Did I mention I love my neighborhood? Diverse, vocal, intelligent, educated, opinionated as hell, and although apparently liberal, there is a very odd thread of southern ideology that runs through the conversations. We have several medical people in the group, and we are a middle class neighborhood, so Health care, rightly, is a hot topic.
So where do we, as a family, neighborhood, society and community stand on health care? All over the map, apparently. And as educated as we all are, it is still a very emotional issue. This I have noticed in our neighborhood, and in the media. The mostly hotly debated reasons for not having a public option are deeply emotional and have very little to do with the actual topic on the table.
WE should NOT have to pay for people to have insurance when they are too lazy, drug addicted, drinking whatever to work. (meaning the welfare set). News flash. We ALREADY pay for those people. The health care debate is not about people on medicaid. It is not even about the 20% of the population that are uninsured. It is about the millions of people that have insurance, but cannot afford to go to the doctor because their deductibles or co-pays are so high.
For example - I have spent 15 of the last 20 years uninsured. My husband's new job does not offer insurance, but pays their employees a small amount to seek their own. So we now have insurance. It is only a $425/month premium. We can do that. It has a $7,500/person deductible. We are, essentially paying out of pocket for every doctor's visit. Do you really think any of us are getting routine health screenings or going to the doctor's visit for flu symptoms? We do add $300/month into the health savings account, so in approximately 2 years, if no one gets sick, or goes to a doctor, we will be able to pay our deductible if any major tragedy happens. 3 years from now, this will be a good plan, and our family will benefit from it. Then I got a job. WhoooHooo good money, good benefits, big company, Yay! The premiums for a family of 4 (my expense) is $725/mo. My co-pays are $50/visit. None of that money is mine. It all goes to insurance companies, and at that price, I won't go to the doctor anymore often, and cough up $50 on top of the $725. At least on the high deductible plan, I can take money out of the HSA if I really need to go. I would love to have a public OPTION. I might not change my insurance - but at least let me have a chance to look at something else.
WE must guard against SOCIALIZATION. it is the root of all evil. Except - we have socialized education, we have socialized protective forces (police, fire department), we have socialized road maintenance (who would not BITCH if our tax dollars did not pay for road maintenance)? We socialize things that we consider basic rights. Why is health care not a basic right? And seriously - we pay for the health needs of people all the time. Fun, scary little story from last night: Guy has leg pain. Guy has insurance, but it is expensive, and he isn't going to the doctor for something so minor. Leg pain lessens, Guy has numbness. Guy continues to work part time (company couldn't afford to keep him full time, but held onto insurance for him). Guy's retired-doctor sister gets him an appointment with a friend who is a doctor and sees him at deep discount. Guy is HOURS from losing his leg. Goes to emergency surgery at Tampa General (did I mention he is broke at this point, considered indigent, ended up losing his insurance because he could not pay for the group health insurance his company tried to hold onto for him)? Does not lose his leg, is in hospital for two weeks, Rehab for 3, home health for longer. Here is a $350,000 bill that gets paid with tax-payer money, that would have been avoided if he could afford to go to the doctor. I would have rather paid for his doctor visits and meds 6 months ago - but hey, socialization is EVIL!
WE cannot let some government panel make health decisions!!!!! Why not? We currently have panels of executives not only making health-care decisions, but making them with the priority being lowering the pay-out. People pay for insurance, then get denied procedures by their insurance companies. People live in constant fear that if something goes wrong, health wise, the insurance will get more expensive, or they will be dropped completely. They can't change companies, they have a pre-existing health condition that cannot be covered. Doctors do not make our decisions now. HMO's hire panels of people to dig through record. If you forgot that 4 years ago you were having a stressful day and your blood pressure was up a little at the doctor's office. You did not write it down on the new forms for the new insurance. You Liar - you had an unreported pre-existing condition! They do not have to pay for your newly diagnosed high blood pressure problems.
Then of course, from the stand point of a business/owner provider. I spent the last 10 years in business for myself. My billing was consistent throughout the lat 5 years. But, each year, I saw my patients paying more and more of that bill out of pocket, and my profit margins sink lower and lower. I went from 85% recovery of billed (pretty amazing for a health care practice). To 60%. My patients started out paying about 10% of billed, ended up paying on the average 40% of billed. And I was losing more and more money.
I treated conditions that were often un-reimbursed by insurances. Insurance companies notoriously do not recognize chronic pain conditions. My population of patients need a public option.
OK that's my rant. I want (over my deeply republican principals) a public health option. It is unacceptable that we have working productive citizens that do not have basic health care available. But, I also think we need to move forward somewhere, somehow. If we have to shelve public health until our society implodes from a flu epidemic that could have been avoided if people could go to the doctor, then so be it. But do SOMETHING. Standing around whining about it for another 25 years, and handing it back to private insurors is even less acceptable.
Amen sister! Very well said.
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