Health Care Reform---If You Were Congress

allnurses Guide · Feb 12, 2009

Medicare currently pays 80% of costs for people who are over 65 years of age or permanently disabled.

These people generally require more health care than average.

Expand Medicare to pay 100%, vision, and dental, and cover all of us.

This will save the millions in overhead (advertising, bonuses, multi million dollar salaries and stock options, and such). Taxpayers should not pay for profit corporations any more.

Simplepleasures · Feb 12, 2009

Medicare may have it's problems, but it is far better than a free clinic. I must buy a supplemental policy that costs me $150. a month for the deductibles, but even this is a better alternative to no coverage. If everyone paid that $150. a month to a government run Medicare program and cut out the private health insurers we could expand Medicare to cover everyone.

allnurses Guide · Feb 13, 2009

last saturday i called medicare because my husband received two statements of payment for the same visit to the eye doctor. they had different reference numbers and payment dates 2 days apart. i was concerned that the office may have been paid twice.

i was put on hold for about five minutes, transferred to another person, and put on hold again for a few minutes.

that person explained that the office had reported a second check for the same visit (in july 2008). one was cancelled so taxpayers did not double pay.

i'm sorry for your difficulty reaching medicare.

i won't bore you all with what pacificare put me through when i was injured and in pain. it was waiting for authorization. repeatedly.

RN4MERCY · Feb 14, 2009

In our desire to reform a broken system, it's imperative that we don't take one step forward and two steps back. All reform must ensure that we DO NO HARM! We have to beware of "well-meaning" half measures that come under the guise of universal healthcare. Unfortunately most proposals leave the insurance companies still running our dysfunctional system for maximal profits. We need to seriously question the assumption that "insurance coverage" guarantees actual healthcare.

With everyday that passes we hear more and more heartbreaking stories about how people who have "insurance coverage" are refused medical care. Insurance companies delay, deny, and rescind coverage to maximize their profits. There are multiple insurers with hundreds of plans. They make a profit by avoiding sick people and it's time we stopped their interference with our health care. With insurance companies still controlling the system, determining who gets care and who doesn't, there will be no meaningful cost controls on rising premiums, co-pays, or deductibles. That's just plain irresponsible and poor public health policy. We can do better.

I agree with herring_RN. We need to expand and improve upon the single-payer system we already have in this country, Medicare. This is our time, and our opportunity to assert that we are indeed one people with equitable access to medically necessary health care for all. One nation, with one health care plan for all. H.R. 676, the "Medicare for All" act, is legislation that will make such a healthcare system a reality.

If I was Congress, I'd pass HR 676 and send it to President Obama for his signature. It's up to us to hold our government accountable for passing genuine healthcare reform legislation that will truly solve the healthcare crisis.

Koyaanisqatsi-RN · Feb 15, 2009

Well said, RN4MERCY. One of the key things I would also ensure is NO PRE-EXISTING CONDITION EXCLUSIONS.

That is an utterly absurd ingredient in the crap-sandwich known as private insurance.

It is literally like..."ok, we'll provide you ridiculously expensive yet still sub-par coverage as long as we have some reassurance that you'll NEVER NEED TO USE IT".

Ugh. I hate health insurance companies with every fiber of my being. And how any living, breathing, feeling human being could ever defend their actions is utterly beyond me.

Katie82, RN · Feb 21, 2009

Ugh. I hate health insurance companies with every fiber of my being. And how any living, breathing, feeling human being could ever defend their actions is utterly beyond me.

Actually they are now number 2 on my list behind the money-grubbing, thieving oil companies...... Insurance companies actually have the right ideas on a lot of issues. If we could privatize them and cut out the profits, we could put some of those ideas along with their administrative skills (I do not want to see the gov managing the day to day nuts and bolts of healthcare), we might be able to develop a UHC plan that works. I would love to see insurance copany execs live on what the gov would pay them to outsource. Everyone is praising Medicare as a benchmark to UHC, but folks who work with it and the beneficiaries will tell you it falls short of brilliance. It is also hemhorraging funds, will probably be broke before I can file for it. Patients have problems finding doctors in some parts of the country because of poor reimbursement, and hospitals cannot cover their costs with Medicare reimbursements. Lets improve this system, not expand on it......

azhiker96, BSN, RN · Feb 21, 2009

To answer the OP,

we need to build in incentives for people to take a more active role in preventive care. I'd favor tax credits to achieve this. There could be a $50 tax credit just for making it to your annual checkup. Another $50 for maintaining a healthy BMI, $200 for not using tobacco, $100 for healthy BP, and $100 for a health HbA1c. All of these could be confirmed by simple tests at the yearly exam and transmitted directly to the government. If you choose not to have an exam, you don't get the credits. Of course, all my numbers are pulled from thin air but the concept is sound. Healthy people are cheaper to take care of than sick ones. We have got to get people to take a more active role in preventive medicine so we can avoid the costs of chronic illness.

suanna · Feb 22, 2009

We are going to have to move to a "universal coverage" model sooner or later. We already have "universal health care" It's just people without insurance pass the cost on to the rest of us- and the hospitals are the ones taking the hit. Sooner of later our health care quality is going to suffer as the cost of great patient care is no longer possible with the number of uninsured depleating the hospitals resources. I think a first step is universal coverage for children- irreguardless of income. If you want to add supplimental coverage for your child- you can, but basic health care and hospital care is covered by a gov't funded model. You will still have free market forces in place just like we do with the many "medicare" plans. Once people can see this works we can look to expanding coverage to all Americans. In a decade maybe the USofA can join the rest of the developed world in ensuring health care for it's citizens. I know "Universal Health Care" is a dirty word in our free market society, but until a hospital can say " I'm sorry, you are to broke to care for- please go away and die" and not be sued or closed down, we are just burying our heads in the sand and letting the hospitals get poorer and poorer. Guess what folks-- Nursing is a large part of hospital care and we are going to take the brunt of the losses along with our employers.

allnurses Guide · Mar 14, 2009

You can see the video, listen, or read the transcript

Newly Formed 150,000-Strong Nurses' Union Pushes for Single-Payer Healthcare
Three of the country's top organizations of direct care registered nurses have come together to form a new national nurses' union that is advocating for a single-payer national health insurance program.
The new union unifies the California Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee, United American Nurses, and the Massachusetts Nurses Association into a 150,000-member association, making it the largest registered nurses union in US history.
We speak with Geri Jenkins, a registered nurse and co-president of the union.
http://www.democracynow.org/2009/3/11/newly_formed_150_000_strong_nurses

RN4MERCY · Mar 15, 2009

You can see the video, listen, or read the transcript

This is wonderful. Geri's so spot on with her advocacy for patients and our profession. She's very articulate and passionate about genuine single payer reform. "MediCare for All" just makes such good and compassionate healthcare sense. Not to mention fiscal recovery...which should get the lawmakers' attention in Washington!

Thank you for posting.

Katie82, RN · Mar 21, 2009

Medicare currently pays 80% of costs for people who are over 65 years of age or permanently disabled.
These people generally require more health care than average.
Expand Medicare to pay 100%, vision, and dental, and cover all of us.
This will save the millions in overhead (advertising, bonuses, multi million dollar salaries and stock options, and such). Taxpayers should not pay for profit corporations any more.

This would be a great solution in an ideal world, but who will pay for this. Medicare is already functioning in the red, how can they possibly pick up the extra coverage? Medicare was never intended to be total coverage, but a basic plan to keep the elderly from death's door. There are two general premises that the American public needs to realize - Social Security is not designed to keep us comfortable in our old age and Medicare is not an overall coverage. These two should never replace the good old ethic of saving for retirement. I am always amazed at the number of people who do not have a savings plan. I think the good 'ol days make more sense - where people lived a lifestyle they could afford and always socked a little away for retirement.