Where do most of the uninsured live?

[HM2VikingRN]

So, here's the big takeaway: The overwhelming majority of uninsured U.S. residents are adult American citizens without children living in the south with moderately good health status. Oh, and one more thing: They're predominantly white. I didn't make a slide for that, but just trust me. The reason behind that is simple: There are many more white people in the U.S. than there are other persons of any other single race. So, the po' white south makes up most of the uninsured. Chew on that for a while. Then ask yourself where the strongest opposition to health reform comes from (hint: it's red states) and contemplate how much sense that makes.

Link embedded.

[lamazeteacher]

so, insurance companies...check. medical professionals....check. lawyers....check. where does personal responsibility come into play again? or do we just choose to look past that, because it's actually requires effort on our parts without complaining about how everyone with a bank account greater then ours is wronging us? did i make you think that's what i said? i've taken responsibility, uncomfortable as it can be, to not get supplemental insurance, and not pay the 20% the bill insists that i owe. those who have worked in medical billing, know that doctors don't charge all patients the same fee for the same service, so "padding" bills for those who have insurance is common........the rationale doctors who think about that give, is that it balances the nonpayments........ a closer look shows that there are more insurance covered patients than nonpayers. :angryfire

how in gods green earth is it the lawyers fault that people go out and try to sue someone frivilously? really frivolous claims get tossed out at the arrainments designed for that purpose.lawyers are merely a tool, a service provided. far as i know, most hospitals don't allow lawyers to make rounds to see if anyone was mistreated. it's about the same as that, since big facilities have lawyers on staff, lawyers on retainment, and lawyers advising "risk management" about what they need to watch. the individual actually has to make the choice to contact one and file a lawsuit. that depends on how much a lawyer contacting them might say they'll get (before the lawyer takes a 30% cut - 50% being disallowed, now in some states). if they don't, it won't happen. have you heard of "ambulance chasers"? that has become a refined art these days, although lawyers will always deny it. (my ex, who is a lawyer, had a lot to say about them, and never did that).

as far as medical errors on that scale, i'd like to think they don't actually happen very often. read on but i'm sure they do. far as i'm concerned, if you can't be bothered to make sure you're taking the right limb, then you don't deserve your license. it should be grounds for immediate termination. but even if it is a semi-common occurance, i doubt that it makes up a very large portion of malpractice suits. look it up, you'll be surprised - even the wrong breast has gone....it being said by defense afterward, that recurrences occur more in the other one - sometimes before a biopsy demonstrates cancer).

i read through these paragraphs, and i was following pretty well until that last line. how is it even possible that you ended that rant with "love that capitalism.....:angryfire"? i guess you haven't heard of/seen/read michael moore's new diatribe about capitalism...... which he blames for the excessive avarice of banks, insurance companies, and the stock market, et al. the funniest scene in his movie, is his appearance at the opulent entrance of aig, pillow case in hands for the money, demanding the taxpayers' money for their rescue, back. like his work or not, that movie is well worth your time and money!

i mean, it blows my mind. you're talking about government run medicare, how it isn't enough to cover care,

ummmmmm, it's plenty for non avaricious health care professionals who believe they don't need to live like gods, even if they act like them......or decorate their offices to the "nines", drive porsche carreras, have no idea how much prescribed drugs cost for the uninsured......

how it requires supplemental insurance, how it forces (???) doctors to raise their rates (only if they want the above mentioned lifestyle; and money spent for their humiliating, sleep deprived education many years ago, (on loan from banks or not), which was repaid many times over in the first decade of their careers, so how exactly did you pin this on capitalism?the bank involvement, the medical schools that spend more money than necessary lobbying for government support, and on items not worth their time (like the actors that pretend to be patients for doctors' training - at least the schools' insurance rates don't go up as much when actual patients' lives aren't at stake, according to the scene i watched on the today show while at this computer). the need to pay themselves back for completing medical school at great personal expense, figures prominently in their lives afterward. canadian doctors i know don't have that affectation, and don't have the debts american doctors do, yet compete favorably in comparable environments.

especially when the only capitalistic factor in your situation are the doctors, who you said haven't denied you care even though you haven't been making their copays. well, now that i think of it, a few did refuse me care, but it was over one of their ma's (real cheap help with 3 months of education) substandard behavior, standards, and knowledge. my doctor was in a huge "foundation", though and she didn't know if i paid or not, unless hounding doctors about that was done there.... she said if it came to a choice between her nasty, ignorant ma and me (who i'm sure she thought was equally nasty to want my b.p. taken while i sat in a chair instead of the examining table, because it's usually lower that way, disregarding the ma's claim that b.p.s have to be taken with the sphygmomenometer "at heart level".

they labelled me "white coat phobic" for that, and retribution occured after i reported the educational deficit to the doctor. that was my placement in a darkened and dirty (with mucoid material at the end of the only piece of furniture there - you guessed it, an examination table with stirrups in place) in a treatment room littered with refuse from the last patient, when i came in with a flu (not this year). so i reported that to the clinic manager, and got bounced from that gerontologist's care; and the manager switched clinics.

the only other time, was an internist (and his "nurse") who thought i had excessive concern (i didn't shout, hit, or even frown at him, rather i took a motherly "let's be part of a solution to have this never happen again" attitude, about him not noticing or notifying his partners or me over christmas (from the blood test taken dec. 19, '07, until jan. 8 '08 when i got a call saying that i needed "to take some iron"), that my hgb was 9.2! i wondered why i fell going upstairs at a ski resort, over new year's.....without having an alcoholic drink, requiring stitches for the resulting cut.

bravo on not abusing credit cards though. if more people thought like you do, we'd be in a lot better shape as a nation economically. i learned that the hard way, having to borrow money from my ex (the trial lawyer, after the divorces from him) for overspent cards. the agreement he made me sign, said i'd never use a credit card again, and i haven't. after all, he said, anything i spend, is his money (like i didn't work for any).

i'm not really sure what your point is here, or what part of the programs you're referencing. but benefits are paid by those who have paid into the system, and now may be retired, for 3 times (or as many spouses as a person could have) which squewed all expectations of what the cost of that inclusion would be - not necessarily still paying into the system to cover those who have already retired. i'm not really sure how they actually calculate how much each individual recieves, but i assume that's what you're saying? uh, no. you get increased benefits based on how many times you've been married before? yes, but the one benefited gets only the amount for him/herself plus half of that again if he/she's currently married, while 1-2-3-4 times that amount he/she put in from earnings goes to past spouses.....or are you just trying to show how fundamentally flawed the funding for these programs is? yes, and that's one of the next things that president obama is going to reform (only right) overall, you don't seem all too happy with them.well, the counselor at the social security office told me to take his (lawyers making more money than nurses, over their

lifetimes), and let me tell you, i earned it, raising the kids mostly without his input, unless they wanted another opinion, which inevitably conflicted with mine, working as a nurse (for clothing needs), and getting a gourmet dinner cooked and on the table at the time he demanded it......

no argument there. it's unacceptable, and as i said earlier...should be grounds for loss of licensure.

wait, wait, don't tell me, you think doctors (especially surgeons) need to be responsible, when they expect nurses to have checked charts on their patients to see which body part is removable? that's like asking a president to let the red cross go in with supplies when disasters occur, like in new orleans, and not park on hot freeways for days while all kinds of mayhem happened, waiting for official white house permission to be given fema to be given to them?

love the banter......

[SilentMind]

wait, wait, don't tell me, you think doctors (especially surgeons) need to be responsible, when they expect nurses to have checked charts on their patients to see which body part is removable? that's like asking a president to let the red cross go in with supplies when disasters occur, like in new orleans, and not park on hot freeways for days while all kinds of mayhem happened, waiting for official white house permission to be given fema to be given to them?

love the banter......

i'm going to be honest. i find it very difficult to follow your points. i'm not saying you're right or wrong, i just can't keep up without more effort then i'm willing to put in. so i'm going to opt out of this part of the discussion.

[lamazeteacher]

I'm going to be honest. I find it very difficult to follow your points. I'm not saying you're right or wrong, I just can't keep up without more effort then I'm willing to put in. So I'm going to opt out of this part of the discussion.

Sorry!

That was my attempt at humor, and sarcasm.

[whodat1986]

I'm not a nurse yet, but I have worked in the ER for quite a while and I also watch the news almost all day every day. Here's my take on things.

1) Those numbers for the amount of people who are uninsured, while accurate, do not tell the whole story. I forgot the exact percentage, but some huge percentage of the "uninsured" are really people who have nice, 4-bedroom homes, 3 cars, go on expensive vacations, and yet don't want to "waste" money on things like health insurance. So...why should my tax dollars pay it if they can afford it but don't want to?

2) I do think we may need some type of healthcare reform, just not the kind that's being shoved down our throats. It will take a lot longer than a year to come up with a plan for the reform that we would need.

3) It would be GREAT to be able to pay for every person's needs in this country, but considering we are on the verge of bankruptcy, do you really think we can afford the costs of paying for everyone's healthcare? I mean, just as it would be lovely to be able to pool our taxes together and pay for every person in the world to eat, and have medicinal and healthcare needs taken care of...this is not realistic. We simply cannot afford this.

4) I also forgot the statistic of the number of doctors who say they will retire if healthcare reform, as it currently is being described, passes. Some ungodly number that would put us into an even greater crisis.

5) Look at the countries that have government-run healthcare and see where they go for major surgeries. That's right. They come here. Because our system (regardless of whether or not it is able to take care of every single person) works pretty well and provides the best healthcare in the world.

6) Those greedy health insurance companies? 3.4% profit. That is so incredibly low. Soft drink companies make nearly 20%.

[herring_RN, ASN, BSN]

I would like to see a link to th source regarding insurance conpany profits.

http://wonkroom.thinkprogress.org/2010/02/13/anthem-hikes/

http://www.latimes.com/la-fi-insure24-2010feb24,0,5632237.story

[whodat1986]

I don't have the reference for the percentage because I saw it on the news. I found this link which states slightly different numbers, but same idea.

http://newsbusters.org/blogs/tom-blumer/2009/10/26/aps-woodward-fact-checks-health-insurance-company-profits-finds-them-ane

Regardless of increasing health insurance, I don't know if insurance companies can do much about it because of the expense of malpractice insurance, cost of medicine, and all those other costs that factor in. I don't think you can expect cheaper healthcare when we provide some of the best healthcare in the world.

[herring_RN, ASN, BSN]

Maybe the executive salary, perks, and severence pay is considered an expense?

[whodat1986]

As someone whose father's recent medical bills accrued to nearly a million dollars, and also whose cousin's medical bills over the past 2 years did add up to a million dollars, it seems that the quality of our healthcare is what is so expensive. The fact that my father and cousin have survived because of excellent healthcare when they probably would not have made it (or still be on a waiting list, like they would have in some countries with government-run healthcare) makes me realize how first-rate our medical care is in this country. This is the reason why many excellent doctors and nurses leave their countries in order to practice in the United States.

If we want cheaper healthcare, I think we will pay the price for it.

[herring_RN, ASN, BSN]

i am very glad your father and cousin were able to receive the car they needed.

i think all our loved ones deserve the same.

aetna's ronald williams received $24,300,112 in 2008. that's $467,309.85 per week.

ins. co. & ceo with 2007 total ceo compensation

aetna ronald a. williams: $23,045,834

cigna h. edward hanway: $25,839,777

coventry dale b. wolf : $14,869,823

health net jay m. gellert: $3,686,230

humana michael mccallister: $10,312,557

u.health grp stephen j. hemsley: $13,164,529

wellpoint angela braly (2007): $9,094,271

l. glasscock (2006): $23,886,169

http://www.healthreformwatch.com/2009/05/20/health-insurance-ceos-total-compensation-in-2008/

thse multimillion dollard in compensation are not part of the profits. they ar a business expense.

[tewdles, RN]

I am very glad your father and cousin were able to receive the car they needed.

I think all our loved ones deserve the same.

...WellPoint Angela Braly (2007): $9,094,271...

Thse multimillion dollard in compensation are NOT part of the profits. They ar a business expense.

Is this Angela Braly person the exec who just testified in congress about the huge premium increase that they are planning for their Cali individual policy holders? And isn't she just one of dozens in just that one company alone who were paid millions of dollars in compensation packages each year? And what was the corporate profit for that group last year, even after those amazing salaries and bonuses and stock options are considered?

http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2010/02/wellpoint_pushes_ahead_on_cont.html

Yes we have the best health care in the world...its just that increasing numbers of people cannot afford to access it and it costs us 16% of our GDP.

[whodat1986]

I want to be clear that I do think some type of reform is necessary. I just think what the kind that is in the works currently will DESTROY the great medical care we have currently. It will most likely mean lower quality healthcare. It will take a lot longer than a year to form a plan to get the kind of reform needed.

[tewdles, RN]

With our current congress it will take longer than a year...