Just how bad has the health care system in this country become since it was taken over by corporatist profit-mongers? This bad:
Health insurance is supposed to offer protection — both medically and financially. But as it turns out, an estimated three-quarters of people who are pushed into personal bankruptcy by medical problems actually had insurance when they got sick or were injured.
"Insurance" that's so worthless it bankrupts you isn't insurance against anything. These people paid premiums for...nothing.
Too many...people already have coverage so meager that a medical crisis means financial calamity.
Exactly what service have these "insurance" companies been taking your money to provide? It certainly isn't protection against the cost of sudden illness. As far as anyone can tell, there may not be one. Certainly the so-called "health insurance" companies act as if anyone on their rolls who gets sick has played some awful trick on them and should be prosecuted.
Last week, a former Cigna executive warned at a Senate hearing on health insurance that lawmakers should be careful about the role they gave private insurers in any new system, saying the companies were too prone to “confuse their customers and dump the sick.”
“The number of uninsured people has increased as more have fallen victim to deceptive marketing practices and bought what essentially is fake insurance,” Wendell Potter, the former Cigna executive, testified.
Progressives and liberals in Congress are wondering if they shouldn't, you know, do something about this epidemic of fake insurance what with it essentially being fraud and all, but they're wavering as "insurance" company lobbyists insist that it would be just too expensive.
In the House and Senate, lawmakers are grappling with the details of legislation that would set minimum standards for insurance coverage and place caps on out-of-pocket expenses. And fear of the high price tag could prompt lawmakers to settle for less than comprehensive coverage for some Americans.
Meanwhile, via Avedon Carol, natch, this little tidbit about how evil socialized medicine is.
During my time in Venezuela, I developed a cough that went on for three weeks and progressively worsened. Finally, after I had become incredibly congested and developed a fever, I decided to attend a Barrio Adentro clinic. The closest one available was a Barrio Adentro II Centro de Diagonostico Integral (CDI) and I headed in without my medical records or calling to make an appointment. Immediately, I was ushered into a small room where Carmen, a friendly Cuban doctor, began questioning me about my symptoms. She listened to my lungs and walked me over to another examination room where, again without waiting, I had x-rays taken. Afterwards, the technician walked me to a chair and apologized profusely that I had to wait for the x-rays to be developed, promising that it would take no more than five minutes. Sure enough, five minutes later he returned with both x-rays developed. Carmen studied the x-rays and informed me that I had pneumonia, showing me the telltale shadows. She sent me away with my x-rays, three medications to treat my pneumonia, congestion, and fever, and made me promise to come back if my conditioned failed to improve or worsened within three days.
I walked out of the clinic with a diagnosis and treatment within twenty-five minutes of entering, without paying a dime. There was no wait, no paperwork, and no questions about my ability to pay, my nationality, or whether, as a foreigner, I was entitled to free comprehensive health care. There was no monetary value connected with my physical well-being; the care I received was not contingent upon my ability to pay. I was treated with dignity, respect, and compassion, my illness was cured and I was able to continue with my journey in Venezuela.
This past year, a family friend was not so lucky. At the age of 56, she was going back to school and was uninsured. She came down with what she thought was a severe case of the flu, and as her condition worsened she decided not to see a doctor because of the cost. She died at home in bed, losing her life to a system that did not respect her basic human right to survive.
IOW, in the vaunted 21st century a Third World banana republic has better health care for its citizens - all its citizens - than the richest and most powerful country on the planet. But we have the most profitable "health insurance" companies anywhere in the world, and I guess that's what our political representatives think is more important.
I bet you're beaming with pride right now. What an achievement to be able to brag about! Our health care system may kill a lot more people than Venezuela's but by gawd it makes a LOT more money for private corporations.
Maybe we ought to replace the stars on our flag with dollar $$$ and "In God We Trust" with "In Profits We Trust". More honest, don't you think?
The ex-Cigna exec is right: we better be very damn careful what role we leave for them, and frankly leaving any role at all is tantamount to deliberately steering the Titanic into the iceberg because JD Rockefeller wants glacier ice for his gin. As long as these private "health insurance" corpo's are allowed to play the game, they'll cheat, steal your wallet while your back is turned, and then accuse you of marking the cards.
Play the game? Hell, I expect that the insurance companies are writing the new "reform" legislation.
Posted by: OSR | July 02, 2009 at 04:52 AM