Anyone ElseTerrified about Repeal of ACA Bill
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Does our medical care really outshine the rest of the world? I hear so many opinions and statistics, I don't know what to think. According to some, our outcomes are much poorer than our peers with universal care....then I read a story about it taking 7 months from abnormal mammogram to diagnosis. But no one in Canada or UK goes bankrupt from medical bills.
One point that I keep coming back to though is this.....as long as huge profits to insurance and pharmaceutical companies are protected, affordable and quality care is not achievable.
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Bew66, excellent post! Especially about nobody going bankrupt under universal health care, and our questionable superiority in hc.
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Compared with other developed and many developing nations, the United States continues to rank at or near the bottom in indicators of mortality and life expectancy while continuing to exceed other countries in health spending
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BosumBlues wrote: I have heard that other countries treat end of life services very differently and that is a very tough tradeoff.
I'm not sure what you mean by that?
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voraciousreader,
"My maternal family is filled with Canadians and from my own personal experience, two Canadian family members were trained in Canada to become physicians and bolted the country and now practice in the US. A third, American family member went to Canada for their medical training and left before it was time for their mandatory service." Are you saying that your family members got their training in Canada and then didn't fulfill their part of the bargain - the mandatory service?
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Thanks for that link, Freya. While I know stories like the Charlie Gard case appeal to our emotions, I'm more of a statistics gal.
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bew66, Charlie Gard was a terrible situation, no one disagrees with that. What is forgotten is that baby was in hospital being taken care of. I wonder how many babies, children, adolescents, women, men and elderly are dying in in America because they can't afford the care they need?
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Out of curiosity I had a quick look, these figures are from 2005 and 2009.
Various studies have looked at whether uninsured people have a higher risk of death. The most cited was published by the American Journal of Public Health in 2009 and found that nearly 45,000 Americans die each year as a direct result of being uninsured.
Dr Andrew Wilper and a team at Harvard Medical School used two main datasets: they took a nationwide US survey of more than 30,000 people conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and checked it against the National Death Index, another national database collected by the CDC.
The researchers found that a lack of health insurance had a mortality hazard ratio of 1.40. In other words, they concluded that Americans without health insurance were 40% more likely to die than those with it, even after taking into account the individual's "gender, age, race/ethnicity, poverty income ratio, education, unemployment, smoking, regular alcohol use, self-rated health, physician-rated health and body mass index".
The researchers calculated that in 2005, lack of health insurance resulted in 44,789 deaths of Americans age 18 to 64.
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bo...i am quite aware that access to the best sometimes isn’t possible..and I recognize that. In fact, I often donate to AngelFlightNE....their volunteer pilots deliver mostly pediatric patients, too sick to fly commercial to get to hospitals for specialized care....
The organization is dear to me because the DH has an extremely rare genetic metabolic muscular dystrophy and is in a clinical trial outside of New York. Every six months we visit a pediatric hospital and witness the heartbreak and triumph of children being treated for the rarest metabolic diseases...similar to Charlie Gard....
I recognize that most Americans will never be faced with dealing with the rarest of rare orphan diseases....so my perspective of our healthcare system is quite different than most Americans....with that said, I would hope that whatever hospital’s doorstep any patient steps up to, they will receive the most capable treatment. And with that hope, I have faith, that no matter what the politicians do, or don’t do, because we live in the best country in the world, our mighty style of clinical care and research will remain a beacon to the world....let us all pray that the politicians do not mess that up
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ping...yes!
And....back in the mid 70s one of my Canadian cousin’s married an American attending a Canadian med school. After he graduated, with little debt, he didn't do his mandatory Canadian medical service either. Dragged his wife and two Canadian children into the States and NEVER returned. Became an extremely successful American cardiac surgeon....suffice to say...they ultimately divorced. My cousin remarried and is living comfortably in California....
I am telling you...my family is filled with bolters...
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freya....I have seen those statistics before...and there are lots of variables that need to be assessed...I. Love statistics as much as the next person....read Dr. Otis Brawley's book, How We Do Harm. he is the medical director for the American Cancer Society... he starts his book off with telling a story about all the people who do have health insurance and don't have the time to see a doctor....and later die...
https://www.amazon.com/How-We-Do-Harm-America/dp/1250015766
So, 40,000 lose their lives because they don't have health insurance and 100,000's more lose their lives despite having insurance.....oy, oy, oy
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in retrospect...the mistake Charlie Gard's parents made was bringing Charlie to hospital. Once there, they lost their rights to decide the best course of treatment. Had they just got on a plane and went to Columbia Hospital, there was a tiny chance that the protocol could have worked. The DH has been treated there too for his metabolic disorder and it was those same doctors that consulted on Gard's condition that shipped my DH into his out of state clinical trial. Charlie should have been given that same opportunity....
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How We Do Harm exposes the underbelly of healthcare today―the over treatment of the rich, the under treatment of the poor, the financial conflicts of interest that determine the care that physicians' provide, insurance companies that don't demand the best (or even the least expensive) care, and pharmaceutical companies concerned with selling drugs, regardless of whether they improve health or do harm.
Seems like a great system.
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yep...you must be inebriated before reading the book...
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freya...there is a lot of blame to go around....and he blames patients too....recall what I said earlier about advocacy groups...with Pink October starting...haven’t we all had enough?
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My position is that health care is not just for the well connected, wealthy or otherwise "special." It should be for every citizen. Period. And, yes, that means that we all, including the wealthy, DH and I included, will have to pay more in taxes. We have no problem with that. It's part of being a decent human being.
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pup...i am glad that you are willing to pay more taxes for the greater good....but look at this thread....you have 8 million people who need to join the ACA so it will work for the 23 who will benefit...and yet... for whatever reason...refuse....to join for the greater good....are those 8 million not decent?
And pup...taxes do not create jobs...it just inhibits the economy from growing. I would love to see all of our under and unemployed citizens working at meaningful jobs and see young people grow small businesses and happily pay for their health care and taxes....right now there are discussions that the GDP which just past 3 % might top 4% shortly. That will create millions more jobs than anticipated. That should be a wakeup call to politicians that with millions more people working, paying for affordable health insurance might make more people want to buy it.
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Voracious, many people cannot work. They are either too old, young, disabled, or simply unable to find work, no matter how hard they try. If we depend on people being employed to have insurance many will die or be forced into bankruptcy. Also, paying one's fair share of taxes does not prevent the economy from growing. The problem is that the ultra rich, e.g. Donald Trump, generally avoid taxes altogether, while the middle class gets stuck with more. Wealth has been redistributed upward for decades. Make people like Trump pay the taxes they owe and we would have a much more equitable society, with health care for all.
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The Republicans have too many factions, to have a consensus. Healthcare, in the shadow of all of the devastation due to hurricanes, will have to wait. Two States and Puerto Rico, will require alot of attention, and their people will require access to medical care. POTUS may end up working something out with the Democrats, or even Bernie Sanders, for that matter. Next year, we will see many seats up for representation in Washington, which should swing the other direction, due to the puffery currently taking place in Washington. Ideally, I would like a one payer system and not have healthcare tied to employment. I do think that healthcare is a right, not a privilege, especially after going through a bc diagnosis. So, in answer to the original poster's question, I do not believe that there is anything to worry about now and in the foreseeable future. My wish is for all of us to have access to affordable healthcare that pays our bills, and does not put lifetime payouts, or caps on certain conditions.
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It was once said that the moral test of government is how that government treats those who are in the dawn of life, the children; those who are in the twilight of life, the elderly; and those who are in the shadows of life, the sick, the needy and the handicapped. Hubert H. Humphrey
Read more at: https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/h/hubert...I think we can agree that our government, whether a Democrat or Republican holds the highest office that, for the most part, our government DOES provide for those in need...but unfortunately...it comes at a very steep price...for the rest of us..
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The "rest of us" is all of those categories! Might not be right now, but the sick and elderly will definitely be "us" sometime. None of us get out of here alive.
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I don't think that the "rest of us," really represents everyone with breast cancer. As Pupmom said earlier, I am happier to pay more in taxes, to ensure healthcare for all. My husband and I, pay a very high percentage of tax on our income, and we also pay for our own healthcare through the marketplace. I had postpartum issues, that made obtaining decent insurance very difficult for me for several years, but I had the best our state could offer and I paid steeply for it. Under the affordable care act, I was able to go to the marketplace, and purchase excellent coverage at a reasonable amount. I also helped others gain insurance through the marketplace. We could have purchased directly from the same insurance company that I have now, but I wanted the protections afforded us under the ACA. We, BC survivors, need coverage that does not discriminate against pre-existing conditions. It is so important that our representatives act on behalf of our welfare, and not rush something through just to get a win. The health of all Americans, depends on what is in those bills/legislations/acts, etc.
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https://taxfoundation.org/summary-latest-federal-income-tax-data-2016-update/
Most high income earners are paying their fair share of taxes....in fact...porportionately speaking....way more in taxes....
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He's doing everything he can to screw the 99%...
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so thrilled the executive order was signed. now the can open up insurance across state lines, get some competition and costs will hopefully go down. Looking forward to some positive change. My premiums are too high, my deductible ridiculous and I cant even use the insurance that was promised. Looking forward to some positive changes coming.
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bevin...
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I suggest you read what this order will do in the NYTimes. This is going to allow insurance companies to circumvent the ACA and go back to discriminating against those of us with pre existing conditions .
Additionally it will destabilize the insurance markets and you can expect more insurers to pull out of the exchanges, leading to those of us who are self employed unable to get insurance.
This isn't a good thing at all.
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And his 1-2 punch, he just cut subsidies.
Trump will end health care cost-sharing subsidies
http://www.cnn.com/2017/10/12/politics/obamacare-s...
Today I checked the ACA marketplace and my premiums for an ACA Silver PPO will go up over 30%. This is before these new things take effect (though the insurance companies did jack the rates by 12.5% because Trump has been threatening to cut the cost-sharing subsidies).
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And people will start dying. If that doesn't change the red states' political landscape, nothing will. Republicans should be careful what they wish for.
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The subsidies that have been killed are the ones the government pays to the insurance companies. Premium subsidies are the income based discounts individual people receive. Since the insurance companies still have to offer premium subsidies (discounts) to lower income participants, they are just going to try to raise their rates to offset the difference, or pull out of the exchange.
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