Health Insurance Offer
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Mary, I don’t trust the same government that runs the DMV, Post Office, and Cash for Clunkers to efficiently run a health care system
Medicaid and Medicare don’t reimburse providers for the real costs of care, and Medicare forces people to purchase supplemental insurance anyway. Both programs bleed cash from the US Treasury. There is no reason to doubt that a new government run health care system would be any different. In fact, the Congressional Budget Office says that it will cost money, and lots of it, and won’t save any money. We already know that cholangiocarcinoma is not a cancer that can be really caught in its early stages, except by accident. We don’t have enough CT machines and MRI machines in this country to screen every single person once a year – and that it what it would take to catch some cancers early.BC/BS has not yet denied any procedure or medication for me. Yes, I am concerned about what to do between when Medicaid kicks in and BC/BS runs out. But I’ll cross that road when I come to it. Should we upend the entire health care system based on those cases that slip through the cracks? Or should we address the cracks in the system, like the gap between COBRA and Medicaid?
My relatives are Canadian, and they tell me of the wait times that they have for procedures. It’s ridiculous. My aunt had a very painful foot condition, and had to wait 9 months for surgery. My other aunt had breast cancer and had to wait three months for surgery.
This is a link to the official Canadian gov’t agency for wait times for surgery:
http://www.health.gov.on.ca/transformation/wait_times/public/wt_public_mn.htmlAlso, the death rates from cancer in Canada and the UK are greater than they are here.
I think we do need insurance reform, especially tort reform, but I don’t think we need socialized medicine.
I think we have a respectful disagreement here…
Lisa
Lisa,
I think your fears are overblown re: the Gov’t paying and the reform bill in general. It will actually force companies to cover people regardless of their medical condition. Too often they drop people in the middle of serious illnesses that cost them too much-I’ve never heard of any gov’t programs doing that. Also, we already deal with rationing by insurance conmpanies now. All you have to do is read on here about the experiences of many of our friends. The private insurers really pick and choose who is going to live and who will die by denying coverage and calling life saving treatments “experimental”. I honestly don’t think things will be any different as far as coverage. I think it will actually be better because they will push for more preventative care and people may actually catch cancer and other diseases in the early stages. I’m sure you will be helped by it. COBRA really is a sad joke for most people and it will only be in effect for 18 months. What will you do from that period until you can be on Medicare? You have to wait 29 months from the day you received disability status until you are eligible for Medicare. I hope you get things figured out. I would turn the TV off because a lot of what you hear is just not true. We went to a small gathering with our Congressman the other day and he explained it very well. Take care, MaryI am very conflicted on the proposed health care reform.
COBRA payments and medical co-payments are making it impossible for me to keep my home. I just found out that my plan changed so that I have a $120 co-pay every time I get an infusion. It’s horrible to have financial stress when you are dealing with terminal cancer.
But on the other hand, as Jamie said, the new system would have to enforce rationing, and who would be the first ones to be rationed? The elderly and people like us with an incurable cancer diagnosis. There would be no incentive to keep people like us alive when we cost the gov’t so much money.
I agree that those of us in favor of health care reform have all been touched in one way or another by these battles and short comings. I think everyone that is pro private health insurance needs to read this. I had the opportunity to talk to someone who worked for BCBS which at one time was consider one of the best health insurers and was told much of the same as what was stated in that article along with a lot more on how they got away with not paying for things that should have been covered, etc. He, in all good conscience, could not continue working for them as these practices continued to escalate. His current employment does not generate the income he had before, but atleast he is happy and can sleep nights knowing he is not a part of all that deceit.
Darla
I thought I would resurrect this thread since I have been reading online about the health care debate and found this:
http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/07102009/potter_testimony.html
After doing some reading, I think what is abundantly clear is that many people who are in favor of health care reform have had to battle an insurance company, either for themselves or on behalf of a family member or friend and have seen the shortcomings of our system firsthand.
On the other side, there are many who say, I have coverage, why should I pay for other people? What they don’t realize is that they can lose their coverage at any time and that we are already paying for other people. If they are laid off, they will be forced to pay COBRA just when they lose a paycheck, does that make any sense? Or many, like Jamie, use up savings to pay for what insurance does not cover. Insurance is great when you are sick, just don’t get too sick!
I think this is particularly important for cc patients because many of the treatment options are expensive and/or experimental.
Patty
Kristin wrote:I’ll believe it when I see it, that’s all I have to say…My husband and I are among the unlucky 7% that have to buy their own insurance. We’re just fortunate to live in a state that won’t let insurance companies drop you if you get sick.
Kristin
Kristin;
My husband and I are in the same group as you. We have to buy our own individual policy. In the 18 months since I first went to the doctor I have had over 30K in out of pocket expenses not including the monthly premium. We just got informed they are raising out out of pocket and the monthly premium. My husband found out that we have no options because we cant change policies. If we change they can cancel our policy. I feel that they are just waiting for us to be late with a payment so they can cancel us. At times I worry what I am doing to my family financially. But I also worry that if we go to some sort of mandatory insurance that it will be rationed and those of us with cc will be deemed not worth the cost of treatment because of poor prognosis/statistics and may be denied some/any treatments.
JamieIn the letter, the two insurance industry groups said their members are willing to “phase out the practice of varying premiums based on health status in the individual market” if all Americans are required to get coverage. Although the letter left open some loopholes, it was still seen as a major development.
Sounds like they want to force everyone to purchase health insurance, just like your auto insurance. Need a Dr. and don’t have insurance, get a what, ticket??? So many people can not afford food, how do the expect them to purchase insurance for their health? This is not a good time to try and force this issue.
I’ll believe it when I see it, that’s all I have to say…
My husband and I are among the unlucky 7% that have to buy their own insurance. We’re just fortunate to live in a state that won’t let insurance companies drop you if you get sick.
Kristin
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