Health Care Ins. in America

designs

I have written several letters to my congressman Darrell Issa on the current debate over health care insurance in America. I have yet to hear back from him. My carrier, Athem Blue Cross a division of Wellpoint, wants to raise our premiums 39%. Did my income go up 39% to cover this increase? If nothing happens legislatively this Spring to address out of control rate increases good ol Darrell will find me in one of his campaign stops at election time to be challenged face to face on why he and Congress sat on their hands......while having full coverage for themselves.

There are some Senators and Congressional members from both parties will good workable ideas but the Insurance Lobbyists are pouring in to Washington DC this week to keep the Insurance companies interests protected.

How workable would the Norwegian cradle to grave plan work in America.

rebel8

I don't recall what Norway's system is, but I did take a full course in grad school on universal health care coverage in America (plus others about health care economics, insurance, etc.). I am convinced it is necessary to preserve our economy and our health.

Coverage for all Americans is the first step towards reforming our very broken health care system. The current proposal doesn't change people's existing insurance policies, it just ensures everyone has one. (Despite numerous lies to the contrary...)

I am pretty disgusted over the ads and rhetoric I am seeing on tv right now. I cannot believe people can just tell blatant lies and get away with it.

There is a site, I think it's healthcareforamericanow.org, which has a Facebook page. They were doing an interesting myth of the day wall post--digestable snippets of information each day to make it all understandable.

designs

Rebel,

I listened to Gov. Dean, his point was that universal coverage was necessary for competitive cost advantages, similar to auto insurance. You just can't drive without insurance and to some degree it keeps costs down as you can shop for an underwriter.

Someone being forced to go to an emergency room for the flu with its $500 - $1500 price hit is not the solution. I thought the recent news coverage of well known teacher Jaime Excalante was poignant in running out of money battling cancer, here he was a teacher with a medical plan and apparently it is still not enough.

The rhetoric is disgusting, as retiring Sen. Bayh said- change things at election time.

Snoozy

Yeah, I am on medicare now and they were talking about how we would not get a increase this year.(cost of living)

To try and make us feel better they said that they did not raise the Medicare part B insurance rates either..so we should be oK. What they forgot about was the medical supplement that we also have to get because Medicare doesn't cover everything. The supplements DID go up..quite a bit ,politician, ya gotta love em.!

I was reading some older posts on here about universal health care and they were teling stories about how they have to wait anywhere from 6 months to a year and a half for non emergency operations like a kneww replacement etc. i do not do that with my private health ins but I pay plenty for it..I can see how their health plans could be good for those that don't have insurance but I don't see any benefit to those that have private insurance. If I have a problem I want it taken care of now!

Snoozy..

rebel8

One of the major problems with this debate is the confusion between reform of health care and reform of health insurance. They are really two completely different things, and although they overlap, they should be dealt with via separate regulatory reforms.

Universal coverage has nothing to do with the other issues that are getting thrown into the works like a wrench. Abortion, death panels, medical resesarch--all this is just ridiculous. The first piece of legislation should be only about getting all citizens insured for life, IMHO.

You're right, we accept universal coverage for auto insurance (requiring everyone to be insured, gov't insurance is available but most policies are from private insurers). AFAIK no one goes around ranting it's a socialist plot or is going to bankrupt America to force everyone to be insured.

There is a huge lie ad saying the legislation will ban mammograms outside of the NCI's new recommendations, avoiding early detection in some cases. Not true.

I wonder why people are so eager to prevent everyone from having health insurance that they are willing to tell bold face lies.

SixofNine

The current proposal doesn't change people's existing insurance policies,

It changes existing policies for the better.

thetrueone

This could be a political stunt to make the newly devised health care initiative appear bad,

the health care lobbyists are saying that if the government forces us to insure people who are sick with a pre-condition of sorts,

the premiums most go up to cover are costs. Interesting though that Blue Cross and the other large corporate health insurers

have recently posted the largest financial gains in recent years and have increased their value with their shareholders.

This is the very reason that Obama is trying to change the American Health care system which has been criticized

throughout most modernized countries.

rebel8

Don't drink the Kool-Aid!

http://www.whitehouse.gov/realitycheck/481

If you don't believe that, legislation is public information--you can read it free and instantly online if you want to.

I really can't remember so many lies being believed. It's so sad.

Violia

I have seen my coverage costs( with a major provider) go up and the benefits reduced. They are limiting my coverage and counting those beans. Some things that were previously covered are now being denied. My docs have stopped ordering tests they would have b/c they are being hassled by the insurance co for every thing they order, long waits for payments, and a host of other problems. I read my EOB's and there is a huge difference between what they charge and what they get. My care has suffered as a result. I can't blame my docs, if I did not get paid I'd not work either.

thetrueone

The health system in the States which exists right now is the very reason that most other countries including Canada

changed over to a universal government sponsored health care system.

The other countries have resolved the problem years and even decades ago.

This is why the American system was rated way down at 32 on a list of which country

provided the best system to cover the health of its population.

I cant image how frustrating and worrisome it must be for people who

have a illness and are forced to change their insurance plan only to get turned down

or rejected because of their very illness which they need medical care for.

Health Care Ins. in America

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