to members.

Starting with Sen Baucus and Sen Bayh.

You're right, I need to write this to every member.

I've got work to do!

Peace

[WestSeattle2]

23. Very well written......

thanks for sharing. A woman who I commute with works for Aetna Health Insurance in their Kent, Washington collections office. The stories she shares about that company will make your blood boil.

Private health insurance companies need to disappear. It's truly a disgusting industry.

[WillowTree]

24. I'm confused.

If your father was covered by Medicare, which he would have been if he was on SSDI, why did you have to fight with Medicare to get them to pay the bill? That should have been automatic with Medicare.

[Union Yes]

27. Medicare wouldn't cover for the first 2 years of SSDI.

He passed the 2 year mark about 5 days before his death. Medicare agreed to pay the bill after a lengthy battle over the phone over the course of a couple of months after his death. Keep in mind that his overall hospital stay was 3 months. Most of that time was before he was technically covered by Medicare. Which complicated the issue. In the end Medicare agreed to pay the entire bill.

[Union Yes]

32. I'm positive that is still Medicare's policy to this day.

A 2 year waiting period on SSDI before Medicare benefits kick in and cover. It's a very complex system.

[handmade34]

26. Thank you for sharing your story.

I am sorry for your loss.

I think your most important point is "...a surgical procedure to repair the heart valve was available 2 decades before his death. At an estimated cost of $50,000. The problem was that he could never find a hospital that would do the procedure because he was uninsured. He could never get insurance with a preexisting heart condition. A vicious cycle that too many Americans are caught in to this day..."

The costs of single payer are immense but I believe that preventative care and early intervention would save much money, time and heartbreak.

Yes! Universal care for all!

[unapatriciated]

28. my son's 6 month stay in 1991 at chla cost almost a cool million...

my share of cost with what was considered excellent insurance was 20k (and that was just the first year).
He went on to have many stays in chla for a ten year period.
He is now 30 and on SSI and medicare and fights every day to get his medication and follow-up care for Dermatomyositis.

I had to sell my home and take out credit card loans to cover the many medical expenses (such as medications and physical therapy) that my insurance would deny but later cover some after numerous letters and phone calls.
It took me until 2006 to pay off those loans.

Yes now is the time for Single Payer Universal Health Care

edited to add:
http://action.citizen.org/t/6693/content.jsp?content_KEY=5722

Get the Facts on Health Care Reform

Myth: Single-payer would cost too much.

Fact: Because of our patchwork system of private insurance, more than 30% of every health care dollar is spent on administration rather than on care. This includes underwriting, marketing, billing, denying claims, profit and paper-pushing that is foisted on hospitals and physician offices. By eliminating private insurance, a single-payer system would reduce administrative spending by roughly half (nearly $400 billion annually). These savings are enough to provide every American with comprehensive health insurance, without increasing total spending.

Myth: Single-payer would cost businesses too much.

Fact: Because a single-payer system is more efficient than our current system, health care costs would be lower, and businesses that already provide health care benefits would save money. In Canada, the three major auto manufacturers (Ford, GM and Daimler-Chrysler) have all publicly endorsed Canada's single-payer health system from a business and financial standpoint. In the U.S., Ford pays more for its workers' health insurance than for the steel to make its cars.

Myth: Lines for care would be extremely long.

Fact: In countries with single-payer, urgently needed care is always provided immediately. People in these countries may have to wait for some elective procedures like cataract removal or knee replacement for arthritis, but because the U.S. spends double what they do on health care -- and would continue to spend this much under a single-payer system -- access to care here would be better and our waits would be much shorter.

[Union Yes]

34. Thanks for sharing.

You brought up a great point about the very real financial hardships created by co-pays and plans that only pay out a percentage of coverage.

A person can have insurance and still be bankrupted by health care costs.

The need for Single Payer couldn't be clearer!

Peace

[October]

82. Unreal!

I am so sorry for all you've been through with your son!

It's outrageous -- but even with "good" healthcare, they say we are all just one catastrophic illness/injury away from bankruptcy.

That's just insane. I don't know what the answer is -- just that watching Michael Moore's documentary, "Sicko," made me furious at our system.

[navarth]

29. Preach it bro

One of the best arguments I've seen yet.

And please accept my condolences. Lost my Dad in 1997. It never stops hurting.

[Union Yes]

36. Yup I hear ya.

It's tough to lose a parent. It's been 14 years and I still get that naked in the world feeling from time to time. I never stop missing him.

My condolences to your loss as well.

Peace

[troubleinwinter]

31. Last yr. my husband was in hosp. 2-1/2 weeks. $665,000

He had a couple of midling surgeries. I took him home for recuperation... they wanted him to go to a care facility for a month or two. Then what would it have cost?

[Union Yes]

37. Our health care system has become a monster.

Shocking story. Thanks for adding.

[KG]

38. there's an inflated profit margin built into those numbers. a margin that would be elinimated

when private insureers are looking for a cut of medical expenses are out of the picture.

[Union Yes]

39. You are correct!

[Tommy_J]

40. Excellent post

K&R

[Triana]

41. I hope you sent this story to Obama, BAUCUS Michael Moore, the news media...

...or whoever will publicize it. THESE STORIES ARE IMPORTANT and they can shape the debate about health care reform - if they can be gotten OUT there for a LOT of people to see.

[Thickasabrick]

49. My thoughts too n/t

[haydukelives]

42. Peace

[sarcasmo]

48. Get ride of the Health Insurance companies, NOW!

[gblady]

50. thanks for sharing.....

your moving story about your father.

I totally agree on the desparate need for single payer.
I pray that we, and the millions who are also fighting for this...
will get heard...and that fear of change does not rule the day.

My mother was hospitalized in '89 to the tune of $350,000...
She was well insured, but I remember being shocked at the price tag.

[colsohlibgal]

51. The Battle Of Our Lives and For Our Lives

It's the people. populist wrath, versus the millions from the Insurance and Drug Companies - and the corrupt legislators who are used to throwing the masses under the bus for cash. It's just that simple. Given the current state of US health care no rational argument can be made against a single payer system. One's care should be between the individual and her/his doctor, there shouldn't be a bean counter in between.

Ed Schultz showing, on MSN, how much Baucus was getting from the Insurance and pharmacy lobbyists(about a half million) was a good start. It's time to connect the dots and call these people out.

A couple of days ago I heard a lady who had been in Japan and had suffered some kind of fracture that required some minor surgery to insert pins - they kept her in the hospital four days instead of booting her out ASAP like here - and her bill for the whole thing was $20. Imagine the peace of mind so many of us would have not having to worry about going bankrupt just because we had the misfortune to become ill or have an accident.

Profit has to be vanquished from the equation, no more CEO's making 6 million a year while they deny, delay, or too slowly parse out treatments and tests. I heard a very eloquent doctor yesterday say that the bean counters were killing people daily. All while the senators and fat cat capitalists laugh all the way to the bank. It's twisted.

[Union Yes]

70. They cut costs/corners by denying care.

Then reward themselves with gigantic bonuses. The system is set up in favor of those brave enough to pilfer it.

Yeah I love the way Ed nailed Max on his health care industry donor list.

Ed Schultz is becoming a lead warrior in the fight for single payer. He's a godsend to the cause.

Thanks for adding to the debate!

Peace

[NewJeffCT]

52. Great letter - maybe you could submit similar as a letter to your local paper?

Sorry about your father as well.

[Union Yes]

72. Thanks. I just may do that.

First I've gotta write this letter to every Rep Sen Prez and Joe Biden as well.

Thanks for the good idea!

Peace

[Dangerously Amused]

53. Powerful story, well written. Your Dad would be proud. Thank you. K&R.

Also, agree with the suggestion to send it to your local media outlets.

[Union Yes]

75. Thanks for the kind words!

Peace

[radhika]

54. Very touching, very tender

How much needless pain and loss are American families supposed to absorb? If we don't intensify our push for Single Payer, we are signing on for more stories like this.

[Union Yes]

76. Right on. These stories are mostly preventable.

Single Payer would go a long way towards that prevention.

Peace

[Gator_Matt]

55. MDs and PAs get paid too much as well

It's not just the insurers or hospitals pulling in too much money. The actual health care workers get paid a fortune. Two years in PA school and you can get close to six figures starting. MDs out of residency earning hundreds of thousands. I've seen firsthand how greed is drawing in premeds. These are -for the most part- people who couldn't care less about patient care. They want the prestige and money of the job. If salaries for MDs were capped at 125k, for example, you could save a fortune.

[Flatulo]

60. If you cap physicians' salaries, the best and the brightest will

not bother to enter the profession. They'll go to into law or engineering. Why on earth would anyone break their asses for 12 to 16 years to make less money than a plumber? Not to mention coming out of school a half-million dollars in debt.

I don't want a doctor with good intentions - I want one with brains and ability.

[tucsonlib]

90. Who Told You Their Salary Would Be Capped?

Under SP, doctors would not be government employees. The only thing that would change is, instead of enduring the labor costs and hassles of dealing with multiple insurance companies, all bills would go to and be paid by a single source. True, in countries with SP, physicians average somewhat less income than in the U.S., but from what I understand they still do quite well. And I wouldn't call those who choose not to study or practice medicine because a 7 figure salary isn't as attractive as an 8 figure salary the "best and the brightest". I'd call them the "shallowest and greediest". And BTW, if you choose a doctor based solely on his "brains and ability"; if you "don't want a doctor with good intentions" (you don't care if his intentions might be evil?); you're probably screwed.
And as for the cost of higher education, I agree - it's unconscionable. But it's also easy to fix. College and graduate school should be free for all who qualify. Other countries do it. We could, too.



:thumbsdown: :woohoo:

[Flatulo]

97. I was responding to post #55, where the poster called for caps...

> If salaries for MDs were capped at 125k, for example, you could save a fortune.

In response to your post...

> And I wouldn't call those who choose not to study or practice medicine because a 7 figure salary isn't as attractive
> as an 8 figure salary the "best and the brightest". I'd call them the "shallowest and greediest".

I don't know of any health care providers that earn 7 figures, let alone 8. Maybe cosmetic surgeons? My primary care physician earns about $150K annually, and he puts in 10-12 hour days as a rule. I think this is a pretty underwhelming salary considering his skill sets and effort.

A VP at my company, on the other hand, makes $250K before perks for doing essentially nothing and having about 1/2 the formal schooling.

> And BTW, if you choose a doctor based solely on his "brains and ability"

I can't think of any other criteria that I would use to select a doctor. If a damn fool really, really, really wants to help people but is a dreadful surgeon, would you choose him/her? Good luck with that.

[DissedByBush]

56. Even if we keep the current system

The BS about pre-existing conditions needs to stop. Insurance companies are in the insurance business, so insure the people. Lose your license if you want to be picky.

[bobbolink]

57. You're talking logic. REMEMBER, the Obama administration wouldn't ALLOW single payer a seat

at the table!

[Baby Snooks]

61. The reality of health care....

Even if you have insurance, it doesn't cover it all. And eventually the coverage ends. That happens to quite a few.

I've had two friends who experienced the reality back in the 1990s. And it is not a pleasant one. Both thought they were "okay" and in fact were not.

One went through the nightmare of Alzheimer's at a time when it wasn't covered at all. She watched what she and her husband had built fall apart. They went through their savings. They were forced to sell their business. And then their home. About $5 million all total. And suddenly it was all gone. Long before he was. Their children had to cover what they could each month.

One is a successful realtor. She makes $1-2 million a year. Most of it goes to care for her husband who has myasthenia gravis. His insurance ran out a long time ago. And the "public health care system" including Medicaid just simply does not cover catastrophic illness. She didn't share the attitude that he was no longer productive and therefore should just be allowed to drop dead. Which is the attitude of the "public health care system" in this country. She worries she may drop dead before he does. From working 24/7 just to cover the medical expenses. One year it was a stroke. Another year a heart valve. No big deal. Until you have no insurance. Despite the income, she has months she worries about paying the light bill. She worries about losing it all the way my other friend did. Hard to feel sorry for someone making $1-2 million a year. Until you realize most of it goes to pay for health care.

Even when you have insurance you have no guarantee of being able to afford health care if that health care involves long term care. At some point, well, you will be allowed to just drop dead. And urged to in many cases.

The only solution is what Helen Thomas suggested and then unsuggested preferring to "follow the leader" and support "single payer" which will not solve the problem. The only solution is one system for all. You pay what you can according to income. But everyone gets the same health care.

Heart procedures should not be based on ability to pay. Stroke treatment should not be based on ability to pay. Cancer treatment should not be based on the ability to pay.

Health care should not be denied on the basis of "pre-existing conditions" such as diabetes, cancer, or hypertension.

The best argument against "single payer" health care is AIG. Allowing health care to remain "privatized" in any form at this point is merely an invitation for health care remaining only for the rich. And even some of them are finding their claims are being denied by their insurance company. Most of which are about as solvent as AIG.

Sorry but it's time for the government to take over and run the health care business. Medicare for all.

[Necon-Be-Gone]

62. Why so cheap?

My 52 yr old sister went to emergency with difficulty breathing. After over 10 hours wait, a nurse overdosed her with morphine causing cardiac arrest. She was put into drug induced coma and on a respirator for a month, in an attempt to prevent brain damage from lack of oxygen. This was in the cardiac ward of the hospital. She was then moved to a regular floor for two months. The doctor put her on comuadin, a blood thinner that a is dangerous drug. We complained about adverse reactions but, the doctor ignored us and my sister died a couple of days later.

As my sister was dying we asked the intern to move her to ICU and save her. He said he was the only doctor on the floor overseeing 60 patients and didn't have time for just one patient. And if you don't go along with the incompetent doctor, complain a little too much, security is called and you get thrown out of the hospital.

The bill....slightly over $ 1 million.

We approached attorneys for a medical malpractice suit. They said she would have needed to be well before she went into the hospital and there was too much political heat for a law firm to be suing a hospital rated as best in the state. In other words the politicians and corporate own media would go after the law firm for filling a law suit. And they thought the chance to get a Judge to give a fair trial was zero. Just wasn't politically correct.

Also during her stay at the hospital, we tried to have her transferred to a different (leading hospital). The doctor would not refer her and the other hospital wouldn't accept her without the referral. And then the hospital filed for guardianship. So we had to hire an attorney and battle that.

I and my sisters are professionals with advanced degrees. Two of us own and run successful businesses. The Hospital treated us like we were retarded.

The terrible experience has ruined all of our lives. There is no way to get over what happened and how the hospital and doctors treated us. Stealing our freedom to provide the medical care she needed. We had power of attorney and her medical directive but, the doctors and hospital didn't care. They wanted to do whatever they wished and get as much money as they could from the insurance companies.

In the guardianship battle... their plan was to move her to a nursing home, so she wouldn't at the hospital. They could then blame the nursing home for what they had done.

[Baby Snooks]

64. And you are not alone...

What happened to you is happening to more and more families in this country. And the "bankruptcy reform" we saw a couple of years ago has only worsened the problem. You can now lose your home to health care costs. And quite a few Democrats voted for the "reform" the way they have voted for other "reforms" including deregulation. If the "bankruptcy reform" is any indication that alone is reason to suspect any "health care reform" this Congress would pass. It will only serve the private interest rather than the public interest.

[stopbush]

65. We need to mount a DIRECT assault against Max Baucus.

A personal assault against him because of his PUBLIC positions on "fixing" health care. We need to hound him off that committee, even mount a campaign that threatens to to remove him from office, if necessary.

And then we need to do the same thing to every medical/pharma stooge they put in to replace him UNTIL we bust the unholy union of med/pharm/lobbyisys/campaign contributions and get single payer as the law of the land.

[Land Shark]

66. No nation can long afford a public policy of indifference as to the lives & health of its citizens..

Certainly, we'd al back up our country even more, and be willing to sacrifice all or part of our lives in service to it, if we knew that in return the country cared enough to care for us in times of illness and weakness.

A system where the medical profession parasitically sucks out the last drop of savings and wealth and then lets you die because insurance stop loss provisions kick in is a heartless and cruel system upon which foundation no nation can long build in anything like the ways it otherwise could.

[Union Yes]

83. So true.

With all the hard work and sacrifice that people put forth, it shouldn't be too much to ask for their government to take better care of them in return.

Thanks for adding.

Peace

[Necon-Be-Gone]

68. Kerry/Edwards campaign of 2004

I attended a rally in 2004, Edwards was the speaker. The local hospital doctors (perhaps pharmaceutical salesmen in disguise) were near the entrance telling everyone to vote for Bush if they wanted health care reform. The crowd, of about 300 or 400 people, started chanting, health care for all, not just the rich.

[inna]

73. "THE VILE DISGRACE, THE GREED DRIVEN EVIL KNOWN AS AMERICAN FOR PROFIT HEALTH CARE"

could not agree with you more.

[Stinger2]

77. Blanche Lincoln Arkansas Works for Wal-Mart against Employee Free Choice Act

Blanche Lincoln Arkansas Works for Wal-Mart against Employee Free Choice Act

Our recent economic crisis shows that we can not go back to a Wal-Mart style economics in which corporates profits skyrocket, while wages go down. Since 2000, productivity in the United States has increased by 20%, while wages have remained virtually flat or decreased. The Employee Free Choice Act would allow workers who the rewards of their increased productivity by demanding higher wages through unions. Unions are key to creating a vibrant middle class and a sustainable economy that works for everyone. If Senator Lincoln really wanted to get the economy moving again, she would support the Employee Free Choice Act instead of serving as a corporate spokesperson for the narrow-minded interests of Wal-Mart.

http://www.theseminal.com/2009/04/10/the-senator-from-wal-mart/

The Wal-Mart Health Care Crisis

Why did a recent opinion poll show that a large majority believes that "Wal-Mart is bad for America"?

http://www.politicalaffairs.net/article/view/2855/1/152/

The largest company in the United States with the most employees is against anything that is good for its workers, even shows them how to get state aid.

[McCamy Taylor]

79. The medical establishment would rather wait and collect the half million at the end of life.

I am a doctor, but I have no illusions about what makes the medical world go around, and it is money. The AMA is over represented by specialists who don't give a damn about prevention, because aggressive intervention makes them more money. That goes double for hospitals, drug companies.

[Yavapai]

84. The AMA??? Do you mean the American Money Association?

[Union Yes]

121. Very important information. Thanks Doc!

"The AMA is over represented by specialists who don't give a damn about prevention, because aggressive intervention makes them more money."

Very crucial piece of info that people need to know. I'm glad to see doctors, nurses, and health care workers adding to this debate. Your opinions carry a lot of weight due to your knowledge of the health care system.

Thanks for adding.

Peace

[mnhtnbb]

81. This is not surprising to those of us who work(ed) in health care.

How Much Do We Spend on End-of-Life Care?

It's not surprising that individuals in their last year of life consume a disproportionate share of medical resources. One percent of the population accounts for 30 percent of the nation's health care expenditures. Nearly half of those people are elderly.

Medicare, the health insurance program for the elderly, spends nearly 30 percent of its budget on beneficiaries in their final year of life. Slightly more than half of Medicare dollars are spent on patients who die within two months.


http://www.thirteen.org/bid/sb-howmuch.html


I have been in favor of single payer health program for Americans for over 25 years. Hubby, who is an MD,
belongs to Physicians for a National Health Plan, and has argued for single payer for as long as I've known him. Those who were attracted to health care professions for altruistic reasons rather than for big bucks
have been in favor of single payer for decades.

The insurance companies run health care. It will take a revolution to change that. I'm ready to march!

[lib2DaBone]

85. Agreed..America.. the best health care no one can afford....

Yet taxpayers are fleeced Billions to pay Bonuses to Banksters at AIG.. CEO's with connections to the very people we elect to protect us.

This entire system in this country is corrupt beyond any imagination......"A fish head rotting in the noon day sun..?" That would be too mild.

[DemReadingDU]

115. exactly, we have the money for single payer

but taking care of the elite and powerful, always comes first.

Eventually things will change...when more and more people become jobless, no income nor savings, are homeless and hungry, when people have nothing further to lose, then that's when things will change.

Edit: because that's when people will be angry, and demand change. Many Americans have become too complacent. It's only when something affects them directly, in a huge way, then they wake up.

[lib2DaBone]

87. If that happened today.. he wouldn't get in.. he'd die in the parking lot...

Today's medical care is cash only.. cash on the barrel head. No pay.. you die.

Need a prescription? Too bad. First you pay a doctor a $200 office visit to write a script... then you pay for the script on your own.

Ya.. this fuckin' country is great... the best place on earth...for those that can pay.

[DemReadingDU]

116. the healthcare industry is not to provide healthcare

it's to make a profit.

[mckara]

93. I'm Sorry for Your Loss. I Am a Severely Disabled Veteran

And, All I Can Say is, THANK GOD FOR VA HOSPITALS AND SOCIALIZED MEDICINE!!!!!!!

:patriot:

[The Wizard]

117. You are correct

The VA has its flaws, but so does every institution.
They saved my life last year and treated me like royalty during my five days in intensive care.

[Union Yes]

120. I hear ya! The VA ain't perfect but it's so important to our vets.

For many of our vets, it's all they have.

I'm a vet too and have had medical treatments at VA hospitals on many occasions. I've always been happy with the treatment.

The VA always seems forced to operate under shrinking budgets and cuts ect. Yet they continue to provide the best service they can for our vets.

I hope you're getting the quality care that you and all our vets deserve to get.

:patriot:

[Lorien]

98. K & R. We do need to mobilize, and we do need a march on Washington

Letter writing campaigns alone won't seem to do it. I don't know what will, honestly, but we need to do something to force them to take us seriously.

[Catherine Vincent]

99. About universal health care...

Every physician I hear that speak about this says that it will not work. All of them say this. Why do you think that is?

Btw, sorry for your loss.

[scentopine]

100. Straight to the point - time to remove the cancer killing health care

Raw, unmitigated greed and corruption.

We are charged outrageous fees and it goes to lobbyists and campaign contributions to congress who pass legislation allowing insurance companies and medical providers to charge outrageous fees and it goes to lobbyists and campaign contributions to congress who pass legislation allowing insurance companies and medical providers to charge outrageous fees and it goes to lobbyists and campaign contributions to congress who pass legislation allowing insurance companies and medical providers to charge outrageous fees and it goes to lobbyists and campaign contributions to congress who pass legislation allowing insurance companies and medical providers to charge outrageous fees and it goes to lobbyists and campaign contributions to congress who pass legislation allowing insurance companies and medical providers to charge outrageous fees and it goes to lobbyists and campaign contributions to congress who pass legislation allowing insurance companies and medical providers to charge outrageous fees and it goes to lobbyists and campaign contributions to congress who pass legislation allowing insurance companies and medical providers to charge outrageous fees and it goes to lobbyists and campaign contributions to congress who pass legislation allowing insurance companies and medical providers to charge outrageous fees...

Congress has embraced the third world model of government by corruption. Its a stench making us all sick.

[Tangerine LaBamba]

101. A suggestion -

Write this up as a letter, and send it to President Obama.

You never know what might happen.

Thank you for a remarkable and moving story ....................

[shellgame26]

104. I paid $30 for laparoscopic surgery...in Taiwan

and I'm a foreigner! It's amazing that a country with a fraction of the resources of the US and less than half GDP can still afford to cover EVERYONE. And I'm not talking about broken down medical facilities either. Everything state of the art.

[livefreest]

107. I PROPOSE THAT THIS THREAD BE KEPT IN THE GREATEST DISCUSSION THREADS

THIS IS TOO IMPORTANT TO MOVE ON WITHIN 1 DAY

[midnight]

108. What an amazing man you are, and how courages you were to

take the steps to right this terrible fate that fell on your father. Agree-the time for single payer is now.

[eridani]

109. Please share your story widely

http://www.1payer.net/campaigns/

New Tool for Phone Calling Campaign.

Until this morning, we had to transcribe the 200-300 voicemails we get each day from callers to our 800-578-4171 number. After transcription, we faxed the messages to the White House and each member of the Senate Finance Committee. Today, for instance, I sent a 36 page fax of closely printed voicemails from May 6.

But starting at 0900 EST today, we went live with a system that converts each overnight voice message to a phone call, dialing the White House and Sen. Baucus automatically, waiting for a human to answer, then playing the message and hanging up. And then dialing again to deliver the next message in the queue. And the next. And so on. So this morning we delivered 500 phone messages to the White House and Sen. Baucus at the rate of one or two a minute.

You can join the fun. Call 1-800-578-4171 and press 0 for the White House or 1 for Sen. Baucus. Or call during the day and be transferred directly to the live White House operator. Or call tonite and tomorrow and tomorrow nite and . . .


http://www.1payer.net/campaigns/256-send-your-free-fax.html

Finance Committee: Let SIngle Payer In
Open The White House Comment Line
Pelosi - Put Single Payer on the Agenda
Improve and Expand Medicare
Stop Obstructing Health Care Reform
E-Fax Your Own Story


Consumers Union, a long-time advocate of universal health care, is collecting health care stories. Tell them yours. http://www.prescriptionforchange.org/share_your_story.html

[Enthusiast]

110. K&R

You father's story is all too common.

[madokie]

113. If there has ever been an OP that needs read by all, this is it

Our President wants to do what is right by us he just needs our help. We have to start rattling cages and shaking things up or we'll lose and let me say this may be our last time to have a leader who thinks like we do so lets get to it. Single payer now

[Honeycombe8]

125. A sad story. But according to those who've experienced single payer, your dad wouldn't have had the

opportunity to be treated at all. He would've been put on a long waiting list, having to wait for years, possibly. He probably would've passed away while still on the list...IF the govt performed that surgery at all for someone with his medical history and at his age.

Single payer is not the answer, from what I can tell.

Why would Medicare pay for someone's medical bill? I thought Medicare was only for those age 65 and over?

[DainBramaged]

126. My Mom, who is 92 is now in hospice care

before we enforced her living will, EVERY DAY was a new 'test' or Xray, MRI, doctor signing on to 'consult' her. My sister and I said enough, leave her alone. They were basically using her like a credit card, cha ching.


THAT type of 'care' needs to be reigned in.