Comments | ladyqkat: Drawing a big fat target on myself

ladyqkat

Drawing a big fat target on myself

May 19, 2009 16:42

Okay - with the vote coming up on health care reform, I have something to say to my congresscritters, but I am also posting it here for, I don't know, posterity. And maybe some feedback. I will be sending this off late tonight (and I hope the cut tag works) and will include any valid points I may have missed. It is meant to be grim. I also ( Read more... )

congresscritters, political, mortality

Comments 16

jaelle_n_gilla May 20 2009, 10:51:38 UTC

I have little constructive criticism to give here. A question though: Is Obama's reform making it better of worse?

Sorry for the ignorance. I'm not up to date with American politics. That may be partly because as a German, I have heard that the "social net" has wide meshes and especially unemployed people often slip through.

I wrote a long reply, but I guess this should be your soap box on the US, and not mine on Germany :-)

Suffice to say I'm sorry the system hits you full force with the illness you have. I hope there is a way to avoid that.

kyalesyin May 20 2009, 12:40:50 UTC

Oh hon *hug* Not much else I can say that other people haven't been said, but I'm rooting for ya all the way.

Also, if you wanted to add me on DW, I'm Bastet

teddywolf May 20 2009, 23:01:08 UTC

Pity you can't move to my state. When you're a poor resident here, your insurance is covered.

Did you know health insurance companies take thirty cents of every health care dollar spent? And that isn't including the costs at the hospital for paperwork and the people who know how to deal with, you guessed it, a couple hundred different insurance companies.

awalker1829 May 21 2009, 05:19:22 UTC

Yes, I am familiar with that. Can't miss it since the life insurance industry is where my Dad made his living and it's very similar to the health insurance industry business model. The real culprit is the greed of the investors. They want the company to increase the returns on their investments and that money has to come from somewhere. That's not to say the company officers are blameless-they sometimes make very bad decisions and increasingly know less and less about the way insurance companies should be run ( ... )

teddywolf May 21 2009, 05:39:09 UTC

Currently a great many health insurance companies pay people to figure out ways to deny claims to the people they ostensibly cover. This worries me. And for all the right-wing's blast of heat in the dark about "bureaucrats figuring out how to deny care to you" they never say anything about insurance companies doing exactly that. Maybe they figure people haven't noticed.

In Massachusetts, anybody low-income can qualify for MassHealth. All routine doctor visits are covered, all necessary surgery is covered, all doctor-ordered tests and treatments are covered. There's even dental coverage. The only things not covered are periodontal work, a very few meds and vision. Hell, the copays are $2 for name brand drugs and $1 for generic, and none for doctor visits.

Its even going to cover car seats for the kids.

awalker1829 May 22 2009, 06:06:42 UTC

Unfortunately, that's what happens when you let someone who's a bean-counter and doesn't know jack about the business. Again, the real underlying problem is the shift in corporate values from running a good business to maximizing profits for shareholders at the expense of customers by failure to adhere to sound business practices. Denying claims is not good business practice ( ... )