Town Hall Meetings and We, the People
62American Health Care
This is My Position. What is Yours?
This is my position:
- I am in favor of creating a better health care program, affordable to all, less costly to those of us who have health insurance, and one in which we can chose our own doctors.
- I want one which recognizes the needs of those who can't get health insurance, those who want it but can't afford it, and I want America to become the number one country in regards to major health issues. Right now, unfortunately, we are not.
- I want the insurance industry to do the right thing by us, we, the American people, so that we get the best deal possible, but don't strangle creativity, medical advances or our place as amongst the top medical pioneers in the world. But government either in bed with the Insurance industry, (as it seems it was with banking) or over-regulating it, is not the answer. Some of these changes must come from within.
America is far behind a lot of nations in life expectancy, We are 37th in over all health coverage. We are at the top in cost to individuals for health coverage. We are far behind in taking care of people who have the most serious illnesses. In short, health care in general here could use a very extensive makeover. We pay too much, get too little, and live shorter lives when compared to people in other industrial nations.
This is not right, this is not just. Right now there is a huge disagreement about how and whether we should overhaul our insurance industry as well. I hold no illusions that the insurance industry is not out there to make a profit. That is the nature of business. Without profit we would have no advances, so reasonable profit does not bother me. But they seldom, if ever, keep it that simple.
But the key word in my mind remains "reasonable". Should any business be regulated to the point that the profit margin is deemed reasonable, and by whom will that decision be made? Internally, most businesses will not make choices in my or your best interests. But will government have enough savvy and understanding to make intelligent choices? Or, as some say, should government be involved at all? And what happens when the "other side" takes over COngress? Yet another drastic change to the laws? That is another can of worms we could open if we go too far to one side or the other. And indeed, this argument is like a rough diamond, with many possible facets to it. One false cut will ruin it, but the right cuts will make it a thing of beauty, a thing to be admired. Amreica could have a health care system that is the Hope Diamond of all health care insurances.
The recent controversy about town hall meetings has caused me to begin to think about the problem of health in this nation in some depth. I am between a condemnation of anyone who would disrupt Democracy to promote an agenda possibly put forward by the insurance industries, but I am also realizing that some of the most upset people are there because they are citizens and that they have the right to express their opinions. How they do that needs to be covered under the rules for a town hall meeting, but I am not in favor of stifling any citizen's right to free speech. But as the Supreme Court said, shouting "Fire!" in a crowded theater is not freedom of speech.
So just how do we make sure that these meetings about the extremely important issue of health care are able to function? And how do we make sure that what people are being told is true? I believe that first we must examine the facts. Here, in an attempt to make the best effort to do just that, I will try to mention what is, and what is not in some of the bills that are or may soon be before Congress.
One method would be for people to take part in the meetings, as Claire McCaskal did in one of her town hall meetings. Write the answers, listen respectfully to the replies, and then ask questions. But some of the shouting and finger pointing, the immediate refutation of answers given by the congress person, does not further debate. it only acts to show that people already have their minds made up and are not willing to look at the wider issue of whether or not they might be wrong, might have been fed a bunch of bologna by corporate interests. This I can't say always happens, but there is some evidence out there which suggests it may be true - big business, which has billions if not trillions of dollars of interest in this matter, is fighting back by telling falsehoods to people in order to squash the health care reform.
Both sides in this matter owe it to us, to all of us. to discover the truth. If the truth backs up one side of an argument, then sobeit. But we all must be willing to consider that we do not have all the facts, or that some ideas floated as facts may not be true. This is why I am looking very carefully at the Dem proposals out there, and the ideas floated by the GOP, to see if some might work. For example, I like the GOP idea that health coverage be available across state lines. I also like health co-ops, although I am not certain if any party can claim that as its own issue.
In compromise there is victory. I was told that at an early age. Our government works best when ideology is set aside and issues are decided by what is best for the country, and if we are to believe our Constitution, the We, the People, are the country!
OK, time for you to pipe up and tell me what your ideas are. I'd really like to keep this civil and to the point. Please do not tell me what you think the other side is doing wrong, (I already read a lot on THAT subject!) just tell me what you think should be done and why. If you favor GOP ideas or Democrat ideas, tell me why.
Do you want health care reform in the United states?
See results without votingWho do you think has the best idea for health care reform?
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Hello Chef! I read your hub and a few questions came to mind. Hope I didn't skip over your opinion on them.
1. Medicare is a government health care program. Does it work? I am asking this seriously as I do not have experience with it.
2. Small firms:
• Represent 99.7 percent of all employer fi rms.
• Employ about half of all private sector employees.
• Pay nearly 45 percent of total U.S. private payroll.
• Have generated 60 to 80 percent of net new jobs annually
over the last decade.
Yet the cost of health care for this sector is out of reach- I know this first hand. Obama's comment that small businesses "are forced to offer less generous health care plans, dropped coverage or shut their doors because they cannot afford the rising cost of care" is completely true in our experience and that of our friends.
Storytellersus, I've been eligible for Medicare for longer than I care to admit. It's not perfect, but it works quite well in my experience. The problem with Medicare is that it is not adequately funded and costs the taxpayers more every year. Hopefully, the bill that ultimately comes out of Congress will have some effective provisions to control costs and to fund the Medicare program.
Your comment sounds like a flier from the health care insurance industry or the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Small firms, depending on how you define small firms, may represent 99 percent of all firms, but they don't come close to employing even the majority of employees in this country. Most employees who have health insurance get it from their employers. If the cost of health care "for this sector were out of reach," there would be many more than 40 million people without health care coverage. Many if not most people who work for small employers do have some kind of health care coverage. However, many of them find that the coverage is inadequate and getting the insurance companies to pay their bills is like pulling teeth. The figures you cite just don't add up, in my opinion.
Another serious problem with the system is that people who lose their jobs or change jobs and who have a health problem often cannot get health insurance at all. This is a problem that probably be dealt with if a reform proposal is adopted.
As Obama and virtually all people knowledgeable about health care have pointed out, continuing the present system under which health care costs are skyrocketing is not a feasible alternative because in 10 or 20 years nobody except the rich will be able to afford health care insurance.
Apologies for my butting in. Your question was directed to Chef Jeff.
Ralph, I don't mind you butting in, but CJ might. I doubt it though. He seems like an accommodating guy. The figures I quoted for Small Business were from the SBA, sorry. I figured that would be obvious. I wanted to get some accurate figures because my own experience isn't enough to make a larger point. http://www.sba.gov/advo/stats/sbfaq.pdf
My husband was laid off due to a merger this year. I spent a serious month trying to find something affordable in the health insurance field. I applied for five different plans over that period and each member of my family was rejected by one or more of the plans for ridiculous reasons, i.e., my son went to a skin doctor to figure out what to do with his eczema; my daughter dances and had a toenail removed because she forgot her pointe shoe spacer and messed up her toenail one day; my husband was using a mild dose of what turned out to be a cancer drug to help his scabbed up hands- the doc who prescribed this is a professor at Unv of Co Medical Center and was furious by the insurance assessment.
Finally we found an HSA that allows us to pay $850/month in order to cover the first $5800 of annual costs before they pay anything at all. My youngest daughter had an appendicitis scare last month and the emergency room did a cat scan. We now owe $4500 to the emergency room and they couldn't even figure out what was wrong with her. And my husband-- though hopefully creating a new company for himself by September which will benefit others by generating new employment-- is expected to pay both the $850/month and the $4500 while unemployed.
I am telling you all of this because yes, some of the small business people do have health insurance. Insurance like what I am describing. They cannot take advantage of the numbers represented by larger corporations and buy themselves adequate insurance because economies of scale do not work for small businesses.
And yet these are the people who create the ideas that become big businesses-- if they are strong and funded enough to survive. Small businesses are the life blood of the working world. These are the innovators and the motivators and the wildcatters and the fast movers and the ones who take the leaps. The risk takers-- who wind up either rich... or crazy, I suppose.
The bail outs and the benefits go once again to the Corporate Presidents who lay off the "little guy" as inefficient and irrelevant. Small businesses try their hardest to retain their employees as long as possible because these are their neighbors and friends. Whatever.
Well, I think we will get some improved regulation of health care insurance companies. I think most of them are parasites who perform no useful function, or at least no necessary function. I would like to see them taken out of the picture entirely or at very least strictly regulated and forced to accept everyone. If you talk to doctors they will tell you tht they waste an incredible amount of time negotiating approvals or payments for their patients from insurance companies who promise a lot but deliver much less. This adds a lot of unnecessary cost to health care.
Also, for profit hospitals and doctors are spreading across the country. When the doctors own the labs, and hospitals and diagnostic equipment they order a lot more tests and procedures, and the excess cost is very hard to control.
I had my eyes checked recently by an ophthalmologist who also sold glasses, and I was subjected to very high pressure tactics to buy expensive frames and glasses. And I practically had to pry the prescription out of them so that I could get glasses at Costco or WalMart or some less expensive place.
There are plenty of things wrong with our health care system which will be very hard to correct. No simple, easy politically feasible answers.
Yes, but if the political system doesn't attack it, who will?
No worries about answering the questions "for me", my friends! I take all comments and learn from them and sometimes other have better answers than do I.
As for the last comment, "Yes, but if the political system doesn't attack it, who will?" can't We, the People take back health care reform and make it the way it would be best for us, all of us, without having to get politicians involved?
One reason we don't, I think, is because when we have insurance they handle so much of the bill. We are actually isolated fromthe pain of paying directly. We pay through premiums, but not directly. Or at least, we think that is the case.
So we think we are getting off free, because the doctors/ hospitals charge the companies, then the companies pay, and it all seems to nice and neat. Of course, behind the scenes the doctors over charge, the insurance companies pass along the excess charges to - guess who! To us!
In the end, because we are blind to this smoke and mirrors game and we think everything is just fine, and thus we are satisfied with our health coverage, never knowing that we could do better, much better, just by being better informed customers of the system!
My dad was in the hospital many times and they always did tests that weren't even related to his condition, and then charged his insurance. His attitude was that the company paid for it, so he wasn't concerned, but I saw that his bills included charges for things he had never received! And if this is one case, how many others are out there? I am certain my dad's case was not an isolated incident.
Ant other observations of this kind of overcharging out there? If so, pipe up! I want to hear from you!
Hospitals have several different schemes for charging patients--the rate they charge health insurance companies, the rate they charge uninsured patients, the rate for which they are reimbursed by Medicare. Guess which one is the highest?
"Ten Steps to Better Health Care" by some serious, honest, knowledgeable people who actually know something about health care--
Good blog Chef Jeff, and thanks Ralph for the link. That was an enlightening article. Seems a bit rational rationing is actually in order.
Hey Chef, I have been sidetracked as I work to advertise my nephew's 8000 mile bike trip for prostate cancer. My brother is one of your biggest fans. I hope you check out my hub about his son. I think David will even be in your area... it would mean a lot to Craig, anyway.
So yesterday my husband told me in a teasing way that Obama is considering a Republican plan. I think he forgets I am an Independent, not a Democrat. I am thrilled when the best plan wins, no matter who introduces it. When something inside me is broken, I don't care about the politics of the person fixing it just as I don't care about the politics of my auto mechanic or my vet or the person who bags my groceries. Get the job done, is my plea!!!
This is more like an informed discussion. My two bits... we've swung to far in the direction of greed, unethical business practices, deregulation, and so on... Government intervention is inevitable. Let's hope then we don't go careening off the other direction into the pile of government redtape that has plagued us before.
Storytellersrus, WOW! I have a fan club! I live outside of Chicago, contact me on the private email and I'll see if we'll be close when he comes to this area.
Thanks! Cheers!
Chef Jeff
Ralph Deeds Level 6 Commenter 2 years ago
Good analysis. We're pretty much on the same wavelength.