Re-examining the New Health Care Legislation

[NorthCarolina]

Re-examining the New Health Care Legislation with Dr. Steffie Woolhandler

For OpEdNews: Joan Brunwasser - Writer

My guest today is Harvard Medical School Professor Stephani Woolhandler. Welcome back to OpEdNews, Steffie. When we last spoke in September, you had just released your findings about the nearly 45,000 annual deaths due to our current health care system. Physicians for a National Health Program, the organization that you co-founded, issued a press release on March 31st critical of the new health care legislation. One might presume that you and your colleagues would be thrilled with any improvement in the current set-up. Can you please tell our readers why you are dissatisfied with what Congress has come up with?

Congress has prescribed aspirin for the treatment of cancer. Decades of experience have shown that private health insurers can neither control costs, nor provide American families with the coverage they need. Yet the law leaves private insurers at the center of the health care system.

It's quite true that the system was tweaked rather than overhauled. But aren't there positive points in the reform, like no more excluding pre-existing conditions and millions more individuals who will now have health insurance?

The ban on pre-existing condition exclusions (which goes into effect in 2014) will be very useful for the 3% of Americans who purchase private health insurance in the individual market, that is, those who are under 65 and not part of an job-based group. Unfortunately, even this ban is full of loopholes: for instance, people over the age of 55 can be charged 3 times more than young adults.

---snip---

Link: http://www.opednews.com/articles/Examining-the-New-Health-C-by-Joan-Brunwasser-100419-32.html

[ixion]

1. Thank you, Professor Woolhandler.

I only wish more people would have realized this BEFORE it was passed.

[Uncle Joe]

4. What people are you speaking of?

If you're talking about political leaders, they did know, there is no logical reason as to why they didn't or couldn't have known, but this just passed HCR Law will insure an ever growing perpetual income stream to the Congress from the for profit "health" insurance corporations in the form of bribery/lobbying.

If you're talking about the corporate media, the same holds true but they were more interested in protecting their commercial and advertising buying corporate clients than enlightening the American People as to the best national health care solutions.

If you're talking about the average American, they should have known as well, although I consider many of them to be victims of mass brain washing from the corporate media propaganda machine, via omission, obfuscation, or just plain old emotional knee jerk Pavlovian Bell demonization.

The fact that so many people in power and positions of responsibility did know is what sucks.

[xchrom]

2. Recommend

[dccrossman]

3. Excellent article

Thank you for sharing

K&R

[bvar22]

5. So sad. A Once in a Generation opportunity for reform wasted.

"Let's be clear. There is nothing in the law that has been proven to reduce health costs.

Profit-seeking corporations raise costs in two ways. First, the insurance industry generates tremendous administrative costs. To society, those costs are waste; to them it is their business. The private insurance industry adds no value to health care yet consumes, on average 14% of premium. In the case of the leading insurers, they consume up to 22% of premium for their paperwork and profit. Second, a profit-driven system undermines real health planning, i.e. making sure health resources are there where they are needed, and not duplicated where they are redundant, unnecessary, or even harmful."

"A Uniquely American Solution"....indeed.

There will be NO "Fixing it Later", especially after the losses in 2010.
We will be living with this nightmare for a LONG time.
It is now The LAW!

In 2008, the American People gave The Democrats:
*The White House

*A filibuster proof majority in the Senate

*A BIG majority in The House

*(most importantly) a HUGE MANDATE for CHANGE

.....and THIS is "the Best we could do."
The American People will simply have to settle for FAR LESS than the rest of the Civilized WORLD take for granted.
What a shameful indictment of The "Centrist" Democratic Party.
.
.
Oh Wait.
I forgot.
Its ALL Joe Lieberman's fault.





"If we don't fight hard enough for the things we stand for,
at some point we have to recognize that we don't really stand for them."
--- Paul Wellstone

[jtrockville]

7. Rightly stated, bvar22.

[femrap]

6. I will continue to take

my vitamins and my daily walks....pray my hip lasts for another 8 years until I hit Medicare.

Hell, the world will probably be nuked by then.