I had a little brother when I was growing up that delighted in building on all my fears. We don't talk anymore because I got tired of being belittled all the time but I think he must have grown up to be a Republican.
Hey, we are all scared of the unknown whether we admit it or not. When we are kids it is the beast under the bed or the monster in the closet at night. Hey, sometimes my closet still scares me. When we grow up and become adults we are scared of the unknown like where the money is coming for the car insurance payment. Or, heaven forbid, the car needing major repairs. Or needing major repairs ourselves.
And those opposed to medical insurance reform are praying on those fears like my brother did when I was a kid. They are telling us all sorts of horrible things about the monster in the closet. Stephen King in his non-fiction look at horror films and fiction - Danse Macabre - explains that the monster we cannot see is always more scary than the monster we can. And who can "see" all the details of their medical insurance or what horrible illness might lead to them confronting it.
We are told that the health care system we have at the moment is the best in the world. Wrong. We are actually about 49th or so. Though we lead in costs for that system. And only the haves can afford it. We are told that if Obama's system goes into effect there will be government panels telling the sick they cannot get coverage. And that is different from your HMO refusing to cover your latest bill how?
I just went through this with a friend. He ended up having half his foot amputated because the infection ran wild while his insurance company debated the costs of prescriptions doctors wanted to stem the spread of the bone eating bacteria he most likely picked up in a hospital being treated for pneumonia. And yet Republican Senators and Congressman with the best medical coverage in this country want you to believe Obama will ruin yours. Sarah Palin, who does not read any major papers, claims the plan includes "death panels" (tell me again why it is we listen to this woman to begin with).
The loyal opposition has us running scared like when we were kids cowering in the bed under the covers. But that is nothing new. They did that for the eight years of the Bush administration only then the monster was 9/11. They invoked its name everytime the polls showed lack of support for some new democracy crushing measure.
So get out from under the covers and turn on the light and open that closet door. Call your insurance company (if you have one) and ask if they approve hospice care. Ask if you need to purchase supplemental insurance to cover cancer treatment. Check on their "approval" process for "extreme" measures. And ask who owns them. (It could be the same people that have owned all your other insurance companies.) Hey, get a definition from them about what they consider extreme. I am betting you won't like their answers.
Could it be that our current health care system is the monster in the closet? The one we refuse to confront while whistling in the dark.
My dear Jacqui, I think you have fallen into a trap. Many of those speaking against the Pelosi bill are not opposed to health care reform, in fact we crave it. We are opposed to giving the government the ability to access our bank accounts and withdraw data (yes, it's in there, I checked), requirements to buy policies with yet-undecided details (I checked that out, too) and other onerous provisions.
ReplyDeleteIt's not that we are opposed to reform. I, at least, just don't want this reform. Now, throw in tort reform so we can stop wasting so much money on defensive medicine, limit coverage to those legally here, replace the government run bureaucracy with co-ops (as is the big news today Aug 16th) and you may be getting toward reform we can all support (except trial lawyers).
Here is a great blog post on the topic: http://hooversworld.com/archives/3080 His analysis is strong and an easy read. No anger. No fear-mongering.
ReplyDeleteParticularly check out the link where he points to John Mackey article about health care (Mackey runs Whole Foods). Mackey has thought this through and put it into action at his company. Well worth the read.
Thanks for the link. I will give it a read. As to the government accessing all our information if they take over health care - so what? All the private insurance companies already do. You have no secrets.
ReplyDeleteWhen AIDS first hit the news I was alarmed because I had previous had an an affair with a man that later revealed his desire to be totally gay. He had health issues and called me to warn me I should get a blood test.
I went to my doctor and he told me he would not agree to do it because it would be on my records for the rest of my life. He suggested a free clinic that went with numbers and not names. Fortunately for both me and my friend it was negative.
Decades later following my head injury on the ski slopes I remembered what this doctor said and decided to be honest about a previous concussion going through a windshield. Not record of that even though it was covered by an auto insurance claim.
Finally got an opinion that makes sense on this record keeping - yes, they do keep records. No, they cannot easily access them because everyone uses a different computer program. And nobody had done anything with paper records.
And it is not just tort reform. Though to be frank with you I think that does keep bad doctors honest and is our only way to get them out of practice. It is that hospitals and doctors charge 20% more than they know the insurance companies will pay. Something is wrong when a particular prescription here is $2000 and in Canada the same scrip is $200. Or that I can fly to Thailand and have my shoulder rebuilt to state of the art for less than the co-pay here.
Medical systems and insurance companies already share a great deal of information as a result of HL7 data standardization. It is only a matter of time before your record truly is accessible to any doctor, hospital, or insurance company anywhere in the country. Privacy issues have slowed the progress only a little. New software programs are adopting HL7 standards as old systems are phased out. It is already the standard for communications between health providers, insurance companies, and public health entities.
ReplyDeleteAnd when universal sharing of patient data becomes a reality, every software company wants to be ready for it.
Very interesting blog Jacqui.
ReplyDeleteEvery Government that comes in to power here demands that the medicare system be overhauled and it never is.
Interestingly there is talk at this time for our records going into one big data base that can be accessed by any hospital or doctors surgery..not sure how I feel about that issue.
So many problems with the current system..
some of the better drugs only afforded by those with private cover
the aged,those with disabilities, pensioners and anyone else without private cover on huge waiting lists for appointments
no available beds in hospitals
horror stories of emergencies being turned away from hospital doors.
Medical staff under pressure
No doctors in country towns
just to name a few.
...and still the government "talks"