In the history of our country several attempts to provide a better, more inclusive health care system has been approached or presented for consideration and political action. Each time the corporation interests have blunted and blocked the process through the Congressional representatives who are dependent on these corporate interests for political contributions. Universal Health Care is the standard in the rest of the developed world. With the Exception of the United States, full, comprehensive and excellent outcomes have become accepted as the norm in all of the other developed nations. Except us!
The United States is said to be the wealthiest nation in the world and that is probably true. However, it is not a situation that is all encompassing of our citizenry. Those at the upper reaches of our society are wealthy beyond imagining while those at the lower reaches struggle daily to feed, house and clothe their families. While I am unsure of the status at this point, a couple of years ago it was stated that over 30% of the people in this country were either uninsured or underinsured. They struggled mightily to keep their families healthy and it is a failing struggle for many. Many of the so called “working poor” were in jobs that provided no benefit what so ever, save a pitiful wage which in most cases failed to provide the necessities of life requiring both parents to work setting up the need for daily child care at exorbitant costs. One company was noted for pushing its employees to apply for state or federal programs rather than providing a benefit package themselves. This company at that time was recognized as the largest retail corporation in the country and its owners were worth billions of dollars each. They inherited this wealth by the way, from the efforts of their paternal ancestor.
A large segment of the regular working public had a bare minimal level of health insurance, which in the majority of instances was not much better than none at all. People had to forego treatment, medication and proper diets due to the vagaries of their work/life environment. I recall vividly the case reported in our local newspaper, of a young boy who died without proper care of an abscessed tooth which cause the infection to spread into his brain and causing his death. His mother was employed in a minimal wage job with no benefits and they could not afford proper dental care nor health care. Had this family lived in Canada, Great Britain, France, Germany, etc. that young boy would have received proper care in a timely and appropriate manner. He would still be alive today!
In truth, thousands of Americans die each year due to a lack of access to health care and all because of our broken health care system.
In 2003, a Congressman from Michigan put forth in the 110th Congress a Bill labeled HR-676 that called for the establishment of a universal health care plan that would be a single payer system and replacing the current commercial, private, profit centered health insurance industry. Under this bill, every resident of the United States would receive a single health card that would be presented to their health provider for treatment or consultation. This card would also be used to acquire necessary medical equipment, respiratory equipment, prescription medications, dental and hearing treatment and implements. There would be no requirement or demand for payment at the point of service. There would be no limitation on work or other status so workers were not going to be locked to an employer because of their health insurance plans and not worry about losing health insurance if they changed jobs. This program, under the HR-676 bill would allow for access to any recognized health care professional, health care facility, or prescriptive/pharmaceutical source.
The Corporate Health Care Insurers and others in the profit taking areas of our health care environment would be restricted from offering services that were included in this program. Only those medical treatments or procedures that were cosmetic or individualistic in nature and specifically not covered under the HR-676 program could be offered by the corporations selling insurance. Of course this stirred up the hornets nest of the profit making corporations who were bringing in billions each year in profits through unreasonable denials and the most egregious was over billings. It has been posited that under the current programs put forth by the for profit health insurance providers, Medicare has seen overbilling in the amount of more than 140 billion dollars each year. These are taxpayer dollars that are going into the pockets and bank accounts of the insurance executives and the major shareholder’s bank accounts. Billions of dollars that could have been used to provide better health outcomes for the residents, men, women, and children of our United States.
This old man is assembling some supporting documentation from respected sources and over the coming editions of this blog series will submit this data for the evaluation of American Residents and families of our broken and corrupt health care industry. We are also exploring the construction of a web site dedicated to this UHC need.
Stay Tuned?
Musings of a Geriatric Curmudgeon 