Here are 2 great articles about the state of the United States health care system. Health care in America, to me, illustrates just how much we are becoming a country of 'Haves' and "Have Nots' and it is just sad and ridiculous.
From the first article:
"America spends more money on health care than any nation in the world, even outspending countries that provide universal health care to all residents. The U.S. spent $2.3 trillion on health care in 2007, but 47 million Americans had no health insurance and the nation's overall health status lagged behind many other countries, according to the National Coalition on Health Care."
That is just f---ing sad. The United States (we) spends all this money on health care and not all people are covered/have access to health care. How crazy is that? We all think/know doctors make a lot of money but I contend the real money makers in health care are the insurance companies. Every year what they cover gets less, so the people that have coverage are feeling the pinch. The poor people that don't have coverage, the really feel the pinch, have to pay more and more because health care costs keep rising due to hospitals and Dr's having to make up for their losses, which in turn is due to greedy insurance companies wanting more and more discounts and covering less and less in health care. It is a vicious cycle. It needs to change because the way the economy and the job market is, we are going to have more and more people in America suffering without health insurance.
Also from the first article:
"The system is totally broken for the working poor," said Zyniewicz, chief medical officer at Emergency Health Partners, which runs the ER at Mercy Health Partners' Mercy Campus. "The uninsured get charged the full cost of health care, while people with insurance are charged less."
Hospitals and clinics often charge insurance companies less for medical services because insurers insist on paying discounted rates. Health-care providers cannot offer the same discounts to uninsured patients because it would be considered insurance fraud, according to several local doctors.
This is just ridiculous! When are American's and American politicians going to wake up? Something needs to be done about this. Put politics aside, put all talk about big government aside, and start working on a solution to this problem - whether it be a Universal Health plan/system, or just a complete over haul (with tough regulations) of our current health care system. We need to quit listening to insurance companies telling us that universal coverage won't work - they are just trying to scare us because they want to keep the gravy train rolling. People are suffering needlessly, people's lives are at stake. We have the money and resources - let's do something about this problem already! If you read the articles you will truly see what a joke and embarrasment our health care system has become.
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