Insurance Practices: Delay, Diminish, Deny, & Blame

[Music in My Heart]

For those interested in the power, politics, and profit of medical and disability insurance, have a gander at this report.

http://www.projectcensored.org/Health_Study_Final.pdf

I'm already an advocate of a well-regulated, single-payer health insurance system. This report strengthens that belief.

The issue is not simple, to be sure, but the status quo just seems so wrong on so many levels.

[Katie82, RN]

"Even as a new grad..." Really now.

Hospitals and clinics are NOT vacation destinations where "consumers" can "go shopping" to buy health care. So you believe if someone needs an appendectomy, they shouldn't get it unless they have cash in hand or an insurance policy promise to pay. So you think the patient should delay or deny treatment for what could be the signs and symptoms of a devastating illness. Diseases and injuries are cheaper to treat early on. It appears that you believe that the patient should deny themselves a consult with a qualified medical professional as a way of controlling costs? I think that's shameful and not in the public's interest.

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I don't understand how you read all this into my post, except the reference to Michael Moore, I am entitled to my opinion on that. I do not consider him a "messenger". The reference to my "new grad" status refers to the state of healthcare prior to the implementation of DRGs and utilization review when I graduated, which was 1982. I worked on a hospital floor where the average stay was 10 days. I saw elderly people dumped by families so they could go on vacation. I saw LTC facilities send people in so they could reduce their census for the holidays. We had one endocrinologist who admitted his patients in order to calibrate a new insulin pump, took at least 2 weeks. Even as a new grad, I knew these people did not need to be in a hospital setting.

I am not a fan of insurance companies, I can read and understand their earning statements. My grad degree is in Healthcare Management, and I have a unique advantage in that I not only see the need for quality healthcare for all (I work with this every day), but understand the need to pay for it. As far as the public being uninformed, that is also a personal choice. There is enough information out there to educate. I work hard trying to make my patients more responsible for their own care in the sense that prevention is the key to good health. The old "I don't need to worry about knowing all this, my doctor takes care of everything" is another throwback to the 80s. But I still hear it.

In my state, those who have catastrophic illnesses and no insurance can get healthcare in the form of Medical Assistance. All children are covered by very good insurance. If this is not so in your state, make a move on the State Legislature......