Montel Williams AGAINST Single Payer - Yes he says it won't pay Specialist enough and it is too slow

[1776Forever]

I was extremely surprised when I heard Montel Williams on Sunday Morning on Air America radio on a pod cast with someone who said he was an "expert" in the health insurance field and a woman (sorry I didn't catch her name) who was a Nurse and an advocate for single-payer. The "expert" and Montel both spoke against the Nurse as she tried her best to get her thoughts across and couldn't because Montel and the so-called "expert" tore her apart with their "facts" that European Socialized Medicine (which they continually associated with Single-Payer) was not a good system and took way to long to get the care the patients needed, AND the other main point they made was that Specialist weren't paid enough in this system to get them to be involved in it.

Now I do know that Montel goes to Sweden a lot for his MS care, but what I wonder is how much does he know what happens now in HMO's here in the U.S.? Many current Medicaid State HMO run systems, like the one in Florida, are terribly short of any good Specialists for MS, Parkinson's, or many other chronic illnesses! My son had to go to State Run Medical Center to get the help he needed because the HMO Specialist were to say the least incompetent! And I have personally done research on why the HMO's couldn't get better Specialist and the Specialist themselves told me it was because they weren't paid enough under HMO's. So where does that leave us? If you are in fairly good health HMO's are fine. BUT if you or your loved ones go under HMO Heath Insurance and become or are currently chronically ill - Good Luck! These HMO's are only in it for the $$$$$!

I have tried to get my idea of the State Run Medical Centers becoming "triage's" for these chronically ill patients and then they could help give suggestions to the HMO specialists if it comes to what looks like is the "plan" now. I am very afraid for chronically ill patients as it looks like the Obama Administration Health Care advocates are stressing well-care in order to keep patients well but what if a person gets one of these issues that are either hereditary or not foreseen?

This is why I believe Single-Payer Advocates need to be at the table! The chronically ill I believe do not have an advocate at that table and they are the "least of these" that President Obama has referenced many times in his messages. Who is speaking for them Mr. President?

:shrug:

[tridim]

1. Doesn't Montel basically work for big pharma?

[graywarrior]

2. Yeah, he has ads all over the place that I don't listen to

[1776Forever]

3. It looks more and more like he is owned by them doesn't it? I for one am disappointed!

:eyes:

[Phoebe Loosinhouse]

8. Which in his ads they always refer to as "America's Pharmeceutical Research Companies"

Of course they spend more on marketing than on research so they should really be called America's Pharmeceutical Marketing Companies because that's what they really are.

[Warpy]

4. He's a rich man who doesn't want to wait in line

with the peasants.

[ecstatic]

5. Is it possible to be a liberal and not support single payer?

:shrug:

[book_worm]

7. Yes. I like the idea of single payer, but it's not going to happen

Obama never ran on the idea of a Canadian style single payer program. He will have a program which allows people who like there insurance (and there are lots of people who actually do) to keep it.

[avaistheone1]

14. Looks like Obama did run on it before he didn't run on it

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fpAyan1fXCE

[Coyote_Bandit]

17. Thank you for posting that link

I've got it bookmsrked now.

[avaistheone1]

20. Your welcome. Obama sound like a he was a strong advocate of

single payer, before he wasn't.

[droidamus2]

22. One thing..

I don't understand why we always get the 'the Canadian system' thing. If the Canadian system or British system or Swedish system do not operate the way we would like them to why not start with those as a framework for discussion and then try to adjust the system so it will work the way we want it too?

[sammythecat]

31. I don't get it either

That kind of thinking requires too much common sense I guess.

[dflprincess]

40. True. The advantage of being the last western country to provide healthcare to everyone

is that we can look at all the other systems, see what works and what doesn't and hopefully create a really great system.

If we could just get rid of the insurance executives and campaign bribes it might happen.

[RaleighNCDUer]

35. 'Those who like there (sic) insurance' will be able to keep it

if they really want to after finding out they get the same services for less money under single payer.

Private insurance skims 30% of what you pay right off the top - it is the biggest, most successful and most profitable scam in the history of fraud.

[1776Forever]

9. As stated I think it is not single-payer but chronically ill patients that are in question.

It has been stated over and over that no one will HAVE to join Single-Payer but there should be a choice to be able to have this type of insurance also. My husband is retired military and we have TriCare and it is very good in my estimation. Why not something like that which I know is run by HealthNet, in the South region and run by Humana Federal Service in the North region? I don't see why it has to be omitted.

[Deep13]

11. Sure, I'm just not one of them.

I see the insurers need to make profit and the hospitals' need to conduct themselves like a busniss with billing, advertising etc. as part of the problem.

[avaistheone1]

19. Greedy health insurers are a big reason why are health system is failing.

I don't think the CEOs of those companies deserve multi-million dollar salaries and in some cases the CEOs have even received billions of dollars in salary. At the same time we have some of poorest health outcomes in morbidity and mortality in the developed world while paying the highest costs for insurance.

The health insurance system in this country is broken. It doesn't work. Many of us are getting poor paying as much as a mortgage payment for health insurance, while others go into bankruptcy even with health insurance due to medical bills that are not covered.

[Maru Kitteh]

6. Who signs his paycheck? I wouldn't expect anything different from him, he's a shill.

I didn't know he sought much of his care in Sweden. That makes him a glaring hypocrite too.

[1776Forever]

12. There are wonderful MS care Specialist in Sweden. I don't blame him there.

Here is a link:

http://ki.se/ki/jsp/polopoly.jsp?d=3297&a=36590&l=en&newsdep=3297

[Deep13]

10. The idea isn't even before Congress...

...and this idiot is rejecting single-payer based on an objection to a fee schedule that has not even been formulated yet?

I've seen a few of this guy's shows and considering the crap he will accept as reliable, he pretty much has no credibility.

[1776Forever]

18. Exactly - How does he know if it isn't on the "table" what the payment will be.

Can't be worse then HMO's! I had a CEO of one of the biggest HMO's tell me they paid .20 cents on the dollar what these same Specialists could get from other insurance or cash money payments. No wonder they don't want to take care of those who are in the most need and have the least money to pay for it!

[able1]

13. If you're rich, you don't care about single-payer

M.W. doesn't have to work about medical insurance. His employers probably provide the fines medical insurance available.

[1776Forever]

15. Looks that way - That he doesn't care about the chronically ill doesn't it.

I am very disappointed as I really thought he cared about this issue.

[Donnachaidh]

16. Why should he care? He has SAG and other insurances,

Plus he has been OWNED by the Pharma companies for YEARS. Yeah Montel, you can afford your medical marijuana -- f*ck everyone else. Air America needs to DROP this sumbitch.

[FLAprogressive]

21. he's a shill for big pharma so this is not surprising.

[peace13]

23. Only Montel deserves the best. n/t

[1776Forever]

24. I lost a lot of respect for him after I heard him say this. He was adamant & wouldn't budge!

:wow:

[droidamus2]

25. Show me the money

The proposition that we can't have single payer because some doctor won't make enough money is ridiculous. That point makes me even more to have it be a system where either the doctor signs on or they are banned from practicing. If a person became a doctor solely because they could make a lot of money I really wish they would find a new profession. Peoples health, and I mean every citizen not just the rich, is important and should not be seen as just another way to make the big bucks. Until we see this as a right and not a privilege we, again meaning every citizen from cradle to grave, will never have the system we need or deserve.

[1776Forever]

26. Very well said - I think the Dr's deserve a good living wage but we the people deserve quality HC!

I don't see why we can't have both. 80% of our Health Care is spent on the chronically ill patients so lets just make sure they are taken care of in a responsible way. This is why I think my idea about using our State Run Medical Centers as a focal point to give out direction to those Specialist who join up with these other insurance providers makes good sense.

[HelenWheels]

27. Lack of specialists even with good insurance

My daughter has very good insurance and had a real problem finding someone in our area that specializes in Asperger's Syndrome to treat her son.

[1776Forever]

29. Yes all those "orphan" illnesses are in need of more support!

http://www.medterms.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=11418

Orphan disease: A disease which has not been "adopted" by the pharmaceutical industry because it provides little financial incentive for the private sector to make and market new medications to treat or prevent it.

An orphan disease may be:

1. A rare disease. According to US criteria, an orphan disease is one that affects fewer than 200,000 people. (There are more than 5,000 such rare disorders.)
2. A common disease that has been ignored (such as tuberculosis, cholera, typhoid, and malaria) because it is far more prevalent in developing countries than in the developed world.

[TreasonousBastard]

28. Medicare pays even less than many HMOs so...

that would somehow be better? And the contracted HMOs you speak of are paying Medicaid rates, which might be worse than Medicare.

And "single payer" here might end up with an expansion of contracting with insurers and HMOs just as Medicare and Medicaid are doing now-- hurting those with presently good plans while not helping the rest out all that much.

Ultimately, it's not a question of single payer vs something else, but trying to change to a system where everyone gets basic primary care and other systems are set up for major medical problems, long-term chronic problems, hospice care...

Who pays for it is the least of the problems. WHAT they pay is the real problem.

[1776Forever]

30. It has been stated over and over that no one will HAVE to join Single-Payer

...... but there should be a choice to be able to have this type of insurance also. My husband is retired military and we have TriCare and it is very good in my estimation. Why not something like that which I know is run by HealthNet, in the South region and run by Humana Federal Service in the North region? I don't see why it has to be omitted. We need to get everyone at the table to work this out!

[TreasonousBastard]

32. That's pretty much what's on the table now, if...

some Senators can have their arms twisted enought to go along. At least two hundred million people in the country have pretty good health care and no program so far suggested seems to be able to improve it for them. Some might make it a little cheaper, but no ones knows if that will affect the level of care. What's needed is to improve the level of care for the rest of us and find ways to reduce the basic costs of care.

As I mentioned in a thread last week that died a horrible death, my Congressman, Tim Bishop, held a town hall at a retirement community and said plan that had the best chance of passing was the government option in addition to existing healthcare schemes. Strong regulation of health insurance companies (similiar to state regulation of auto insurance comapanies) would probably be included.

I've been covered under excellent employer plans, lousy HMOs, had no coverage at all, and am now "covered" by the VA. If possible, I'd go back to the employer plans in a heartbeat. The VA is better than the worst of the HMOs in some ways, but there are no second opinions or options in treatment. I'm also in a class that gets treatment "as long as the money lasts." So far, it's lasted and Congress is actually united in additional VA funding.

[pansypoo53219]

33. he who has $.

forget all the people with MS wo have a 'pre-existing condition'.

[RaleighNCDUer]

34. We can't have the state rationing health care!

That's your HMO's job!

[avaistheone1]

37. It will cost you at least 30% for that privilege too.

[Occam Bandage]

36. Isn't he the guy who appears in all those "hey Big Pharma just wants to help" ads? nt

[dflprincess]

41. Yes and I heard him today saying all we have to do about torture

is admit it happened and announce we'll never do it again. Seriously - that's his position on it.

I'm sure the world will believe us when we promise to be good.

[Stevenmarc]

38. So the guy who sold phony Obama coins opinion actually counts for something

[1776Forever]

42. The issue is bigger to me because Montel has MS & has said for years he wants to help others with it

So when I heard him say these things I was really amazed. I mean I could have believed him more if he had allowed some middle ground but he "ate" up the Nurse who supported single-payer on his Air America Show and it just surprised me. I guess he showed his true colors and I am very disappointed in his attitude. But it did give me an incite into why the Obama Administration Health Care Rep's may be shutting out single-payer. I posted about Sen. Baucus getting most of his money and more then any other Rep from the pharmaceutical and insurance companies. No surprise there.

[knitter4democracy]

39. We already are slow and don't have enough specialists.

And many specialists are complaining already that they don't make enough (most doctors's wages have been fairly stagnant for years, according to Medical Economics magazine's annual polls). We have that with the system we have now, so how would it be different under single payer?

My son needed to get an upper endoscopy today (second time of puking blood, long-term acid reflux). I was told to take him to the ER so he could get scoped. They couldn't fit him in today--the specialist who commutes from two hours away one half day a week wasn't in today and couldn't do it tomorrow, either. Now they're trying to fit him in before August when the new doctor comes (who will still only be doing procedures one-half day a week). This is with good insurance at a good children's hospital serving a huge area in Michigan.

Montel needs to get off Pharma's soma machine and wake the hell up.

[1776Forever]

43. If you live near a larger city call your Dr. & see if they will approve you going there.

I had these symptom's in my 30's and they found out I was born with a kidney defect. I almost died from it. Not saying your Son has this problem but it could be something like that so it is very important to get him looked at soon. Best of luck to you and him!

[knitter4democracy]

44. They called this morning, and they're getting him in on the 12th.

I was asked if I was okay with taking him over an hour away to UofM, and I was, but I shouldn't have to drive across the state for such a simple, common procedure.

I'm just sayin'--those who think that our system works well enough obviously live in huge urban centers with big, academic hospitals and lots of money and fancy insurance.

[LaPera]

45. Bullshit...single would be exactly the same as Medicaid has been for hundreds of millions of people

of Americans since 1965 (even used by tens of millions of republicans, who say they hate it) - Because it a liberal program like social Security that works!

Meaning ALL would be covered the same way under single payer!...single payer Universal Health Care for ALL!

Williams doesn't know what the fuck he's talking about.