As Joe Guarino noted in a comment on one of his threads, the mainstream media does definitely seem to have a "universal" agenda when it comes to coverage of healthcare reform.
CNN's John King headlines a story out of North Carolina - about a young man with a chronic/debilitating illness, now out of work and unable to afford COBRA insurance. He's got a pre-existing condition, so I expect he is pretty much screwed on cost - if he can get it at all.
And he's the kind of person that the government should definitely help out in some fashion.
On the other hand, Kate Bouldin's story features a "struggling" young woman just out of college - too old to be covered on her parent's policy. She's employed, but she says she cannot afford health insurance. And as it progressed, the article tipped to overkill . . . with the young lady saying she felt "trapped in her apartment" because she's afraid she'll get sick or hurt.
I think I'm starting to understand the under-the-radar consulting job Gupta can do for Obama at CNN . . . all the while getting private practice pay. It's all in how you color.
I went without medical insurance for a short while after college. I worried it about it a little bit - but it did not trap me in the house. Moreover, the last time I looked, medical insurance for young, healthy singles (even those with depression) was not prohibitively expensive - in fact, it's the best time to get established with a company and a policy. So methinks the young lady doth protest too much.
And the reporter's dramatic license reminds me of Lorraine Ahearn.
The stories brought back some memories. I did the COBRA dance after the fiasco with Randolph (after they tried to stiff me on medical & malpractice coverage during their "notice" period - it seemed to be news to Mike Bridges that if you were still "employed", you still had benefits).
I ultimately got royally screwed on the COBRA deal - because in order to get the primo coverage (which I more than paid for - out of pocket), I had to get my care at Randolph. Let's just say that would've been very awkward at the time. While on COBRA, suffering from renewed sinus problems and facial pain, my then-ENT (formerly at Randolph - the one who botched my first sinus surgery and completely misssed the diagnosis of trigeminal neuralgia) told me that he preferred I get a follow-up CT in Thomasville (where he had relocated), because he trusted the quality of the scan and the reading more. Glad to avoid running into Bob or Steve in the hall of our local hospital, I was more than happy to acquiesce to his recommendation.
The thing was, he didn't share his opinion with my insurance company. And after I got the scan in Thomasville, I found out I had to pay several hundred dollars (that I definitely did not have) when the bill came.
When COBRA ran out, I jumped to Blue Cross Blue Shield (pretty much the only act in town for my single-woman-of-independent-means circumstances). I pay a fairly healthy premium every month. I worry about what would happen if I could not work - especially since now I too have several "pre-existing conditions" (including a long-ago bout with depression . . . you can still get medical insurance - but it pretty much permanently kills a doctor's ability to get disability insurance - no stigma for seeking treatment there).
Both Guarino and Sykes in recent posts have alluded to the "bloated administrative arm" of medical care. This would, of course, include the private insurance agencies . . . including the "non-profit" ones . . . you know, the companies that despite being supported by the taxpayer cannot seem to provide affordable polices (and, in fact, keep increasing premiums) - while squeezing doctors for every last nickel & dime, and racking up very sweet profit-margins even in an economic meltdown.
The fat-cat "non-profit" insurance executives with the million-dollar salaries say they're saving for a rainy day. I have news for them. It's raining.
There certainly is a lot wrong with healthcare. In both of the instances CNN writes about, people choose not to get it . . . they do the math and they make the choices.
I sympathize. But some of us did the math and did without/made concessions in order to have coverage. It is a choice.
I'm not saying that healthcare reform is not way overdue. But true reform is going to take modifying everyone's behavior . . . fundamentally changing expectations . . . dropping the sense of entitlement . . . ceasing & desisting with the de-valuing of "providers" . . . and providing much better oversight of the suits at the top and in the middle.
Based on experience, no matter how much money Obama throws at reform under the guise of a stimulus, I do not think our government is capable of making the necessary changes - or educating/enticing Americans to do the same.
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8 comments:
My son suffered from depression a couple of years ago. He lost his medical insurance the end of last year. He cannot buy an individual policy at any cost because of his depression history (pre-existing condition). So if something happens to him again guess who pays? The taxpayers but health insurance in this country is just fine. Dr. J, you're an idiot.
Well, there's a productive argument. I'm an idiot. Nice.
"Health insurance in this country is just fine".
Perhaps you missed it when I said, "I'm not saying that healthcare reform is not way overdue"?
As I alluded in the post (if you read the link), I suffered from depression in the distant past. I did the Vitamin P and the prerequisite year of psychotherapy, and was pronounced "the sanest person I've ever met" by my ex-therapist.
Now, I wish she had put it on a certificate or something.
It did not keep me from getting medical insurance. Of course, my illness was minor . . . I have not been treated since . . . and my insurance application was placed a number of years after I completed therapy. I got letters from my former doctors/therapist and that was that.
Others I know with the same history have done the same thing.
If your son has completed therapy and cannot get a policy out of Blue Cross Blue Shield (North Carolina's supposed "non-profit" safety net), then I would suggest, instead of calling me an "idiot" (again, very productive), that you start raising hell with your state representatives and the insurance commissioner. Because something is most definitely wrong.
In fact, now would be a good time to do that - with the monster profit margins BCBS recently reported. The executives with the phat-cat salaries can afford to offer your son something.
So put down the whine. Get mad and get out your pen. Tell your friends to do the same.
The biggest problem I've seen for patients with depression is when it is on-going. If one can get a policy, a rider might be placed that does not cover some or all of one's psychiatric care. And the cost of the policy might be very high.
Now in terms of diability insurance, I feel your son's pain. My history of depression has kept me from getting disability insurance - at any cost. But there is a pseudo-sound economic reason for that (the insurance industry is, after all, a business). As it was explained to me, doctors really abused disability insurance to their own ends some time back - to fund retirements on the pretense of illness - particularly "burn-out".
Insurance companies caught on and now penalize everyone for what the bad apples did.
The government could fix the problem your son is experiencing - and I have experienced - by stronger regulation/requirements of the institutions & mechanims we already have in place . . . ESPECIALLY of the monster "non-profit" insurance companies like BCBSNC - whose supposed "mission" is to serve people who fall through the cracks - and provide them with affordable policies.
As you well know, mental illness is not treated/regarded the same way as physical illness. That's a bigger problem - a societal mindset. Resources are sparse - especially lately.
And in North Carolina, we can most certainly blame that on the government.
With out affordable medical insurance for all taxpayers and their families and individuals. US economy, will not be able to compete and will stay in depression for very long time or might recover temporarily in 6 or so years.
This sounds stupid but "Healthy worker keeps business and economy healthy"
You don't sound stupid, but you do sound like you've had a little too much of Obama's (increasingly red-tinted) Kool-aid;)
There are ways to make the healthcare system work NOW. The "non-profit" & government sectors are a bloated, largely misµmanaged joke . . . with overpaid middlemen pitting doctor against patient - sucking the life (and LOTS of money that could be put to better use) out of the system . . . little or no real oversight of anything or anyone (be they patient, doctor or administrator) . . . no limitations on bad behavior . . . and no one forcing the institutions propped up by the taxpayer to MARCH to the tune they say they do.
In short, there's no accountability. It's a farce. A damned lie. Any questions? Look at the battle I've been fighting for over a decade of my life.
I was fired for saving a baby's life!
It does not get more warped or wrong. At the time, my patients all but revolted (I've been going through a lot of legal files in the last few days - reading lots of angry letters written by parents on my behalf) - but the people running the show would not listen or re-evaluate their actions. They were too busy trying to cover their asses. Patients had to cope and I had to sue. And the executives who screwed up kept getting raises.
NONE of it had to happen. But more value was placed on a couple of self-interested suits than a doctor or her patients.
As I said in the post, ". . . true reform is going to take modifying everyone's behavior . . . fundamentally changing expectations . . . dropping the sense of entitlement . . . ceasing & desisting with the de-valuing of "providers" . . . and providing much better oversight of the suits at the top and in the middle."
OBTW we've simply got to have some tort reform SOON.
Primary care doctors have been devalued and pushed into corners to the point that they are giving up.
Think about this (Bill). If I still suffered from depression, what Randolph Hospital did to me (not to mention the bashing I've taken from the oh-so-enlightened liberal elite in the GSO blogosphere for fighting back) would have killed me.
I have to wonder if that would make Roch Smith or Ed Cone happy. They've been jerks.
OBTW, healthcare was in crappy shape and needed reform long before the economy took a dive. But the majority of folks (the US population is over 300 million) were comfortable/content in whatever niche they were in, so those who fell through the cracks (depending on who you listen to and how you classify them, 20-50 million) did not matter so much. Now everyone is feeling the pinch and/or wondering when the next hammer will fall, and we've suddenly got to give it all to the government that screwed it all up in the first place - on the premise that it somehow stimulate the economy?
Puhlease. You don't have enough red Koolaid in the world to make me think that's going to work!
Tell me boys and girls, does shouting down the voices of the beleagured professionals providing the care (which right now seems to be the game plan of those who want, Want, WANT "universal" care) serve the best interests of the nation?
My very basic point is this: Realities have to be faced - on ALL sides of this equation - and concessions have to be made.
Well said Mary. Your post and your comments. I wish these people would do a little research on countries that have Universal Health Care and see what they can expect. They are not going to get the kind of health care we have now but they can not seem to understand that. Even the Swiss program in a well off country is failing.
By the way, depression is actually not treated as an illness in Canada or Great Britain. These people are given a number and told to wait for a call to get an appointment just like everyone else. The thing is they never get that call. BB
Thanks Brenda.
People are justifiably angry. But doctors have been the easy scapegoat for too long.
I've had more than my fair share of that in the blogosphere . . . and my tolerance for the ad-hominems is now nil.
Early on during the litigation, I was told that I could look forward to a hard time in Court - because the ordinary Randolph County John & Jane Does on the jury would not be able to get past their notion that I was a "rich" doctor . . . or that the hospital was run by white knights that always acted in good faith and put the best interests of the community first.
And I'm sorry. That's just laughable.
One more point. As I pointed out to Bill, I cannot get disability insurance because I was once treated for depression. I did what anyone would tell you to do when I was sick - I got help. And I have been penalized for it because of the actions of the bad apples of a prior generation.
I'd like to have had disability insurance in place before my diagnosis of trigeminal neuralgia was made - of if (God forbid) I am someday diagnosed with breast cancer. But because I was honest, I am screwed.
So Bill does not get to bust my chops or call me an idiot.
I'm glad you're alluding to the fact that people have to change their behaviors and expectations. I think most of the people polled who "overwhelmingly" favor health care reform believe that, once this "reform" is accomplished, their bills will end. Har de har har. If you have insurance at work, more than likely some if not all of it will be taxed as income to pay for the "reform," and if you don't have insurance, a mandate will force you to buy it at a high rate (see Massachusetts, Commonwealth Care). And for all of us, the government will start rationing care and prescribing which procedures and medicines doctors will be allowed to use. Welcome to Obamacare, folks, and it ain't free!
Indeed, my Federal loan repayment (in the public service deal that ulitmately screwed me to the wall) was taxed as "income".
But I know nothing. I'm an "idiot".
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