if you think its expensive now, just wait til its free.
with 80% of americans happy with their health care insurance, why is there a 'crisis'? the majority of those who are unhappy are the people on government plans. now we want everybody to have a government plan? those with private coverage are satisfied with what they have. let's go ahead and get the uninsured covered and leave the rest of us alone.
if we're talking about making the system more cost effective, then we need to have tort reform. as long as doctors, hospitals and pharmacies can be sued out of existence by some john edwards wannabe there will be excessive costs involved. but nobody seems to want to piss off the trial lawyers.
Do you know the funniest part of this letter? Was1 and President Obama are in total agreement.
Was1: those with private coverage are satisfied with what they have. let's go ahead and get the uninsured covered and leave the rest of us alone.President Obama: Here is a guarantee that I've made. If you have insurance that you like, then you will be able to keep that insurance. If you've got a doctor that you like, you will be able to keep your doctor. Nobody is trying to change what works in the system. We are trying to change what doesn't work in the system.
Unfortunately it's people like Was1 and President Obama who are standing in the way of the health care reform we really need, namely a single payer "Medicare for all" universal system. I don't know why Was1 and President Obama think that incremental, piecemeal reform that leaves the for-profit insurance infrastructure intact is the way to go. Maybe because they actually believe 80% of Americans are happy with their health insurance. You know, I take back what I said earlier. The fact anyone out there can believe 80% of Americans are happy with their health insurance is the funniest part of his letter. One of the things that makes me, and I would dare say anyone who works behind a pharmacy counter, so in love with my job is the fact I get to listen to a constant parade of Americans telling me how happy they are with their insurance all day long. It's a claim almost too ridiculous to dignify with a debunk, but I will, by repeating something I've said before. From the June 20th New York Times:
85 percent of (poll) respondents said the health care system needed to be fundamentally changed or completely rebuilt.
So many people wanna rebuild the system because they're so happy I bet.
Here's another funny thing Was1 wrote. And by funny I mean bald-face lie:
the majority of those who are unhappy are the people on government plans.
You can shout that kind of thing at your Congressperson's town hall meeting Was1, because there usually aren't a lot of fact checkers around at a town hall meeting. Here however, bullshit gets called:
In a national Commonwealth Fund survey, elderly Medicare beneficiaries reported greater overall satisfaction with their health coverage, better access to care, and fewer problems paying medical bills than people covered by employer-sponsored plans.
I've even got a nice little chart, in case you're not too good with words. Took me about 10 seconds to find:
Maybe the problem, Was1, is you don't realize Medicare is a government run plan. Or maybe the problem is that you unquestioningly accept whatever Rush and Fox News tell you, and don't realize the term "dittohead" is an insult meaning you cannot think for yourself. If so I feel sorry for you. Because they have managed to dupe you into opposing a plan that would do exactly what you claim you want to have done. In case you missed it the first time:
Was1: those with private coverage are satisfied with what they have. let's go ahead and get the uninsured covered and leave the rest of us alone.President Obama: Here is a guarantee that I've made. If you have insurance that you like, then you will be able to keep that insurance. If you've got a doctor that you like, you will be able to keep your doctor. Nobody is trying to change what works in the system. We are trying to change what doesn't work in the system.
Or maybe you're just a bald-faced lying evil motherfucker. I'm not quite sure. Maybe you can write back and let me know if you're evil or just gullible.
Oh, and when you do? You can tell me all about how Texas is a health care paradise these days. Texas passed medical malpractice reform a few years ago that capped pain and suffering awards at $250,000, and lawsuits have gone down to almost zero. So go ahead and write me up a little report showing how the health care problems that plague the rest of the country no longer bother Texas.
You'll have to do it with no bullshit though Was1. Because as you've just seen, bullshit here gets called.
Thanks for playing.
9 comments:
NPR reported on Sen Claire McCaskill's town hall meeting, during which she asked those participating in Medicare to raise their hands. A lot of hands went up. Next, Sen McCaskill remarked that Medicare is a government program, and now that you know that, anyone who would leave Medicare because it's a government program, leave your hands up. All the hands went down.
Looks like Drug Topics is investing their money in some real writers for a change..
What Was1 wrote is completely counter-intuitive.
Why would someone who is on insurance like Medicare complain about the health care? My father is a retired vet. 28 years in the service, 79 years old in a few months. This year alone he's had a knee replacement (full) and a lot of hip work done. Net cost to us was zero, as his children, because Medicare took careof it all, and he saw the same neurologist that someone with expensive health insurance did, and the same surgeon that did his knee turned around and did the knee on a trial lawyer from Los Angeles in the next week.
I think the crux of the problem here is no one likes someone getting something for nothing. Medicare works out great because people over 65, it is assumed, have actually contributed to society in some salient manner, either through military service (Damn near mandatory for anyone who was 18 or older in the 60s/early 70s) or through a profession.
The problem nowadays is all of the welfare professionals who abuse the system and who get free crap that we all pay for, for nothing. The high school drop outs who will then get health care equivalent to Medicare, sans any contribution to society besides donating sperm to some woman, upsets hard working people.
And we see a lot of it. Don't you, Drugmonkey? I know I do. Lots of entitled morons who essentially do absolutely nothing for our country besides soak up everyone else's contributions. From birth to death, they're a burden. One end to the other. Maybe we get lucky and they put some time in at McDonald's or maybe, heaven help them, they buy a $80 suit and work in a receptionist's position at an office.
It's a societal ill. A lot of promiscuity, a lot of "Eh, fuck it" mindsets, a lot of apathy and ambivalence. And hell, we reward that behavior!
From a country where blood, sweat and tears to a country of XboX, already-digested fast food, and entitlement. No wonder we're the laughing stock of the world.
After reading your Drug Topics article, I felt I had to say something. Here's my post about it http://thepharmdstudent.blogspot.com/2009/08/call-for-action.html
I hope I provided you a service, and not a disservice.
No need to post this comment.
Here's something that really worries me about a single-payer system. The British NICE has just ruled that they will not pay for Vidaza in treatment of myelodysplastic syndrome despite the fact that it works--it's just too expensive. The British Health Service is one example of a single-payer system, yes? Now I have myelodysplastic syndrome and have been on Vidaza for 15 months. My blood counts are essentially normal now after a really anxious time where it looked like I as headed for a marrow transplant or worse. I'm working and haven't spent a day in the hospital. I work out--hard--4 days a week. I know that Vidaza is over-priced but my insurance company pays for it and I am grateful for that as is my family. So...if a single payer decides I'm too expensive to let live, what would I do? Where would I go? Do you understand why some folks are leery of single-payer?
I'm admittedly not an expert on myelodysplastic syndrome but I'd imagine that if the British NICE have ruled out something due to expense it is because there are more cost-effective alternatives, not because someone is 'too expensive to live'.
To auffer: am I thrilled at the idea of supporting the teeming masses of oxygen thieves that make up a significant percentage of the country? Not really. I do it anyway though, and without any real hesitation, because it's the right thing to do. There are things that can and should be done about the issues you mention, but 'just let them die' isn't an ethical or acceptable option.
The alternative to Vidaza is Dacogen which is even more expensive. Supportive care involving Neupogen, Epo, blood and/or platelet transfusion and waiting around for the patient to develop leukemia is another option. There's no way around the fact that this is a poor decision by NICE. If it holds up, people will die needlessly.
DM,
Love you, love your blog. You are a voice of sanity in an insane world. As a retail man myself I'd like to see the National Guard kick in the doors of most every "health care" organization from drug companies to insurance companies and send the top level bastards to Guantanamo.
I'm afraid we're in deep do-do.
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