****March 25, 2010 Update – Reconcilliation bill approved by Sentate with a few changes, sent back to House, and approved by House. This phase of health care reform is compete.
****March 23, 2010 Update – Healthcare reform was signed into law by President Obama, history has been made.
****March 21, 2010 Update – History is made; the Senate Health Care bill was passed by the house. President Obama is expected to sign the bill.
****December 24, 2009 Update – The U.S. Senate has voted to reinvent the nation’s health care system, passing a bill to guarantee health insurance for all Americans and rein in health care costs as proposed by President Obama. Now all that needs to happen is for the House and Senate to reconcile their bills. This thing looks like it will actually happen. No more denying coverage for pre-existing conditions, no more cancelling coverage when people need it the most. This is a good thing.
****December 19, 2009 Update – It appears that the United States Senate is on the eve of passing a historic bill that will revolutionize health care in this nation. Many of the things I wanted to see are not there. However, health insurance companies will no longer be able to wily nily deny coverage to people with pre-existing conditions. I will write another article once I have the specifics.
****October 21, 2009 Update – The United States Congress have voted to allow debate on a health car bill. Let’s hope these insured Congressmen do the right thing!
****October 9, 2009 Update – The United States House of Representatives has passed a historic health care reform bill which includes the public option. Now it is up to the Senate to act on the bill, and the President to sign.
Well I try to stay away from topics like this on my Blog because I know for sure that some people because of their politics will get pissed off, and some will not. Some will support what I have to say, some won’t. At the least maybe this will get you thinking!
Let me start off by saying this; I am a Democrat, I am a Republican, I am an Independent, and I am an American.
My politics do not get in the way of what I believe is the right thing to do. I decide an issue on what I think is right or wrong, not by what a bunch of political cronies in a particular party say is the right thing to do. I think if all Americans starting thinking and doing what they think was best rather than what some political party tells them is best we would all be much better off. It may never happen but if all of you try it for yourself you will see the lunacy of political parties.
Now, unless you are Bill Gates, and have millions of dollars at your disposal to pay for catastrophic health care bills than maybe this article might make a little sense to you. If you are blinded by politics, still read on, maybe what I say will “break on through,” as quoted by Jim Morrison of the Doors.
You see I am a personal injury lawyer and attorney. I get many new clients that have half assed medical insurance coverage, or very good insurance. However, I also get new clients every week that have no health care insurance at all.
Many of these uninsured client’s literally have suffered for days, weeks, and even months without medical treatment, hoping that their injuries would heal on their own. I can only imagine the untold numbers of others who are suffering with medical ailments and have no insurance or viable way of obtaining medical care.
Out of desperation they call me because they know I can get them treatment for their injuries, even if they do not have health care insurance.
Health care reform to me is not about politics, it is not about profits for doctors, hospitals, medical providers, and medical insurance providers. (All of whom continue to make huge profits while the rest of the nation is in a depression) Health care reform to me is about right and wrong. Let me explain.
I personally know many people who have lost their jobs and their medical insurance before the present depression, and during the present economic depression. It has happened to me in the past!
If you have never lost your job and medical insurance in your life, you are either full of shit, or you are one in a billion; yes I said billion.
If you are an American worker who does not have a multi-million dollar inheritance, rich parents, or are rich yourself, you are going to lose your job and your insurance at some time or another. It is a simple fact of life.
No one can depend on having insurance for life the way the system is set up right now. Your healthcare and possibly life depend on the whim of your employer, or your ability to obtain and pay for individual healthcare plans. This is not acceptable any longer.
What are you supposed to do if you lose your job and your medical insurance? In the good old days you could simply get another job. Those days are pretty much over now.
With unemployment at 10% or more in some locations, and the nation mired in an economic depression, good jobs are hard to come by. Hell even college graduates from top institutions are having trouble finding jobs.
If you lose your job and insurance, the end result is that your sorry ass along with your innocent children and spouse, if they stay with you, may have no insurance to cover your healthcare if you get sick. This situation is a surreal nightmare for millions of our fellow citizens as I type this article. Hell it could be you!
If while you are uninsured due to no fault of your own, you get sick, and you need to go to an emergency room, which by law has to treat and stabilize you, then the rest of us have to pay for your sorry ass through higher taxes and health insurance costs, because the hospitals have to charge more to cover their losses in treating uninsured people.
In the end, it is cheaper just to make sure that there is universal coverage for everyone.
I am no communist, I sure the hell am no socialist, but when it comes to medical care, I believe that in the richest nation on earth, healthcare should be a right for all, not a privilege.
Now forget about politics, forget about what some rich congressman is telling you to believe because of your political party affiliations, forgot about hating certain political figures; what do you think is best for you and your family; the way it is now, or universal health care for all? At least try to be honest with yourself.
UNDER FEDERAL ERISA LAWS, AN INDIVIDUAL CANNOT SUE A HEALTH INSURANCE PROVIDER FOR FAILING TO PROVIDE COVERAGE; NO SHIT!
Now that I have got your attention, let me tell you about my father; this is a true story that happened last month in October, 2009.
My father just had a major arterial bypass surgery recently, and is presently in a nursing home for recovery. He has probably the best HMO/PPO health insurance on earth, with probably the most famous health insurance provider on the planet.
Until just recently, he was ordered by his doctor to not place any weight whatsoever on his legs, he was basically bedridden in the nursing home. He was and still is dependent upon the nurses and doctors there for care while he recovers.
On October 14, 2009, we found out that his health insurance provider had retroactively determined that he no longer needed to be in the nursing home as of October 10, 2009. In other words a man that is and was bedridden with no viable alternative for other care, was basically told by his insurance company that “we don’t give a shit about you, you are out of there. Oh and by the way, you owe for 4 days.” His health insurance provider made this determination even though 2 of my dad’s doctors ordered him to be placed in a nursing home to recover.
Some health insurance bureaucrat unilaterally decided that they knew what was best for my dad, rather than two of his treating physicians. We all know that this is a bunch of bullshit to save the health insurance company some money don’t we.
Under present ERISA exemptions, my father cannot sue his medical insurance provider for failure to cover the nursing home even though his insurance covers nursing home care, because he is in a group plan. 80% of all health care insurance in this nation is provided under a group plan. How come nobody is taking about the fact that health insurance providers cannot be sued by individuals for failing to provide that which they contract to provide? It is a big scam.
Luckily for my dad, he has an attorney for a son (me) who is pissed off, and the political climate is not good for this kind of bullshit decision on their part right now, especially considering the fact that congress is presently debating health care reform as I write this article.
The insurance company probably thought that my dad was some old Hispanic man (looking at his surname) that they could screw around. Who knows? After talking to them and telling them exactly what I intended to do, they miraculously reinstate his insurance and everything is fine now.
What if this was you or you did not have a son who was an attorney? You would be screwed, blued, and tattooed as they boot your sick ass on the street. You would be dead! Geez, I wonder what will happen to me if god forbid I am in the same boat as my dad, my daughters are not attorneys like me.
The healthcare reform changes being debated right now would prevent insurance companies from denying coverage based upon pre-existing conditions, they would prevent insurance companies from terminating coverage because of an illness, and they would prevent insurance companies from placing a lifetime cap on your insurance. It is because of health insurance greed and excesses that these changes need to be implemented in the first place.
How many of you reading this are not worried about anything I stated above? If you are not worried, you are probably full of shit and are lying to yourself, or are too dumb to realize it. I do not think even a billionaire would want to risk a catastrophic illness. The cost of healthcare is so high now; million dollar plus bills are not out of the question.
If you are poor, middle class, or even moderately rich, a catastrophic illness could destroy you financially. Even if you have the best health care insurance. The present system is a free market free for all and it sucks the big one. Health care today is about profits, not about quality medical care for all. Hell, I don’t mind a man making a buck, but under the current system we are all being raped.
Imagine, you saved all of your money for years to buy a home, you have a nice car, your family is doing well, and then little Jenny gets sick, imagine having to lose everything and go bankrupt because of co-payments, no insurance, or your insurance company cutting you off. This is reality for millions of American’s right, it is not right, and it is bullshit.
It is time for healthcare reform.
We Need a Public Option
We need to have a public option just like Congress has. Yes Congress, the same folks that we vote into office to represent us. Why should we not get what they get? Are they better than the rest of us?
What is funny is that there are certain congressmen from a certain political party that all have great “lifetime” medical coverage for themselves and their family as a perk of office, and yet they are opposed to giving us universal healthcare; feature that! These people are so out of touch with the reality and exigency of the situation it is mind blowing. They might as well be from another planet. Their supporters support them along party line regardless of whether the healthcare reform will actually benefit them and their own family. This is truly bizarre to me.
It is kind of like not wearing a jacket in winter so that you will not freeze to death, because your enemy supports wearing the jacket; so you freeze to death! Makes no sense.
Now the public option is just that, an option. You can opt out and still use traditional insurance. Maybe a public option will make private insurance companies pull their collective heads out of the asses and compete on a more even playing field rather than monopolizing the market and making untold billions of dollars of profit each fiscal quarter, at our peril.
I have heard the “socialized medicine” sucks arguments, and the “in Canada they have to wait months” arguments, and they do concern me. Thank goodness we are not talking about a system like that. We are only talking about mandating that all people buy medical insurance, (just like we do with car insurance) and giving them an inexpensive public option if necessary.
Healthcare reform is about what is morally and ethically right. It is about what is right for the most powerful nation on earth. Persons from all political parties have been trying to get this done since Theodore Roosevelt was President to no avail.
The time for half assed excuses, political bullshit, and half measures is over. It is time for Health Care reform with a Public Option.
Call your congressman, write your congressman, this issue is a matter of national security, and could be a matter of life and death for you and your family if healthcare reform is not implemented.
I truly look forward to your comments on this subject, and debating the issue.
God bless you all.
By California Personal Injury Attorney Norman Gregory Fernandez, Esq., © 2009
Welcome, my name is 
I sat down and hand wrote letters to my 2 State Senators and Congressman. I told them I would not vote for them if they voted for public option. We need insurance reform and tort reform. I do not want the government deciding my medical treatment. I have friends from Canada and they said we do not want this…..I think we already pay plenty in income taxes. I do not want more government in my life. Let us buy health insurance across State Lines and do tort reform and we will see improvement. I would recommend that you look for Daniel Hannan from the British Parliment and listen to his take on this matter. He said it was a big mistake. Long lines and inferior treatment. We will have folks deciding not to be doctors if this passes. I respectfully disagree strongly on this one Norm.
Californians have a long ways to go before they start telling other people and governments how to manage their money. World’s 8th largest economny and you can’t even pay your own bills.
The way the health care reform act is shaping up I will have to cancel my health insurance because I won’t be able to afford the taxes on it. Yet I work 12-14 hour days with no overtime pay.
Let’s separate these two issues as they are distinctly different. No sane person wants war. Sending troops into combat is the ultimate failure of politicians and diplomats. Professional military personnel devote their lives training for war with the hopes of never having to enter a combat zone. Service members train indecently to hone their skills to perfection. When called upon they answer up in their sworn duty with honor and courage without regard to the politics involved. So long as evil exists in this world there will be brave men and women guarding the doors to our homeland. They will carry the combat away from our homes to protect our families from that horror. They will sacrifice their lives to protect ours.
Health care is an enormously complex industry. To enable repairs to a broken system the people working to fix it must understand it. The state of the healthcare system is symptomatic to our overall society. Understanding the causes of the current state of the system will reveal starting points in which to affect repairs. In essence, we must understand what factors makes healthcare so expensive in this country.
A high school graduate entering college with the goal of becoming a Doctor of Medicine can expect to spend about $400,000 for their education through medical school. Then add another 3-8 years for internship and 2-6 years for residency. Add lab fees, books, facility fees, sports fees, computer fees, computer lab fees, living expenses, food, clothes, and so on. The cost to train a high school graduate to become a doctor can approach $1 million. Assuming that the typical student does not have a golden goose this is a considerable amount of debt to pay. This in turn increases their individual cost of doing business. They must earn enough money to repay the student loans and provide for living expenses. To earn their money they must seek a minimum amount of compensation in addition to benefits. This cost is deducted from the revenue stream. In order to afford employment of this professional the business must charge enough to cover the DoctorÂ’s wages in addition to the facility expenses. As these expenses increase so must the cost to the customer.
Why is this education so expensive? Colleges and universities can afford to expend tens of millions of dollars on sports programs. The same principal applies here as well. It cost the university $N per student to educate them. This figure is influenced by personnel, program, & capital expenses. As either of these rise so to must the expense to the customer (student). This has led many universities to diversify their revenue streams to include additional taxes, and medical, research, and retail facilities. Reducing the expense to educate Doctors would naturally reduce the impact on healthcare these factors contribute.
Tort reform is one such way to reducing cost to the system. Most Doctors carry malpractice insurance of some form either individually or through a group. This insurance costs money. You are probably well, even intimately, familiar with how risk impacts costs. The malpractice insurance costs are weighted on the risk of exorbitant malpractice awards increase. Attorneys that work on a contingent fee basis have a vested interest in seeking maximum awards. These cost increases are passed on to the consumer with increased medical care costs. People see tort reform as a way to cut these costs. I see two avenues of tort reform that Congress will not ever pursue. The first is to eliminate contingency fees to eliminate the vested interest in maximum awards. The second is to have the loser pay. This reduces the frivolous legal actions. People will think long and hard about pursing legal action.
These are just two examples of factors into the healthcare equation. IÂ’ll leave it to you to research other factors contributing to the expense of healthcare. Consider the impacts of factors such as: emergency room abuse, cost to bring medication to market, cost to bring new technology to market, cost to staff a hospital, minimum wage laws, and associated legal costs.
Why is it that people we trust the least make the most while people we trust with our children make the least?
NORM>> Well Rider what happens if you lose your job and your insurance? You don’t seem to get it, you are paying for uninsured healthcare right now through taxes and increased healthcare cost.
Those taxes that I pay now are not saved up for my use at some point in the future. They are paid out to cover those who do not have coverage in the present whether they are temporarily or professionally unemployed. The gamble the government takes is that I will remain employed to pay payroll taxes.
NORM>>
What is more important to you, rebuilding Iraq and Afghanistan, or healthcare for our own people?
If it were me there would be no troops at any overseas locations.
Norm,
as someone who lives in a country with “socialist” health care (UK), grew up in a country with compulsory health insurance based on your income and an “insurer of last resort” (Germany) and whose old lady is American, lives in the US and currently has her health insurance paid for by me because she’s currently unemployed, I think I can provide a little perspective here. Not from a point of view of party politics or regurgitating something someone else with an unknown agenda parroted on the Internet, but actual, hands-on, thermometer-up-your-nether-regions type experience.
Mandatory health insurance – especially with a public option which (a) keeps the insurance companies a little more honest and (b) serves as the baseline care level for those who cannot afford the more expensive plans – works. Yes, there is waiting time involved. I had a bit of a health scare earlier this year and the referral from my personal doctor to the specialist unit at the local hospital took a few weeks, but as we’re not talking about an immediately life-threatening condition this wasn’t a major deal. People tend to forget or gloss over the fact that these waiting times usually for specialist diagnosis or treatment.
I can usually see my doctor the same day or at least one of his colleagues at the same clinic and if the condition warrants urgent care that is beyond what the local clinic can provide, they will refer me to the emergency room at the local hospital. Again, I might have to wait a few hours there while they deal with more urgent cases, but then again do I really have to complain about waiting times while they’re, say, saving the life of a fellow biker?
Yes, I might be uncomfortable and think that I deserve care right now and the rest of the world be damned, but if I think that this is the case then I can always open my wallet and pay extra for the promise of improved or faster care. But the point is that my basic health insurance needs are paid for out of a separate tax so I don’t wake up one morning and find myself totally without cover. Said tax is dependent on my income (same as German health insurance premiums are or at least used to be) and this removes one of the biggest problems I see with the free-market-screw-you approach. The free market approach makes health care costs regressive so those who are the poorest suffer the most because they have to cough up a much larger percentage of their incomes for health insurance if it is not provided by their employers. So chances are they’ll have to go without as it’s the same story with food and rent.
Yes, sometimes the centralised, public system is sub-optimal. A neighbour of mine (who was in his 80s) died while waiting for a second hip replacement – the waiting list was 18 months. That is clearly not good, but OTOH the hip wasn’t connected to the cause of his death either. Given that he had driven a truck for most of his life and certainly wouldn’t have been able to pay for private health insurance out of his meagre pension income, the fact that he got health care and that he got one hip replaced is still worth mentioning.
One issue that the more centralised system here in the UK has (expensive equipment is only available in hospitals) seems to have the main downside that it deprives doctors of quickly earned side income of the “oh, we better have some X-rays just in case” type. In Germany, where it at least was a lot more common for doctors to have that sort of equipment at hand, the health insurance tends to have to pay out for a lot of unnecessary “just in case” type additional diagnosis. My old lady’s experience in the US suggests that the same mentality can be found there as well, probably even worse because the risk of a malpractise suit tends to be higher in the US. Plus, it keeps the doctors in boats and Porsches and their mistresses in fur coats.
Looking at it from the outside, the trouble is that any sort of improved health care will have to include either some sort of public option or a mandated minimum coverage for a minimum amount of money (much like a minimum wage) in order to provide health insurance to those who simply cannot afford it at the time being. I’m pretty sure both are intensely disliked by insurance companies as they’ll easily highlight where a large amount of the premiums went and how cheaply basic care can be provided if enough people are paying into the insurance fund. Especially if the insurance fund works more on a mutual basis and only with a limited profit margin. So they crank up the lobby machine to convince people that systems that work in other countries would spell the end of civilisation, apple pie and all that if they would be implemented in the US.
Tell that to the biker who sleeps on a park bench because he got knocked off his bike, didn’t even have minimal health insurance and lost everything as a result.
Sandy, go back and actually read my article with an open mind. I discussed the Canada argument, and the public option argument.
The cost of the Iraq war alone would have paid for health care insurance for all Americans for 10 years or more.
After you read my article, tell me what you think.
Norm
I will be doing an article on Tort reform soon. Did you know that since the 1970’s California has had a cap on malpractice general damages at $250,000.00? Did you know that in California if they cut off the wrong body part or maim you, all you are going to get is your medical bills paid and a max of $250,000.00. In Texas it is $750,000.00.
Tort reform solving this problem is a myth. We already have it in many States.
Read my article, under ERISA health insurance providers have a federal exemption from being sued for failing to provide coverage. Imagine that! Did you know that!
Anytime you hear tort reform, what you are really hearing is that your individual right to sue is being taken away or limited to protect a certain class of citizens.
Look for my upcoming article on the myth of tort reform being a solution.
Norm
Well Rider what happens if you lose your job and your insurance? You don’t seem to get it, you are paying for uninsured healthcare right now through taxes and increased healthcare cost.
What is more important to you, rebuilding Iraq and Afghanistan, or healthcare for our own people?
Norm
Ahh the old Tort reform argument. Look for my upcoming article on the myth of Tort reform decreasing costs. Hell here in California you already have had tort reform since the 1970’s. There is a cap of general damages of $250k. The lowest in the nation. Here in California if they cut off the wrong leg or take out the wrong kidney the max you will get in General Damages is $250k.
This has not decreased malpractice rates or doctors bills. It is a bunch of BS. The insurance companies are still charging through the ying yang. Mandatory auto insurance (prop 213) was supposed to do the same thing. Well the only thing it did was create a windfall for the insurance companies. The exact same thing happened with workers comp reform.
The only people that got screwed were ordinary people like you and me. The corporate lobby and insurance lobby did well for themselves.
In the end corporate greed is going to win out every time unless unchecked. The recent mortgage debacle – ceo pay joke – etc. should show you what happens with unregulated market.
I am not looking at this issue through the blinders of a political party although it may seem like I am. I am looking at the reality of the situation.
Tort reform = ordinary people getting screwed out of their legal right to sue and wrongfully protects a class of persons who intentionally or negligently cause harm to others. (YOU)
Tort reform only gives the insurance companies more profit. OPEN YOUR EYES.
Norm