Catching up with an issue close to my heart
I planned on posting this over the weekend, but completely forgot. What can I say? The weather this past couple of days has been too nice to sit at my computer.
Monday night, there was a health care forum at the library to discuss and brainstorm solutions to the health care crisis we are facing in this country. It's obviously too late to attend this meeting, but it's not too late to learn more about this issue and make your feelings known. Health Care for All Oregon is a good place to start. HCA-O advocates a universal single-payer health care plan for all citizens. I agree wholeheartedly. Too many people panic at the idea that we might let the commies run our medical programs, but realistically, this is the best solution for our broken system. Unless we really want to be Darwinian about the whole thing, and let the poor folk die off.
In addition, former governor John Kitzhaber has founded the Archimedes Movement, a sort of health care think tank. Dr. Kitzhaber was the author of the original Oregon Health Plan before lesser minds gutted the plan and left it withered and worthless.
If you have any interest in health care reform whatsoever (and if you would like to receive affordable quality treatment at any point in your future, you should pay attention), you can get involved right now, by filling out a simple survey. The Citizens' Health Care Working Group is gathering information from the public. You don't even have to leave your house.
In a country as wealthy as ours, there is no excuse for anyone to have to skip a doctor's visit or pass on a necessary prescription simply because of cost. Health care is prohibitively expensive, well out of the reach of the vast majority of families who earn less than $100,000 per year, unless they are lucky enough to work for an employer who provides insurance. Even so, some people are forced to skip their employer health plans because they can't afford deductibles, premiums and copayments. Sometimes, purchasing food and ensuring shelter are simply more immediate needs that must be addressed. But there is no excuse for turning someone away because the only job that person happens to be qualified for is slinging burgers or cleaning the gum off the undersides of movie theater seats. If I were to purchase my current level of health care coverage for my family, out of pocket, the premiums would cost more than my monthly rent. Lucky for me, I won the health care lottery with my current employer.
At the very least, I think we need to rid the world of HMOs and profit-based clinics. Health care workers have the right to earn a living, and I am not advocating lowering salaries of health care workers, but when you have for-profit corporations deciding what kind of care patients should receive, and continually finding ways to refuse care to those who need it most just to increase revenue, well... frankly, I find it evil.
Here in Corvallis, we are very fortunate to have a top notch nonprofit regional medical center run by people who are dedicated to providing care to everyone. But even so, the hospital squeaks by year after year because insurance providers under the current system reimburse far below actual cost and the hospital will not turn anyone away. The money has to come from somewhere, and it would take a lot less money to scrap all the middle managers and minor bureaucracies in favor of one system.
Monday night, there was a health care forum at the library to discuss and brainstorm solutions to the health care crisis we are facing in this country. It's obviously too late to attend this meeting, but it's not too late to learn more about this issue and make your feelings known. Health Care for All Oregon is a good place to start. HCA-O advocates a universal single-payer health care plan for all citizens. I agree wholeheartedly. Too many people panic at the idea that we might let the commies run our medical programs, but realistically, this is the best solution for our broken system. Unless we really want to be Darwinian about the whole thing, and let the poor folk die off.
In addition, former governor John Kitzhaber has founded the Archimedes Movement, a sort of health care think tank. Dr. Kitzhaber was the author of the original Oregon Health Plan before lesser minds gutted the plan and left it withered and worthless.
If you have any interest in health care reform whatsoever (and if you would like to receive affordable quality treatment at any point in your future, you should pay attention), you can get involved right now, by filling out a simple survey. The Citizens' Health Care Working Group is gathering information from the public. You don't even have to leave your house.
In a country as wealthy as ours, there is no excuse for anyone to have to skip a doctor's visit or pass on a necessary prescription simply because of cost. Health care is prohibitively expensive, well out of the reach of the vast majority of families who earn less than $100,000 per year, unless they are lucky enough to work for an employer who provides insurance. Even so, some people are forced to skip their employer health plans because they can't afford deductibles, premiums and copayments. Sometimes, purchasing food and ensuring shelter are simply more immediate needs that must be addressed. But there is no excuse for turning someone away because the only job that person happens to be qualified for is slinging burgers or cleaning the gum off the undersides of movie theater seats. If I were to purchase my current level of health care coverage for my family, out of pocket, the premiums would cost more than my monthly rent. Lucky for me, I won the health care lottery with my current employer.
At the very least, I think we need to rid the world of HMOs and profit-based clinics. Health care workers have the right to earn a living, and I am not advocating lowering salaries of health care workers, but when you have for-profit corporations deciding what kind of care patients should receive, and continually finding ways to refuse care to those who need it most just to increase revenue, well... frankly, I find it evil.
Here in Corvallis, we are very fortunate to have a top notch nonprofit regional medical center run by people who are dedicated to providing care to everyone. But even so, the hospital squeaks by year after year because insurance providers under the current system reimburse far below actual cost and the hospital will not turn anyone away. The money has to come from somewhere, and it would take a lot less money to scrap all the middle managers and minor bureaucracies in favor of one system.
posted by Corvallist at
9:11 PM
3 Comments:
Phooey. I spent a while seriously answering all the questions in the survey you linked to and it's just hanging there now that I've hit the submit button. I am not sure I'll remember to try again.
By
Anonymous, at 11:29 AM
I share your concern that health care should be affordable and available to everyone. There are aspects of our current system that are creating a drag on our entire economy.
But how can we completely throw out the profit incentive when it seems to be one of the drivers in the most technologically inventive health care system in the world? And to think that a nationalized system wouldn’t have its own share of bureaucrats is wishful thinking. Which is better; a mediocre system that everyone can access, or an innovative system that only some can afford?
Perhaps the answer involves better incentives for the non-profits to coexist with the for-profits, or perhaps forced insurance pooling like Massachusetts intends to try. There has to be a balance somewhere in the middle.
Michael
By
Michael Smith, at 11:30 PM
I'm talking about removing the profit incentive from insurance companies, not from medical tech or pharmaceutical companies. The profits reaped by insurance companies contribute nothing positive to our medical system as it stands.
I do agree that a national system would have its own bureaucracy, but the administrative costs in Canada and Europe are far, far less than our own. One centralized bureaucracy (or even 50 smaller bureacracies) still makes more sense than the plethora of red tape that exists now.
By
Corvallist, at 4:38 AM
Post a Comment
<< Home