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geebeebee
MemberMarsha, haven’t been here in a long time, but wandered in today…congratulations on your milestone, and I couldn’t be happier that you’re doing well!
This time of year, I think of when you and my Mom had the SCT done at nearly at the same time. I know it has hardly been an easy battle, but I do hope it gets easier as time passes.
I’m sure you’re an inspiration to those who are battling MDS, and hoping to overcome it. You are proof that it can be done.
Best wishes to all of you in your respective fights,
Greg
MemberAll, I agree this isn’t as important (and I have never come close to saying that), but to act as if I don’t understand all this is very disconcerting. I encourage you to take a look at the board to see what happened in my life a little over a year ago and beyond with my mother, and then tell me I don’t understand fighting for and losing life.
Frankly, I don’t see the harm in discussing healthcare in this country and its effects, and all the readers of the board have seen this subject on the board for some time, and can choose not to read it if they don’t deem it important, or if it bothers them.
I don’t appreciate being treated as if I don’t understand the levity of subjects on this board, as my family has been devastated by this disease every bit as much as anyone else here.
Since I am apparently causing high emotional distress by talking about national healthcare (even though it DOES affect how MDS patients are able to get care, much more so than an average person), I am signing off.
I wish all of you the best,
Greg
MemberI think all of us on this board know all too well what our answer would be to the hypothetical question:
Would you rather be healthy and pay the bills or sick and receive the benefits?
I’ve always been thankful when I don’t reach my deductible for my insurance; I don’t understand how one could feel any other way.
MemberYes! Agreed.
That’s a little of what I was trying to hit on with a national coverage plan insurance-wise….if you strip away the profits of insurance companies and run it as break-even, it could be much more affordable.
But you’re absolutely right in reference to drug companies as well. What is really irritating is when the U.S. government pays for research that leads to a breakthrough, then the drug companies take it and run, and then make a huge profit from it, when taxpayers have already funded a large part of the research. Drug companies like to talk about R&D costs, but they don’t like to talk about how much of their R&D comes pre-supplied by the government.
MemberMarla, I propose some type of national healthcare option. Keeping people out isn’t working, as we pay for them anyway. The problem isn’t the poor; they do have free care and Medicaid. The problem is the millions (and I’m talking many millions) of lower-middle and middle class people who make too much to qualify for aid, but not enough to pay for insurance, and their place of work doesn’t offer it. This is the core of the problem.
What I would propose is a reasonably-priced (meaning NON-PROFIT, obviously, but break even) government plan that is an option for everyone in the country. If you like your current plan, cool, stay with it. However, this plan would run on Medicare payment scales to doctors and hospitals, and with all of the insurance company profits stripped out, I feel (I know, we’re talking U.S. Government here) you could run it almost break-even AND make it extremely affordable for middle-class families, if it could be orchestrated even remotely properly.
Even if it cost the government, say, $100 billion a year to run it, it would be worth it. Look at what Americans are spending on healthcare, and what the government is spending on healthcare for its employees (I can get you info on that should you need it). Healthcare is an out-of-control monster that will someday kill our economy. It’s all in the numbers, and the growth in cost never stops, the way it is now. We’re talking trillions of dollars in only another decade or so.
As usual, I’m afraid Americans won’t wake up to this monster until it is on their doorstep, attacking them personally. I stick by my assertion that the government is for the entire society, not for individuals. And if America is ever going to conquer this problem, people are going to have to be less selfish, and attempt to help the whole of the country instead of just themselves. In a functioning society, you don’t pick-and-choose which functions you pay for. You don’t say,”I don’t have a special-needs child, so I won’t pay for that” or “I don’t have cancer, so I won’t pay for government research on that”. I think everyone would agree that is selfish, but that is exactly how Americans are behaving with healthcare. It is NOT simple economics of supply and demand, it is the lack of the general population to say that everyone, in a civilized country, should have healthcare, and it shouldn’t be based on how good of a job you have, or how much cash you have in your pocket.
MemberPatti, I’ll buy what you said about your willingness to be responsible for your debts. But what if, God forbid, you have a horrible accident (not possibly something that you could have foreseen) that causes you to have a $1 million hospital bill (and believe it or not, it isn’t that hard for a serious hospital stay to add up to that)?
Yes, most likely it won’t happen, and most likely I won’t total my car today, but it could happen. Your finances are none of my business, but I’m assuming you wouldn’t be able to pay a $1 million bill (I know I wouldn’t be able to). That $1 million would have to be sucked up by the rest of the country’s healthcare costs, even if you had the best of intentions to pay it back, but couldn’t. Does that make any sense? In essence, we have kind of a national healthcare, only the people who are responsible take the brunt of the cost.
That’s what I mean by saying it is very risky to not have insurance, if it can possibly be afforded, even on a perfectly healthy person, because anything can happen, and it would be horrible to have that hanging over your head the rest of your life.
I don’t know about where you live, but in my state, if no one will insure you, then the state has to. There are programs for “non-insurable” people. I know it is expensive, that is what I’m railing against in the status quo, and it’s ridiculous that it is that expensive, and it’s forcing American families by the millions to forego it. And it’s an endless cycle, as their costs are absorbed into the system for all of us to pay.
By the way, to people upset with me (us?) for arguing this topic and how it’s not appropriate, I feel I have earned my stripes here, and I post on this board with the utmost of empathy and respect for those suffering from this disease. Even though my mother died over a year ago, I still read the posts daily hoping to see good news and offer support to those who gave me support in my family’s hard times.
Even though we may have disagreements, there is no disagreement that we want this disease to be stopped in its tracks, and I will always pull for all of you and your loved ones to defeat it.
Greg
MemberSorry, Jerry, I kind of duplicated the essence of your post. Oh, well, maybe two will help drive the point home. ;>)
Greg
MemberFund raisers to let others pay for YOUR major problems when you could have afforded healthcare in the first place? Signing up for insurance AFTER finding out you have a serious issue?
I think we have found two of the reasons our healthcare system is in shambles: selfishness and lack of integrity.
You see, Patti, the term “insurance” infers that you are insuring against the UNFORESEEN. Do you buy car insurance AFTER you have a wreck? Do you buy homeowners insurance AFTER your house burns down? You’ll just let us suckers pay the tab our whole lives so you can hop in just when you need it? Unbelievably sad….and you were giving me a lecture on being a good American? Ha!
MemberMarla, you have some well-taken points as to the pros and cons of both types of systems. And I’m not necessarily on board with “socialized medicine” exactly as it exists elsewhere. The only point I would like to present you is that, in our current system, we DO pay for everyone’s healthcare, so we may as well set up a system that makes it more efficient, that quits breaking the bank of our government and our citizens.
Do you know what the poor without insurance do in our country when they have a minor ailment? They go to the emergency room, because they have to be treated there, at four or five times the cost of a normal office visit.
Do the hospitals eat that cost? No, unfortunately. They just keep escalating the costs (with double-digit cost increases every year for the last two decades, I believe) for paying customers and those with insurance. This is one of the major reasons we have horrible “bang for the buck” in our country. If, instead, we could let someone with a minor ailment go to a regular doctor, our healthcare load wouldn’t cost $400 every time one of these people gets a cold. As well, if someone could get an antibiotic from a doctor with a minor infection, they wouldn’t have to have a $50,000 surgery later on, when the infection becomes a severe medical issue, all just because they couldn’t afford to go to a basic doctor visit.
I think “fairness” is a relative term. If you are fortunate enough to want something above and beyond what is offered as a standard (private schools, nicer hospital rooms, more personalized medical care, etc.), that’s great, and you should consider yourself blessed to be able to do that, but not on my dime.
The purpose of government is for the greater good of the entire society, not for individuals; that is why we have public schools, and should have public healthcare. Having education available for everyone benefits everyone. It would be preposterous (in my opinion, of course) to say that people without children shouldn’t have to pay for schools, because having schools makes the entire country stronger. It makes its economy stronger, its understanding of things stronger, and its position in the world stronger. Basic education should not be based on how wealthy you are; and neither should your health.
Greg
Membereve, with all due respect, I apologize if the debate has gotten too heated, but this isn’t just a non-related issue, in my opinion, that doesn’t belong on the board. This issue DOES affect MDS patients, as it affects everyone’s healthcare.
Until this country gets on the ball with healthcare, MDS patients, as all patients with serious diseases, will suffer, both in trying to get proper treatments and in financial ways. Just in another thread I saw that an insurance company was refusing a stem-cell transplant for a man who had all the ducks in a row and needs to get one. That kind of issue is exactly what I’m talking about that is wrong about our country’s healthcare, and why I feel that this debate DOES have significance here.
Yes, this board primarily is for those dealing with MDS, and the ins and outs of that. But don’t you feel that our country’s healthcare system, and how it serves our loved ones with MDS, is a big part of that?
Respectfully,
Greg
MemberSorry, Chris, I meant she removed the one in which she originally responded to me. I wish I had copied it, too..
I guess being called a fool by her will have to do!! :>)
G
MemberPatti, since I’ve replied, I realized that you removed your original. I think that was a wise move — it really didn’t have much going for it, and was not very well thought-out.
Oh, and I’ll take my chances on who the fool is, since that is essentially what you called me….someone who supports Dubya and doesn’t have health insurance, or someone who speaks out against injustices in our horrible system.
Greg
MemberHa ha! I was hoping you would ask. Unlike the right-wing nuts, us liberals usually read things, rather than watch FOX and listen to Rush all day:
US has second worst newborn death rate in modern world:
http://www.cnn.com/2006/HEALTH/parenting/05/08/mothers.index/
OK, there’s one down. That was easy.
Oh, while I’m at it, here’s an article for my other argument, that we have one of the poorest performing healthcare systems in the world. I was a little bit wrong on that…we have the worst!!
http://www.epinet.org/content.cfm/webfeatures_snapshots_10202004
Let’s see. You have no insurance at all now? Wow, that is possibly the worst and scariest move anyone can make in this country. So, if you get in a car wreck and break 20 bones, what are you going to do? Knock down a couple of sesame seeds? LOL.
You say “I would be thrilled to get our own insurance when I turn 65.” How am I to believe that when you don’t even have your own now!?!
If you have ANYTHING to protect — home, savings, car, etc. you HAVE to have insurance in this country if you can possibly afford it. It frequently costs over $10,000 a day to be in the hospital….do you have $300K handy if you have that car wreck mentioned above and have to spend 30 days in the hospital? And, even if you do, would you rather spend that or $3K a year on insurance?
I love the fact that you are hammering socialized medicine when you don’t even have any healthcare insurance yourself!! If there’s anyone who should support it, it should be you! Man, that Kool-Aid Dubya and Uncle Dick Cheney is serving you must taste good…..
Further on….
Patti, you really need to read up on your politics….do you realize that Dubya’s party is in control of both branches of Congress, and Dubya hasn’t bent to ANYTHING the Democrats have asked for in the last eight years?!?! Come on, I’m not the typical Rush Limbaugh listener — you can’t sneak that stuff by me….
Oh, and finally, what right-wing, poorly-constructed argument would be complete without the “if you don’t love it, leave it” statement? Actually Patti, if our ancestors were all like you, we would still be saluting the King and Queen of England…if anything, YOU are neglecting your duty as an American to stand up for what is right. Oh, I forgot though, the people with the money are the smartest ones, right? So just go on your merry way, do what the rich doctors, insurance companies, and drug companies tell you to do. You’ll be rewarded in the end, right? Yes, you’ll be rewarded with no insurance in case of a catastrophe!!
Patti, it’s funny that you tried to say that my stuff doesn’t even deserve a response, when you only speak in generalities with absolutely nothing to back it up. Please supply anything you have to contradict that the US is the worst-performing healthcare system in the world. Other than seeing that, I think this argument is over.
Yes, in my home, we are thankful for freedom, too. Freedom from letting the wealthy and those in power from trying to decide my family’s health. I don’t really see how you are thankful for your President (you did vote for him, I assume?) having such a horrific healthcare record that you don’t even have insurance, but hey, I guess that’s what Dubya counts on…people like you, right?
Greg
MemberSandy, did you get your doctors involved in the push? Also, a second opinion, if possible, might help. When my Mom had hers, she had two identical opinions from two different centers, and her doctor basically steamrolled the insurance company, and refused to take no for an answer.
Insurance companies like to point out that it is an “experimental” procedure, but I think if you fight hard enough with your doctor at your side, you might make some headway.
I wish you the best,
Greg
MemberPierre, best of wishes to your Mom and your family on the transplant. Please do keep in touch on her progress, and we’ll all be hoping for the best.
Greg
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