I have no love for healthcare insurance providers.  I view them as subscribers to the modern day Machiavellian business philosophy of ‘profit justifies the means’…or ‘profit makes right’.  It doesn’t take much of an intellectual leap to deduce why 45 million Americans can’t access the health care system…and why a substantial portion of the ‘have nots’ rely on Emergency rooms.

 It is a fact that Emergency rooms are the lowest or no-profit revenue centers for hospitals.  It is also a fact that some patients abuse the privilege of accessing emergency rooms. 

 What is completely overlooked by critics are the millions of uninsured people who, when diagnosed with cancer or other major illnesses, cannot afford chemo or radiation or any type of continuing treatment.  Emergency rooms do not provide ongoing treatment for chronic diseases.

 I have talked with too many people who fall between the cracks in our current system.  Too rich for Medicaid or charity care, and too poor or sick to afford astronomical premiums.  The cannot cough up $200 thousand dollars IN ADVANCE, to pay the likes of MD Anderson or any cancer hospital for the first series of treatments. I believe these people constitute the majority of these 45 million uninsured…or under-insured.  And, even if they don’t, are the rest of us willing to consign their plights to——you don’t deserve to live?

 From their perspective death is their reality, and potential life saving treatments are a privilege of the wealthy, or the lucky who have health care coverage through employment.  I can hear the refrain——-let ‘em get jobs and work like the rest of us!  Don’t be too cocky about your coverage through employment.  This too is vanishing as self-insured companies are breaking under the cost burden, downsizing staff, outsourcing to the rest of the world, limiting employees to part time thereby escaping the mandate to provide health care coverage, decreasing coverage in general, and shifting more health care costs to the remainder of the employees. 

 What about those folk who worked hard all their lives, and took the promise of early retirement and continuing health care coverage till Medicare kicks in, only to find their employers determined at some later date, that a good way to cut costs was to eliminate coverage for retirees?  By now, many of these folks between 50 and 65 have conditions that virtually eliminate them from Blues, United, Cigna, Aetna, (BUCAs) coverage…or maybe if they can pay $3K a month for premiums.  Even then, the BUCAs will do what they can to disqualify and deny these insureds from coverage——–after accepting months/years of premium payments.

 We cannot be so naive to imagine that the private profit making sector is going to care about anything or anybody other than profits.

 Hospitals are huge profit making businesses, and not-for-profit hospitals are even worse!  I know how these bandits bill!!  I know how they demand full payment from the uninsured when virtually 95% of their patient load doesn’t have to pay even half for the same services.  So count them out of caring for non-paying patients, or doing the right thing because profit trumps compassion and responsibility.

 Does this mean that Obamacare is the answer?  No, it is only a beginning, and one full of holes;  the most glaring of which is the healthcare profit mongers are still in control, and do not have meaningful sanctions to counter their new and creative ways to deny claims payment.  The health of our nation cannot be consigned to monolithic entities that worship the profit gods.

 Obama missed the boat by not having a government agency compete with the BUCAs.  Yeah, yeah, that’s socialism———-as is Medicare, Social Security, Medicaid, etc.   For those who denounce socialism, please forgo your Medicare and Social Security and put your money in the same bag with your righteous indignation.  

 What is true and evident is that our population of 45 million uninsured/underinsure Americans have made no progress, were denied healthcare and have died within the last few decades that subscribed to various economic policies, beginning with the trickle-down theory to business’ self-regulation.  Now that’s a hoax promulgating the fox guarding the hen house theory that many bought into, excepting perhaps, the have-nots.

 If you are poor (http://www.partnershiptoendpoverty.org/PovertyGuidelines2009.pdf, ) sick, unable to access health care to survive, lost your home and believe that Obamacare or a dose of socialism will ruin our country, stand up and be counted.  …I can’t hear you!

 If you don’t qualify, what is your responsibility to your countrywomen and men?

 Said better by many:  “Any society, any nation, is judged on the basis of how it treats its weakest members; the last, the least, the littlest.”

 How will America be judged?”

I told you. Whether you agree with her or not…this is one smart lady.

If you are interested in a CBS story with Nora here is the link: http://youtube.com/watch?v=huOcg9uN5pw  bjmdjd

Material modifications since posting: none