How Do We Fix This?

I believe healthcare is a right, not a luxury reserved for the rich. I think people who want to keep the current system are CRAZY and misinformed. However, all the ideology in the world can't fill in the details of how we're going to make it happen.

I believe single-payer would be best; or if private companies want to provide health insurance, it should be non-profit only. Co-ops are a decent idea, I think; except that a system of co-ops still leaves out millions of people who can't afford to chip in. A public option, expanding Medicare, is the absolute minimum of what we should guarantee American citizens at this point.

Anyone with ideas as to HOW we accomplish the goal of providing healthcare for all is welcome to post those ideas as comments here. If the supposedly great minds congregated in Washington D.C. can't come up with something decent, the rest of us are going to have to figure it out and then try to get them to adopt our ideas!

My Letter to Barack Obama re: Healthcare Reform

I was kicked off my dad's health insurance when I turned 25. The only private insurance I MIGHT be able to afford (only if I cut out all expenses besides the bare-bones minimum, and even then it would be a stretch and certainly some of my payments would be late) is not worth the money for what I would get back if I tried to use it. I would really like the opportunity to sign up for a public option. However, I am concerned with the idea that government-paid healthcare "negotiates" low prices by shortchanging providers. Am I mistaken, or does Medicare keep costs low by forcing doctors to accept reimbursement below-cost? It is ideas like this that fuel opposition to a plan that otherwise would be beneficial to all. Some also have misgivings about the ability of government to provide good healthcare (compare to the DMV, the unemployment office, etc). I find it difficult to argue against these viewpoints because I see the validity. What is your response, or your plan to assure adequate compensation to doctors and hospitals, while still keeping costs low for citizens? I would really appreciate a response. Thank you.

Great Article on Single-Payer Healthcare

Quick read: http://pdamerica.org/articles/news/2009-09-08-13-26-44-news.php

Voices of Reform Silenced by Threats of Termination

Any questions about who the bad guys are here? Consider that a good friend of mine who works for Healthnet was planning on attending a reform rally with me until they threatened to fire any employee caught at a reform rally. I wonder what their motivation could possibly be... hmm....

At the rally, another supporter informed me that Blue Cross had made the same threat to their employees. It seems likely that all of the insurance companies are doing the same. Which of course is entirely illegal.

My Vision (Intro) + Further Reflection on Healthcare Reform

I have grand ideals and lofty goals for humanity as a whole. I am fully aware that the world I envision will come about in my lifetime only through a spectacular miracle. Does that mean I should tone down my dream, or give it up altogether? Those who float through life in a comfort zone rarely make an impact, and the world does not benefit from people who deny humanity's capacity for growth.

The essential problem with our global society is that we differ greatly in our goals, aspirations, and ideals. More on that later. I suspect that many leaders are or become more concerned with their own individual benefit than the benefit of society at large. Some even try to mask their selfish intentions by establishing and maintaining policy positions that purport to result in greater benefit for all; when these theories are put into practice, they consistently lead to exploitation of consumers by corporations.

Granted, the capitalist model has fueled innovations in electronics, communications, and yes, healthcare technology, among other things. However, this same model has produced companies that knowingly conceal vital and often dangerous information about their products and methods; to allow such information to become public would impact the bottom line. To name a few industries where regulation has been necessary to force companies to disclose information vital to the public health: The food industry, the pharmaceutical industry, the banking/lending industry. All large parts of most of our lives. Each of these industries has fought tooth and nail to keep our elected leaders from passing legislation that requires them to disclose details about their products/services that might make us pause a moment before contributing to their profit margin. It makes one wonder what secrets are still being kept from us.

The health insurance industry is no exception. Let us not confuse health CARE with health INSURANCE. Health INSURANCE is supposed to guarantee receipt of the appropriate health CARE. Unfortunately, due to the demands of profitability, health INSURANCE providers routinely refuse to pay for life-saving treatments, therefore effectively murdering people (thus the title of my previous blog entitled "For-Profit Health Insurance: Nothing Short of Murder") -- people who have been paying into the system for years. It is an addmittedly drastic comparison, and certainly meant to elicit an emotional response. I do not say it lightly. I condemn the way health insurance companies do business; I find it morally repugnant. I do not believe that adequate care should be a luxury reserved for the rich, as CEO of Whole Foods John Mackey claims in his Wall Street Journal Op-Ed (see my other post, "You're A Mean One, Mr. Mackey", for a more complete response to Mackey's op-ed, which actually contained some good ideas). Any person callous enough to suggest such a repulsive idea is a person with whom I would be loathe to associate.

To allege that the marvelous human brain is incapable of developing a system that can support the healthcare needs of 100% of people is an insult to every great scientist and every visionary leader. I have been accused by contributor darwinkilledgod (the Libertarian professor I called out in my blog "For-Profit Health Insurance: Nothing Short of Murder") of attempting to solve problems as if it is a bad thing. Or is innovation only valuable if it results in somebody profiting somehow? Even following THAT logic, a universal, single-payer healthcare plan would be acceptable; although the health insurance industry would take a hit, EVERY OTHER INDUSTRY would see increased profits overnight through release from the immense expense of purchasing health insurance for their employees. Take THAT, capitalist pigs!

You're a Mean One, Mr. Mackey -- But You Have Some Good Ideas

I am beginning to realize that no matter how we try to reform healthcare, it is not going to be the right thing. Maybe a public option is the best thing for now, but it is so complicated; there is no easy answer.

CEO of Whole Foods, John Mackey, spurred a massive boycott of his company when he asserted in a Wall Street Journal Op-Ed that "While all of us empathize with those who are sick, how can we say that all people have more of an intrinsic right to health care than they have to food or shelter?"

Mackey's viewpoint is disgusting. We try to help the poorest among us by establishing welfare programs and rent-controlled housing because we DO believe that all people have an intrinsic right to food and shelter. Many people are still homeless and starving because of a combination of underfunded programs and a lack of personal responsibility. Many rich people despise these programs because they simultaneously don't want to be forced through taxes to pay other people's living expenses, and they know from their own experiences that perseverence and personal responsibility are the keys to improving one's situation; receipt of handouts virtually guarantees that a person will remain in the situation that led them to receiving welfare because it removes the motivating factor to "pull oneself up by one's bootstraps." However, does this mean that we should not act with compassion towards these people? Does this give us an excuse to let people die in the streets because they should have had the foresight to purchase health insurance? Who Would Jesus Cover?

Although Mackey maintains a callous disregard for those who do not have coverage, I do not believe it is entirely coldhearted. In the WSJ piece, Mackey presents eight of his own recommendations for healthcare reform that do not include single-payer or a public option. While I do think that government should guarantee coverage for catastrophic illness and injury, I agree with most of Mackey's points:

• Equalize the tax laws so that employer-provided health insurance and individually owned health insurance have the same tax benefits. Now employer health insurance benefits are fully tax deductible, but individual health insurance is not. This is unfair.

Agreed, not much to say here.

• Repeal all state laws which prevent insurance companies from competing across state lines. We should all have the legal right to purchase health insurance from any insurance company in any state and we should be able use that insurance wherever we live. Health insurance should be portable.

Agreed, and to continue this line of reasoning, there should be uniform guidelines & forms used by all insurance companies to simplify the process.

• Repeal government mandates regarding what insurance companies must cover. These mandates have increased the cost of health insurance by billions of dollars. What is insured and what is not insured should be determined by individual customer preferences and not through special-interest lobbying.

Agreed, with a HUGE caveat -- we cannot just repeal all coverage mandates and expect that the profit motive will be enough to get insurance companies to cover expensive treatments, at least not at an affordable rate. This is why I believe that we need to enact a single-payer system ONLY to cover catastrophic illness and injury.

• Enact tort reform to end the ruinous lawsuits that force doctors to pay insurance costs of hundreds of thousands of dollars per year. These costs are passed back to us through much higher prices for health care.

I don't know enough about this aspect to comment. However, if a person dies or is handicapped due to a doctor's poor judgment, shouldn't they have the right to seek compensation through a lawsuit?

• Make costs transparent so that consumers understand what health-care treatments cost. How many people know the total cost of their last doctor's visit and how that total breaks down? What other goods or services do we buy without knowing how much they will cost us?

I don't see what this has to do with anything.

• Enact Medicare reform. We need to face up to the actuarial fact that Medicare is heading towards bankruptcy and enact reforms that create greater patient empowerment, choice and responsibility.

Again, I need more information to make an informed comment. Of one thing I am certain: If government healthcare reimburses providers BELOW-COST, it is a bad system. Reimbursement should be at-cost! This is not okay.

• Finally, revise tax forms to make it easier for individuals to make a voluntary, tax-deductible donation to help the millions of people who have no insurance and aren't covered by Medicare, Medicaid or the State Children's Health Insurance Program.

Sounds great! Who is going to collect and administer these donations? Perhaps the GOVERNMENT through a PUBLIC OPTION.............. perhaps in conjuction with a small tax to be applied only to those who sign up for the program..... except that if there was a tax, I expect that rich people would rather let the poor people pay everything so they can keep more money for themselves (even though they have millions in their bank accounts that is just being hoarded).

Sigh... what a quandary.

Eric Died Because of For-Profit Healthcare

Another example of why we need single-payer healthcare NOW, or at the VERY least, a strong public option. However, a public option would not give us, the people, the same leverage as a single-payer system; with the leverage of a single-payer system, we could negotiate to bring the costs down. Also, eliminating the middle-man (the insurance company) will bring costs down. After all, what is an insurance company doing that a single-payer system would NOT do? --Scraping profit off the top, and denying people the care they need in order to increase said profit. So WHY are we still locked in a system that literally EVERY other industrialized nation has already rejected........???

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Veronica De La Cruz <info@healthcareforamericanow.org>
Date: Wed, Sep 2, 2009 at 9:13 AM
Subject: Eric, my brother

Dear Christel:

I want to tell you about my only sibling, my brother Eric De La Cruz.¹

Diagnosed with Severe Dilated Cardiomyopathy five years ago and in need of a heart transplant, my brother Eric passed away far too early this July 4th. All because the health care insurance system in the United States is broken.

Click here to attend an event to support real reform - reform with a public health insurance option that prohibits discrimination or denial based on pre-existing conditions. We need to tell Congress to get it done.

You see, unlike most of us (but like millions of others), Eric couldn't get private insurance. His employer didn't offer it as a benefit. And his heart condition, while treatable, was a pre-existing condition that no private insurers would cover. Sadly, there was no affordable, public option to protect Eric. So he remained excluded from the basic right to life-saving treatment that all people deserve. Although a heart transplant would save him, without coverage, Eric's condition needlessly and slowly deteriorated.

People don't realize how vulnerable they are to the devastating costs - both in dollars and in human life - of an insurance industry concerned with one thing: profit. As a TV journalist and correspondent, I've enjoyed a public platform few have, but when it came to the health and well-being of my family, I'm as susceptible as everyone else. Despite a national online campaign and celebrity fund-raising that amassed nearly $1 million, and emotional and political support from thousands of strangers, Eric couldn't beat this broken system. If it can happen to us, with all of THAT support, it truly can happen to anyone. In fact, sadly, it IS happening to thousands all over the country right now.

Click here to sign up to attend an event to support health insurance reform - reform with a public health insurance option to keep the insurance companies honest.

After Eric's death, I went to Washington this August. I met in the offices of many Senators and Representatives to ask why there is even a debate about passing a strong health care reform bill that would provide all Americans with affordable, guaranteed health care coverage - a bill that would help control the spiraling health care costs that are bankrupting countless families and forcing people to choose between their money and their lives.

Everyone on Capitol Hill was sympathetic to Eric's story, and most were supportive of legislation including a strong public option, but few seem convinced the American people would lean hard enough on Congress to make sure it happened. We must convince them now.

At this critical time, we need you to stand up for reform that would have benefited my brother Eric, and the thousands just like him who are waiting for help now. Click here to attend an event in your area and help win reform now.

In fighting for Eric's life, thousands of people joined forces to get him on Medicare, get him into a transplant facility and raise enough money to pay for his treatment. He just ran out of time. But the clock has not stopped for you.

Though Eric has passed away, he has not been silenced. Your voice can make the difference. By simply clicking on any of the links in this email, you'll help ensure what happened to Eric doesn't happen to your friend, your brother, your neighbor...or you.

Please don't forget your insurance can disappear when you least expect it, because insurance companies CAN rescind policies. If you get sick and don't have insurance now, insurance companies CAN deny you coverage for a pre-existing condition. If you get sick tomorrow, your life can be turned upside down because of your failing health AND runaway medical bills that can force you into bankruptcy. I know you think this could never happen to you. But it can. It happened to us.

We need to get a simple message to Senators: Join with the majority of Americans to support an affordable public option to lower costs, keep insurance companies honest and include everyone, regardless of pre-existing conditions or income.

At this critical time, can you help support reform that the American people want and need? Click here sign up to attend an event in your area.

Help put a stop to these injustices.

Fight to make a difference, not just for you, but for future generations.

Thank you,

Veronica De La Cruz

P.S. You can join me in our fight for health care reform on Twitter as well. I'm at @VeronicaDLCruz.

1. Veronica De La Cruz speaking at a health care rally with Senate Majority leader Harry Reid in Las Vegas, August 31, 2009: http://www.lvrj.com/news/breaking_news/56471332.html