Healthcare Reform Events: Change That Works Campaign holding two Emergency Meetings in Danville

Win Carlisle with the Change That Works Campaign asked that I help spread the word about two meetings they are holding in Danville to dispel the misinformation about the current Healthcare Reform proposals and bills being considered in Congress:

August 12th and 13th (Wednesday and Thursday) at 7:00 pm

Change That Works Campaign Office
308 Craghead Street
Danville, VA 24541

For more information, please call Aaron at 616-648-4555.

Please come out and spread the word. It’s time to SPREAD THE TRUTH AND KILL THE LIES about real Healthcare and Insurance Reform that works.

Private Health Insurance industry doesn't want the Federal Government to take away their right to come between you and your doctor

I wish I could say that the arrogance and gal of the Private Health Insurance industry surprised me. But, it doesn't. A former Cigna executive says that he can't defend the private health insurance industry any longer and confirms what we already knew. They are "beholden to Wall Street."

One of the latest pro-private health insurance industry ads has a nerdy "Government" bureaucrat in the doctor's office standing between a patient and their doctor, interfering with the choices and decisions being discussed. In the CNN.com article link above, Wendell Potter (now a Fellow at the Center for Media and Democracy), describes the last straw for him:

Potter started thinking about leaving Cigna in 2007 after he visited a
medical charity event at a Virginia fairground.

"It was almost like an electrical jolt," Potter said. At the
event, Potter took pictures of doctors offering free health
care to the uninsured.

"The volunteer doctors were seeing patients in barns, people in animal stalls," Potter said. "It changed it for me."

He says he finally decided to quit in 2007 after Cigna's controversial
handling of an insurance claim made by the family of a California teenager, Nataline Sarkysian.

The Sarkysian family made repeated appeals at news conferences for
Cigna to approve a liver transplant for the 17-year-old, who had leukemia. Cigna initially declined to cover the operation, then reversed its decision.

Sarkysian died hours after the company's reversal.

As Cigna's spokesman during the controversy, Potter had no role in the decision to deny coverage. But he was inundated with angry phone calls.

"After she died, my voice mail and my e-mail inbox were just filled
with messages from people who were just outraged, " Potter said.

Private Health Insurers are our friends (snark!). They don't want the big, bad, Federal Government coming between you and your doctor (just as long as they can). This is exactly why we need to reform the current Health Care system. To be completely fair, I don't want the Federal Government doing anything remotely similar to what is described above, so it's important that this message is heard, loud and clear, by our Federal Elected Representatives. There needs to be some form of a public option because it is clear that Private Health Insurance has failed to keep premium cost affordable and they are the ones guilty of coming between the doctors and patients.

Healthcare Reform debate ramps up amid charges of “Socialized Medicine”

The Healthcare Debate has been percolating since President Obama was elected. Now the fight to change our national healthcare system has begun. It is clear to everyone, without sounding repetitive or cliché, the system is broken and doing nothing is not an option. The goal of having quality, affordable healthcare for everyone is going to be a very tough fight.

The devil is in the details and the detail that the President has put out there is how much this thing is going to cost Americans. $1 trillion over 10 years. Senator Ted Kennedy’s version is estimated to be over $1 trillion and Senator Max Baucus’ plan is estimated to be around $1.7 trillion over 10 years. All of these versions have a public plan option as part of the package, allowing citizens a choice of staying with or purchasing private health insurance or a public option.

Recent healthcare reform plans put forward by the Republicans suggest a co-op exchange system that looks interesting, but no direct government competition with private insurers. Several of the proposed plans the Republicans have put forth would require people to purchase private health insurance. (No option or choice) The bottom line, someone is going to lose and lose big. Will corporate health insurers take the hit or will the 47 million uninsured Americans, projected estimates rising to 51 million Americans, be the victims again of healthcare reform that favors corporations? As a reference, the Kaiser Family Foundation has a side-by-side comparison of all the current Healthcare Reform proposals.

Republicans, beholden to corporate health insurance, continue to parrot the commercials and talking point of groups like Conservatives for Patients Rights. They want healthcare reform that is based on “the four pillars of Patient’s Rights,” which are choice, competition, accountability, and personal responsibility. This sound perfectly fine and acceptable, but what do they really mean by competition, accountability, and personal responsibility? Rick Scott, founder of Columbia Hospital Corporation and Solantic Corporation, is the face and the driving force behind Conservatives for Patient’s Rights. While admirable and a compelling life story of perseverance, drive, and ambition, there is nothing in his materials that takes private health insurers out of the decision making tree between the patient and doctor.

The fight for Healthcare Reform comes down to private insurers continuing to exert their influence or the Federal Government expanding its roll. I for one don’t like anyone having a say as to what treatment will or will not be accepted or covered. My doctor and I have to make that decision, not a government bureaucracy or some corporate stooge crunching numbers behind a desk. In my opinion, one thing that is certainly unacceptable are private insurance companies denying treatment to people based on “pre-existing conditions.”

There are lots of supporters for a Single-Payer style of health insurance, but the majority of the public is wary of anything that looks like government controlled healthcare that gives them no choices of doctors or treatment, which is a misconception. The proposal that President Obama and many Democrats are pushing isn’t necessarily universal healthcare, but would make health insurance more affordable with the public plan option and would not deny treatment because of a pre-existing condition. Again, the Republicans are offering their versions, none of which (that I have read or come across) takes private health insurers out of the decision making tree or addresses the issue of denying treatment due to pre-existing conditions. At this point, the Democrats can’t agree on a plan and Republicans continue to scream “socialized medicine” while offering warmed over and recycled private health insurance proposals that don’t address the skyrocketing costs or expanding coverage regardless of pre-existing conditions.