Rumor #7: Our System Doesn’t Need Reform, akin to “If it ain’t broke, it don’t need fixin.’”
FALSE: Of course it does, unless you don’t have issues with any of the following…
Cost: Contrary to popular belief, our health care system is one of the most expensive in the industrialized world, yet one of the least effective.
Access to Coverage: Currently Americans have three options for health care coverage – private insurance (employer-provided or independent, which many cannot afford), Medicaid (for which most do not qualify because their income is too high), and Medicare. I am a member of the middle class whose employer does not provide insurance. For me – a healthy 26 year-old with no pre-existing conditions – health/dental insurance (sh*tty insurance, mind you) is approximately $160/month.
| Yearly Medical Expenses |
| |
With Insurance |
Without Insurance |
| Insurance Premiums |
$1,920 |
$0 |
| My Prescriptions |
$180 |
$396 |
| Sick Office Visit |
$30 |
$200 |
| ***Prescriptions Resulting from Above |
$15 |
$65 |
| Peek-and-Poke Exam |
$30 |
$240 |
| Routine Dental Cleanings/Exams |
$144 |
$240 |
| Total |
$2,319 |
$1,141 |
Let’s do the math: Assuming I remain fairly healthy in a 12 month period, my medical expenses would total approximately $2,319 in an average year, including my cost of insurance. Keep in mind, should I become very ill unexpectedly, this insurance policy carries an annual deductible of a whopping $3,500. (Sure, I’d just write a check for that…Ha!) Being the responsible individual I am, I opt to fork out the $2,319, but many people in my situation, using the same reasoning I just explained, opt to go without insurance and take their chances, saving over $1000 per year – or more if they never go for a doctor’s visit. And for some, it’s not a matter of reasoning – they simply cannot afford it. I reiterate what I said in an earlier post – 46 million uninsured…Hello???
Emergency Room Overload: Many times, the uninsured wait to seek treatment until they become very ill – at this point, they wind up in the ER. People who are sick and don’t have health insurance end up in ERs because ERs are required to treat them, while primary care physicians may refuse treatment because of their inability to pay. The amount of funding required to keep these facilities operating as they should is not available, due to the amount of patients unable to pay for the care they are receiving. Some specialists avoid ER duty all together because of the growing number of patients who can’t pay. As a result of the sick and uninsured population, ERs are now overcrowded and understaffed, thus providing sub par care.
Bankruptcy: As I previously mentioned, approximately 60% of bankruptcies are filed due to medical bills, and about 75% of these people have insurance at the time they incur these medical expenses. I blame questionable ethics – common practices of private insurance companies who merely want to make a buck. These practices have gone unregulated long enough.
Job Loss=Loss of Insurance: This is pretty self-explanatory. In the current job market, people are more scared than ever of losing their jobs, and most will lose their health insurance if they become unemployed. This brings us to the next point…
Pre-Existing Conditions: A pre-existing condition is any medical condition that a person has at any point before day one of his/her insurance coverage. If you had an accident before your coverage took effect, and that accident resulted in an illness that wasn’t discovered until after your coverage started, that could be considered pre-existing. If you have a congenital defect that wasn’t discovered until after your coverage began, that could be considered pre-existing. Other examples can range from diabetes to cancer. Coverage is limited or excluded for pre-existing conditions. Sometimes these exclusions apply when you decide to change insurance policies (i.e. change in jobs=change in insurance policy); other times the exclusion applies when you have a lapse in coverage for more than 63 days (i.e. If you were laid off and it took you six months to find a new job, and you couldn’t afford COBRA during that period of time or couldn’t find an independent insurance provider that would cover you…this period of time would be considered a lapse in coverage).
Limits: Private insurance companies have annual and lifetime maximums. Once you exceed these limits, you are 100% responsible for any medical expenses you incur beyond that cap. You may not worry about this right now, but if you were to come down with a life-threatening illness like heart failure or cancer, it would be very easy to rack up enough bills to exceed the amount your insurance company is obligated to pay.
I could come up with more, but frankly I’m tired of writing, and you’re tired of reading…Our current system is riddled with problems that are screaming to be addressed. My biggest concerns?
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The amount of people uninsured, especially those in need of medical care. Right now they cannot get the necessary attention until they are sick enough to be admitted to an ER. How simple and inexpensive might their illnesses have been to treat in the early stages? This is why I support a public option. People should not go broke because they get sick, and people shouldn’t stay sick because they can’t afford to go broke.
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The unregulated practices of the private insurance companies. Sure, have some health insurance…You’re covered…You know, unless you get really sick…Then you’re on your own. Why the hell have insurance at all if it doesn’t do what it’s designed to do? If it doesn’t come through when it really counts?…When. You’re. Sick. I support goverment oversight of the practices of private insurance companies. Private insurance companies will have an opportunity to change their practices and compete with the public option. If they choose not to do so, eh. What can ya do?
Most of you reading may be a little out of touch with our problematic health care system, since you are young and healthy and don’t worry about much more than the occasional cold…as John Stewart put it, his insurance plan when he was younger was called “Tylenol PM and Colt 45.” However, people on both sides of the aisle have admitted that our current system is unsustainable at the rate it’s going; therefore, we need either a new system or drastic reform. Even if you disagree with the part of this bill that introduces a public option, at the very least consider the other problems the bill attempts to address. And for crying out loud, don’t go repeating everything you hear. If you make a conscious choice to pass along the ridiculous oral diarrhea of people like Sarah Palin and BFI the scare tactics of those who don’t support health care reform without actually thinking for yourself, you do nothing but contribute to the rumormill. Information - factual information – is available to you…Use your brains, then decide where you stand.
