Representative Miller On Healthcare And My Response

A main reasons Republicans oppose universal healthcare is that they are protecting the wealthy who are expected to pay much of the cost.

Dont forget Leo that if we get some kind of universal tax payer funded insurance then the insurance companies wont be as big as theyare now...they will be losing one of their big customer bases so the kick back to politicians or I guess I should say the "campaign funds" wont be as large.

That's how I feel to Lori.  I think a HUGE reason most politicians, regardless of political bent, don't want to see a national healthcare is because they'll lose to much money.

I think that health care for all is plausible but we have to be able to make it accessible for all.

I don't understand.  If we HAD healthcare for all it seems that it would be accessible for all.

Universal health care is absolutely essential in a civilised society.  Preferably single payer which is apparently off the table.

It is hightime that middle class people were no longer forced into bankruptcy by even a mid level hospital stay, even with company provided insurance.  Enough already!

Exactly.  I have insurance through my husband and over the last couple of years we have had $1000's in medical debt. 

I was in the hospital last August for a stent in my left leg due to blood clot causing lack of blood flow to my foot.  Emergency or lose toes or foot.

I work for a Fortune 500 company as an customer engineer and have excellent benefits.  We are still paying the medical bills and the pharmaceuticals are eating us alive.  Not bankrupt but disposable income is zero.

I can certainly understand how people with less income than my wife and can find bankruptcy the only course available

We've seriously considered it.  The only saving grace we have (for the moment) is that my hubby's been at his job for 11.5 years and after 10 the premiums and the HSA is paid for by the owner of the dealership.  However, we have a $4000 deductible and have to pay 30% of what our HSA doesn't pay.  We've also been able to get financial aid through the hospital that I went to for the emergency Appendectomy and then, Gallbladder surgery I had.  I just sent in  the paperwork to try to get MORE aid for the rest of what we owe after our most recent ER visits with a burst ovarian cyst and then multiple visits for what we now know was Sphincter of Oddi Dysfunction, AND the week and a half I spent there I with Menengitis and Encephalitis.

There's an echo in here... I don't think there's a word of difference between her e-mail to you and to me.  Your response was better than mine, though.

I'm sure it's an automated response.  I don't even know if I believe she'll read the response.  I'm just SICK TO DEATH of hearing about not being able to "afford" universal healthcare from representatives who HAVE universal coverage on OUR dime.

And the "Bureacrats getting in the way of patient/doctor relationships" excuse is getting a bit old too.

One thing I'm thinking, if we took control from insurance bureaucrats and gave it to government bureaucrats- what's the difference?

The only control I'M talking about is letting them distribute the payment.  There would be no denial of care, no denial of benefits, no retroactive denial either.

Elizabeth,

All the "horrors" cited by opponents for a single payer system are already being received by the American consumer, only administered by insurance companies with a conflict of interest!

I wrote a post about that very thing!  What Do You Think Insurance Companies Do NOW?!

Mathew,

The difference is that the government bureaucrat does not have the conflict of interest and besides that, I get to vote on who is on the board of directors!  Big difference.

Health care must exist for everybody, not just for the few as it is now. Commercial insurance--FINE! But let their be a government health care system similar to Europe. Choose your own doctor and do away with corrupt PPO and other wasteful plans. Do away with co-pays, premiums and deductibles, because in a nationwide pool everybody can afford it. Our car-makers will be on an equal footing with foreign imports.   Lose your job and you are unlikely  to afford what is called health care. Only the wealthy families, and relatively stable employees don't want to upset the apple cart. As usual the status quo are trying to undermine any new plan for the whole legal population. No options, no exception--we all pay our share into a Universal government health care plan.

With the arrival of the Obama administration we have two issues that are going to be a lightening rods, and in my way of thinking should be placed before the AMERICAN VOTER AS A NATIONWIDE REFERENDUM. HEALTH CARE AND IMMIGRATION REFORM. Of all the current issues in the chambers of Washington, these are the capstone problems facing this nation of Hurricane force. If our elected public servants try to pass immigration reform or a massive health care plan without the general publics voice, their could be massive ramifications on a grand scale. Both overwhelming problems caused by years of neglect, must be  resolved. Already special interest groups are spending millions of dollars, filling the airways of propaganda and corrupt info-commercials, to frighten people.

Instead being mouth pieces for the special interest lobbyists, they had better take note that their whole careers representing supposedly the will of the people is in jeopardy. Because of these enormous cost attributed to ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION and HEALTH CARE--the AMERICAN PEOPLE'S INPUT SHOULD BE MANDATORY? Forget the University professors, economists, think take tank scientists and the Chamber of Commerce, ACLU, Unions, big church and business entities--THE PEOPLE--should--HAVE THE LAST WORD?  Both have their own cataclysmic cost problems to the American taxpayer. THE ONLY WAY TO SATISFY THE LIBERALS, DEMOCRATS, REPUBLICANS, ATHEISTS, EXTREMISTS, PROTECTIONISTS, OPEN BORDER AND FREE TRADERS--IS BY A STATE TO STATE FEDERAL REFERENDUM.

CALL YOUR SENATOR AND REPRESENTATIVE   THE ONLY THING POLITICIANS UNDERSTAND IS PRESSURE FROM---ALL---OF US?

Bravo Dave!  I would suggest you C&P your comment and turn it into a post of its own.  Then along with the other groups, post it to Pain In The Neck and Healthcare for Everybody!

One other thing, Pre-Existing Conditions would no longer matter.  I was born with Epilepsy, Vertigo and Migraines, over the years I have developed debilitating pain.  There is NO WAY that I could ever be "under written" by private insurance. 

Dave:  What a really excellent idea.  Craft the letter.  Post it Here on Gather.  We will then all copy and paste it into our communications to our "fearless leaders" (you know, the people we hired to drive the bus?--they don't OWN the bus.  And they don't tell us what we can and can not have.  They are in office to do the bidding of the people.

I'm with you, and will send this letter to the gov. reps (drivers) in BOTH states in which I live.  Reality....and Missouri.

Blessed be, Eliz O, great article.  And Dave, heaping blessings in your direction also.  Craft that letter for us--make it easy, so we can all just jump on the wagon with you.

Wilka

Kathy that is an EXCELLENT idea.

Blessed be to you as well...

The solution is described at www.nopom.info

Further complaining with no solutions are all over Gather.

My daughter had not had health insurance for 6 years.  She just finally got some.  But it isn't the best but like I told my husband she needs some.

As a young adult I was in that position, more often than not.  Unlike SOME people in that age group, I not only wanted it, I knew I NEEDED it.  We need to make sure that people who need, and want it, have it, regardless of employer, employment, or "pre-existin" conditions.

You hit the nail right on the head Elizabeth!  Insurance companies run the show, not the doctors anymore.  We need some kind of reform.  My doc told me that my insurance company which an old man also had, had denied him his diabetes treatment because they wanted him to take another drug - one that didn't work for him.  They would NOT approve the drug that did work no matter what the doctors did.  It was terrible.

What makes YOU think that I said the goverment should be handling it all?  I said we need some kind of reform.  SOME kind.  Clearly we need to do SOMETHING, right?  I don't know what that something is.  I just know it needs to change because the current system is not working.  That does not mean we should replace it with another system just like this!   But we have to get it back to the doctors making the decisions, don't you think?  Why should a patient in need of life saving medication have to be denied it by someone, anywhere, in ANY agency, sitting at a desk hundreds of miles away?  It makes no sense regardless of who is doing the approvals and denials.  The DOCTORS and patients should be making more of the decisions.

Linda, I didn't mean to sound nasty, I don't know how to 'bold' in comments, so I use caps.  I thank you for the discussion :-)  And giving me the chance to express myself further on the topic!

TO bold  press ctrl B then type when you are done with the bold press cntrl b again and it stops.  to italicize  or underline same thing, except with an I, or a U.

For more information about a Single Payer Healthcare plan, which is what I truly support go to WWW.SICKOCURE.ORG and WWW.PNHP.ORG they both have REALLY good, easy to understand explanations.

How many times have you had to change doctors? How many different employer provided health care providers have you had? If you need to get emergency room treatment who treats you? Your primary care physician (if you have one) or the doctor who just happens to be on duty at the time?

First, they do NOT treat everyone who walks into the ER. 

Second, how many times have you had to switch your insurance?

Thanks Liz. (I love tag team) Yea, it must be nice being able to change doctors when it's your choice and not because of a change in insurance carrier and who's in the carriers provider list. O lost your job and had to go on Medicaid, or became disabled and ended up on Medicare. Yea, I only change doctors because I chose to. Yea, I was able to stay on the first health insurance I ever got.

Here's something I really don't understand...What's this thing about "Compitition" Why sould we have to compete over health care? If a person is ill or needs care they should recieve it. PERIOD. PHYSICAL & MENTAL Health. Yes the body and the brain.

OR, because they got divorced and now have to go out and not only find a job to support themselves and their children, but one that even HAS insurance.

OR they got married because their was no other way for them to GET health insurance.

I misunderstood the answer.

Who's talking about England or Canada?  Neither of them has a Single Payer system.

I actually have the information about emigrating to Canada, but that doesn't mean I won't be HERE.

Also by saying you can keep your present plan it means you are not required to go on any other plan. If you like what you have keep it, but if what becomes available is better suited to your needs. And again if it hasn't been clearly obvious I am a Socialist I believe if a person is in need of care for a body injury, physical or mental illness, preventive care, for women pre and post natel care, children need milestone checkups and no one ever considers dental and eyecare when they think of this topic. How many pair of glasses or contact can a person go through during a lifetime and let's not forget gloucoma and cataract surguries. How many boys and girls will get their teeth knocked out during sporting events, concussions in football and soccer.

You wonder why this will take long, we've got specialized subjects that need to be addressed and some people want this done just to cover general practicioners. We'd like some one to cure the common cold, which is close to impossible, but then we get hit with a new Flu Virus that travels over the planet within 60 days, which given time we can come up with a vacine.

We've got to stop complaining when we don't get a simple solution to a complex problem. And just because someone has a different view does not meen they do not care any more or less about the people of the world. At some time in human development we will have to agree we all live on one place which we all have to share. Every one of them deserves to have shelter, food, and health. That is a right, not a privilage. OK I went on a rant and a bit off topic (YA THINK) I'll catch the comments later I'm taking my girls to tour the USS Constitution.

Thanks for posting to Fugitives from Ignorance, Conformity, and Peer Pressure