Replies to post #140067 on Tornado Alley (PROG)

[fastlizzy]

Well, they better enjoy it while it lasts. Once the country has single payer, they will be cut out.

Romney won't say it doesn't work, because he knows it does. Vermont just passed their single payer bill. That state is about to see a population increase like never before!

[StephanieVanbryce]

Are Americans Changing their Minds about Health Care?

......This is a diary posted in reference to your article



by Pluto Sat May 14, 2011 at 03:01 PM PDT

For the first time, last night, I saw a trend in health care attitudes in America that has given me a hope I haven't had before.

I stumbled across an article in the New York Times entitled: Health Insurers Making Record Profits as Many Postpone Care. This same article was briefly discussed by nyceve in her Diary, Is the Affordable Care Act helping you--at all? -- where she remarked:

This morning, The New York Times is reporting that Americans are forgoing healthcare as insurers rake in record profits. Greed, greed and more greed is what this industry is all about, and for-profit corporations remain by law, at the very heart of our new and 'reformed' healthcare system.

But, instead of the article itself, I want to talk about something amazing and remarkable that I saw in the Times -- something that I have not seen in years of researching health care reform. Something that gave me a real sense of hope!

But first let me very quickly summarize the article for you:

Here are the three main facts that the article presents:

1. In 2011, people are foregoing medical care in record numbers, even if they have insurance. Hospital stays have dropped dramatically, medicial service usage is at a record low in the US. Doctors report seeing their patients less often and having patients refuse tests. Medical symptoms are being ignored by patients who are reluctant to report them.


2. Insurance policy premiums are soaring year over year by double digit increases -- ahead of health care costs. In Oregon, for example, Regence BlueCross BlueShield, a nonprofit insurer that is the state’s largest, is asking for a 22 percent increase for policies sold to individuals. Many employers have sharply reduced employee benefits, while raising deductibles and co-payments.


3. The nation's health care insurers are entering their third year of all time record profits and shareholders have received a bonanza of dividends. They have never before had so much money on hand. Big insurance companies have reported first-quarter 2011 earnings that beat analysts expectations by an average of 30 percent

Now, here's the remarkable thing:

This rather brief article garnered 136 comments -- and of those comments, I found only two that were not revolutionary in nature. Over half of them demanded Single Payer! I have never seen this "awareness of reality" in the comment section of any newspaper dealing with health care in America. Nor, have I seen such cogent, well-informed writing -- or so much participation by health care professionals.

If you want to get as excited as I did, I suggest you read them all. Or, if you prefer, allow me to present a few of many excellent examples, below:

" This article makes me angry. I am a healthcare provider in many insurance networks where I am forced to accept the in-network rate that the insurance company pays, regardless of my expenses. In all the networks, the rate they pay has not increased in over 30 years. Yes, that's right, I have been paid the same amount since the mid-1970's. Over that same time period of course, my expenses have risen enormously. But I have no power with the insurance companies and am forced to accept their rates if I see patients in these networks. I am outraged that these companies keep increasing their premiums while they hold providers hostage with stagnant rates. It's disgusting because they often blame providers yet we get absolutely no increase and it's the insurance company making the profits. It makes me sick".

::

" Why do we need these greedy, rapacious middlemen? What service do these companies provide? All they do is suck money from patients and doctors alike - they serve no function whatsoever and have no business being in business in a civilized society.

That we don't have single payer is proof positive of the massive corruption in our current political system. Individuals simply cannot compete in the arena of political speech against these multi-billion dollar vampires.

::

" You almost need to work in health care to understand what this really means. In part, insurers deny approval for procedures and treatments for persons who are treated as in-patients in a hospital. As hospitals are paid a flat rate based on the person's diagnosis, there is no "skin off the nose" of insurers for saying to a new amputee, "you can go home and rehab. there" instead of sending the patient for 5 days of in-patient rehabilitation. Bottom line, it's cheaper. The physician caring for the patient in the hospital may keep the patient longer as he or she feels uncomfortable sending the patient home (again, it doesn't cost the insurer anything as they have paid a flat rate to the hospital based on the diagnosis or "DRG" that the hospital files and can prove.). Insurers have grown so large that hospitals are afraid not to "do a deal" with the companies for fear that someone else will and they will lose out. The same is true for persons on an out-patient basis. The result? Business for anyone seeing a patient is driven by volume; get them in and get them out. Patients, whether an in-patient or an out-patient are herded like animals while the insurers are paid like landowners where the herd grazes. Health care reform will only change when there is one insurance plan that everyone has that pays the same, allows the same, and IS the same for everyone. While that may sound a bit socialist, if you want health care to be equivalent, that's the only way that you will have it.

::

" As someone with an autoimmune disease, my costs for medicine have skyrocketed since April 1, when ONE medication, for which there is no generic, became "Non-preferred" and tripled in cost to $150 dollars a month. Meanwhile the insurance companies post record profits. No kidding, it's on the backs of people like me, who have no choice and nowhere else to turn.

::

" This is all I know: My 93-year-old mother, diagnosed with dementia, is currently in a nursing home (receiving Medicaid, her personal finances having been depleted a number of years ago). I am her 59-year-old daughter, working full-time while traveling back and forth to the nursing facility each day to ensure that she receives adequate nutrition. My last conversation with her doctor can be summarized thusly: Since my mother has "no quality of life" (even though she recognizes me, knows my name, and can reminisce about her life from about 1920 to 1935), I should let her aspirate her food, induce pneumonia, put her into hospice care, and let her die. I don't know whether his attitude comes from many years of dealing with elderly patients (where the inevitable outcome is death--be it sooner or later), or whether it comes from the steady insinuations from politicians and insurance companies that the elderly are a drain on resources. All I know is that it stinks that someone who, along with her late husband, worked hard to achieve a middle-class American life, should be treated like a burden--while insurance companies rake in the dough. My mother always voted Democrat, my father voted Republican, and I've been an Independent. Given my recent hard-earned experience: never, EVER, will I vote for a Republican for as long as I can make it to the polls.

::

" As a physician I am totally disgusted by the current state of affairs in health care. As far as I'm concerned the recent health care bill didn't go half far enough! I find that I can't prescribe even generic medications without going through a time consuming process of "pre-authorization" only to be told by some flunky without any medical training at all whether the exemption I am requesting is approved or not. I have been told that I have to give children a trial of "approved" medications with clinically clear contraindications before they would approve the only medication that was safe to use in that situation. My patients can no longer afford the co-pays for medications, their costs are sky-rocketing, my reimbursements are plummeting and insurance companies profits are rising. Thank god I am a physician because I can't afford health insurance due to a pre-existing condition (mild and intermittent asthma), at least I have the clinical training (and prescribing ability) to know what needs medical attention from other physicians. The problem with health care is precisely private insurance and the big fake bugaboo they have been promoting about single payer systems to protect their fat profit margins while the rest of us suffer, patients and providers alike!

::

" Enough is enough...put everyone on Medicare Insurance, young old, sick and well, allow Medicare Insurance to bid on medications via a single formulary, and deliver quality affordable health care and free or low cost medicines to all Americans for low or no additional cost for our citizens and businesses.

::

" Tell me again why I should support extending the Bush tax cuts to all of these corporations?

I've worked for almost all of these insurers as well as providers. Anybody who believes these insurers are anything more than leaches needs to spend a day watching what really goes on in a claims dept.

The solution is simply getting rid of private insurers altogether and opening up Medicare to all Americans thereby enabling the repair of Medicare by making it cover more than just the sickest and oldest of our citizens.

::

" I read an article last month in which United Health Care blamed lousy winter weather on fewer people getting out to see their doctors. Now they are blaming people's frugality for postponing care, yet they blithely justify raising their rates for that mythical time when patients will become rich and greedy. What a crock. They can't even make up a plausible story to explain their own greed.

Let's face it - the private insurers exist solely to make a profit and not to "provide" care. The Affordable Care Act may have helped a lucky few wealthy individuals with pre-existing conditions to buy themselves some gold-plated insurance, but most private insurance is pure junk. People can't afford to get sick even if they are insured. There are now more underinsured and uninsured people than ever before, and many of them are needlessly dying. Even as the unemployment crisis is adding to the rolls of the unprotected every day, the government is seeking to reduce Medicaid and Medicare funding.

The situation in the United States is Social Darwinism, pure and simple. The poor will die and the rich will live. Now, more than ever, we need Single Payer Health Care to bring our country up to the standards of the rest of the civilized world and to ensure our very survival.

::

" The real sickness is that our entire country has tolerated this situation - and allowed it to flourish - for decades. It is going to kill us eventually. Putting our health "care" in the hands of heartless profiteers is disgusting and inhumane. Health insurers should provide insurance, not self-serving medical "review" and control of our access to real care. The health care system is irrevocably broken and our politicians are in a no-win situation where they need the money from these gluttons to finance their election campaigns. Soon there will be no true care left in the health care system any more.

::

" You cant decide if you get sick. You can decide when you seek care.

Studies on raising premiums / co-pays and out of pocket costs, clearly show this leads to more health care expense becuase people delay care and get sicker.

As a physicians we seen countless cases where people get into serious, sometimes fatal, trouble when they delay care. This was a known consequence of this reform.

Also as a physician we saw OUR health care costs go up by 17% in a year AND saw our REIMBURSEMENT from the SAME health insurance company go DOWN by 13%. Why didnt anyone tell us to work for oil companies or health insurance companies when we were young?

::

" There is only one solution, nationalized single payer health care. Eliminate all the health insurance companies, why do we need a middle man which adds to health care costs while actually providing no health care. The health care is provided by doctors and hospitals...single payer cuts out the useless middle man, paying both doctors and hospital without the health care companies carrying delivering the money for huge profits.

::

" Insurance companies are shameless profiteers.

The only thing sadder is that our government didn't have the courage to remove the for-profit equation from health care.

::

" The democrats are responsible for the continuation of this chicanery. They had the power and responsibility to give americans the health care system equal to that of other civilized nations, but instead chose to continue our own unique little Las Vegas style approach to healthcare. It's a scam with the moral underpinnings of a roulette wheel. Shame on them all. in the industry and in Washington, but most importantly shame on all the wealthy people who buy stock in the nightmare and profit from human suffering.

::

" The sole purpose of health insurance companies is to make a profit, it is NOT to provide health care. When will Americans wake up and demand health care as a right rather than as a privilege? Take the insurance companies out of the picture. Why should these companies make obscene profits from people misery?

::

" Although I'm not at all surprised this makes me angry all over again - the Democrats did too many deals getting health-care legislation done. I hope Vermont is able to get a single-payer system implemented so the rest of the country may wake up. Americans just don't see that we are way behind here. Isn't it time to remove the profit taking middle-man from the equation?

::

" I'm wondering what happens five to ten years down the road if individual insurance keeps rising at this rate? Should I just have my entire paycheck signed over to Blue Cross?

We desperately need single payer in this country!

::

" Yes, we live in a country that drives families into financial ruin / bankruptcy if they are unlucky enough to fall ill. It's absolutely disgusting. Meanwhile, our elected officials have gold-plated health benefits, as do all federal employees. And don't forget Tricare for the military. Most Americans - those not employed by federal or state gov't or not in the military - pay significantly more each year for fewer benefits and fewer choices. Just two years ago my job offered 7 different plans for enrollment; this year there were two choices - both UHC and both beyond crappy.

And of course our piddly raises (which we can't complain about because aren't we so lucky to still have a job?) don't even begin to compensate for the massive increase in inflation. So I'll assume that most readers are like my family and your standard of living in 2011 is worse than in 2001.

Our government allows for-profit businesses to ration healthcare. It's absurd. It's evil. The fact that so many of our fellow citizens are brainwashed into supporting the current system is - frankly, it's too depressing to think about. I guess all of us can just cross our fingers and hope we don't get sick. Because if we do, we can't afford treatment. Hey, maybe we'll skip the house payment to pay medical bills and then the banks can foreclose on us! Welcome to America.

::

" Our country---the United States of America---is a place where people have to choose between getting essential medical care and other critical items in their family budget. It's disgusting.

In no other country are citizens treated like waste products---simply to be used as profit centers for the "insurance industry" which produces absolutely nothing, and which raises our health care costs astronomically to pay for executive salaries and bonuses, shareholder returns, sales, advertising and other expensive items that have nothing to do with the health care needs of human beings.

It's horrific that we've allowed a nefarious coalition of insurance company lobbyists, partisan politicians, unhinged ideologues, and vicious media personalities to turn us against one another and to hold our citizens hostage to this myth of "the free market" in health care.

::

" Medical insurance companies are pure evil by their very nature. Increasing premiums and denying claims, this is criminal behavior.

What you have just read is the overwhelming majority opinion. There is no longer any debate about this. There IS NO Republican "view" anywhere in sight.

Yes, the Affordable Care Act is deeply flawed and ultimately doomed because it does not control the soaring medical costs that the for-profit insurance companies are driving.

We are seeing a preview of this fatal flaw in the current attempts in DC to gut Medicare and Medicaid. It's all part and parcel of the same thing -- that the nation's economy will collapse under the weight of a for-profit health care system.

But, what if the ACA was actually our salvation?

What if it is so obviously corrupt that it causes Americans to rise up and demand Real Health Care in America?

Is that what we are seeing here?

For the first time, I feel hope.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2011/05/14/976097/-Are-Americans-Changing-their-Minds-about-Health-Care?detail=hide

.......Pluto doesn't say this, BUT I WILL, WE CHANGED the conversation...DEMOCRATS CHANGED the conversation...Let's make sure we see this trend continue, because as sure as we are sitting here what he says here is 100 percent true...the nation's economy will collapse under the weight of a for-profit health care system.

[fuagf]

Vermont single payer health care bill signed ..

If you live in Vermont, chances are that you will be guaranteed health care coverage
in 2017 at the latest. If an amendment to Obamacare passes, you could see it in 2014.
May 27, 2011 5:47 PM EDT


Newly elected Governor of Vermont Shumlin speaks to
the media outside the West Wing of the White House in
Washington .. (Photo: Reuters)

Vermont’s governor Peter Shumlin signed a single-payer health care bill into law on Thursday, becoming the first state in the US to do so.

IBTimes spoke with Dr. Deborah Richter, M.D. of Vermont Health Care For All (VTHCA), a Vermont-based non-profit organization, about this bill.

IBT: Will it cover everyone?

Richter: That is the intention, to cover every resident of Vermont.

IBT: How does it work?

Richter: Essentially, you no longer need health insurance because it will pay for everyone. Think of it like public schools.

IBT: How will it be financed?

Richter: Vermont residents will pay into the single-payer fund based on their income.

IBT: Can Vermont afford it?

Richter: Total costs are already going up 7 to 8 percent per year, so the [status quo] isn’t affordable.
The single-payer health care system puts a budget around health care, so we’ll be spending less in total.

There are also efficiencies. We will do health planning. For example, if it looks
like we have too many hospital beds for our population, we’ll reduce [that number].

We will save on administrative costs of having only a single-payer [that health care providers deal with].

We will have uniform rates, which mean all providers will be paid the same rate. This will further save administrative costs.

IBT: How do you think Vermont lawmakers arrived at the conclusion that it’s affordable?

Richter: We have an assessment from a Harvard economist who designed the system in Taiwan. The system has a track record of
saving money. We have examples around the industrialized world that show us that we, too, can spend less and get better care.

IBT: How do you cut down on frivolous hospital visits and waste?

Richter: Studies have shown that [frivolous visits] happen mostly because people don’t have a primary
care doctor. The bill will expand the primary care workforce, which will cut down [frivolous visits].

Also, people generally don’t enjoy [spending a lot of time in hospitals].

IBT: Any further comments?

Richter: It’s the most fiscally conservative way to cover everybody. I’m amazed people
don’t want to embrace this. It’s going to cost less money and give everybody better care.

IBT: Can every state do it?

Richter: Absolutely.

http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/153660/20110527/vermont-single-payer-health-care.htm

It's only a matter of time ..