What is the #1 healthcare problem in the USA?

goingCOASTAL · Jun 20, 2005

I can only think to add Medicaid abuse by patients, Medicare fraud on the parts of practitioners, and extremely over-inflated hospital charges (like the infamous $12+ for 2 OTC Tylenol).

There's a reason you pay $12 dollars for that Tylenol.

People here in this country have traditionally opposed "socialized" medicine, although the most likely form of it that would occur here in America WOULDN'T be the government owning everything and being the employer of all healthcare workers -- it would mostly likely just be government-provided healthcare insurance for everyone, or at least the uninsured (like MediCare for everybody).

The people that don't want this believe that if we were to convert to such a system, we'll turn into the Communist Soviet Union, and they'd take away our freedoms. There are people on talk-radio actually making these comparisons. It's baloney -- there are plenty of instances in society where the "whole" provides benefit for "all" (public schools, medicare, VA benefits, public highways).

What people DON'T understand, is that we already have a form of "socialized" medicine, which really means "society providing coverage for everyone." Because of prior government regulation, social expectation, and the threat of litigation, pretty much anyone can get at LEAST emergency care, regardless of their ability to pay. They won't get much else, but they can -- at least -- get acute or critical care if the absense of treatment could lead to death.

A lot of these people can't pay -- they're unemployed, or working for a place that doesn't provide insurance. So, when their ER, ICU, etc., bill can't be paid for, that cost is distributed to those that can. Your $12 dollar Tylenol is helping a 60 year old diabetic who was laid off last year, or the child with leukemia who had exhausted their Medicaid benefits.

Some think that it's unfair for those who work to pay for those who can't -- but, that is already being done! The hospitals have no choice but to shift the cost to the insured. If we were to force hospitals to only charge a reasonable amount above cost on products and services, one of two things would happen: 1) our hospital systems nationwide would collapse from massive bankruptcy, or 2) hospitals would only be able to accept patients that could pay -- everyone else would be turned away to die: battered women, poor children, the disabled, etc. It would be brutal and merciless, and would create massive tensions between the "haves and havenots." Think John Q multiplied times 40 million (the number of US uninsured).

So, we're already doing it to a degree -- universal healthcare would simply normalize costs, and provide preventative healthcare to those who can only get healthcare (for example) when they're in a hypertensive crisis, or exacerbated COPD. Trying to kick out the uninsured (the only other "real" solution) is inhumane and could be detrimental to society.

Mystery5 · Jun 20, 2005

There's a reason you pay $12 dollars for that Tylenol.
People here in this country have traditionally opposed "socialized" medicine, although the most likely form of it that would occur here in America WOULDN'T be the government owning everything and being the employer of all healthcare workers -- it would mostly likely just be government-provided healthcare insurance for everyone, or at least the uninsured (like MediCare for everybody).
The people that don't want this believe that if we were to convert to such a system, we'll turn into the Communist Soviet Union, and they'd take away our freedoms. There are people on talk-radio actually making these comparisons. It's baloney -- there are plenty of instances in society where the "whole" provides benefit for "all" (public schools, medicare, VA benefits, public highways).
What people DON'T understand, is that we already have a form of "socialized" medicine, which really means "society providing coverage for everyone." Because of prior government regulation, social expectation, and the threat of litigation, pretty much anyone can get at LEAST emergency care, regardless of their ability to pay. They won't get much else, but they can -- at least -- get acute or critical care if the absense of treatment could lead to death.
A lot of these people can't pay -- they're unemployed, or working for a place that doesn't provide insurance. So, when their ER, ICU, etc., bill can't be paid for, that cost is distributed to those that can. Your $12 dollar Tylenol is helping a 60 year old diabetic who was laid off last year, or the child with leukemia who had exhausted their Medicaid benefits.
Some think that it's unfair for those who work to pay for those who can't -- but, that is already being done! The hospitals have no choice but to shift the cost to the insured. If we were to force hospitals to only charge a reasonable amount above cost on products and services, one of two things would happen: 1) our hospital systems nationwide would collapse from massive bankruptcy, or 2) hospitals would only be able to accept patients that could pay -- everyone else would be turned away to die: battered women, poor children, the disabled, etc. It would be brutal and merciless, and would create massive tensions between the "haves and havenots." Think John Q multiplied times 40 million (the number of US uninsured).
So, we're already doing it to a degree -- universal healthcare would simply normalize costs, and provide preventative healthcare to those who can only get healthcare (for example) when they're in a hypertensive crisis, or exacerbated COPD. Trying to kick out the uninsured (the only other "real" solution) is inhumane and could be detrimental to society.

I wholeheartedly agree with this most excellent post!:yeahthat:

sassynurse78 · Jun 21, 2005

Money and Greed I think can sum up our health care problems in this country. Although I have always felt this way, I knew it for sure last summer. I started with a headahce and chills, to only get worse and worse. By the time I drug myself to the Dr's office I had a bil. ear infection and bronchitis. The MD prescribed Augmentin and a Medrol Dose Pack. The same week we brought the dog in for a bath and noticed his swelled lymph nodes. The vet prescribed him Augmentin and Medrol Dose Pack also. Total cost of care (including vet visit) for our dog was $32. Total cost of care for me was $150.

lossforimagination · Jun 21, 2005

The biggest problem in our current system is lack of insurance coverage and accessability. I have real problems because I am considered unisurable by the insurance companies because I had ARDS and some common complications (renal failure, stress ulcers among others) back when I was 18.....Im n now 37 and have developed asthma, then r/t the asthma, hypertension, all controlled by meds. I was on a special state program for people in my situation, but the program only lets you be covered for three years and they switch you to naother program that has premiums so high (higher than my mortgage) that I was forced to drop it. :angryfire So, I just pray I stay healthy, I work full time doing CNA work and studying nursing. Dh job does not cover me either. I can't afford my PCP so I have found a FNP that only charges 50/visit. I find it unrweal that most every industrialized nation manages to have basic healthcare services for its people but the US.
Laura

Hey, don't feel bad. My current employer doesn't offer health insurance. I'm quite healthy but was rejected for individual policy by 3 insurance companies. Reason: recurrent UTI's (uncomplicated, treated easily with antibiotics). Totally ignored was the fact that I've had no major health problems; I'm physically fit, take no RX meds, my lipid profile, Ht/Wt, B/P, etc. are all excellent. I haven't had the problem in over a year, as UTI has not recurred since I stopped drinking 3 liters of Diet Coke every day......what a novel idea that diet might play a huge part!

Lack of health insurance is scary; but since traditional medicine offers only surgery and drugs AFTER ILLNESS OCCURS, it's not what I want anyway. I don't want to take pharmaceuticals, which do nothing but mask symptoms. Granted, there are drugs that are truly useful. But, what chronic disease is actually cured in the current system? None. Nothing is cured in the current system....that would be soooo bad for business. The point, after all, is to get millions of clients on all those pharmaceuticals for their lifetimes. The polypharmacy going on out there is utterly appalling. The TV ads for RX drugs is appalling. If anything is an indicator of greed in the system, just look at the 15 or 20 different meds your elderly NH patients are taking daily.....as if all that chemical crap is good for them. It's good for Big Pharma, but not people.

I believe that poor diet is the primary reason for poor health. Overweight does not = well nourished. Good nutrition (and no, definatley not the USDA version of nutrition) along with exercise, no smoking and avoiding chemical exposures is key to preventing most all health problems. Rec good reading: "The Maker's Diet", www.mercola.com ; www.NewsTarget.com

Just my 2 cents worth....

ZZTopRN, BSN, RN · Jun 21, 2005

Hey, don't feel bad. My current employer doesn't offer health insurance. I'm quite healthy but was rejected for individual policy by 3 insurance companies. Reason: recurrent UTI's (uncomplicated, treated easily with antibiotics). Totally ignored was the fact that I've had no major health problems; I'm physically fit, take no RX meds, my lipid profile, Ht/Wt, B/P, etc. are all excellent. I haven't had the problem in over a year, as UTI has not recurred since I stopped drinking 3 liters of Diet Coke every day......what a novel idea that diet might play a huge part!
Lack of health insurance is scary; but since traditional medicine offers only surgery and drugs AFTER ILLNESS OCCURS, it's not what I want anyway. I don't want to take pharmaceuticals, which do nothing but mask symptoms. Granted, there are drugs that are truly useful. But, what chronic disease is actually cured in the current system? None. Nothing is cured in the current system....that would be soooo bad for business. The point, after all, is to get millions of clients on all those pharmaceuticals for their lifetimes. The polypharmacy going on out there is utterly appalling. The TV ads for RX drugs is appalling. If anything is an indicator of greed in the system, just look at the 15 or 20 different meds your elderly NH patients are taking daily.....as if all that chemical crap is good for them. It's good for Big Pharma, but not people.
I believe that poor diet is the primary reason for poor health. Overweight does not = well nourished. Good nutrition (and no, definatley not the USDA version of nutrition) along with exercise, no smoking and avoiding chemical exposures is key to preventing most all health problems. Rec good reading: "The Maker's Diet", www.mercola.com ; www.NewsTarget.com
Just my 2 cents worth....

You're 2 cents worth is so true!

I just love the ones that say "tell your doctor if you have Kidney or liver disease." If my doctor didn't know, he would not be my doctor. Or can't you just see going into another doctor with an AV fistula and or maybe jaundice and ascites? But the main thing is "tell your doctor." Doesn't this really get them off the hook?

Don't you just love the real "sexy" one where the 30-year-old guy with his wife/girlfriend looks in the lingerie window and a light goes off for "Viagra."

Some medications are life savers but it has turned into a money-making travesty. I used to wonder how the docs felt about the drug companies prescribing for them, but they are all in it together. BIG business!! Unmitigated greed, just thrown in our face, like they have no shame and care not that people are human beings.

gr8rnpjt, RN · Jun 21, 2005

[Number two is INSURANCE companies.

Let me explain:

My husband has what is considered the best insurance in the country. Right now he doesn't pay for his insurance the company does.

Next time you go to your PCP look around. How many nurses do you see?

Now look again...how many workers are there filling out all the insurance claims?

I do not understand why we insist on paying a middleman [insurance companies, government] to go to the doctor/hospital.

Would someone PLEASE explain this to me?

Everybody knows that to lower costs you always eliminate the middleman and go straight to the 'horse's mouth' so to speak.

Thanks!!

____________________________________

In His Grace,

Karen

Failure is NOT an option!!

StreamTeamLPN · Jun 21, 2005

Number one is smoking. Why number one when excess pounds are so much more prevalent? Because smoking is a much more deadly killer than fat which I would make number two. Next biggest killer is accidents including auto accidents. All other form of chemical abuse come in forth. The above is my own personal list. If you want to know the truth advanced age and related degenative diseases are actually number one but I got a feeling we are talking about behavior related diseases.

Smoking not only harms the smoker, it harms everyone else!!!

I'd have to add our politicians who let their own opinions get in the way of what's better for everyone else.

student4ever · Jun 21, 2005

You know, health insurance companies are my major number one thorn in my side/foot/anywhere else they can think to stick me - and it's NOT as therapeutic as acupuncture! LOL

I am covered by my employer's health insurance - but for some reason, hospitals and doctors offices usually have pretty crappy insurance for their employees. I am shocked by the lack of coverage for preventative and alternative health care. I frequently get knotted up shoulder muscles, leading to stiff neck to the point I can barely move. The only thing that helps my problem is going to the chiropractor and massage therapist. My family doc agrees that this is what I need on a regular basis, and even wrote an rx for such treatments, yet the health insurance refuses to pay for any of it because it is considered "alternative medicine." The insurance would rather pay for a PMD visit every month or so along with an rx for flexeril - which makes me so stupid in the head I can't go to work. Therefore, lost wages, using up vacation time, etc. for something preventable. Health insurance companies refuse to pay for something that's not under the scope of the family doctor or hospital doctor, but health is not just fixed by chemicals/drugs. Health is something that involves all aspects of life, not just illnesses to treat. My health insurance won't even pay for prophylactic vaccines - don't even get me on the subject of not paying for birth control!!! It's like they want me to have tons of kids so that I have to pay in more to their company so I can have kids on the insurance plan.... no consideration is given to preventative health!!!!

And don't even get me started on how much I have to pay in for my insurance, plus the copays that are involved with using it. I know that I can't get my health care for free, and I don't want that - I'm doing okay, and I don't mind paying a REASONABLE amount for my health care. But it's getting rediculous to pay 25 dollars for a co-pay on a GENERIC prescription!

Not to mention these lawyers who advertise on TV these massive lawsuits for Vioxx or any other type of medication related injuries. The more everyone in the health care system is sued, the higher costs are going to go and the less health insurance (if you can afford it) is going to cover.

I don't know if I'm mad at the health insurance companies themselves, or the government and its current administration for failing to institute some kind of reform to help the middle class/poor working folks. Not to say that the government should control health care, but they could facilitate the ability of the average person to have some say/control over their healthcare, and make it less of a financial burden to keep up with preventative care. No, we have to wait until we are ill, can't work because of the illness, pay huge co-pays until we miss so much work we lose our insurance coverage and have to pay the whole bill, can't pay it cause we're not working, can't get welfare because we're not working because of an illness that we could have prevented to begin with, and because we can't pay the bills, our credit then gets ruined, and we get even sicker because now we can't afford to eat.

I don't know how the h*ll to fix the problem, but the problem is sure as heck hitting us over the head, and the feces on the fan are getting deeper and deeper. I hate to see what's going to happen when one of our lovely "good old boy" government officials decides it's getting hot in the oval office and turns the fan on.

Pleaides · Jun 22, 2005

NOTHING is more problematic than smoking-related problems. So preventable yet the it-won't-happen-to-me and then "why me?" folks who continue to waste money on cigarettes instead of treatment to quit. Nurses who smoke are a complete mystery to me!

Fuzzy · Jun 22, 2005

>>>I am covered by my employer's health insurance - but for some reason, hospitals and doctors offices usually have pretty crappy insurance for their employees.

At least you have some kind of health insurance. I have none because of pre-existing conditions and the fact that I work in the veterinary field instead of in human medicine. My animals get a very good break on their medical coverage----sigh. To bad that the vet isn't allowed to practice on humans. My pre-existing conditions are epilepsy and bipolar. I don't smoke and rarely drink. I do have a weight problem but I'm beginning to lose weight. I take my meds relgiously (providing that I can get them on a regular basis those are $$$). I was on patient assistance for medications but now I make too much money so now I get a whole 25% OFF when I use the pharmacy drug card. Sure wish that I could get my meds through work but that's illegal. Sure I could go on SSI but I would rather work. I was on SSI once and I don't want to go back.

I get frustrated when I hear about people complain about their insurance coverage. Isn't some better in none? I also get frustrated when I see people who have self destructive lifestyles able to get medical coverage because of where they work. These are the same people who complain about how much their veterinary care costs (sorry another rant). I think that medical savings accounts are a good idea but you have to have an insurance policy with a high deductable---yeah right.

I am at the age of mammagrams (never has had one), PAP Smears (have had 2 in the last 15 years) and around the corner, colonoscopies, plus several other heart, lung and blood tests that are recommended for us younger baby boomers. It's not that I cannot pay for some of the diagnostics but if something were to be found, I could not pay for the treatment. So right now I'm better off not knowing.

Fuzzy, who sometimes thinks that Canada cannot be that bad. : )

hollyster · Jun 22, 2005

Lack of early health education.

Lack of exercise.

The high cost of fruits, veggies and lean meats vs the low price and readily available high fat low nutrition foods. The government actually considers ketchup a veggie in school lunches.

The decline of physical education program.

Ridiculous insurance fees, MD fees and medication prices.

General apathy and laziness.

Lawdo2 · Jun 22, 2005

Hello! I think most of us can agree that healthcare here in the good ol' U.S. of A is lacking in some areas. In fact, many think that we are facing a crisis.
My question for you is, in your very own opinion, what is the single most important problem with our healthcare system, and what would you like to see happen to improve it?

Insurance companies is the problem, they are diagnosing and treating patients, not doctors, they dictate what we can and cannot have, they, in addition to pharmaceuticalsare the true reason for rising healthcare cost and instead of the insurance companies fighting back, they make the patient's pay for it. They are one of the reasons for the rishe in health care cost today.