Until that fateful November night, I never concerned myself with the politics of healthcare. I took my health for granted; I always exercised and ate a fairly balanced diet. My friends and I biked everywhere, and nothing ever happened. A few cuts and scrapes, but no major injuries.
Luckily, at the time of the accident I was still 21 years old and covered by my family's plan. But when I turned 22, I was dropped from my parents' healthcare coverage. Though I do have a required university healthcare package, it covers little more than my prescriptions and mental health needs. If I was ever in need of serious treatment, I am not sure what I could do. As a student I do not have the time to secure a job with benefits, and my parents do not have the means to support me beyond what they are already doing. I am mired in medical debt; my mailbox is full of second, third and last notices. I have no way of paying any of it off.
...for every dollar spent on direct care, nearly three other dollars are spent in ancillary ways, in other goods and services: from prescription drugs to medical equipment, to cleaning supplies purchased by health care providers such as hospitals and clinics, to consumer spending by employees whose jobs are created by health care.
then imagine we have a system in which the 46 million americans presently uninsured are now covered by full medicare, which by itself could be funded by an additional $44 billion. add in full medicare for seniors who have limited medicare programs, those on medicaid, and those who have private insurance but don't use it because of the high out-of-pocket costs or who are denied needed care because their private insurer doesn't want to pay for it.
that's the real key to economic growth through health care, people using medically needed care when they need it. providing care jump-starts the economy massively.
it has other rather important benefits. a healthier population....
at a time when the gap between the rich and poor in our nation is at its widest ever, the greed of a few has jeopardized the social, economic and health care security of all of us. no decent and compassionate society should fail to provide health care to its members when it has the financial reasons to do so.
the good news is that by expanding and improving medicare to cover everyone, we create jobs and drive the economy. a healthy population benefits all of us. we can't afford not to do this. it's our opportunity to assert that we are indeed one nation with equality for all. one nation, with one healthcare plan.
Once again, just because some aspects of a badly managed public health care system are wrong, does not mean that a properly managed public health care system (such as is found in every other industrialized country) is in any way comparable. Wouldn't you agree?
Actually it really isn't poorly managed. It reflects that the state was trying to assure access to dental care for low income patients through regulation. Basically the State was saying if you care for our employee dental group you must also care for medicaid patients. Dental care is an area with even greater access gaps than medical care.....
Back to worrying about insuring 60 million un/underinsured americans...
Actually it really isn't poorly managed. It reflects that the state was trying to assure access to dental care for low income patients through regulation. Basically the State was saying if you care for our employee dental group you must also care for medicaid patients. .
If the State of MN Medicaid dental program was well-run, paid dentists adequately and in a timely manner for their services and demanded responsible behavior on the part of its participants (such as keeping appointment times reserved for them), there would be dentists lined up around the block asking to participate.
Since so few dentists are willing to participate, this clearly is not the case. The answer to a poorly-run, poorly-paying program is to improve it, not to tie participation to other plans, thus punishing their participants.
Slow payments and payments that do not cover the costs of service are common complaints among the providers willing to accept Medicare and Medicaid. I guess that's no surprise when their method of containing costs is simply to cut and delay reimbursement. Without self-paying and privately insured patients who make up these reimbursement deficits, there would be no dental care for the needy of MN.
Since so few dentists are willing to participate, this clearly is not the case. The answer to a poorly-run, poorly-paying program is to improve it, not to tie participation to other plans, thus punishing their participants.
I agree with this 100%, and I'm not sure there's anyone who really thinks it's a good idea to punish the private paying participants. I guess the issues is HOW can it be improved? Well, I personally believe that the fractured nature of our health care system (a million different insurance companies, all with their own bottom line and weird policies) plus a half-assed government effort makes everything way more expensive and complicated than it should be.
Slow payments and payments that do not cover the costs of service are common complaints among the providers willing to accept Medicare and Medicaid. I guess that's no surprise when their method of containing costs is simply to cut and delay reimbursement. Without self-paying and privately insured patients who make up these reimbursement deficits, there would be no dental care for the needy of MN.
This is an issue specifically with medicaid and medicare. Not in all areas, but again, that's part of the problem. We need a unifying method of coverage for people. A large risk pool equals less costs for all, plus less red tape and hassle dealing with for-profit insurance companies. I think most people know they don't have our interests in mind at all.
Bear in mind, I am a proponent of the free-market when it comes to just about everything. And I would even agree that competition would lead to good health care for the best prices to the most people. But the very nature of healthcare makes it separate from things like TVs, cars, and all the other commodities that we let earn our dollar. We are not in the position of power when it comes to making healthcare choices, not the least of which is because most people do not have perfect access to information. Most regular every day folks don't know what makes some health care better than other health care. It's an extremely complicated idea, much more so than most of the buying decisions we make.
Health insurance companies don't have to 'compete', because their very nature makes it impossible. The idea of a for-profit health industry strikes me as morally wrong, just as much as for profit public protections.
The real issue is the 60 million (and rapidly growing) Un and underinsured Americans.
This is exactly why the capitalist model fails for healthcare. In a true market environment, someone would see these people who desperately want a service, and cater to them. Don't argue that all these people are low-income, as many are not(and increasingly so).
Wow, medicare reimbursements will increase by 20%? I had not seen that anywhere. Your link took me to a page with many links and I didn't have time/patience to check them all. Could you please provide a more focused one?
Medicare has traditionally controlled costs by lowering their reimbursements. Increasing reimbursements would be quite a change.
I did see where more money would be raised by the government to support the expanded system.
"A modest payroll tax on all employers and employees of 3.3% each. A 5% health tax on the top 5% of income earners. A small tax on stock and bond transfers. Closing corporate tax loop-holes, and repealing the Bush tax cut for the highest 1% of income earners."
Specializes in Critical care, tele, Medical-Surgical.
At a time when the gap between the rich and poor in our nation is at its widest ever, the greed of a few has jeopardized the social, economic and health care security of all of us. No decent and compassionate society should fail to provide health care to its members when it has the financial reasons to do so.
The good news is that by expanding and improving MediCare to cover everyone, we create jobs and drive the economy. A healthy population benefits all of us. We can't afford NOT to do this. It's our opportunity to assert that we are indeed one nation with equality for all. One nation, with one healthcare plan.
Perhaps the main criticism is idealogical.
I would rather try to improve healthcare for everyone. I think it is my moral duty as a nurse.
If one idea is impractical please help with your ideas.
At a time when the gap between the rich and poor in our nation is at its widest ever, the greed of a few has jeopardized the social, economic and health care security of all of us. No decent and compassionate society should fail to provide health care to its members when it has the financial reasons to do so. 
RN4MERCY
328 Posts
the good news is that by expanding and improving medicare to cover everyone, we create jobs and drive the economy. a healthy population benefits all of us. we can't afford not to do this. it's our opportunity to assert that we are indeed one nation with equality for all. one nation, with one healthcare plan.