GOP Rep. Admits That Health Insurance Companies Control The Market And Dictate Medical Decisions
GOP Rep. Admits That Health Insurance Companies Control The Market And Dictate Medical Decisions
Today on C-Span’s Washington Journal, a caller told a story of how he was forced to see numerous doctors at different hospitals in the area in where he lives, some as far as 100 miles away, to get a diagnosis. The caller then faulted health insurance companies for preventing the practice of having “diagnostic tests done under one roof.” “So in essence,” the caller noted, “the insurance companies are the ones controlling what tests you can get, when you get them, how you get them and if they’re accepted or not.”
In a remarkable moment of candor, C-Span’s guest — Republican Congressman Tim Murphy (PA) — agreed:
MURPHY: Yeah and that brings up the point here that with regard to one of our big frustrations with insurance companies is they control the market place, they control what’s done, a lot of times doctors not making the decisions here. And you recognize the frustration.
Watch it:
Murphy is right: Insurance companies control markets and are the ones making medical decisions. Insurance companies have consolidated in local markets which has resulted in limited choice and higher profits. In fact, “1 in 6 metropolitan areas in a 2008 study of more than 300 U.S. markets is dominated by a single health insurer that controls at least 70% of consumers.” And as The Wonk Room’s Igor Volsky has noted, insurance companies try to cover only the healthy because offering care to sicker Americans puts them at a competitive disadvantage in the marketplace.
In order to preserve the status quo of keeping health insurance in the private sector,
the GOP’s strategy has been to repeat the dubious claim that a public option “rations” care. But by making that argument, as Murphy pointed out, rationing care is just what these very same conservatives are supporting. Indeed, during her confirmation hearing in March, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said, “as insurance commissioner where I served for eight years saw it on a regular basis by private insures, who often made decisions overruling suggestions that doctors would make for their patients that they weren’t going to be covered.”
Transcript:
CALLER: Ah yes good morning representative. And I’m calling from Georgia and I had a short statement I wanted to give to you and then ask you a question about it.
MURPHY: OK
CALLER: And my question is based on, well now I’m not insured but I had been insured, I’m a teacher that was outsourced I guess you would say. I was diagnosed with post-polio last year but I had to bounce from one doctor in one hospital to another doctor in another hospital all of them within 60 to 100 miles of where I live in order to go through the procedures to get enough information so that I could finally go to a doctor, a PMNR, who could then diagnose that I had post-polio.
But there used to be clinics where you could actually go and get all the diagnostic tests done under one roof and there would be the variety of medical expertise there that would be able to also follow through and say this patient because of this test and this test has this illness. But because of the insurance companies, they are no longer able to do that and so in essence, the insurance companies are the ones controlling what tests you can get, when you get them, how you get them and if they’re accepted or not.
MURPHY: Yeah and that brings up the point here that with regard to one of our big frustrations with insurance companies is they control the market place, they control what’s done, a lot of times doctors not making the decisions here. And you recognize the frustration.
Topic Cloud
ArchivesBlog Roll
Well, DUH!
No shit Sherlock, what gave you the 1st clue?
July 17th, 2009 at 3:32 pmIs anybody able to get the President speaking right now? I went to the whitehouse web site and nothing there. I’ve got C-Span 2 on right now and there’s no coverage.
July 17th, 2009 at 3:35 pmI bet Murphy is going to walk back this statement because he has deviated from the party line.
July 17th, 2009 at 3:35 pmRep. Murphy–there is a Mr. Limbaugh on the phone for you.
July 17th, 2009 at 3:36 pm… but for some reason, conservatives trust those decisions to insurance company bureaucrats, who are answerable only to stockholders and who make more money denying claims than paying them, more than to government bureaucrats who are answerable to the general public.
July 17th, 2009 at 3:36 pmI wonder how many of our trolls will debunk the wingnut talking point about rationed care under a public option, when apparently we already have rationed care.
Will a public option mean less or more rationed care, that remains to be seen, but we know Republicans support health care rationing by defending the status quo.
July 17th, 2009 at 3:36 pm.
And this is why single payer is bad?
… Because the Multi Conglomerate Corporations don’t have a say over my health care anymore?
WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAA !!!!!!!
.
July 17th, 2009 at 3:38 pmWhy doesn’t any of the GNoP politicians put their money where there mouth is and reject their PUBLIC PLAN and try and get a PRIVATE PLAN?
Because they are quite happy with their PUBLIC PLAN.
Healthcare for profit is just morally and ethicality wrong.
July 17th, 2009 at 3:41 pmHealthcare for profit is just morally and ethically wrong.
Two words that are not in the Republican dictionary because neither can generate $.
July 17th, 2009 at 3:43 pmHere’s a real life example of how BigHealth rate sets:
BigHealth secures large employer group(s) with artificially low premiums year one. They go into a community with two hospitals and tell them they will only contract with one, whoever comes in with the lowest rates. Each hospital will use a strategy of taking a loss in order to be the exclusive hospital for BigHealth. The result? One hospital signs a contract for ~30% of billed charges and the other hospital closes its doors.
The winning hospital now feels that they are in the ultimate bargaining position, but to their dismay, BigHealth now dictates the rates with a take it or leave it contract offer. The hospital, in order to hang on to a piece of business, will agree to provide certain services only. The community, with two healthy hospitals only a few years ago, is now in danger of losing it’s only remaining hospital, and with it, many of the physicians serving the community.
The BigHealth member who needs a non-contracted service may have to travel (like the caller) to a hospital miles away or pay for the service himself.
BigHealth monopoly accomplished.
PEACE
July 17th, 2009 at 3:46 pmThis may be our best (possibly last) opportunity to get health insurance passed.
Aside from the Republican’s, who we all know are controlled in part by the insurance companies, we also need to worry about the Blue Dog democrats from conservative districts.
If you wish to send the dogs a little pep talk message, their website is:
http://www.BlueDog.mail.house.gov
July 17th, 2009 at 3:46 pmHad a friend tell me that she didn’t want her health care payments to go up to pay for “some lazy poor people.”
Considering that 45 million Americans don’t have health care( projected to be up to 54 million by 2019), and their are only 5 million people that are unemployed… I think that there are an awful lot of middle class people that just can’t afford it.
That’s the attitude out there, though. How do we overcome that?
July 17th, 2009 at 3:47 pmIts not health insurance they sell to people… its wealth assurance.
July 17th, 2009 at 3:49 pmWhile I would love to see a single payer health care system like the rest of the civilized world has, I don’t think the initiative they are forming currently will really do anyone any good. Just my opinion of course.
July 17th, 2009 at 3:50 pmLibertyLover, the poorest among us actually do have healthcare coverage through Medicaid, including the working poor. Children are also guaranteed low- or no-cost coverage in most states.
The 45 million uninsured citizens are largely middle class. Your friend would be surprised how many of the people at her block party, PTA, church, favorite restaurants, etc. are uninsured.
PEACE
July 17th, 2009 at 3:51 pmAnd with that brief statement, Mr. Murphy will be quickly excommunicated from the GOP for daring to speak the truth regarding the party’s corporate overlords.
July 17th, 2009 at 3:59 pmWhat really bothers me about this is that people have no trouble accepting that their taxes pay for their police and fire protection. They accept the water out of the tap, the roads they drive on. They send their kids to school.
Are they screaming because they have to pay for all of these services for every member of society? Are they calling for private police protection? Are they saying they will rebuild the bridges? Yet they are saying, let them die if they can’t afford to support the insurance industry.
July 17th, 2009 at 4:02 pmspencers mom says:
The 45 million uninsured citizens are largely middle class. Your friend would be surprised how many of the people at her block party, PTA, church, favorite restaurants, etc. are uninsured.
You are correct. Middle class people are getting socked with huge premiums if they have a family and then socked with the deductibles and uncovered medical expense. I have a friend paying about $500 a month premiums for him, the wife and 3 kids.
July 17th, 2009 at 4:04 pmspencers mom -
your description of the hospitals sounds like the Walmartization of health care…
July 17th, 2009 at 4:04 pmGeez,
July 17th, 2009 at 4:08 pmEvery now and then a truth escapes from the lips of a repug.
We have know for years that the insurance companies control the treatment via their coverage.
Nothing new there, but what’s new is hearing it from a repug.
Must have been a slip of the tongue.
I’m pretty sure that the money spent on the Iraq war would have paid for the health package.
Not to mention the money being spent on trying to provide mental and physical attention to our service men and women resulting from the war.
Texasrick
July 17th, 2009 at 4:09 pmVietnam vet
Now the insurance companies take a big part of the health care dollars. They make money off your illness, doing what they can to deny you benefits. They have administrators that make decisions about what benefits you get or don’t get. With a public option there will still be administrators making decisions, but those administrators will be responsible to a political structure. If there are problems elected representatives will be available to help. With insurance companies you have no way to influence their decisions, they are not responsible to the policy holder they are responsible to the stock holders and the corporate board. Now people may say you can use competition within the industry to and take a policy from another company, but if you have an existing condition, that is not an option, you would never be able to switch companies. You are stuck with the insurance companies decisions. I would rather depend on the decisions of someone I can influence, rather than someone I cannot.
July 17th, 2009 at 4:10 pmA vision of the Republican idea of health care in America. You are walking down the street and have a heart attack, collapsing to the pavement. It is a busy street but the people just glance at you, clutching your chest and walk on. As a good American, you obviously should have considered this possibility and purchased a Medical Alert plan that would summon an ambulance, privately paid for. Just press the button.
If you hadn’t the money or foresight, well then it would be best if you just died on the sidewalk rather than subject anyone to having to deal with your problem. And most of them would be thinking you should have found an alley or something so decent people wouldn’t have to see you suffer in pain. How rude.
July 17th, 2009 at 4:12 pmMurphy’s bear hug of the questioner worked against the Repugnican’t myths. What’s a trained politician to do?
July 17th, 2009 at 4:12 pmI have paid $350/month for $5000 deductible, for all intents and purposes I am uninsured, this side of a catastrophe. And, I do NOT have a pre-existing condition, take no Rx drugs. I consider myself as doing OK for now; I can’t imagine how someone who needs regular care can geet coverage, much less pay for it.
July 17th, 2009 at 4:13 pmIt costs me $4200/year so I can pay the first $5000/year of medical expenses every year and it goes up every year from that.
Obama just spoke on health insurance. His assertive and confident words may not affect the stubborn, conservative blue dogs. The bill can pass without repugs, but it can’t pass without all the Dems.
They must be feeling heady with their power nowadays — time to write to them and take them down a peg.
BlueDog@mail.house.gov
July 17th, 2009 at 4:16 pmLibertyLover says:
LL, I never looked at it that way, but you are absolutely right! That’s exactly what they do.
And for all the grumbling about Medicare and Medicaid rates, they are the bread and butter of most hospitals and primary care docs. It’s the specialists, the insurance companies and BigPharma who stand to lose the most under a
the public option. Which is why we probably won’t be allowed to get it…
PEACE
July 17th, 2009 at 4:18 pmI have zero respect for anyone who became a doctor just to make a lot of money. I would rather die than be treated by a doctor who is more concerned with whether or not I can pay his high fees than he is with whether or not I live or get better.
When will people learn that Capitalism is not always the best way to do things, especially when your life is on the line?
July 17th, 2009 at 4:24 pmO.T.
Shuster slams Yoo for ‘dishonesty, incompetence’
July 17th, 2009 at 4:24 pmhttp://rawstory.com/08/news/2009/07/17/shuster-slams-yoo-for-dishonesty-incompetence/
LibertyLover says
July 17th, 2009 at 3:47 pm
Had a friend tell me that she didn’t want her health care payments to go up to pay for “some lazy poor people.”
[...]
That’s the attitude out there, though. How do we overcome that?
___________________________________________________________
It depends on if your friend is a kool-aid drinker or if she’s willing to listen to reason.
If she’s capable of listening, try telling her this:
Your health care payments are going to go up to pay for “some lazy poor people” anyway — in fact, they’ve probably already gone up more than once.
Joe Uninsured hasn’t seen a doctor in years, because he can’t afford it. His blood pressure has gone up, and his arteries are gradually getting clogged — both conditions that could be mitigated with proper monitoring and medication. He’s also a borderline diabetic — a condition that could be helped with medication plus a proper diet and some lifestyle counseling. But Joe isn’t getting any medication, any testing, or any counseling because he has no way to pay for such things.
One day, Joe has a heart attack, which lands him in the emergency room. He required immediate medical treatment and open heart surgery to save his life. He is then presented with a bill for $200,000 for all services, which he can’t pay, so he files for bankruptcy.
Because the hospital has a number of Joe Uninsureds, they have to make up their shortfall by raising their rates for the people who CAN pay. Or close their doors.
This means you have to pay more for the health services you receive. And if it’s your insurance company paying for these services, they’re going to have to raise your premiums.
So, guess what? You’re ALREADY paying for Joe Uninsured’s heart problems. Which he probably wouldn’t even have if he could have afforded regular medical checkups and routine lab tests in the first place.
Not only that, but as the costs get higher and higher, more and more people will be uninsured. And you’re going to be paying for all of them, until you get priced out of the system yourself and become a “lazy poor person” (don’t laugh — all it usually takes is the loss of a job or the loss of an insured spouse, plus a pre-existing condition of any kind, which makes it all but impossible for you to get insurance on your own).
I think you’re better off paying for preventive care for the “lazy poor people”. It will cost you a lot less in the long run.
July 17th, 2009 at 4:24 pmMost would agree the insurance companies DO control the market and for profit. My question is:
How many in Congress are willing to vote for the will of the people rather than their contributors demands?
July 17th, 2009 at 4:25 pmThe sociopathy of game theory when applied to society…
July 17th, 2009 at 4:26 pmMy favorite illustration of the way health insurance companies work came last year when a coworker broke his foot while on vacation. He later received a notice from the orthopedic practice that casted the foot and supervised his therapy asking for his help because the insurer (Aetna) denied coverage. When he called the voice on the other end of the phone informed him that the claim was denied because it was covered by workers compensation. My friend told the voice that his information couldn’t be correct becaise the injury was not work related and in fact took place during a vacation. The response from the voice on the phone was shocking: “We automatically reject any large claim the first time. Sometimes they resubmit it, sometimes they go away.”
July 17th, 2009 at 4:27 pmDidn’t there used to be an ecojewelry maker that had expertise in this area?
July 17th, 2009 at 4:30 pmWhat I would like to see, but will never happen:
That anytime a Congressional Rep or a Senator speaks out on the Health Care issue, they need to preface any statement with the amount of money that they are getting from Big Pharma and other Health care providers and Insurance Companies.
In the interest of full disclosure.
July 17th, 2009 at 4:30 pmLibertyLover says:
Had a friend tell me that she didn’t want her health care payments to go up to pay for “some lazy poor people.”
That’s the attitude out there, though. How do we overcome that?
July 17th, 2009 at 3:47 pm
______________
You might want to find some better friends…
July 17th, 2009 at 4:32 pmpaleolib, that was the premise behind Grisham’s book “The Rainmaker” and it happens all the time. Auto-denials are one of the keys health insurers count on to at least delay payment if not avoid it altogether.
PEACE
July 17th, 2009 at 4:32 pmtexasrick says:
I’m pretty sure that the money spent on the Iraq war would have paid for the health package.
Not to mention the money being spent on trying to provide mental and physical attention to our service men and women resulting from the war.
The Republicans did not talk about costs before we ever went into Iraq and after to fund the armed forces. It seems that the Republicans are only concerned about costs when it comes to spending money on the people here. That simple logic seems to be lost on a lot of people.
July 17th, 2009 at 4:34 pmHow can Rep. Murphy sip his coffee on air while the caller is expressing his hardship story? A reflex to remain cold and gopper reptilian like?
July 17th, 2009 at 4:35 pmIn a somewhat related story, here in CA in workmans comp. cases, the insurance company’s will send you to doctors well over 100 miles away in hopes you don’t/can’t make the appointment.
It has nothing to do with tests. You could have another doctor next door willing and able to do the test.
In CA. if you can’t make the appointment the insurance co. has the legal right to close your case/claim.
July 17th, 2009 at 4:41 pmmisscoleopteramolly @ 30
You are absolutely right! And I have used this argument before. I just didn’t think about it at the time. Thanks for the reminder.
For the record, I don’t think she is a koolaid-drinker, but she works in the financial planning sector. I just chalked it up to having her bottom line affected if insurance companies are no longer an investment vehicle that people can make money from.
July 17th, 2009 at 4:44 pmInstead her premiums is going to lobbyists she helped to make rich.
July 17th, 2009 at 4:46 pmNo, no, no, no, nooo.
You LBRULS get it wrong again.
You see, it is the benevolent hand of an insurance clerk that determines what tests your doctor can order or not.
It is the benevolent INSURANCE COMPANIES that compete to offer you the same services for lower prices, as long as you are within the deductible.
It is the benevolent free market INSURANCE COMPANIES that won’t insure you if you develop a long term condition, like the caller mentioned.
Don’t forget to make your payments toward your cemetery plot.
Otherwise your bloated carcass will be dumped on the curb to be ravished ceremoniously by GOPiggies.
/snark off
July 17th, 2009 at 4:47 pmspencers mom
I pretty much knew the autodenial practice was real and not just a Grisham creation but having the voice on the phone volunteer the information was surprising. I suspect the voice either had too much of a soul to stay in the insurance biz and soon left or had the spirit beaten out of him shortly thereafter (they don’t really monitor those calls to ensure customer service after all).
July 17th, 2009 at 4:48 pmAlternate title:
“GOP Rep. Admits what everybody who has visited a doctor in the past 10 years already knew.”
Unless you live in the wingnutverse, where every fact that everybody knew and agreed on just yesterday is magically voided the instant it becomes at odds with your dogma.
July 17th, 2009 at 4:48 pmPrivate health insurance is not about caring. Its about you being a bond that is much valued when healthy and a toxic asset when not.
Really, they should call it Soylent Green Hedge Fund.
July 17th, 2009 at 4:50 pmThere is also the interest profit aspect to consider. Insurance companies are very definite about getting their money up front. Say it is a million a month in premiums. In that same month they are requested to pay out $500k in claims. By delaying those claims through various means, they can play with that $500k for 60-120 days, investing it and collecting interest.
For convenience, say the investment return is 5%. That is $25k they earn on money that technically isn’t theirs but they still control. In addition to the return on the other $500k that is legitimately theirs. Compound this over a year and you have a very nice bit of money.
July 17th, 2009 at 4:53 pmThat makes no sense Watchdog.
July 17th, 2009 at 5:06 pmObviously watchpup has dictionary difficulties. He confuses reasonable with horrible. Considering where he gets his info it is understandable.
July 17th, 2009 at 5:11 pmchiroptera toasterhead says:
LibertyLover says:
You might want to find some better friends…
I’d rather try to convert her… we live in AZ, so the conservative mind think is everywhere. It would curl your hair to hear some of the conversations that I have had with people…
July 17th, 2009 at 5:45 pmLibertyLover says, “What I would like to see, but will never happen: that anytime a Congressional Rep or a Senator speaks out on the Health Care issue, they need to preface any statement with the amount of money that they are getting from Big Pharma and other Health care providers and Insurance Companies.
When elected officials accept contributions from any source, they should be required to wear a visible sponsorship patch or logo on their clothing (like a NASCAR logo). That way, there would be no doubt who they actually represent.
July 17th, 2009 at 6:14 pmI would like you Yanks to know that in living under a single payer, socialized medical system (Canada), I have never and I repeat never had a government agent refuse or demand a procedure or order me to go to some specified doctor. The medical choices are are always between myself and my attending physician. The longest delay I had was four days for an angioplasty and one week for radiation treatment for cancer. So the Gopers can take all their talking points about our system and shove them where the sun don’t shine.
July 17th, 2009 at 6:16 pm# 33
Excellent point…when are all of you going to figure out that our current ” Employer Based” Healthcare funding system no longer works…It’s is socialism….You don’t have to tell new college grads about healthcare benefits…they all want to work for the government or some large monoploy so they can get healthcare insurance.
Wow…Is this how America once became the greatest nation on earth..This system really promotes creativity…risk taking…starting businesses that creats jobs…….
NOT !………Wake up America….the rest of the world has already figured it out…level the playing field
Repugs are afraid the Govt plan will drive costs up, poor quality etc…well what is the problem.??..If that is the case..we will all use the private coverage…it is about choice..Remember
July 17th, 2009 at 6:21 pmMarie says, “I have paid $350/month for $5000 deductible, for all intents and purposes I am uninsured, this side of a catastrophe.”
I’m in the same boat that you’re in Marie except I have pre-existing conditions. My health insurance company just sends me letters that say, “Coverage Denied”. The premiums I pay to my health insurance company are probably used to finance their corporate jet fleet or to sponsor a golf tournament.
July 17th, 2009 at 6:27 pmdelafield @ 52
LOL! Now that would be a sight to see!
July 17th, 2009 at 6:44 pmdelafield @ 52 … maybe The Family Guy or the Daily Show could computer graphic up some of the Senators for us…
July 17th, 2009 at 6:46 pmUh oh, Massachusetts’ socialized health care is in trouble. Shocker.
Socialized health care = rationing.
There’s the proof.
Average waiting time for a doctor’s appointment in Mass. is 50 days.
July 17th, 2009 at 7:44 pmWatch Ron Christie make an outrageous statement about being more concerned about cost of health care reform, and less concerned about people dying.
This is insane.
http://progressnotcongress.org/?p=2194
July 17th, 2009 at 8:39 pmmarwick says:
My GOD you are a stupid troll. Show me the rationing in Finnland, Germany, France or STFU
July 17th, 2009 at 9:31 pmWhen 40 million people are uninsured, that is health care rationing. When insurance companies deny coverage for a procedure, a pre-existing condition, refuse to timely pay doctors who are trying to practice medicine instead of bill collection, that is health care rationing. I will take my chances with the public option. If people want to keep their insurance, then there is nothing stopping them. But the reality is that the middle class is getting ripped off by the insurance companies who continue to find new ways to not pay medical bills. If the insurance companies do such a good job, then they don’t have to worry about competition with the public option. I would suggest their opposition has more to do with their bottom line because they will be forced to be competitive or lose customers.
July 18th, 2009 at 1:21 amLiberals are the fascists.
Here’s the proof.
Here’s another story from Massachusetts, where socialized health care is failing and being rationed. 30,000 people being thrown off socialized health care because the state can’t afford it. I guess if Obama and Pelosi socialize health care, maybe this will happen to you.
July 18th, 2009 at 1:38 am
marwick says:
Conservatives are MORONS. YOU are the proof
July 18th, 2009 at 3:43 amSesli Sohbet
July 18th, 2009 at 5:12 amSesli Chat
Chat
Sohbet
Diyet
Makyaj
Güzellik
Egzersiz
Sesli Sohbet
Sesli Chat
Chat
Sohbet
Güzel Sözler
Video izle
a?k ?iirleri
Msn Nickleri
Msn Nickleri
Radyo Dinle
oyun
Güvenlik Sistemleri
Kamelya
Wushu
?iir
a?k resimleri
Günayd?n Mesajlar?
A?k sözleri
Haz?r Sözler
A?k mesajlar?
A?k sözleri
A?k mesajlar?
Espirili Sözler
Wayne A. Schneider says:
I have zero respect for anyone who became a doctor just to make a lot of money. I would rather die than be treated by a doctor who is more concerned with whether or not I can pay his high fees than he is with whether or not I live or get better.
Not only are some out there to make money, but the system is such some have gone to unsavory means. Being under the thumb of insurance co, ex: only allowed five minutes per visit and fearful of law suites I have witnessed:
dumping difficult patients under the disguise of a referral
physician eager to support one another for networking brownie points… if a mistake appears to be a pending law suit
Chart cheating. Ex: a physician sees a patient, charts his assessment and plan, then a few months later patients records come in from a previous physician, the physician goes back to the chart to the previous date, changes his plan to match the other physician then lies to the patient with the next visit over what his plan was. With electronic charts, they could not do this.
July 18th, 2009 at 5:36 amWow..obvious that marwick has good health insurance coverage.
2 of my neighbors are retired military. Both told me that I was crazy not to vote for McCain, Obama would socialize medicine….they did not want the healthcare system to change .
Funny thing happened….each one of them now has an unemployed kid that has moved back home. The kids bought private health insurance plans that now costs over $ 200.00/month…which the parents are paying…
My 2 retired friends think that the cost is “outrageous ” considering the high deductibles, no preventative care, NO RX and one of the kids had some riders for pre-existing coverage. I told one of the Dad’s that if their daughter was hospitalized for one of those pre-exist conditions..that the daughter would have to pay all charges…her insurance will NOT pay.
Guess what “Marwick”…both my patriotic retired military friends CAN NOT WAIT FOR HEALTHCARE REFORM
If you support the present system, you are a Socialist. You are telling people that they better go to work for the government or a large corporation in order to get their healthcare…
July 18th, 2009 at 7:54 amThe ” Employer Based” healthcare funding system DOES NOT WORK in a global economy.
Level the playing field
#12 Here is an update. I listened to Dennis Kucinich today on
July 18th, 2009 at 9:30 am“ED” show MSNBC and he stated that right now there are 50 million uninsured in America. He also stated people are losing health care benefits at a rate of 134,000 per month.
Health insurance companies not only dictate medical decisions, but also have major influence on our politicians and the reforms that could change our lives, such as healthcare reform.
Major healthare interestes have spent 1.4 million per day lobbying Congress this year.
And- the majority of this lobbying money is going to those congressmen and women serving on the committees and subcommittees dealing with health care reform.
want to know more about health interests’ influence on our political futures? the full report can be found here: http://www.commoncause.org/healthcare2009
July 18th, 2009 at 9:44 am# 70
Sad, but true
“In Greed We Trust”
July 18th, 2009 at 10:24 am#21, Yes texasrick. It was also stated today on MSNBC that the cost of the war now at $2,400,000,000,000 That’s 2 TRILLION 400 BILLION dollars and counting we would have been able to fund health care for every man women and child for TWO years. Instead that money has literally gone up in smoke. Not only that we have lost over 4200 American soldiers lives.
July 18th, 2009 at 11:15 amClose to two hundred thousand wounded. More than half that have lost limbs. Even worse there are over 1.2 MILLION dead Iraqi’s. Most of which are women and children. GOD only knows how many future terrorists this has created. I think only ONE republican (Ron Paul) was screaming about this huge cost while every other was pushing more WAR. This was at the same time, these same republicans would not even allow a MOTION, A MOTION, to be put forward to decide whether or not to even bring a vote up about health care. Over this course of time 60 thousand Americans lost their lives as a direct result of no health care. 60% of all bankruptcies in this country are due to the ever increasing, astronomical medical bills. So now, are you not only worried about your health, you have to also fight, to not lose all that you and your families have worked a lifetime save! THIS IS CRIMINAL! As far as I’m concerned, all those republicans AND democrats, against a public option or single payer, should be denied health care including their immediate families, for the rest of their lives. Let them go to the Emergency room, as so many of them have suggested we should. Let them endure watching a loved one, SUFFER and whither away until they’ve breathed their last breath. This is what they have sentenced We The People too. This also includes another 30 MILLION under insured. How do they DARE…..call themselves HUMAN?!!
Please excuse some of my grammar. My keys were “smoken” as I wrote.
July 18th, 2009 at 11:21 am#58 marwick says, “Facing a massive budget shortfall, lawmakers are cutting roughly 30 thousand legal, taxpaying immigrants out of the state subsidized Commonwealth Care program.”
Socialized health care = rationing.
There’s the proof.
marwick, I worked for the largest super market in the South East. I got a job there because they offered health care for part time workers after one year of employment. They had this policy for more than twenty years. Last year they stopped offering this health care. Over fifty thousand lost their health care.
Capitalist heath care= rationing
There’s the proof.
I would like to ask you a question if I may? Please answer honesty marwick, not as repub or dem but an American. Don’t you think if everyone paid into one pool, insurance would be less expensive because the costs would be incurred by all instead of just the employed. Also wouldn’t a business’s end product be significantly cheaper because he no longer has to pay as much for workers comp and nothing for health care? Wouldn’t everyone’s auto insurance go down because they would no longer be liable for medical bills as a result of an accident? This would be the same for home owners liability, store owners, basically the cost of just about everything would drop because the medical liabilty would be erased. NO? Then, add to this the immediate 30% reduction in cost for administration and paperwork for over ONE THOUSAND SEVEN HUNDRED different health insurance Co’s. Just that alone is is around 85 billion dollars. There would also be a huge reduction in fraud because there will be a medical history.
Getting back to Massachusetts. That 30 thousand is what percent of the whole of the people insured? The reason I asked is because at the store I worked at, 75% of the employees lost insurance. Lets have a sincere discussion. Just because Mass is having a problem we should not scrap the whole issue. How did they fund their plan? Obviously there was poor oversight. Don’t throw the baby out with the bath water so to speak. Right now in America people are losing their health care to the tune of about 134 thousand a month! WILL YOU BE NEXT?!!!
July 18th, 2009 at 1:02 pmIt has been part of the hidden GOP agenda, or maybe not so hidden, to eliminate social programs. They always said they wanted to shrink government down to the size of a bathtub and drown it. George Bush not only wasted money on unnecessary wars, he made it very difficult to do the things that would really improve the lives of citizens. If it were not for the Iraq war, health care reform would be a lot more affordable. They tried to kill social security, by privatizing it, letting all those brokers make lots of commissions. We were all lucky to avoid that, can we even fathom how much worse the economy would be if social security funds had been in the stock market that last year. Now the GOP is bending over backward to avoid providing health care saying it is unaffordable, which it would not have been if George Bush had not been selected.
July 18th, 2009 at 1:13 pmThis is why they are paying lobbyists 1.4 million a day to bribe our congress. Almost all insurance premiums will go down. WE WILL BREAK THE MONOPOLY!!
July 18th, 2009 at 1:16 pmAnyone….why is the current healthcare system “Employer based”….
July 18th, 2009 at 1:58 pmWiz says:
It has been part of the hidden GOP agenda, or maybe not so hidden, to eliminate social programs. They always said they wanted to shrink government down to the size of a bathtub and drown it…. They tried to kill social security, by privatizing it, letting all those brokers make lots of commissions. We were all lucky to avoid that, can we even fathom how much worse the economy would be if social security funds had been in the stock market that last year…..
When the Republicans came to power they did everything they could to undo Roosevelt’s legacy. They sold a bill of goods to the public that all these programs were bad. Now we are having problems because of the rollback of the laws. Let us see if the voters will easily fall prey to the Republican siren song of less taxes and less government. The Republicans are afraid of health care reform because it could signal a new Democratic coalition that will dominate Congress for decades.
July 18th, 2009 at 2:05 pmMJT says:
Anyone….why is the current healthcare system “Employer based”….
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
Thats easy. It is a good way to maximize profits in a hidden way. If you get a chronic or serious illness you miss too much work and LOSE your job AND insurance and they dont have to pay for you anymore. This way they GET the premiums then when you need what you pay for they can weasel out of their obligation
July 18th, 2009 at 3:34 pmfrom the Bill Press Show names still on the list:
July 19th, 2009 at 4:59 pm
Marwick–Massachusetts doesn’t have socialized health care, they have a mandate that everyone has to buy health insurance. So if you’re using Mass. as an example, it should be that private insurers can’t be relied upon to control costs and should be left out of any proposed healthcare solutions.
July 20th, 2009 at 5:18 pmThank you very much for this information ... By Limitsiz and WAP
July 20th, 2009 at 8:17 pmThank you very much for this information ... By Limitsiz and WAP
July 20th, 2009 at 8:20 pm