USA

[Vlynn]

okay so normally I have positive things to say on here but seriously right now I"m ready to create a protest!! I just got a bill from my school saying I owe them $11,000!! and that I have to pay them in 15 days or else! mind you I just got out of school 2 weeks ago! then I got another bill dealing with a visit to the Ear doctor for $1,000 ( I watched the nurse call to confirm I was covered on insurance and she said I was) come to find out I wasn't because I was out of network! ( so what the FFF) so many people have fallen victim to this because of some moron nurse or executive. Who protects the patient?  that just started it off    thinking about our health care and education costs. Then that naturally unfolded the whole thing about who is going to be voted in. I really hope who ever it is really does make a difference for the better. But honestly I think we as Americans need to get together for these specific issues and make a protest a big protest. I can't imagine how many people out there that are just being screwed over by health care costs and education costs!!!







EDITED: Moved to proper section - Sluff/Admin

[Rerun]

You need to call the school and ask if there is some kind of payment plan.  I thought they didn't make you start paying back student loans for 6 months after graduation??  I would call the doctor's office and complain that you were told you were in network.  Next time check with your insurance company.  The problem with that if you go to surgery your surgeon may be in network, but the anesthesiologist is not and so you are screwed again.  Yes, I agree that the health care and education system have us regular citizens by the balls.  They charge so damn much for kids to go to school that they are held hostage for 15 years of their working lives.

It is not right!   

[devon]

I totally hear what you are saying! 

In this age, education and healthcare, along with retirement and social security, should be the top priorities of this nation.  It's embarrassing that the US is lagging so far behind on these issues. 

After the Great Depression, the government got involved because there was no private structure that assumed  command and responsibility for these.  Then, gradually, over the decades, these were privatized with the result that Social Security is the last remaining vestage of the New Deal. 

Healthcare is now a "business" where the insurance companies and HMO's take a percentage of the profits for their "management" of the "expenses" and give a portion of those "profits" to shareholders.  Healthcare has been replaced with "profit centers" where investors are reaping financial rewards for our poor health.  That's why efforts to implement "wellness" programs that spend money to make and keep people healthy fail miserably.  That's in direct conflict with the financial model of getting people to pay for treatment for health problems. The currently healthcare model supports bad health instead of good health and tragically, we've known this for ages! For example, my insurance company will pay for my diabetes and hypertension treatment caused by my being overweight, but they will NOT pay for a program that helps me reduce my weight and eliminate these problems.  Everyone knows this is a poor system but no one seems to do anything to correct it.  Doctors are trying desperately to design and implement wellness programs but insurance companies don't want to pay for good health, they want to NOT pay for health treatment!  In other words, insurance companies are in the business of NOT paying for EVERYTHING!  That's their ideal model and in reality they only pay for what they HAVE to pay, reluctantly, at best.

Education and educational finance is in a similar rut but since that is outside the scope of IHD, I'll focus only on healthcare.

We need to remove healthcare from the financial model.  Insurance companies should only be in the business of processing and paying claims.  They should get out of the business if they want to practice medicine. (Or, they should be required to get a medical license if they continue as they are.)  In other words, we should go to direct pay and eliminate the middleman (insurance companies and HMO's).  As it was a few decades back, when you visited the doctor, you paid the bill and applied for reimbursement from the insurance company.  Or, the doctor accepted assignment and was paid by the insurance company.   This move alone will increase the revenue to providers, doctors, hospitals, labs, and clinics by 25 to 30 percent, at least.   I've talked with several doctors about this and they tend to agree that eliminating the middleman will cuts costs considerably!

Now, here's the kicker.  The "insurance company" should be the US Government.  Healthcare should be a part of our taxes.  The same government we trust to run our military, social security, FDA, SEC, Homeland Security, Immigration, and thousands of other essential services, should be paying providers out of our taxes.  Healthcare should be a right of citizenship where every citizen is assured that their healthcare is paid for by the government to whom we pay our taxes.  No longer should there be a profit motive in providing coverage.  Yes, you can make a profit providing healthcare services but paying for those services should not be part of a profit-making venture. 

We made a huge mistake in the last couple decades thinking that government is the enemy of the state.  The government is us, the citizens.  Those wishing to "drown government in a bathtub" want to remove us from the control of our own destinies and replace it with corporate empires of the worst kind.  These is not one single example of a case where the private sector has been able to provide healthcare coverage that didn't eventually fail and leave the public holding the bag. 

Like citizenship, healthcare is a right and we must demand it.  Especially those of us with progressive diseases like ESRD! 

Thanks VLynn for bringing this up.  I pray for a day when citizens of the US will receive education and healthcare services without worry over how much of their food and housing budget they'll have to sacrifice to get it!

-Devon

(anyway, that my .02!)

[Vlynn]

THANK YOU!!! !!!

[Sunny]

Well said, Devon.
I have been a long proponent of some sort of National Health Care.
It should be a Right of any American citizen. I don't know how to go about it financially, I just know is should be done.Health issues are the #1reason for bankruptcy in the U.S.

[xtrememoosetrax]

  Right on, Devon. Thanks for saying it so well.

[Sluff]

You know one of my goals for IHD would be to become a large voice when it comes to issues like this. Someday we will be big enough and if we had strong representation from members who know how to get things done I wouldn't be opposed to getting involved. It would be Trina's ultimate decision and RossMAN's but that is something that I would like to see happen ( sort of a lobbying effort) someday. It takes money and a voice, lots of both.

[monrein]

The problem, of course ,is that many in your country would view this as the slippery slope of socialism and government interference.  I don't understand this at all but hey, I'm used to paying pretty high taxes and still think I have it good.  Because I do.  I would however prefer not to have ESRD so that I could work more and for much longer to pay even more taxes to benefit my country and those of my fellow-citizens who require expensive medical treatment, quite often through no fault of their own.  Are there problems in the system?  Of course there are, we have to keep on tweaking things.

I also pay a ton of education tax due to the fact that my neighbourhood is a very desirable one.  Now, I have no children but I still am happy to contribute in this way because I feel it is in my country's interest to have a well-educated citizenry.  We get the society we are willing to pay for.....and yes I get mad when our government misuses our money and we have to hold them accountable.   That task never ends.

[devon]

Sluff, since you brought up the idea of lobbying and advocacy, let me point out that moving this item to "off topic" is a good example of why we have a healthcare problem.  This is NOT "off topic".  It is central to the issues that face anyone at IHD and really should have "front page" exposure.  Moving it to "off topic" makes it seem as if it's not pertinent to IHD but, in fact, it's at the core of all that is IHD.  It concerns all of us and the financing of our care.

I understand why you moved it.  On the face of things perhaps it would seem to be "off topic"  but I think it really should get the exposure it merits.  Healthcare and its costs are not "off topic".  IMHO.