Why do we need health care reform?
Robin Beaton found out last June she had an aggressive form of breast cancer and needed surgery — immediately.
Her insurance carrier precertified her for a double mastectomy and hospital stay. But three days before the operation, the insurance company called and told her they had red-flagged her chart and she would not be able to have her surgery.
The reason? In May 2008, Beaton had visited a dermatologist for acne. A word written on her chart was interpreted to mean precancerous, so the insurance company decided to launch an investigation into her medical history.
Even after the dermatologist talked with the insurance company, telling them ‘This is a misunderstanding. This is not precancerous. All she has is acne.”and begging them not to cancel her, they still rescinded her coverage.
What kind of country allows this to go on day after day after day. I won’t ask why Charles Manson has a dental plan while 45 millions American’s can’t even afford to go to the doctor, that would be ignored like it always is. So I am phrasing it in a monetary way since money seems to be the only thing some people understand.
Why do criminals have better health coverage than the people who actually pay for coverage?
Why do the people who can make a difference think that this couldn’t be their daughter’s story? Is it because they’ve got more money than most small countries so it doesn’t matter if their insurance covers them or not?
It must be.
Until something like this happens to the wife, daughter, grandson or someone in the immediate family of those who can actually change this arcane system we call ‘health care’, these kinds of stories will grow.
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The Velvet StraitJacket 
June 17th, 2009 at 8:42 pm
The title says it all. Give us… whatever. Gimme gimme gimme. I don’t know how we can maintain a republic when half the country wants to pick the pockets of the other half. Unfortunately the pickpocketing half is now slightly larger than the pickpocketed half.
June 18th, 2009 at 8:28 am
you should see the movie Swing Vote.. I think you’d get a kick out of it.
there are 2 great quotes from the movie that should make everyone think..
“how come if we’re the richest country in the world, so many of us can barely afford to live here.”
seriously, there aren’t very many people saying ‘gimmme gimme gimme’.. but they are saying ‘Just make it a little easier that’s all”.. we work hard, we save, we send our kids to school.. and then we have the AIG’s/Enrons/Bears come along and take it all from us in one greedy swoop.. we don’t want to be given a free ride Mike, we just want a ‘fair’ try at getting a small crumb of the American dream that’s all..
OH, and the 2nd quote
All the world’s great civilizations have followed the same path. From bondage to liberty, from liberty to abundance, from abundance to complacency, from complacency to apathy, from apathy back to bondage. If we are to be the exception to history, then we must break the cycle, for those who do not remember the past are condemned top repeat it.
great quote IMO… how can we survive when 1/2 the country has zero apathy for anyone but themselves..
The health care plan that the GOP are wigging over because of the cost, is promoted as “1 trillion dollars OH MY!” yes, $1 trillion but that is over the next 10 years.. it’s 100 billion a year.. do you mean to tell me that there is nothing in the country that we can scrap to use that 100 billion for health care?
I really do hope for your sake that you are not as unlucky as the woman in the blog-piece.. but unfortunately, many are in her same situation..
we have ‘drones’ in this country so we don’t have to have actual soldiers in harms way or stealth bombers that can’t get wet, star wars systems that don’t actually work… but we can’t give universal coverage to our children?
We’ll pay for 2 remodels in 2 weeks to KBR, lose $12 billion in the desert, Pay another country billions for their support, spend a billion dollars to get someone elected.. but we won’t give free flu shots to every person in the country?
if we’re the greatest country, the we need to act like it.. there are enough “socialistic” health care models out there to pick and choose and perfect into our own ‘greatest of all’ system..
it’s not about the cost, because you are OK with spending that money on a broken defense project..
it’s not about taking your money either.. b/c you’re not having ‘tea parties’ when being taxed for defense and other spending..
so what is this really about? do you feel threatened that this in the last frontier that separates the rich from the poor? that once this meridian is crossed, there will be no more distinction between the classes?
June 18th, 2009 at 9:20 am
Universal healthcare is a right, not a gimme.
June 18th, 2009 at 9:21 pm
I really like your second quote. When I worry about the future of the country, my thoughts follow along those lines.
Let’s say you are right, and among all the socialist healthcare plans out there is a model thats great. Why are we not utilizing it for medicare and medicaid? I mean, with medicare, you’ve got everything you want in a socailized medical system, single payor and not much choice other than it. So considering the financial straits that program is in, why can’t you fix medicare first? You guys just go and create a program, and when it turns into a disaster, you lose interest and move on to the next new program. Fix medicare and prove the government can handle the financing of an entitilment program.
You are partially right. I do feel threatened my socialized medicine, although not for any rich or poor reasons. I would definitey fall under the poor side of that equation. I feel threatened for two reasons:
1. Of all of Obama’s statist schemes, that would be the hardest to correct. In fact, it may be impossible to correct. The damage done to our health care system would probably not be repairable.
2. Looking at other countries, it strikes me that seems to be the dividing line between free citizens and serfs. It’s hard to be free when the government owns you and controls such a major factor of your life. Once you cross that bridge, it’s not our government, we are their subjects.