Ground shifting on Rx debate

[checks-n-balances]

The columnist is an Atlanta attorney and the founder of VoteHealthcare.org. The beginning of her column describes family situation which precipitated her involvement in a "20,000-mile journey across 30 states to the District of Columbia." This was a listening tour, where she was welcomed and became known as the "purple bus lady." She and others experienced quite a disconnect at their destination...

Ground shifting on Rx debate
By Kathie McClure, Guest columnist
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Wednesday, July 08, 2009

...My reception inside the Washington beltway set quite a different tone. For starters, a law-abiding citizen cannot park her little bus anywhere near the great halls of democracy. Once in the Capitol, the frustration intensifies. Upon conveying our health care ordeals to the staff of Republican Sens. Saxby Chambliss and Johnny Isakson, our delegation received caring looks and bags of peanuts, but no solutions.

Senate Democrats seem just as tone deaf as they reel from sticker shock at the price of their private insurance-based proposals. We don’t need the Congressional Budget Office to tell us that a system geared to maximizing insurance and pharmaceutical profits is unaffordable.

What politicians fail to grasp is that voters are wise to these insatiable cookie monsters who, according to the Washington Post, are paying lobbyists $1.4 million each day to defeat meaningful reform. Like the throngs surrounding the offices of Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.), people everywhere are outraged that their representatives accept millions of dollars from insurance and pharmaceutical interests but refuse to consider an affordable public health insurance option.

The majority of us want a robust public plan option because we know it’s the only way to keep private insurers honest and make them compete for our business. Every single person I met along my journey is willing to pay his or her fair share...

More at
http://www.ajc.com/opinion/content/opinion/stories/2009/07/08/mcclureed_0708.html

BTW, http://www.votehealthcare.org/ looks like a good resource. Correct me if I'm wrong, DUers.

[Cerridwen]

1. "Every single person I met along my journey is willing to pay his or her fair share."

People are suffering; physically, financially, emotionally, and our elected "representatives" are playing politics will the very corporations causing our suffering.

[checks-n-balances]

2. Here's what "Get Educated" link contains at her votehealthcare.org

You may already know the facts below, but maybe you can pass them on to someone who doesn't (like someone in congress, maybe??)

Fact # 1 Don’t Count on Medical Benefits From Your Employer. Many people count on their employer for health insurance. Sadly, the number of employers offering health insurance to their employees is dropping. In 2007, only 60% of employers offered health insurance. It is even lower for small businesses. Employers are not dropping coverage because they don’t care about their workers. It is because they cannot afford the cost. Health insurance costs are rising faster than wages. The other bad news is that even if your employer offers medical benefits, you may not be able to afford it.

Fact # 2 Individual Insurance Can Be a Raw Deal. Some people choose to buy insurance on their own. A report from Families USA found, “Individuals seeking health coverage on their own have virtually no bargaining power to obtain good health benefits at a reasonable rate.” It is up to each state to protect consumers and some are doing better than others. “In one state, consumers may be able to buy insurance that will cover their medical needs, but only at a very high price. Just across the state line, neighbors with similar medical conditions may find that although policies are cheaper, no insurer will sell to them or insurers will only sell them polices that exclude coverage of the very services that they most need. Consumers are put at the mercy of insurers and the vagaries of states’ insurance laws.” For the full report, go to
www.familiesusa.org

Fact #3 Even If You Have Coverage, Medical Debt Can Land You in Bankruptcy Court. Medical debt is partly to blame for half of all bankruptcies. Sadly, nearly 70% of the people in these bankruptcies have insurance coverage. This should come as no surprise because the number of “underinsured” Americans is growing fast, reaching 25 million in 2007. “Too many working people are piling up debt on high interest credit cards, and risking their financial security, simply because they have the misfortune of getting sick,” said Mark Rukavina, Director of the Access Project and co-author of the report, “Borrowing to Stay Healthy.” “We can’t let this happen in America.”

Fact # 4 People Really Are Dying Because They Can’t Get the Medical Care They Need. Common sense tells us that if you can’t afford to go to the doctor, your health will get worse and you may even die. Well, it’s true. People without insurance are much less likely to get the medical care they need. For children, this means that they miss check-ups and don’t get dental care, vision screenings, and medications. The Institute of Medicine estimates that about 18,000 deaths every year are caused by lack of insurance coverage.

Fact # 5 America Is Choking On Healthcare Spending (and we’re not getting our money’s worth). Healthcare costs are rising at an alarming rate, and there’s no end in sight. Americans spend more of their money on healthcare than on housing or food. Our country spent $2.2 TRILLION on healthcare in 2007 (Kaiser Family Foundation, 09/07], even though 47 million Americans did not have insurance. Nobody wants to hear that other countries cover all their people for half the money AND get better care, but it’s true. For more information, do a Google® search for “rising health care costs” and browse through the 269,000 hits.