Health Care Crises
Hospital sale just tip of iceberg
Last week, Colorado Attorney General John Suthers concluded that the sale of two hospitals to a Catholic organization did not threaten to effect a “material change” in the charitable purposes of the hospitals.
For those whose health-care plans are not chained to the Exempla hospitals that are to be sold, that’s a facile conclusion. For those whose fully covered hospital visits may be denuded of certain reproductive-health services, Suthers’ conclusion is harder to justify.
The Exempla sale is still being challenged in court by people concerned about diminished health-care options, so Suthers’ is not the last word. Questions about such deals are obvious. For instance: Why should a religious group parcel out only those health-care services with which it feels comfortable?
The guiding principle would be what’s best for the patient, based on the best medical science. Health care should not be circumscribed by matters as wobbly as the pontiff’s matters of faith.
The Exempla story is a relatively small story among many of emerging importance in 2007. It signifies the increasing and systemic failure of the health-care system to concentrate on its prime objective: the health of patients.
Next year, Colorado legislators and presidential hopefuls will grapple with the health-care crisis. The most sweeping and promising proposals (some variation on a single-payer model) will be summarily rejected because they will be tagged as “socialized medicine.” With such a moniker, most reasonable debate on single-payer will be derailed.
That is a genuine shame, because the 47 million non-elderly Americans who lack insurance compose a larger percentage of the U.S. population than at any time since 1987, according to data from the U.S. Census Bureau. But the uninsured represent only part of the problem.
The “under-insured” includes tens of millions more people who went without insurance for some period last year, or whose coverage is so spare as to mock the term “health-care coverage.”
Most of these people are not (as some suggest) unemployed. Eight of 10 uninsured people are in working families, according to the group Cover the Insured. But can’t the uninsured just go to the emergency room for care? With all the sensitivity of the legendary Marie Antoinette, that was President Bush’s suggestion.
The answer is, “no,” ER visits are no substitute for actual health insurance. They are more expensive. And less effective. About 18,000 Americans die unnecessarily each year because they lack adequate health insurance, according to the nonpartisan Institute of Medicine.
It’s all very easy to argue that things aren’t that bad, or that the free market can solve the problem. The fact is, things are bad. And the goals of free-market barons differ considerably (and obviously) from those of physicians.
Expect the health-care issue to stay in the headlines this year. But given the powerful and wealthy forces arrayed against meaningful change, don’t bet the farm on reform.
–Clint Talbott
© 2007 Daily Camera and Boulder Publishing, LLC.
Well, until the inevitable Anschluss, there’s moving to Canada as an option.
Just watched “Sicko” last night, and thanked my lucky stars for deciding to leave in 2004.
Does anyone think the situation is going to get any better as all the baby boomers age into requiring even more health care? I predict that the baby boomer generation will be the first in US history to have a life expectancy less than their parents. As with so many things, we’re at Peak Longevity.
US life expectancy rates are already dropping behind other industrialized countries.
Congarutlations on moving out of the US Jan. I moved in 1990 and became Swiss in 2006 and buy health care as required which is about $2500 a year with a $700 deductible and then everything is covered. I get to choose my doctors, which are excellent. If I made less money I would receive state support in paying for my insurance. The only problem, is that there is no correlation between costs of insurance and costs of care, but I still would never go back to the US and only partially because of health care.
The statement “The most sweeping and promising proposals (some variation on a single-payer model) will be summarily rejected because they will be tagged as “socialized medicine.” With such a moniker, most reasonable debate on single-payer will be derailed.”
That says it all. Americans are so brain washed by years of corporate propaganda, that anything reference to socialized medicine (just like the U.S. military you say?) is deemed ‘communism’. I soon expect that label to be changed to ’supporting the terrorists’ as the former moniker is losing steam.
“Universal health care? Well that would be just what Osama Bin Laden would like. Are you with us or against us?”… brought to you by the people at FOX News.
Wow, good job getting into Switzerland, dlnelson7!
I lived there for 18 months. As I recall, it was very tough getting in. Immigration is essentially controlled by the Gemeinde (locality), and Canton (province). Where I lived (Bern) it was a tough exam, all done orally in Sweisedeutch, including a lot of local history and politics. Other places (like Zug) seem to be easier, only requiring a large payment. You needed ten years legal residence to become a citizen, unless you’re coming from the “alternate EU” of Portugal, Ireland, Norway, Greece, and a couple others, in which case you only needed five years.
But they don’t really have socialized medicine. It’s more like the “Hillary plan,” where everyone is forced to purchase private insurance.
When my sponsors met me at the air port, we went first to a bank to establish an account, second to the insurance company, to get insured, then last to the Politzi to register our address. (When you move, you must notify the police as well.)
This sequence of events sorta summed up the entire Swiss psyche.
Lets get the term ’socialized medicine’ properly defined.
With socialized medicine you hospitals and heath care facilities owned by the government and your health care professional is a government employee.
This we have, its called the Veterans Administration.
Univeral Health Care for all (if you are over 65, exists today, its called Medicare and its paid for by payroll taxes. Here it is the U.S. Government that pays the bills (with the execption of the new Medicare Part D, which provides medicine and added health care benifits via private insurance carriers).
Medicare for everyone age 1 to 100+ (true Medicare for All) would provide all health care for every from private doctors and private health care facitlities. The difference is that all bills would be sent to the U.S. Government. True, there would be an additional tax burden, but on the other hand, there would not be medical insurance payments, copayments, deductibles, etc.
In addition, the municiple government where you live would not have to come up with ever increasing, budget busting insurance payments as well.
There is waste in the present system that can be used to augment costs.
A lot is said about Universal Health Care — what the speaker is generally referring to is that everyone can buy insurance from private insurers. If the purchaser is low income, then the government would help pay the insurance bill, (that means we taxpayers).
enough of this, are you thinking about global warming?
see Bill McKibbens latest article at http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/122807EB.shtml
Think 350; BTW we are already at 385 — pssst did you hear about the melting at the poles?
The “health care crisis” will be solved as soon as the 50+ million who lack insurance die already.
Hey, here’s an idea - let’s make health insurance “mandatory” and then we can arrest even more poor folk and really lower those uninsured numbers. Hell, we’re gonna have to fill them Halliburton “special program” detention centers with someone, ain’t we?
Here’s one for a candidate with balls: legalize pot/hemp, use tax revenue to pay for Universal Insurance. According to “free market” theory, Americans would never abuse drugs because it’s not in their own benefit, so what’s the problem?
FRANK 1569– I was thinking the same thing, what will they do arrest those who can’t or won’t pay? Ironically when in prison, there ARE health benefits. Remember the old guy who stole something so he could go to jail to get medical benefits? The judge was amused by the antic, but granted his wish by sentencing him.
The insurance industry will fight single payer tooth and nail, the corporate media will collaborate with lies and distortions, and that’s that. When Oregon tried to pass a single payer plan and the public supported it, the insurance industry moved in with it’s money and the two major newspapers, the Portland Oregonian and the Eugene Register-Guard started running editorials copying the insurance industry talking points, not even changing the wording.
Public opinion turned around and the initiative was defeated. The general public is woefully uninformed and staying that way.
What will really happen with our present band of thieves is that health care insurance will be mandatory but health care benefits will be voluntary - at the whim of our Drug Lords. A thing that keeps a person alive just long enough to drain all the life from them is called a parasite.
Over 50% of all health care costs are paid by government already since they insure or pay for 20 million government workers, our 2.3 million prisoner population (highest rate in the world by far), not to mention 42 million under Medicare, 35 million under Medicaid, 3 million VA patients, subsidies for hospitals with unpaid bills treating the 20 million illegal aliens, some of whom took out sub-prime loans, etc Thats about 100 million people right there (some overlap).
So covering the other 200 million, most of whom are relatively healthy relative to the people already being covered by government, seems feasible Especially when 50 million of whom are uninsured (25%) are likely to end up on medicare or medicaid when they get sick anyways.
Keep in mind, those 50 million are not the same people year to year, a number of the 150 million currently insured may find themselves uninsured for short periods between jobs.
Imagine the savings from economies of scale if you had a single payer system for all 300 million people. Talk about paper work reductions, lower administration costs, the ability for government to negotiate lower health care rates given they have 300 million customers for the providers.
How many businesses are leaving the US to escape the burden of HC insurance for their employees (premiums have increased 78% since 2001, CPI says inflation was 21% in that period)? We can not afford not to have a single payer UHC system. The system is broke. Some insurance companies are even reported to have some patients get treatment in other countries.
Look at incomes today
Median Household Income is 46K
Median Personal Income is 32 K
Health Insurance premiums for the average family are over 12,000 dollars if they have no employer paid insurance, and if they do they pay 3,280 dollars on average for their share (for a 45 yo individual it would be 5,500 on his own). Poverty level for a family of 4 is defined as 20,650, and 10,200 for the individual (are they nuts for both?). So deduct health insurance premiums, and whats left, well, you have credit cards to make up the difference, or you go uninsured, or you do not work and go on welfare.
Average health care costs are 7000 per person, double what it is in Canada (some are 0 for many years and then jump as high as 200K). We all get sick and die folks, sooner or later. Just hope you are insured when you get sick. And if you can not work because of your illness, you end up losing your insurance if you can not handle the premiums on your own. So even some of those 150 million may find themsleves not as protected as they think they are.
Frankly, the arguments against UHC are sheer idiocy. As for that valuable money some are so concerned about, it is a fiat currency made out of thin air, it’s only value is as a medium of exchange mandated by law . UHC can be paid for by taxing interest received by banks on their loans by 50% since the money they loan you does not exist until you borrow it, thanks to the brilliance of fractional reserve banking. That’s why the government does not mind deficits, every dollar of deficit can create as much as 10 dollars. No deficits = recession. No debt=no money. Interest payments, no problem, the banks just print more money (no printing press requird though) for them to pay the interest.
Taxes, interest, inflation are just ways to shift money from the poor to the rich (individuals pay 3 times as much Federal tax as corporations). When the banks get sick, government rushes to pay their bills with our worthless money, when people get sick and can not afford to pay, good luck buddy.
I have an idea, let’s all join the Lakota Sioux. Bush and the Evilgelicals can lead America into the Neo-Dark Ages while we humans ride our painted ponies to nervana.
macduffy wrote: “Lets get the term ’socialized medicine’ properly defined.
With socialized medicine you hospitals and heath care facilities owned by the government and your health care professional is a government employee.”
Then Canada does not have socialized medicine? We have universal health care, and it is all paid for by the government, but most hospitals and doctors are independent — AKA “single payer” system. When I see my doctor, I don’t pay a cent, but he bills the province. Same with many hospitals and clinics, although there are some government-owned hospitals.
A bigger worry is creeping privatization of payments. Until very recently, it was illegal to accept payment from clients for health care. Then one clinic in Vancouver started charging people $30 for appointments, but it was still free if you walked in. The government ordered them to stop. The clinic then fired all their doctors, hired new doctors from Alberta, claiming protection under TILMA, a sort of inter-provincial NAFTA on steroids. As far as I know, they’re now getting away with charging patients for appointments — that’s the “thin edge of the wedge,” and I expect to see further deterioration of our health care system under either the corporate party of the right (Conservatives) or the corporate party of the left (Liberals).
The Canadian way seems to be a unique blend of American independence and European safety net. But the pressure is on to fully “Americanize” it. Fools!
As long as the whole health care supply and service chain extracts 10X profit margins in what is effectively and unregulated monopoly, our nation will continue to go broke paying the huge bills.
Half of the personal bankruptcies are caused by people that are unable to pay their hugely bloated medical bills. This has got to stop. We have the most expensive system with no where near the best quality. The worst of both worlds.
It won’t be long till you reach a certain age and are means tested for assisted living–or dying. A trainer in the healthcare industry told me that in about 1995.
Free market medicine and government single-payer are not only compatible, one cannot exist without the other. How else to force polluters and such to pay their fare share?
Put it this way, it looks like your life expectancy and health is better looked after in Cuba. Perhaps the US of I should import the Cuban health care model, as well as some of its medical workers.
Greatly appreciate macduffy comments. He is absolutely correct. Steinman, above, points out, correctly, as well, that the growing health care crisis is actually global in nature. With corporate globalization, there is pressure on all existing public programs worldwide to privatize. There are huge movements, which have elected govt’s in Latin America and elsewhere to protect their people’s needs.
I believe that it is a mistake for us to center our discussions in our nation to the so-called “proposals” of the presidential candidates. First of all, GOP candidates have none and the Dems, beyond Kucinich (HR 676), are crap made up for TV. Hilliary-care is actually the same proposal that Nixon made over 3 decades ago in an attempt to block moves toward real health care reform. Further, it CONGRESS, not the the president that passes legislation. There is a huge labor-led people’s movement now being built in preparation for the next election. If we are able to defeat the ultra right it can create the POSSIBILITY for this movement to finally win this all important fight.
http://www.dennis4president.com/go/issues/a-healthy-nation/
When you guys call it “socialized” health care, it infers that the American system seem so unsocialized by comparison.
Seems also that I can’t go to a thread on Health Care without seeing mention of Dennis Kucinich - which actually makes sense.
Harper likes the way Bush does things. Do you know which of his MPs he chose to be Minister of Health - Tony Clement! Note that, as a boy, “two-tier Tony” was a great fan of Margaret Thatcher. You can guess the rest without even going to Wikipedia.
MP=Congressperson.
Tony Clement is a good debater, though.
RE: Remember the old guy who stole something so he could go to jail to get medical benefits? The judge was amused by the antic, but granted his wish by sentencing him.
Yes, I remember that story. Never heard a follow-up. I would have liked to know how getting health care turned out for him. Whether he got the help he needed in time.
RE: When Oregon tried to pass a single payer plan and the public supported it, the insurance industry moved in with it’s money and the two major newspapers, the Portland Oregonian and the Eugene Register-Guard started running editorials copying the insurance industry talking points, not even changing the wording. Public opinion turned around and the initiative was defeated.
I remember that story too. The insurance industry is doing the same thing here and in our papers. The idea that having single-payer insurance will limit choice of doctor moreso that having multiple insurance companies is something they won’t pull here, though. We know that is false.
As far as Health Care goes, there are things that the Heritage Foundation will pull that its Canadian counterpart - the Frazer Institute - will not.
RE Hospitals
The opposite of “private-for-profit” is “non-profit” rather than publicly owned. Not sure if they still do, but the Grey Nuns used to own the St. Boniface Hospital.
I doubt that you can get an abortion there, but I think you can at the Health Sciences Centre (another hospital).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extortion
It’s illegal… unless you’re an insurance company.
The most sweeping and promising proposals (some variation on a single-payer model) will be summarily rejected because they will be tagged as “socialized medicine.” With such a moniker, most reasonable debate on single-payer will be derailed.
Hey you want to call it socialized medicine no problem where do I sign up. So-called socialized medicine is the only system that has been shown to work. I would rather live under a socialized government instead of a fascist government like we live under today. Heck a true communist form of government would be better then the fascist government we live under today.
What’s really stupid is we spent years guarding against communism only to get slapped on the back of the head by fascist.
Our current health care crisis makes me sick.
Single-payer is NOT socialized medcicine
socialized, adj : under group or government control.
This Republican mythical talking point must be dispelled as the lie that it is. We’re not talking about “socialized medicine” but rather a single-payer system. We don’t want the government to run health care; we want the government to pay our health care costs, Medicare style, out of the tax revenues we pay the government. In what way is this asking too much? (This would be a much better use of tax monies than bombing, maiming, and killing civilians abroad, and it would cost far less in the bargain!)
Go to the doctor of your choice, stay in the hospital of your choice, use the pharmacy of your choice. All of these will still be owned and operated just as they are now. The only difference will be that the government pays the bill, Medicare style, instead of relying on the organized crime syndicate known as the health insurance industry, which, like the mafia, demands its cut but doesn’t like to pay out.
With single-payer coverage, there won’t be some pinhead non-medical bean counter turning you down for procedures your doctor deems necessary. Just think about that for a few minutes and realize that the insurance companies have a vested interest in not paying claims.
Medicare for everyone! It’s our money (taxes paid) and our right.
What is missing from this thread is any mention of Tommy Douglas - the Father of Universal Health Care and Canada’s Greatest Canadian. Tommy Douglas said:
“I felt that no boy should have to depend either for his leg or his life upon the ability of his parents to raise enough money to bring a first-class surgeon to his bedside. And I think it was out of this experience, not at the moment consciously, but through the years, I came to believe that health services ought not to have a price tag on them, and that people should be able to get whatever health services they require irrespective of their individual capacity to pay.”
http://www.tommydouglas.ca/tommy
Tommy Douglas was the leader of the Federal NDP party after David Lewis (Naomi Klein’s grandfather-in-law) and before Ed Broadbent.
http://www.ndp.ca/page/4310
Have you heard of the group “Friends of Medicare”? - this is what they are fighting for and what various Conservatives (as some Liberals) are trying to destroy:
Principles of the Canada Health Act
The Friends of Medicare is committed to ensuring that all levels of government uphold the five principles the Canada Health Act:
1. Comprehensive coverage of all medically required services.
2. Universal coverage for all Canadians regardless of income.
3. Accessible to all residents uninhibited by user fees.
4. Portable from province to province.
5. Publicly administered on a non-profit basis.
As noted above, the Armed Forces and the VA have socialized medicine. In fact, our high falootin’ military is a communist dictatorship run by fascists.
Nah, you’re kidding right? Health care crises, where?
VA awhh, F@@K US!! as in us well USA too
Let’s make health insurance “mandatory” and then we can arrest even more poor folk and really lower those uninsured numbers. Hell, we’re gonna have to fill them Halliburton “special program” detention centers with someone, ain’t we? (Frank, above)
Exactly.
Actually, the US Dept. of Defense is the largest command economy in the world. It was the second largest until the demise of the Soviet Union.
The Dept. of Defense is also the largest nanny state protector of most of the leading US corporations.
In other words, it provides assured markets for big businesses based on political lobbying (not markets) and promised-well-paid-jobs-upon-retirement for military pocurement officers and leading generals.
In turn, many of the USA’s leading corporations (including health insurance, hospitals, etc.) have gotten rid of markets via government-backed mergers.
Every merger gets rid of a seller and a buyer; after two companies merge, the former buyer/seller relationship is transformed into a coordination task monitored by one corporate CEO.
More and more global exchanges are “in-house” and thus avoid direct pressurer of market forces.
So, a huge chunk of the US economy is outside of direct free markets forces: DOD and transnational corporations.
Ironically, it is those two non-market institutions that are particularly supported, and expanded upon by conservative “free-market” Republicans.
The U.S. health care system has been economically engineered to create a split between the young and the old. The burden of increased social security payments falling on the young in addition to mandated health insurance payments will likely result in undesirable political consequences for the old.
It is likely that the old will be transported to South America for serious medical conditions where costs are substantially lower. This reality may result in an out-migration of retirees to South American Anglo communities. This would both resolve the issue of affordability of living and medical care affordability. Given the South American move to Indigenous influenced Socialism, life could be much better there for the old than in the U.S. It’s worth considering.
In addition, Seniors have the wisdom and skills necessary to help build the South American economies.
D n G — It’s finally time for me to polish up mi español,
your point is powerfully perceptive and motivational. Thank you.
Great discussion. Even after thinking about this for a long time I didn’t distinguish between what was meant by “socialized medicine” and “single payer”. It is not surprising that the general population doesn’t understand the distinction.
There was an interesting study done in 2002 by David Himmelstein, M.D. and
Steffie Woolhandler, M.D. Here is a reference for an article about it.
http://www.pnhp.org/news/2002/july/government_funds_60.php
They concluded “that Government expenditures accounted for 59.8% of total U.S. health care costs in 1999 … and that if we put everyone – young and old – healthy and ill – in the same risk pool, we could save enough on bureaucracy ($154 billion) to cover all the 40 million uninsured. We could also end “job-lock” for employees and effectively control rising health costs – something no individual business can do.”
In effect we are paying for health care for all and not getting it.
I just got an announcement for my annual social security adjustment for cost of living of 2.3% and the same week my group health care went up 36%.
.
Make National Health Insurance just another consumer option. There are enough insured in the government employee plan to keep it going. The government plan has lower overheard and can probably give you more value than any private sector plan. Let the consumer chose, Blue Cross or National Health. Nothing mandatory, just clear clean competition between the public and private sectors for your health care insurance premium dollars. Let the most efficient win.
The real problem is that Americans really do not know what is going on in this health care reform debate. It’s smoke and mirrors to cover up the real answers, which, of course, are what the large corporations and insurance companies want to keep covered up at any cost. For an excellent video primer about this issue go to:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E9E-8etrE2o
sjc_1 - “Make National Health Insurance just another consumer option.”
That is exactly what the John Edwards proposed health care plan does.
It is such a big complex situation that the opposition just mentions the term “National Health Care” and the scare tactics win the day. We should say that there is just no ONE solution to such a complex problem. Health care costs this nation more than $2 TRILLION dollars per year. We could start with the doctors, hospitals and drug companies that massively overcharge. We could continue with the insurance companies that skim a ton off of the top. There are so many thieves in the mix that it is hard to know where to begin.