McSame's healthcare problem

[RunInRed 16,528]

WASHINGTON - When Senator John McCain unveiled his healthcare proposal last fall, a journalist asked whether the Arizona senator's battle against skin cancer would make him sympathetic to the idea of requiring that insurance companies provide coverage to people with preexisting conditions.

McCain flatly rejected the idea. "That would be mandating what the free enterprise system does," McCain said.

McCain's response highlights the challenge he faces as he prepares to try to sell his healthcare plan in the fall campaign. He says the country must provide access to healthcare for all our citizens, and that "we need to help people who need it." But McCain also wants to shrink government's role in healthcare and doesn't want to impose regulations on insurance companies.

As a result, McCain's aides have been scrambling to come up with ways to satisfy those who want more coverage without violating what they call McCain's conservative principles on the issue.

McCain, for example, has spoken in general terms about how he might help people with preexisting conditions. He has said he favors what he calls a "special provision including additional trust funds for Medicaid payments." The comment left even some of his aides unsure of his meaning. Medicaid funds are generally used to help lower-income Americans.

Lately, some of McCain's aides have said he might try to divert some Medicaid funds into a program that would help people with preexisting conditions, but his advisers can't yet say how such a program would work or how many people would be covered.

"These are real questions, and I think there will be answers, and there better be, but they are not there yet," said McCain adviser Thomas P. Miller, a resident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute. "A lot more remains to be hammered out."

Indeed, while McCain talks about having a comprehensive healthcare plan, many of the details are being debated within the campaign as aides try to determine how to pay for McCain's promises.

The crux of McCain's healthcare plan is to end a tax break for employers who provide health insurance premiums now utilized by many workers. That would be replaced with a tax credit worth as much as $5,000 per family for the purchase of health insurance. McCain would also promote cost controls and competition among insurance companies. He has also joined with Democrats to support legislation that would allow the purchase of prescription drugs from Canada.

But McCain's plan has no guarantee that people could get insurance, and no requirement for people to do so. McCain believes his plan would make insurance more affordable, which would bring it within reach of many more families. But many critics say that failing to require insurance companies to provide coverage could leave millions of people without affordable medical care.

But even some pro-business voices have said McCain's plan falls short of helping enough people in need. Fortune magazine said earlier this month that McCain had the best health insurance plan, but then criticized his handling of people with preexisting conditions.

"The problem with McCain's approach - and it is a huge problem - is that McCain ventures so far toward total laissez-faire liberty that he risks leaving the poor and sick behind," the magazine said. "Anyone with cancer, diabetes, or other preexisting conditions will see their premiums multiply, too."

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles...thcare_details/

[MDM4AU 336]

All these people that think that all pre-existing conditions should just be covered are out of their minds. And the idea that someone with a PEC shouldn't pay more than someone with no health problems is just plain stupidity.

If your homeowner's insurance was to cover the damage from the storm that came through two weeks before you got your insurance, the rates would be more than if there was no damage to repair. Those are guaranteed claims. Insurance is not some savings or checking account.

Furthermore, with most plans that have a PEC clause, they cover those conditions after 12-18 months depending on the policy. So it's not like they will never have coverage for those things. The PEC clause keeps people from going without coverage until they need a surgery, paying a few months worth of premium, getting thousands of $$ in claims paid, and then then dumping the coverage until they need it again.

I don't know about all states, but there are options for those who don't get employer provided (group coverage) in Alabama. ALFA has a BCBSAL plan for those without group coverage, BCBSAL has plans (even a short term "gap" plan for those between coverage). There is the Alabama Health Insurance Plan, Assuarnt (nationally) has had plans for some time. There is also Mega Life and Health. Some are better than others. But there are options.

You pay a premium to ensure that you don't have huge bills to pay should something happen. There is no guarantee that the insurance company will pay out equal the premium you pay in. But you have that safety net if you have paid premiums. Many, many people in Alabama pay much less than the claims paid out. I know of one case in particular where a group has a family rate of $877/mo. In that group is a man who's daughter has had over $2M in claims since May 2006. I know of a group that had 7 employees. Their rates were somewhere around $230 for single coverage and around $825 for family. In the first 2 years they had one 4 employees have Gastric Bypass. That procedure costs approximately $30K a pop. That's simply the surgery. That doesn't count the cost of the procedures for complications. $825 (if each had family coverage) over 24 months is only $19,800. $5520 if they had single coverage. In that premium are the operating fees (state insurance tax, other taxes, salaries, reserves required by ins. commission, etc.) of the insurance carrier. And we don't know what other claims they may have had.

And, yes, in this capitalist system we have many insurance companies are in the business to make money. Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Alabama is actually one of about 8-10 Blue Cross and Blue Shield Plans (there are about 40 in the US) that is non-profit. There are others out there, as well.

[RunInRed 16,528]

So...what is McCain's plan for healthcare? More of the same? Continue doing what we've been doing? "Hope" it will get better on its own? How does it plan to address rising costs that are hurting businesses and individuals? How does he plan to help cover those millions of Americans who can't afford insurance?

[MDM4AU 336]

I don't know what his plan is. Haven't read into it. I'm not tooting the McCain horn. I haven't decided who I am voting for. Just stating some facts.

[RunInRed 16,528]

I don't know what his plan is. Haven't read into it. I'm not tooting the McCain horn. I haven't decided who I am voting for. Just stating some facts.

It does not sound like McCain even knows what his healthcare plan is.

[au2004ece 30]

I don't know what his plan is. Haven't read into it. I'm not tooting the McCain horn. I haven't decided who I am voting for. Just stating some facts.

It does not sound like McCain even knows what his healthcare plan is.

The government doesn't need a healthcare plan. Healthcare, like most things, is best left to private organizations, both for-profit and charity. Why do we continually think that we should give more power to the government so they can do more for us?

[RunInRed 16,528]

I don't know what his plan is. Haven't read into it. I'm not tooting the McCain horn. I haven't decided who I am voting for. Just stating some facts.

It does not sound like McCain even knows what his healthcare plan is.

The government doesn't need a healthcare plan. Healthcare, like most things, is best left to private organizations, both for-profit and charity. Why do we continually think that we should give more power to the government so they can do more for us?

Yeah, that approach is working great now.

[au2004ece 30]

I don't know what his plan is. Haven't read into it. I'm not tooting the McCain horn. I haven't decided who I am voting for. Just stating some facts.

It does not sound like McCain even knows what his healthcare plan is.

The government doesn't need a healthcare plan. Healthcare, like most things, is best left to private organizations, both for-profit and charity. Why do we continually think that we should give more power to the government so they can do more for us?

Yeah, that approach is working great now.

Actually if you think about it for more time than a liberal can, then you would know that it is. They say that 50 million Americans are uninsured. If it really is that many, that means that 83% of Americans ARE insured. Isn't that good?

Also, why are we entitled to healthcare? Why are we entitled to having someone do work for us?

[RunInRed 16,528]

I don't know what his plan is. Haven't read into it. I'm not tooting the McCain horn. I haven't decided who I am voting for. Just stating some facts.

It does not sound like McCain even knows what his healthcare plan is.

The government doesn't need a healthcare plan. Healthcare, like most things, is best left to private organizations, both for-profit and charity. Why do we continually think that we should give more power to the government so they can do more for us?

Yeah, that approach is working great now.

Actually if you think about it for more time than a liberal can, then you would know that it is. They say that 50 million Americans are uninsured. If it really is that many, that means that 83% of Americans ARE insured. Isn't that good?

Also, why are we entitled to healthcare? Why are we entitled to having someone do work for us?

Alright I'm going to try to be nice and help you out with your math...there are almost 300M Americans in this country. Depending on what figures you believe, there are 30-40M w/o insurance.

So when a person is shot and rushes in to the ER - he is treated, if he turns out not to have insurance, guess who pays the bill? You got it. But the problem goes further, it's not just those who are not insured, it's also those who are underinsured because they can't afford adequate coverage. Lastly it's about healtchare cost that have been skyrocketing over the last two decades - this affects individuals and business owners. Just like SS can't sustain on it's current pace, neither can medicare unless something is done. Whether you want to admit or just stick your hand in the sand, the healthcare issue is a major problem in this country which is ultimately going to have to be addressed.

What is McCain's solution? Has he put forth any real plan? What is your solution?

[BamaGrad03 0]

So when a person is shot and rushes in to the ER - he is treated, if he turns out not to have insurance, guess who pays the bill? You got it. But the problem goes further, it's not just those who are not insured, it's also those who are underinsured because they can't afford adequate coverage. Lastly it's about healtchare cost that have been skyrocketing over the last two decades - this affects individuals and business owners. Just like SS can't sustain on it's current pace, neither can medicare unless something is done. Whether you want to admit or just stick your hand in the sand, the healthcare issue is a major problem in this country which is ultimately going to have to be addressed.

So why is it, then, pretty much every socialized healthcare country in the world pleads for us not to socialize ours? Why is it that people come from Canada to pay for operations here, because the government won't even allow people to pay for their own healthcare there?

Why is a 6 month waitlist for an MRI OK?

[Auburn85 434]

who on here has a scheduled doctor's appointment, only to rarely be called back at the given time? who here regularly now waits 10,15,20,30 or more minutes before they are even called back?

why is the wait so long? the doctors take in too many appointments in one day. it's obviously not every doctor, but i know some of you know what i mean.

now, the government wants to throw in an extra 47 million insured people with the way the current system runs.

it seems we don't have enough doctors and nurses. how do we get more doctors and nurses? more government programs? ie: give out more financial aid or scholarships for doctors and nurses? do we lower the bar for nurses and doctors to only a step above staying at a holiday inn express?

having healthcare is not a right. having affordable healthcare is not a right. having affordable healthcare in which you get exactly what you need covered is not a right. although if it's said enough, we may soon have a right to healthcare.

what about rural areas?

maybe doctors don't want to live in the woods. maybe they want to live in the city. there's obviously more people in citites than in rural areas. so maybe the doctor feels he won't make enough in rural areas.

even then, some doctors will try to have a second doctor's office in another county or city.

and MDM4AU sorta brings up another issue. how can we expect to pay $250 a month for family coverage until the end of time, if it's becoming more and more common that people are having expensive procedures.

gastric bypass was one example, then, we have heart bypass, double bypass, triple bypass, and so forth surgeries, MRI, babies can live longer outside of the womb than ever before.

our technology has came a long way.

hospitals are litterally shutting it's doors in California and in other states, they are way in the red or on the verge of going under.

and this piece is back from 2004:

http://www.larouchepub.com/other/2004/3138cal_hosp_cuts.html

According to the California Healthcare Association CHA, 70 acute care hospitals closed in California between 1993 and 2003—a 13.33% drop in hospital capacity. During the same period, about 11,000 staffed hospital beds were lost (staffed beds are those which are both licensed and have the requisite staff available to care for patients). As the state's population grew by 13.44% over that decade, acute care hospital bed capacity dropped by 14.24%.

and you can't tell me that California has a low tax burden.

then we come to the illegal immigrant factor...

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dw...te.2c34137.html

Estimating the number of illegal immigrants in Tarrant County at 107,000, the study calculated that expanding the charity program would cost the hospital district an additional $41.3 million right now. That number would increase to $114.4 million by 2017, according to the study.

Allied Communities of Tarrant conducted its own study in February that came to a dramatically different conclusion. Quoting 18th-century literary figure Samuel Johnson and a passage from the Bible's book of Leviticus in the introduction, the alternative study estimated the cost to be between $2 million and $4.2 million added to the hospital district's $600 million-plus budget.

Parkland officials estimated their cost for nonemergency care for illegal immigrants was $22.4 million in the past year – about halfway between the two Tarrant County estimates.

http://www.usbc.org/info/2006/sept/birth.htm

Illegal immigrants from Mexico and Central America pour into Texas to give birth

September 28, 2006

Illegal immigrants from both Mexico and Central American countries are crossing the border into Texas to give birth on U.S. soil so, they believe, their children will automatically be American citizens.

The traffic is straining hospitals, and is costing taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars. Health officials as well as doctors say they are overwhelmed by these births, as well as those of the illegal immigrant mothers who are already in Texas.

Administrators at Ben Taub General Hospital and Lyndon B. Johnson General Hospital said that in 2005, 70 to 80 percent of the 10,587 births at the hospitals were to illegal immigrants.

Immigrants "want a U.S.-born baby" and know that emergency room staffers don't collect any money up front, said Dr. Mario Rodriguez, an obstetrician in Starr County.

"The word is out: Come to Starr County and get delivered for free. Why pay $1,000 in Mexico when you can get it for free?" Rodriguez said.

Starr County is an already poor South Texas county that has the region's only taxpayer-supported hospital district. Starr County hospital administrator Thalia Muñoz said. "It's gotten worse, and it's because the economy in Mexico is not good and because we provide all these benefits."

Unfortunately, doctors say, Starr County isn't alone.

“All the municipalities between here and California" face the same situation said Tony Falcon, a Rio Grande City physician who was appointed to the U.S.-Mexico Border Health Commission in April. ''What you see here is what is happening in Brownsville, McAllen, El Paso and San Diego."

Many regard the U.S.-born infants as "anchor babies" because they give their illegal immigrant parents and relatives a way to petition for citizenship. They estimate that 360,000 of these babies are born in the U.S. every year and warn that the numbers are rising.

Some lawmakers want to begin denying citizenship to babies born to illegal immigrants.

Birthright citizenship, as it is known, has been in force since the approval of the Constitution's 14th Amendment in 1868. But several bills under consideration in Congress would abolish the longstanding federal policy. Sponsors include U.S. Reps. Ron Paul, R-Lake Jackson, and Nathan Deal, R-Ga.

Illegal immigrants say they are being attacked unfairly and think that all children born in the U.S. should have equal rights.

Starr County Memorial Hospital had $3.6 million in uncollected medical bills in 2005, up from $1.5 million in 2002. The total when fiscal 2006 ends on Sept. 30 is expected to hit $3.9 million, chief financial officer Rafael Olivarez said. Unpaid bills for the past five years will reach nearly $13 million, he said.

Already, the U.S. government is pitching in, setting aside $1 billion in Medicaid funds to pay for emergency care received by undocumented migrants over the next four years.

But Olivarez said getting the reimbursements isn't easy. Federal officials ''told us at a meeting they would pay us about 20 cents on the dollar," he said. "But it's better than nothing."

No one knows for sure how many illegal immigrants there are or what they cost the health care system. Most hospitals don't ask whether patients have papers.

Harris County Hospital District officials say their policy is not to question patients directly about their citizenship.

Eighty-three percent of the illegal immigrants receiving in-patient care at the district's hospitals and clinics last year were from Mexico, officials said. Six percent were from El Salvador or Guatemala. And the remaining 11 percent were from such countries as Britain, Canada, Haiti, India, Iran, Iraq, Nigeria and Vietnam

[lukeduke 8]

Just checking my right wing math here....if 30 - 40 million out of 300 million don't have insurance, that would mean 260-270 million do. Now, if my calculations are correct, 270/300 is 9/10 in the lowest common denominator, or 90 %. 260/300 is 86%. While those aren't exactly 83% that was in the post you snapped off at, it would be in the same ballpark.

Comparing that 86-90% with the percentage of people who are employed and you have a small number that are working and uninsured. If the unemployed need insurance, get a job that offers it. Don't cry me a river about there being no jobs, there are always manual labor jobs that will provide some form of insurance.