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You say you don't want reform
- Jul 21, 2009 at 10:44 AM
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- Comments (27) Total Views (600) Everyone can see this journal post.
That is until you get denied medical care that you need. Many of you are familiar with the lawyer I work with from my previous journal entries. I usually can hardly stand his rants, but this morning he is taking on an entirely different tone that I can sympathize with. He is upset with the outcome of his insurance claim as it is about to be denied. The insurance company is doing everything in their power to prove that his condition is an ongoing issue so that they can get out of paying for his treatment. Pre-existing or not, the condition was aggravated by the car accident he was in. It amazes me that insurance companies can be so adamant on leaving people to fend for themselves like this.
I hope that he gets it now. I had a discussion with him about the state of our health care industry pre-election and he scoffed at me. I even presented him with the statistics of rising health care costs along with the growing number of uninsured Americans. He claimed that this was another supposed crisis that the Democrats were using to get Obama into office. Maybe this experience will cause him to dig a little deeper and have some compassion for what so many Americans are faced with everyday....being denied, rejected and exposed.
Regardless of how protected you think you are today the reality is that the future of your health is in the hands of an industry that thrives on revenue. Every year as costs increase insurance companies look for new ways to cut costs. Unfortunately this is equating to reductions in coverage and an increase in premiums, deductibles, and co-pays. I wouldn't put too much stock in these companies making sound decisions when it comes to the future of our health care system. Their interest lies in their monetary performance like most capitalistic companies out there.
Comments:
thats why we shouldnt have health care insruance complaines to begin with. Get the malpractice insurance that a doc must pay to zero, and there will be no need for health insurance.
The things the gov't is trying to pass will not help at all. It will only dig us into the whole deeper, and not every will be covered. Something better must be done.
Maybe insurance isn't the answer for everyone. I still think that we need reform regardless.
When I have this second baby and stay home for a bit we may very well have to go uninsured. The cheapest policy for a family is an upwards of $900 a month! Given this is unrealistic living on one income we will most likely rely on sliding scale clinics. My main concern is the chance that one of us will get diagnosed with something the clinic can't treat. That is only one of the many ways Americans are exposed under the current system. We should not have to play Russian roulette with our health and finances like this!
Lorel I pay $845 a month and it's killing me. My husband has been out of work since January and has medical problems which require us to need the insurance more and more (meds/treatment). Plus having 3 kids that I can't leave uninsured. I am too afraid of the what if's if I were to cancel it. Financially it's killing us to pay it but we don't feel we have a choice. On top of that he was denied disabiity even though 4 doctors told him he's disabled and has limited work possibilities. Go figure!
We need health care reform so badly, but I don't believe that what our current administration is offering up will have much positive results. I wish there was a middle ground to be found. We might as well not even have insurance, because our deductible is so high that we never meet it by the end of the year. We pay out of pocket unless someone has a hospital stay. Even then we still pay a lot. With this new plan I feel that we are only exchanging one big brother for another. Where's Freela? =) I'd really like her opinions of Canadian health care.
Great post!
Much Love
alex
Great post, as always. I agree we do need reform. I am worried that it has become another wedge issue though, and fiscally impossible right now.
*sigh*
I totally agree with you; we DO indeed need reform. It's currently been given a bad name because of the ridiculous initiatives in place (among other things).
As I've said many before in different places, I risked perminent stroke-like facial paralysis because I left a tumor untreated for a long time due to no insurance. I think health insurance needs to be on a fair playing field for everyone to have the CHANCE to obtain it fairly and easily and well within their means but not handed to them on a silver platter as an added burden onto the rest of us whose backs are slowly breaking and futures are dimming already as it is. We are not Germany, we are not Canada, we are not France and we are not G.B. What works for others will not necessarily work for us.
My MIL has already decided that when they pass these initiatives, she is closing her small business due to the 8% tax they'll impose on SMALL businesses. I've decided that it won't matter. The new Wal-mart they're building in town near our houses (with a no-tax agreement from the town as a "thank you for setting up shop Wal-mart!") will gladly take her customers for her.
What is also rediculous is taxing the people whose hands won't be in the pot. When I decide to keep my insurance that we pay over $1,000 a month for and will NOT be costing the tax payers any money, I will be taxed for it! This is discouraging competition, giving employers no reason to offer insurances of choice to their staff and relying on an unstable group of people to support UHC. What happens when our backs break and we all leave our insurances to go on UHC? Who will carry UHC then? An increase in tax on the middle class? Should we take more of the earnings of SMALL businesses to carry us all?
I would honestly rather have an insurance company who is at least worried about my customer service making my decisions than someone behind a government desk who knows I have no other choice. Just because they are the government does not mean they will not have a bottom line. I do not expect my UHC to be any better than the UHC already in place that is horrendous and draining our pockets dry. Medicare really does a disservice to the elderly; I do not want something like that to end up being the ONLY option there is available for me and my children.
Reform? Yes! Rushed UHC initiatives that give mediocre coverage to all but break the backs of those already struggling? No :-)
The insurance company is doing everything in their power to prove that his condition is an ongoing issue so that they can get out of paying for his treatment. Pre-existing or not, the condition was aggravated by the car accident he was in----------
I live in NY, and work as a biller. PERSONAL insurance is NOT going to pay for INJURIES that resulted from a CAR ACCIDENT.
We were learning about this in class (back during Law and Ethics) and many insurance companies will dump your case if you come up with a terminal illness. It is their way of getting out of taking care of you. There have been many women who were "dumped" after finding out they have breast cancer. They are trying to make this practice illegal.
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I agree... and don't agree. I agree that insurance companies do not have my best interest in mind. They are there to make money and so if they can deny a claim, they will.
I do wish that there was a better way to have everyone covered and to make health care cost go down. One thing that would help is more urgent care clinics to keep emergency rooms, emergency rooms.
I don't have any solutions, just worries :(
- beanielips
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