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Too Many Bean Counters = Prolonged Suffering
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The reasons I support HR 676 and the creation of a single-payer, not-for-profit, universal healthcare program for the United States would run many paragraphs if I tried to list all of them. However, at the very top is the fact that our current system is killing people. Nationwide, we lose thousands of Americans and leave otherwise happy children orphans every year because what passes for a medical safety net in the United States is broken, fundamentally flawed.
In my campaign, the need for universal healthcare trumps all others because the service-based economy of Central Florida employs tens of thousands of workers without benefits. These people keep the tourism capital of the world running like a clock but often find themselves on their own when they take ill. This is one of the reasons why the Sunshine State leads the nation in mortgage foreclosures.
A healthy workforce equals a healthy economy. The current system is fraught with gaping holes. Not only do many people die or spiral into bankruptcy because they don’t have access to affordable healthcare but when those workers without benefits become so ill that they are forced to visit the emergency room, the treatment they undergo often is much more expensive and longer-lasting than if they had seen a doctor regularly for preventive care. In the end, these people live to work instead of the other way around, as it should be.
How did the problem become so bad? Why is HR 676 the best choice when we have competing plans from so many different presidential candidates? I have not endorsed one candidate over another but Congressman Dennis Kucinich is correct in his unwavering support of single-payer, not-for-profit universal healthcare. All other versions are half-measures.
What some of our opponents on the right like to do is frighten people with the notion that extending Medicare to everyone who wants it will eliminate private insurance. Not so! If you have Aetna or Blue Cross or some other private insurance and are happy with it, why change? HR 676 would not force you to do anything of the kind. What it would do, though, is make it possible for people on the other end of the stick, either with no insurance or a plan which does not suit their needs, to upgrade.
The situation with my wife is a perfect example of why we need a single-payer, not-for-profit system. Catrin has suffered from fibromyalgia for a long time. It affects many of her joints, especially in her lower extremities. Our HMO knows this. She has been to see MULTIPLE specialists over the years with no cure found. Until recently, the status quo she found with anti-inflammatory drug therapy and extended bed rest made her condition manageable. Then, the whole situation changed.
Catrin developed excruciating pain in her knees. Increasing the dosage of her anti-inflammatory medicine and pain killers had little effect. Finally, she went to our primary care physician.
His diagnosis? She may have water on the knee.
His prescription? Given her level of pain and the tremendous swelling of the surrounding tissue, she needs an MRI.
The doctor issued the appropriate orders and the imaging center was contacted in order to schedule an appointment.
The soonest time the MRI facility could see my wife was 3 weeks away. Our insurance left us few alternatives so Catrin decided to tough it out. Then, yesterday, the day before she was scheduled to have the exam, the facility called to inform us that the appointment was canceled because our insurance would not pay for the scan. They wanted her to see a specialist and try more drugs and physical therapy.
That is exactly what she has been doing for 3 years with little to show for it and the insurance company knows it!
HR 676 would give us the option in a case like my wife's to secure the scan anyway because our doctor believes it to be medically necessary. Under the current situation, a bean counter who neither has met my wife nor examined her knees has decided that her doctor is wrong.
Tell me how that is fair or makes sense!
Good morning Monica.
Well, just to make a start, let me repeat that "single payer" doesn't quite work as a concept. Maybe what we need is a health debit card. Clearly, the problem is administrative--who funds the health care account and who arranges the pay-out to the providers, who should probably be entitled to a reasonable surplus to invest in growth and replacement of facilities and equipment. It's sctually possible that the current medicare program does not make proper provision for that. Which would mean that medicare is getting a hidden subsidy.
bbl
Monica can you get a front page post ready for Dodd from the youtube videos posted on the last thread (maybe two ago now) where he addresses the Constitutional questions I asked of him on Thanksgiving? Thanks
Did you see Senator Dodd's speechs I posted at the top of the previous thread? I posted also posted one here: http://www.blogforamerica.com/view/23208...
Hi, Susan.
Needed to change browsers. The software still has a glitch that causes the wrap function to disappear in Opera whenever you use a hard return.
So, how do we address the problem of having the state submissive to religious tenets? How do we explain to the general public that this ostensible subservience is just a ploy for our representatives avoiding responsibility for their decisions? How do we explain that if they just took their direction from the people they're supposed to be representing, there would be no problem?
As regards health care, how do we make the point that the opponents of universal care are responding to the belief that the role of government is to be punitive, a corrective agent whose benefits must be reserved for the deserving? Does Hillary's assertion that every American deserves to be healthy hold up logically? I don't think so. As soon as you consider an issue in terms of "deserts" there's an implication that the undeserved will not be delivered. An entitlement by virtue of being a person within the jurisdiction of the Constitution (which is, after all, the defining criterion) is very different in that there is only one condition that has to be met--the physical presence of a person in a particular place--i.e. a condition that is totally neutral as to the behavior or character of the person.
In that sense, the health care being provided to the detainees at Guantanamo is entirely consistent with the Constitution and Michael Moore's question is entirely on point. Why are persons who are being detained illegally entitled to medical care that's being denied to all Americans? Is it merely an effort to mitigate the wrong that's being done?
OK, Phil. Will have a look to see where they are.
I'm sympathetic to the notion of professional pain management right now, but like most Americans with health insurance, I mostly see the problem as one of cost as the price of my premiums are higher than the total cost of health care divided by the number of citizens. and I suspect beyond that some of my general taxes go to pay for others, my input costs for everything I buy are extra high because of the hidden cost of say retiree health benefits and on and on. This is a very big issue for the health of our global competitiveness as well as back down to the human level.
clearly it is a health care management for profit problem of siphoning off of funds that should be going for care
to stop cost shifting there does have to be truly universal care and massive pools to share the risk
if one of the plans is the government plan and the opportunity exists for buy in let competition with what should be the lowest cost pool begin
I like John Edwards plan, but others work for me too. Who can get elected and deliver matters as well.
Diet is a key component to good health and the Ag Bill hasn't been passed yet with all of it's feeding programs. The gang of Republican obtructionists in the Senate is hellbent on destroying our government.
and if they got the Energy Bill signed doing away with all the subsidies they could do away with those subsidies in the ag bill which are necessary to protect against unfair practices by Big Oil
Phil, do you mean the Iowa Council on foreign relations speech? It's forty-eight minutes long. Perhaps I need to excerpt some portions as a transcript. That will take a while. He talks so fast. LOL
I think I'll entitle it "Keeping faith with our values."
9. I think Phil the issue is the conviction that government is supposed to be punitive and only the deserving get any benefits. How does a person become deserving? By being totally subservient. In other words, one has to give up one's freedom. But, they don't see it that way because in their world view, "freedom is obedience"
Man's destiny is to be exterminated, to expect that life will be brutish and short, unless he complies with social directives. I suspect this is an outgrowth of the primitive male's perception of off-spring as competitors for his resources and access to the female. Their submissive behavior "earns" them a chance to survive. It's definitely not the primitive female's perception since the off-spring is more likely to be seen as an extension of herself.
To a large extent, those who posit a divine origin of the law which demands subservience are trying to put a "better face" on it, so to speak.
Stated bluntly that humans must be subservient to survive, the principle is not likely to gain much traction. So, it's been reformulated as "humans must be obedient in order to be saved."
Free will is out the window. Which is really an insult to the Creator. After all, man was given free will so that obedience to the Creator could be freely chosen. If obedience is requisite to survival, then it's no longer a free choice.
...
12/7/2007)
Friday on The Ed Schultz Show!
We’re broadcasting live with 1490 KBUR from the Burlington, Iowa library.
Sen. Chris Dodd joins us to talk about his run for President.
Sen. Tom Harkin checks in with us and Gov. Tim Kaine joins us to talk about why he’s supporting Barack Obama.
...
Caller to the mortgage crisis hotline: "Hello, is the mortgage crisis hotline ?"
Answerer: "No, you're calling the freaking wrong phone number ! I've had it with all these wrong calls coming into me ! You're all giving me a crisis !" :
http://wcbstv.com/business/mortgage.relief.plan.2.603853.html
...
Mr. Bush said he had a message for every home owner: "The best you can for your family is to call 1-800-995-HOPE," a counseling hotline to get information on the FHA Secure mortgages.
Shortly afterwards, the White House Press Office announced that the phone number Mr. Bush read was wrong. The real number is 1-888-995-HOPE.
Can anybdy here work for Ashton Torres, to fill her tomorrow shift at the Target store in Altoona, Iowa ? :
Demand soars for Oprah Winfrey's Barack Obama campaign ralliesBY HELEN KENNEDY
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
Friday, December 7th 2007, 2:21 AM
...
Tens of thousands of free tickets to Obama's Oprah-palooza rallies, two in Iowa tomorrow and one each in New Hampshire and South Carolina Sunday, were snapped up in hours.
"I'm so totally pumped! It's Oprah! Coming here!" said Ashton Torres, 18, who was desperately seeking someone to work her Saturday shift at the Altoona Target so she could see her idol.
In Columbia, S.C, demand was so intense the campaign moved the rally from an 18,000-seat basketball arena to an 80,000-seat football stadium.
...
But Winfrey, who has transcended the realm of celebrity to become a quasi-spiritual leader to her mostly female audience, might be in a position to actually sway votes.
The Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, a think tank on black issues, found many black voters aren't embracing Obama because they doubt America would elect a black President.
That's where Winfrey, with her follow-your-dreams empowerment message, comes in.
A November poll by the religious issues Website Beliefnet found 33% of respondents said Winfrey has had "a more profound impact" on their spiritual lives than their own clergymen.
The power of Winfrey's commercial endorsements is legendary. When she praised "Anna Karenina" in 2004, Tolstoy shot to the top of the bestseller list 94 years after his death. When she worried on air about mad cow disease, beef prices tanked.
Kathryn Lofton, an Indiana University religion professor who has written about Winfrey, said Winfrey is the ideal spokesman for Obama. Their parallels go beyond their shared status as post-racial figures who appeal to blacks and whites alike.
...
bloggie is broken again
please post rss links like in 15 carefully as my blog loads fine up until 15 link then hangs up the loading
might be my security software objecting to embedded popups or something
17.
Phil -
Huh ?
That hanging you're talking about was there when I came on this morning to this blog, before my three posts, when there was just 12 posts.
Vote for Dodd. He's temperate. I like this much better than the vanilla Vilsack for president campaign.
Suicide Bomber Kills 15 in Iraq
By CARA BUCKLEY
Published: December 8, 2007
BAGHDAD, Dec. 7 — Fifteen people were killed and 20 wounded in the tumultuous Iraqi province of Diyala today, northeast of Baghdad, when a suicide attacker detonated a bomb near the headquarters of a local committee of former insurgents that has been working with American forces.
-----
As the political QUAGMIRE shows no signs of improvement, the ever elusive guerrilla forces continues to strike.
And yet, despite the Iraqi govenment meeting a pathetic 3 out of 18 benchmarks desperately needed for political reconciliation, Republican lawmakers seem content to continue throwing 12 BILLION dollars a month down the can there while MILLIONS of American children lack needed healthcare coverage.
An idea that I've been proposing for years now is to put pressure on the Iraqi govenment by publicly submitting a withdrawal timeline with concrete dates. I would argue that this is the only plan that hasn't been explored yet, but is the last best hope to motivate the Iraqi government in getting this legislation needed for political reconciliation passed. I think its safe to argue that this minimal troop surge has failed to bring the Iraqi government together. So, we have one option left....a public announcement that we are withdrawing from Iraq.
In addition to getting the Iraqi government in gear, this plan could save the US Army from destruction and, quite possibly, give hope to that other mess to the east, Afghanistan.
I've read alot of health care options from the different campaigns. Kind of confusing. But I don't like the idea of a mandate. I just don't think it would work. I don't think everyone would be covered as claimed, as not all would sign up. Plus I believe insurance costs would rise. This editorial saids it better than I.
Don't get sidetracked by the mandate debate
Government mandates have been used to force people to buy auto insurance, immunize their children, pay child support and pay workers a minimum wage. But compliance rates, according to the journal Health Affairs, are far from universal; just 77 to 85 percent for immunization and 30 percent for child support. Some studies have found that despite mandates, about 20 percent of people still don't buy auto insurance, which is why the rest have to pay extra to guard against uninsured motorists.
Edwards's plan would catch people who aren't enrolled when they pay the income tax or when they get health care. That might work, but it won't be cheap. About one-quarter of the nation's 47 million uninsured are baby boomers who are heading into their most costly health care years.
As for Clinton, it's easy to see why she hasn't been specific about how her plan would punish people who ignore the mandate. Far better that that particular club be crafted by a bipartisan team in Congress. But it's hard to see how Clinton or Edwards can describe their plans as covering everyone. Mandates, as their track record has proven, fall far short of guaranteeing universal participation.
http://www.concordmonitor.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071207/OPINION/712070340/1270/NEWS97
whatever the problem the blog is hanging up
Monica wrote "If obedience is requisite to survival, then it's no longer a free choice."
Ha ha. True, unless you exercise your free will not to survive. I suppose it would have to be for the principle of the thing.
rae
In Edwards plan you must enroll to get health care so the only ones avoiding his system never access it.
It is truly universal. As is the Kucinich single payer.
LZ XRAY
Fri, 12/07/07
8:40 am
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
To me there is no shame in simply telling the troops, "the war is lost....go home to your families".................
It would make them better citizens/soldiers............and the US a wiser country. A lesson that we must vow never to repeat..................
Ha ha. True, unless you exercise your free will not to survive. I suppose it would have to be for the principle of the thing
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
you first Tom lol
The war could never be won or lost by Americans only Iraqis. I'd prefer they declare victory and come home.
Phil wrote "you first Tom lol"
Ha ha. I'm going to respectfully decline. That would be a little too existential for my personal belief system.
20.
Well, speaking of "vanilla" and in honor of this blog dragging and hanging this morning, I give you a song that I think speaks to all of us about our relationship with this BFA blog ("for better or worse, in sickness and in health...") ....
... The Vanilla Fudge's "You Keep Me Hangin' On":
http://music.yahoo.com/Vanilla-Fudge/You-Keep-Me-Hangin'-On/lyrics/867146#lyricstop
http://www.seeklyrics.com/lyrics/Vanilla-Fudge/You-Keep-Me-Hangin-On.html
Set me free why don’t cha babe
Get out of my life why don’t cha babe
You don’t really need me
But you keep me hangin’on
Why do you keep a comin’ around
Playing with my heart
Why don’t cha get out of my life
And let me make a brand new start
Let me get over you
The way you’ve gotten over me yeah
You say although we broke up
You still just wanna be friends
But how can we still be friends
When seeing you only breaks my heart again
Get out, get out of my life
And let me sleep at night
’cos you don’t really love me
You just keep me hangin’on
You say you still care for me
But your heart and soul needs to be free
And now that you’ve got your freedom
You wanna still hold on to me
You don’t want me for yourself
So let me find somebody else
Why don’t cha be a man about it and set me free
Now you don’t care a thing about me
You’re just using me - hey, abusing me
Get out, get out of my life
...
Thanks rdorgan (sorry I blamed you, maybe it was me dragging around some baggage with my cookies) great song
The picture of the Doctor in the main post might be the hangup.
I'm opting for the Supreme's snappier original version of Keep Me Hanging On over the Fudge's less effervescent cover.
Phil,
That is what I disagree with, I don't think you should have to enroll to get health care. Also it does not cover everyone as claimed. This is just my opinion.
new thread
and I want Howard to stay first so how about we acknowledge how we got here on our first post so Howard stays on top no matter what the blog clock dictates
Edwards plan does cover everyone. Mental health parity too. Could the Omaha shootings been prevented?
WE DON'T ENGAGE IN TORTURE!
And now you can't prove otherwise......
CIA destroys interrogation tapesUS officials have admitted to destroying videotapes of agents "harshly" interrogating suspected terrorists because keeping the footage was "a security risk".
Edwards plan does cover everyone. Mental health parity too. Could the Omaha shootings been prevented?
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By Monica Smith on Dec 7, 2007 4:51 AM ESTDean is first.
Health care is a good topic. If we can stay on topic :)