The debate about health care reform is not, or more correctly stated, shouldn't be a Democrat or Republican issue. It's about fixing a problem, a problem that is tilted completely in favor of giant for profit corporations. I'm all in favor of profits, with a clear understanding that's the fuel that keeps commerce flowing. Having said that, I also understand there must be boundaries. A corporation shouldn't be allowed to make profits by intentionally misrepresenting their product, or delivering a product that causes harm. That's not political, it's just common sense.
Our current health care system is totally controlled by a limited number of very large corporations. In their quest for profits there are two things they must do to maximize their efforts. First, they must be highly skilled marketers. They need customers, those that pay premiums on a monthly basis, and they need large numbers of them. Secondly, they must pay out less than they take in. Again, that's common sense and reasonable, but the table starts to tilt at this point. These public corporations are expected to meet expectations set by Wall Street, and it's a relentless pressure on their executives year in and year out to keep their stock prices at an optimum level. These giant corporations have a vested interest in purging their roles of customers that have large claims. They make far more profit if they can just collect premiums and limit the amount of payout for actual medical expenses. It happens every day. It's been happening for years. Someone gets a catastrophic illness, or suffers a major accident, and their insurance company drops them. Do you know what your recourse is if that happens to you? Nothing, absolutely nothing. It's even worse when you consider that no other insurance company will now insure you because of the situation that caused the other insurance company to terminate your policy and coverage. You have a pre-existing condition. You're on your own. That's our current system some members of Congress and the Senate are fighting to keep for us.
Then there's another real world scenario that also happens all the time... denial of coverage. You've paid your premiums month after month, year after year, and then something happens. A major disease, an accident, some unforeseen calamity arrives and your doctors recommend a course of treatment. If it's a serious condition the treatment is likely to be expensive, at least it's expense in the United States. The U. S. health system spends a higher portion of its gross domestic product on health care than any other country in the world, but ranks 37 out of 191 countries according to its performance, which was published in a report issued by the World Health Organization. It's a common practice among health insurance corporations to deny coverage. If they can avoid outright, or at least postpone by months or years, having to pay for your expensive treatment it adds to their profit, which contributes to their stock price. They have the incentive, which is not what care is best for you, but rather what makes them more money, to deny coverage. That's our current system some members of Congress and the Senate are fighting to keep for us.
http://www.photius.com/rankings/who_...lth_ranks.html
http://www.photius.com/rankings/healthranks.html
You may have the view, "This can't happen to me." Oh yeah? What makes you so special? Why do you think an industry that engages in these practices over and over would grant you immunity when you need help the most? That's a blind faith that is totally misplaced. Haven't you read all the stories about MCI, Enron, Bernie Madoff, and legions of others? Greed won out. The money is too large, too tempting, and the pressures too enormous to expect any difference just because it's you. We've all heard the baloney claim about "death panels" in the health care reform bills being structured. If you have a burning desire to believe in "death panels", let me tell you where they really do exist. They're part of every major health insurance company in America. They're the corporate claims individuals trained in finding ways to deny coverage, or isolate individuals they need to cancel because they're now sick and filing claims. They certainly exist in that industry. If you think I've painted a false picture about the integrity and motivations of health insurance companies, then try to explain this factual record of the largest health insurance company in America... UnitedHealth Group, a part of Ingenix, a UnitedHealth subsidiary that was accused by the New York attorney general and the American Medical Association of helping insurers shift medical expenses to consumers by distributing skewed data. In January, UnitedHealth agreed to a $50 million settlement with the New York attorney general and a $350 million settlement with the AMA, covering conduct going back as far as 1994. That's our current system some members of Congress and the Senate are fighting to keep for us.
Think that's an isolated example? Here's a link to a brief video of real Americans, just like you and me. They were all customers of Cigna, the fourth largest health insurance company in America. Watch the interview with the woman who had to battle Cigna for years to get her medical records, only to find out they knew she had cancer and had known it the entire time, but didn't want to pay for her treatment.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G4TsaHmtgfA
That's our current system some members of Congress and the Senate are fighting to keep for us.
Of all the nations in the world whose citizens wear shoes, only one doesn't have a public health care system. That's us, and we only rank 37th in the world, just one notch above Slovenia, in quality of care. Of all the nations in the world with a public health care system, they all arrived at that system by making an intentional change to it. It's also fair and 100% accurate to observe, not one single nation has ever changed back, and certainly not one single nation has ever attempted to acquire the system we currently have. Not once!
So if you enjoy knowing your premiums are going to increase, you don't want a change. If you're proud to be able to chant... "WE'RE #37!" You don't want a change. If you think it's thrilling to roll the dice and know at any time your insurance company can cancel you if you get sick, you don't want a change. If you value the concept that you might be denied coverage, even if you've paid for it, you don't want a change. If you ever need to obtain insurance, but have a pre-existing condition, and think it's great all the insurance companies will decline to insure you, you don't want a change. If it seems like a swell idea to put your health care decisions in the hands of corporations that have committed frauds, then you don't want a change. If you believe the right of giant corporations to make massive profits is more valuable to you than your own health, then you don't want a change. If you think it's far more important to think like the radio dudes tell you to do, than to actually take time to figure it out yourself, then you don't want a change. If you think it's more important to make your politcal party score points, than to do something that would help you and the rest of America, then you don't want a change.
On the other hand, if you think it's time to finally fix this sorry mess, take heart, it's on the verge of really happening. For the rest of you, you'll still get to benefit from it, you can still whine about it, even while you're participating in it. But don't get too upset when the rest us, the majority, start laughing at your whines.
Our current health care system is totally controlled by a limited number of very large corporations. In their quest for profits there are two things they must do to maximize their efforts. First, they must be highly skilled marketers. They need customers, those that pay premiums on a monthly basis, and they need large numbers of them. Secondly, they must pay out less than they take in. Again, that's common sense and reasonable, but the table starts to tilt at this point. These public corporations are expected to meet expectations set by Wall Street, and it's a relentless pressure on their executives year in and year out to keep their stock prices at an optimum level. These giant corporations have a vested interest in purging their roles of customers that have large claims. They make far more profit if they can just collect premiums and limit the amount of payout for actual medical expenses. It happens every day. It's been happening for years. Someone gets a catastrophic illness, or suffers a major accident, and their insurance company drops them. Do you know what your recourse is if that happens to you? Nothing, absolutely nothing. It's even worse when you consider that no other insurance company will now insure you because of the situation that caused the other insurance company to terminate your policy and coverage. You have a pre-existing condition. You're on your own. That's our current system some members of Congress and the Senate are fighting to keep for us.
Then there's another real world scenario that also happens all the time... denial of coverage. You've paid your premiums month after month, year after year, and then something happens. A major disease, an accident, some unforeseen calamity arrives and your doctors recommend a course of treatment. If it's a serious condition the treatment is likely to be expensive, at least it's expense in the United States. The U. S. health system spends a higher portion of its gross domestic product on health care than any other country in the world, but ranks 37 out of 191 countries according to its performance, which was published in a report issued by the World Health Organization. It's a common practice among health insurance corporations to deny coverage. If they can avoid outright, or at least postpone by months or years, having to pay for your expensive treatment it adds to their profit, which contributes to their stock price. They have the incentive, which is not what care is best for you, but rather what makes them more money, to deny coverage. That's our current system some members of Congress and the Senate are fighting to keep for us.
http://www.photius.com/rankings/who_...lth_ranks.html
http://www.photius.com/rankings/healthranks.html
You may have the view, "This can't happen to me." Oh yeah? What makes you so special? Why do you think an industry that engages in these practices over and over would grant you immunity when you need help the most? That's a blind faith that is totally misplaced. Haven't you read all the stories about MCI, Enron, Bernie Madoff, and legions of others? Greed won out. The money is too large, too tempting, and the pressures too enormous to expect any difference just because it's you. We've all heard the baloney claim about "death panels" in the health care reform bills being structured. If you have a burning desire to believe in "death panels", let me tell you where they really do exist. They're part of every major health insurance company in America. They're the corporate claims individuals trained in finding ways to deny coverage, or isolate individuals they need to cancel because they're now sick and filing claims. They certainly exist in that industry. If you think I've painted a false picture about the integrity and motivations of health insurance companies, then try to explain this factual record of the largest health insurance company in America... UnitedHealth Group, a part of Ingenix, a UnitedHealth subsidiary that was accused by the New York attorney general and the American Medical Association of helping insurers shift medical expenses to consumers by distributing skewed data. In January, UnitedHealth agreed to a $50 million settlement with the New York attorney general and a $350 million settlement with the AMA, covering conduct going back as far as 1994. That's our current system some members of Congress and the Senate are fighting to keep for us.
Think that's an isolated example? Here's a link to a brief video of real Americans, just like you and me. They were all customers of Cigna, the fourth largest health insurance company in America. Watch the interview with the woman who had to battle Cigna for years to get her medical records, only to find out they knew she had cancer and had known it the entire time, but didn't want to pay for her treatment.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G4TsaHmtgfA
That's our current system some members of Congress and the Senate are fighting to keep for us.
Of all the nations in the world whose citizens wear shoes, only one doesn't have a public health care system. That's us, and we only rank 37th in the world, just one notch above Slovenia, in quality of care. Of all the nations in the world with a public health care system, they all arrived at that system by making an intentional change to it. It's also fair and 100% accurate to observe, not one single nation has ever changed back, and certainly not one single nation has ever attempted to acquire the system we currently have. Not once!
So if you enjoy knowing your premiums are going to increase, you don't want a change. If you're proud to be able to chant... "WE'RE #37!" You don't want a change. If you think it's thrilling to roll the dice and know at any time your insurance company can cancel you if you get sick, you don't want a change. If you value the concept that you might be denied coverage, even if you've paid for it, you don't want a change. If you ever need to obtain insurance, but have a pre-existing condition, and think it's great all the insurance companies will decline to insure you, you don't want a change. If it seems like a swell idea to put your health care decisions in the hands of corporations that have committed frauds, then you don't want a change. If you believe the right of giant corporations to make massive profits is more valuable to you than your own health, then you don't want a change. If you think it's far more important to think like the radio dudes tell you to do, than to actually take time to figure it out yourself, then you don't want a change. If you think it's more important to make your politcal party score points, than to do something that would help you and the rest of America, then you don't want a change.
On the other hand, if you think it's time to finally fix this sorry mess, take heart, it's on the verge of really happening. For the rest of you, you'll still get to benefit from it, you can still whine about it, even while you're participating in it. But don't get too upset when the rest us, the majority, start laughing at your whines.
![tumblr_mhp7ghh1es1s2jx30o1_1280[1].webp](https://www.houseofpolitics.com/data/attachments/12/12953-aef946d50fddad438692bc791189a16d.jpg?hash=PDrKq1nvxM "tumblr_mhp7ghh1es1s2jx30o1_1280[1].webp")
