Why we need healthcare reform

[rdking647]

Me and my wife have preexisting conditions that make it so private insurers dont want to cover us. If the free market worked there would be a company that would cover us for a price. There is none. I have to go into the hi risk pool to get insurance since NO private company wants to cover us. I can pay for my insurance IF IT WAS OFFERED. but it isnt. thats why the government needs to get involved

 

[auditor0007]

Me and my wife have preexisting conditions that make it so private insurers dont want to cover us. If the free market worked there would be a company that would cover us for a price. There is none. I have to go into the hi risk pool to get insurance since NO private company wants to cover us. I can pay for my insurance IF IT WAS OFFERED. but it isnt. thats why the government needs to get involved

I'm in a similar situation. Because I moved from one state to another, I lost my insurance covereage. The company I was with offered my Guaranteed Issue coverage, which is a very bad plan at a very high price. My overall med costs would nearly triple under the plan from around $6000 per year to over $15,000 per year. That is just for me, not including my kids.

What really pissed me off is that when I applied for my kids, they used my pre-existing condition against my kids as they offered me a policy for them at twice the normal rate. I told them to fuck off and went with another company that didn't know about my condition and got my kids covered for less than what I was paying.

So for now, I'm going to cover my own costs and go without insurance. My costs are only around $5000 per year. The only problem I'll have now is that I won't have any catastrophic covereage. But I know; that's my problem. I should never have gotten sick in the first place. Damned if I could help it though since it was genetic.

 

[annie52]

I'm not good at putting my thoughts into words but the way I see it, if the government gets involved then to me it seems like what they want is everyone to be dependent on them.

I know with the smart folks on this board someone will give a good answer better than I can.
Annie

 

[immto]

I feel for you and those in positions similar to yours. I agree we need Healthcare reform, but not the Public option that's being pushed right now. We need reform that will end the ability of current Insurance companies from being able to to raise rates and cherry pick clients. A public option will do nothing more than destroy the Superior Healtcare we have over all.

 

[rdking647]

Me and my wife have preexisting conditions that make it so private insurers dont want to cover us. If the free market worked there would be a company that would cover us for a price. There is none. I have to go into the hi risk pool to get insurance since NO private company wants to cover us. I can pay for my insurance IF IT WAS OFFERED. but it isnt. thats why the government needs to get involved

I'm in a similar situation. Because I moved from one state to another, I lost my insurance covereage. The company I was with offered my Guaranteed Issue coverage, which is a very bad plan at a very high price. My overall med costs would nearly triple under the plan from around $6000 per year to over $15,000 per year. That is just for me, not including my kids.

What really pissed me off is that when I applied for my kids, they used my pre-existing condition against my kids as they offered me a policy for them at twice the normal rate. I told them to fuck off and went with another company that didn't know about my condition and got my kids covered for less than what I was paying.

So for now, I'm going to cover my own costs and go without insurance. My costs are only around $5000 per year. The only problem I'll have now is that I won't have any catastrophic covereage. But I know; that's my problem. I should never have gotten sick in the first place. Damned if I could help it though since it was genetic.

Does Ohio have a hi risk pool? That is what i use in wisconsin and when I move im moving to another state that has a hi risk pool for catastrophic coverage

 

[Douger]

Me and my wife have preexisting conditions that make it so private insurers dont want to cover us. If the free market worked there would be a company that would cover us for a price. There is none. I have to go into the hi risk pool to get insurance since NO private company wants to cover us. I can pay for my insurance IF IT WAS OFFERED. but it isnt. thats why the government needs to get involved

It's called oppression. Your ancestors knew how to deal with that.$ell out and hit the road. Amurka is finished.
Aint gonna be nunna that thar health care reformatory.
That's a $ham to push more pork in the congress.
The owners of the U$ of Mpyre, Incorporated, will NEVER allow that to happen.

 

[toomuchtime_]

Me and my wife have preexisting conditions that make it so private insurers dont want to cover us. If the free market worked there would be a company that would cover us for a price. There is none. I have to go into the hi risk pool to get insurance since NO private company wants to cover us. I can pay for my insurance IF IT WAS OFFERED. but it isnt. thats why the government needs to get involved

No insurance company wants to insure you because doing so would require it raise its rates for all other policy holders and that would put it at a competitive disadvantage with other insurance companies. The bills under consideration in the Congress would require that all insurance companies provide insurance to people with preexisting conditions at standard rates, but while this will remove the competitive disadvantage it will mean that people without preexisting conditions will pay more for their health insurance. Good for you but arguably bad for almost everyone else.

 

[Navy1960]

https://www.greathealthplan.net/def...ions&mb=1.99&gclid=CO_jpeumrZsCFSUSswodAX3HDQ

 

[Political Junky]

I'm not good at putting my thoughts into words but the way I see it, if the government gets involved then to me it seems like what they want is everyone to be dependent on them.

I know with the smart folks on this board someone will give a good answer better than I can.
Annie

That just sounds paranoid.
Investigate something besides Fox and other right wing sources, who seem to spout the talking points from the insurance and pharmaceutical companies ... huge lobbying groups.

 

[WillowTree]

if the government gets involved, you may have insurance but you won't have health care. what you will have is a chance to stand in line and wait for health care.. I don't get why people don't get that. it's happens in countries with a population of 30 million,, what do you think will happen in a country of 350 million and half of mexico???? huh???

 

[Navy1960]

The most dangerous part of Obama's plan is that a government-managed system would cripple private insurers by luring Americans into the Washington-run plan, Gratzer says. He cites one study, disputed by Democrats, that estimates 120 million Americans would abandon their current insurance if a government program emerged.


Under that scenario, the U.S. government would become the biggest health insurer, with the power to mandate doctors' fees the private sector could not match, he contends.


More worrisome, Gratzer says, the government would ultimately try to lower health-care costs by rationing care.


The U.S. system would eventually look a lot like Canada's, with doctor shortages and long wait times for specialized procedures ranging from MRIs to knee surgery to cataract removal, he says.


"Americans will get good coverage with bad access — not unlike Canada," Gratzer says. "There are no uninsured in Canada, but one in six Canadians can't find a family doctor, according to Statistics Canada. I think those are the problems one would see in the United States."


The forces of Gratzer's argument won some unlikely praise from Representative Charlie Rangel, the Democratic chairman of the House Ways and Means committee. But it didn't change Rangel's mind.


"You are very persuasive," Rangel told Gratzer.
OBAMA'S MEDICARE CRISIS

Medical students and young physicians are turning away from careers in primary care medicine, and Congress must act now to stabilize Medicare payments to physicians as a first step to avert the looming crisis in patient access to primary care that this will cause.
Medicare Cuts will Accelerate Looming Crisis in Patient Access to Primary Care

Some of the health system reform plans being offered by Congress may use Medicare as a foundation, even though the system is said to be crumbling and driving more doctors to refuse patients that are covered by the program. It is now scheduled to cut Medicare physician payments by more than 20 percent on Jan. 1, 2010 and reducing it by 40 percent in five years.

The AMA says that 60% of all doctors say a Medicare cuts will force them to decrease or stop seeing new patients and to discontinue nursing home visits.

Obama health care plan following dismal Medicare record?


Yes we need to cut the costs of healthcare, and make it more affordable for those who wish to have healthcare coverage. I don't think anyone disputes this, however, a "public plan" that people think will somehow promote competetion is complete nonsense. Has Amrack promoted competetion among other carriers to rush in and provide rail service? The same body that regulates it's competetion and competes with it will NOT promote competetion. Now if your saying that by competetion you mean all these companies will rush to become Govt. contractors much the same way Medicare is contracted out then you might have a point. Then again how many companies besides Vangent Inc. provide front end services for Medicare? Not much competetion there considering the contract is 5 years long. One more thing, how well does anyone feel that GSA contracting has worked recently for DoD or for that matter any other Govt. agency.

Want to see a good picture of your Govt. propose nirvana of healthcare, this is your future.....

More than 1.5 million troops have served in Iraq and Afghanistan. 30,000 troops are counted among those wounded in action. But hundreds of thousands of others have suffered injuries not recorded in the official tally, including the many veterans with serious mental health problems. These veterans are overwhelming the military and veterans' health care and disability systems.

As a result, hundreds of thousands of wounded troops and veterans are being forced to wait months and even years for medical appointments and disability compensation. Some veterans with serious mental health problems have committed suicide while waiting for counseling, and others have fallen into debt awaiting compensation from the military or Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).
IssueLab: Battling Red Tape: Veterans Struggle for Care and Benefits

The facts are if you NEED coverage and WANT it affordable then tell your congressman to work to find solutions that make this possible. Like forming private health care co-ops WHERE YOU MAKE THE RULES of whos covered. , promote competetion though grants to businesses willing to offer low cost care, provide incentives to drug companies and reform drug patents, ask for tort reform, and do something about illegal immigration. Then you can buy your healthcare at afforable prices and if your neighbor chooses not too, then that is their decision and your decision is yours. That is what makes us the nation we are WE MAKE OUR OWN CHOICES that guide us through life, good and bad and it's about time we stopped looking to others to make them for us.

 

[Political Junky]

The most dangerous part of Obama's plan is that a government-managed system would cripple private insurers by luring Americans into the Washington-run plan, Gratzer says. He cites one study, disputed by Democrats, that estimates 120 million Americans would abandon their current insurance if a government program emerged.


Under that scenario, the U.S. government would become the biggest health insurer, with the power to mandate doctors' fees the private sector could not match, he contends.


More worrisome, Gratzer says, the government would ultimately try to lower health-care costs by rationing care.


The U.S. system would eventually look a lot like Canada's, with doctor shortages and long wait times for specialized procedures ranging from MRIs to knee surgery to cataract removal, he says.


"Americans will get good coverage with bad access — not unlike Canada," Gratzer says. "There are no uninsured in Canada, but one in six Canadians can't find a family doctor, according to Statistics Canada. I think those are the problems one would see in the United States."


The forces of Gratzer's argument won some unlikely praise from Representative Charlie Rangel, the Democratic chairman of the House Ways and Means committee. But it didn't change Rangel's mind.


"You are very persuasive," Rangel told Gratzer.
OBAMA'S MEDICARE CRISIS

Medical students and young physicians are turning away from careers in primary care medicine, and Congress must act now to stabilize Medicare payments to physicians as a first step to avert the looming crisis in patient access to primary care that this will cause.
Medicare Cuts will Accelerate Looming Crisis in Patient Access to Primary Care

Some of the health system reform plans being offered by Congress may use Medicare as a foundation, even though the system is said to be crumbling and driving more doctors to refuse patients that are covered by the program. It is now scheduled to cut Medicare physician payments by more than 20 percent on Jan. 1, 2010 and reducing it by 40 percent in five years.

The AMA says that 60% of all doctors say a Medicare cuts will force them to decrease or stop seeing new patients and to discontinue nursing home visits.

Obama health care plan following dismal Medicare record?


Yes we need to cut the costs of healthcare, and make it more affordable for those who wish to have healthcare coverage. I don't think anyone disputes this, however, a "public plan" that people think will somehow promote competetion is complete nonsense. Has Amrack promoted competetion among other carriers to rush in and provide rail service? The same body that regulates it's competetion and competes with it will NOT promote competetion. Now if your saying that by competetion you mean all these companies will rush to become Govt. contractors much the same way Medicare is contracted out then you might have a point. Then again how many companies besides Vangent Inc. provide front end services for Medicare? Not much competetion there considering the contract is 5 years long. One more thing, how well does anyone feel that GSA contracting has worked recently for DoD or for that matter any other Govt. agency.

Want to see a good picture of your Govt. propose nirvana of healthcare, this is your future.....

More than 1.5 million troops have served in Iraq and Afghanistan. 30,000 troops are counted among those wounded in action. But hundreds of thousands of others have suffered injuries not recorded in the official tally, including the many veterans with serious mental health problems. These veterans are overwhelming the military and veterans' health care and disability systems.

As a result, hundreds of thousands of wounded troops and veterans are being forced to wait months and even years for medical appointments and disability compensation. Some veterans with serious mental health problems have committed suicide while waiting for counseling, and others have fallen into debt awaiting compensation from the military or Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).
IssueLab: Battling Red Tape: Veterans Struggle for Care and Benefits

The facts are if you NEED coverage and WANT it affordable then tell your congressman to work to find solutions that make this possible. Like forming private health care co-ops WHERE YOU MAKE THE RULES of whos covered. , promote competetion though grants to businesses willing to offer low cost care, provide incentives to drug companies and reform drug patents, ask for tort reform, and do something about illegal immigration. Then you can buy your healthcare at afforable prices and if your neighbor chooses not too, then that is their decision and your decision is yours. That is what makes us the nation we are WE MAKE OUR OWN CHOICES that guide us through life, good and bad and it's about time we stopped looking to others to make them for us.

It's a shame that private medical insurance companies can't compete. They claim that the government can't run anything ... but a government plan can beat them? Guess their executives aren't earning their multi million dollar salaries.

 

[Sarah G]

Me and my wife have preexisting conditions that make it so private insurers dont want to cover us. If the free market worked there would be a company that would cover us for a price. There is none. I have to go into the hi risk pool to get insurance since NO private company wants to cover us. I can pay for my insurance IF IT WAS OFFERED. but it isnt. thats why the government needs to get involved

I'm in a similar situation. Because I moved from one state to another, I lost my insurance covereage. The company I was with offered my Guaranteed Issue coverage, which is a very bad plan at a very high price. My overall med costs would nearly triple under the plan from around $6000 per year to over $15,000 per year. That is just for me, not including my kids.

What really pissed me off is that when I applied for my kids, they used my pre-existing condition against my kids as they offered me a policy for them at twice the normal rate. I told them to fuck off and went with another company that didn't know about my condition and got my kids covered for less than what I was paying.

So for now, I'm going to cover my own costs and go without insurance. My costs are only around $5000 per year. The only problem I'll have now is that I won't have any catastrophic covereage. But I know; that's my problem. I should never have gotten sick in the first place. Damned if I could help it though since it was genetic.

That's the trouble with big insurance today, they're allowed not to give a shit about your illnesses and whether they ruin you financially.

I just hope that something intelligent is done for people like you.

 

[Navy1960]

The most dangerous part of Obama's plan is that a government-managed system would cripple private insurers by luring Americans into the Washington-run plan, Gratzer says. He cites one study, disputed by Democrats, that estimates 120 million Americans would abandon their current insurance if a government program emerged.


Under that scenario, the U.S. government would become the biggest health insurer, with the power to mandate doctors' fees the private sector could not match, he contends.


More worrisome, Gratzer says, the government would ultimately try to lower health-care costs by rationing care.


The U.S. system would eventually look a lot like Canada's, with doctor shortages and long wait times for specialized procedures ranging from MRIs to knee surgery to cataract removal, he says.


"Americans will get good coverage with bad access — not unlike Canada," Gratzer says. "There are no uninsured in Canada, but one in six Canadians can't find a family doctor, according to Statistics Canada. I think those are the problems one would see in the United States."


The forces of Gratzer's argument won some unlikely praise from Representative Charlie Rangel, the Democratic chairman of the House Ways and Means committee. But it didn't change Rangel's mind.


"You are very persuasive," Rangel told Gratzer.
OBAMA'S MEDICARE CRISIS

Medical students and young physicians are turning away from careers in primary care medicine, and Congress must act now to stabilize Medicare payments to physicians as a first step to avert the looming crisis in patient access to primary care that this will cause.
Medicare Cuts will Accelerate Looming Crisis in Patient Access to Primary Care

Some of the health system reform plans being offered by Congress may use Medicare as a foundation, even though the system is said to be crumbling and driving more doctors to refuse patients that are covered by the program. It is now scheduled to cut Medicare physician payments by more than 20 percent on Jan. 1, 2010 and reducing it by 40 percent in five years.

The AMA says that 60% of all doctors say a Medicare cuts will force them to decrease or stop seeing new patients and to discontinue nursing home visits.

Obama health care plan following dismal Medicare record?


Yes we need to cut the costs of healthcare, and make it more affordable for those who wish to have healthcare coverage. I don't think anyone disputes this, however, a "public plan" that people think will somehow promote competetion is complete nonsense. Has Amrack promoted competetion among other carriers to rush in and provide rail service? The same body that regulates it's competetion and competes with it will NOT promote competetion. Now if your saying that by competetion you mean all these companies will rush to become Govt. contractors much the same way Medicare is contracted out then you might have a point. Then again how many companies besides Vangent Inc. provide front end services for Medicare? Not much competetion there considering the contract is 5 years long. One more thing, how well does anyone feel that GSA contracting has worked recently for DoD or for that matter any other Govt. agency.

Want to see a good picture of your Govt. propose nirvana of healthcare, this is your future.....

More than 1.5 million troops have served in Iraq and Afghanistan. 30,000 troops are counted among those wounded in action. But hundreds of thousands of others have suffered injuries not recorded in the official tally, including the many veterans with serious mental health problems. These veterans are overwhelming the military and veterans' health care and disability systems.

As a result, hundreds of thousands of wounded troops and veterans are being forced to wait months and even years for medical appointments and disability compensation. Some veterans with serious mental health problems have committed suicide while waiting for counseling, and others have fallen into debt awaiting compensation from the military or Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).
IssueLab: Battling Red Tape: Veterans Struggle for Care and Benefits

The facts are if you NEED coverage and WANT it affordable then tell your congressman to work to find solutions that make this possible. Like forming private health care co-ops WHERE YOU MAKE THE RULES of whos covered. , promote competetion though grants to businesses willing to offer low cost care, provide incentives to drug companies and reform drug patents, ask for tort reform, and do something about illegal immigration. Then you can buy your healthcare at afforable prices and if your neighbor chooses not too, then that is their decision and your decision is yours. That is what makes us the nation we are WE MAKE OUR OWN CHOICES that guide us through life, good and bad and it's about time we stopped looking to others to make them for us.

It's a shame that private medical insurance companies can't compete. They claim that the government can't run anything ... but a government plan can beat them? Guess their executives aren't earning their multi million dollar salaries.

Tell you this Junky, those CEO's and executives get those high salaries as a result of board members approving them. The board members are voted on by the share holders, I might suggest that people start holding these board members more accountable rather than just not voting or signing away those rights by proxy. I cannot say I would agree that the compensation these people get based on the costs. However as I said above that compensation can easily be changed. I will say this too, most people are under the mistaken impression that the Govt. actually has the ability to administer a healthcare plan. They don't, they will contract these services as they do now with every other service they provide. People who call Medicare actually think they are talking to the Govt? They are talking to a Govt. contractor. If this "public plan" goes through it will be no different, however, other companies, will be competeing with this entity and at the same time the Govt. will be regulating them. One more thing to consider, this entity a.k.a insurance company will have executives, and will no doubt have high salaries as a result of winning a massive multi-billion dollar Federal contract.

 

[Navy1960]

The Bipartisan Patient Protection Act (informally and incorrectly known as the McCain-Edwards-Kennedy Patients' Bill of Rights) Senate Bill S.1052 of the 107th Session of the US Senate, was an attempt to providing comprehensive protections to all Americans in health plans in 2001.

The House of Representatives and Senate passed differing versions of the Patients' Bill of Rights. Although both bills would provide patients key rights such as prompt access to emergency care and medical specialists, only the Senate-passed measure would provide patients with adequate means to enforce their rights.

The Senate-passed Patients' Bill of Rights confers a broad array of rights on patients. The bill would ensure that patients with health care plans have the right to:

have their medical decisions made by a doctor;
see a medical specialist;
go to the closest emergency room;
designate a pediatrician as a primary care doctor for their children;
keep the same doctor throughout their medical treatment;
obtain the prescription drugs their doctor prescribes;
access a fair and independent appeals process if care is denied; and
hold their health plan accountable for harm done.
This bill was passed by the US Senate by a vote of 59-36 in 2001 and has been waiting for a final vote by the US Senate (after addition of Amendments by the US House of Representatives) since 2002. It failed. See thomas.loc.gov

Now this is just a suggestion here, would it not be hard to pass a "patients bill of rights" as a Republican I would be supporter of any bill that would allow for something along these lines. I'll go one further than that, as far as pre-existing condition goes, I don't see why a requirement cannot be added to such legislation.

 

[pdsst9]

Tell you this Junky, those CEO's and executives get those high salaries as a result of board members approving them. The board members are voted on by the share holders, I might suggest that people start holding these board members more accountable rather than just not voting or signing away those rights by proxy. I cannot say I would agree that the compensation these people get based on the costs. However as I said above that compensation can easily be changed. I will say this too, most people are under the mistaken impression that the Govt. actually has the ability to administer a healthcare plan. They don't, they will contract these services as they do now with every other service they provide. People who call Medicare actually think they are talking to the Govt? They are talking to a Govt. contractor. If this "public plan" goes through it will be no different, however, other companies, will be competeing with this entity and at the same time the Govt. will be regulating them. One more thing to consider, this entity a.k.a insurance company will have executives, and will no doubt have high salaries as a result of winning a massive multi-billion dollar Federal contract.[/QUOTE]

Although most insurance companies operate as if they are for-profit enterprises, most of them, at least around me (Pittsburgh, PA - Highmark BC/BS, UPMC are the big players here) are non-profits. This means the board nominates and elects new board members, in addition to approving CEO salaries as you indicated. So the only option in this case is to vote with your $$$ and give someone else your business. Unfortunately, they all seem to be like this so even giving someone else your business is not that effective.

 

[Navy1960]

Humana: The official health benefit provider of the PGA Tour and the Champions Tour, Humana is one of the most well-known insurance companies in the United States. Founded in 1961 by two lawyers in the state of Kentucky; Humana is now one of the nation’s largest publicly traded health benefit companies with an estimated 6.4 million medical members. They serve in 27 states (mostly in the East of the United States with the exception of Texas, Arizona and Colorado) and in Puerto Rico. They have an AM Best Rating of A- (Excellent) and some experts argue that by the end of the decade Humana will be spread out across the country. Some of the plans they offer include Consumer Driven Plans, PPO’s, Government Sponsored Plans, Plans for U.S. Military dependents and retirees and Individual plans; as well as dental, life and disability insurance

Top 25 Health Insurance Company Review: United Healthcare, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Aetna, Humana, Assurant, UniCare, WellPoint

While BCBS is more or less a bunch of companies across the nation and your correct, Humana and others clearly are not. However, the point is that those salaries won't change should one of these companies win a Govt. contract to the the sole "public plan manager"..

Health care company Humana Corp. said Friday that President and Chief Executive Michael B. McCallister received total compensation of about $2.6 million for 2005, compared with $2.4 million for the prior year.
Humana CEO 2005 Salary $858,611, Bonus $1.3 Million - 3/17/2006 - insurancenewsnet.com

As you can see Humana is one of the largest TRI-CARE providers and that does not stop them or the Govt. from curbing executive compensation.