posted on March 5, 2007 05:34:20 AM new
THE UNINSURED UP 6.8 MILLION UNDER BUSHY AND THE REPUBLICAN CONGRESS.
Without Health Benefits, a Good Life Turns Fragile
Chris Keane for The New York Times
Vicki Readling, a real estate agent, cannot afford health insurance.
By ROBERT PEAR
Published: March 5, 2007
SALISBURY, N.C. — Vicki H. Readling vividly remembers the start of 2006.
“Everybody was saying, ‘Happy new year,’ ” Ms. Readling recalled. “But I remember going straight to bed and lying down scared to death because I knew that at that very minute, after midnight, I was without insurance. I was kissing away a bad year of cancer. But I was getting ready to open up to a door of hell.”
Ms. Readling, a 50-year-old real estate agent, is one of nearly 47 million people in America with no health insurance.
Increasingly, the problem affects middle-class people like Ms. Readling, who said she made about $60,000 last year. As an independent contractor, like many real estate agents, Ms. Readling does not receive health benefits from an employer. She tried to buy a policy in the individual insurance market, but — having had cancer — could not obtain coverage, except at a price exceeding $27,000 a year, which was more than she could pay.
“I don’t know which was worse, being told that I had cancer or finding that I could not get insurance,” Ms. Readling (pronounced RED-ling) said in an interview in her office, near the tree-lined streets and stately old homes of this city in the Piedmont region of North Carolina.
It is well known that the ranks of the uninsured have been swelling; federal figures show an increase of 6.8 million since 2000.
But the surprise is that the uninsured are not necessarily the poor, the unemployed and the undocumented. Solidly middle-class people like Ms. Readling are one of the fastest growing subgroups.
And that is one reason, according to a recent New York Times/CBS News poll, that the problems of the uninsured have jumped to the top of the domestic political agenda in Washington and on the campaign trail.
Today, more than one-third of the uninsured — 17 million of the nearly 47 million — have family incomes of $40,000 or more, according to the Employee Benefit Research Institute, a nonpartisan organization. More than two-thirds of the uninsured are in households with at least one full-time worker.
THE DEMOCRATS HAVE TRIED FOR NATIONAL HEALTH INSURANCE FOR OVER 20 YEARS AND HAVE BEEN BLOCKED BY THE REPUBLICANS. REMEMBER THE SELF SERVING REPUBLICANS WHEN VOTING IN 2008.
posted on March 5, 2007 08:02:26 AM new Bear said, "And NO WHERE in the Constitution does it guarantee HEALTH INSURANCE."
It's unfortunate that you find it necessary to point that out to justify the fact that so many are without health care in the U.S. Maybe we should consider making it an ammendment to the constitution. That would frost the ass of the Insurance Industry!
posted on March 5, 2007 09:30:07 AM new
""And NO WHERE in the Constitution does it guarantee HEALTH INSURANCE.""
No but there IS something about the "common good".
SOME realize that a strong, wealthy country takes care of it's own....that's the basis of strength and prosperity.
It's so hard to believe that some really think that driving the less fortunate into the dirt, grinding them down is good for America....or is the American way...
Does it really make us stronger as a nation ???????????
In the OP the woman doesn't appear to have wanted a free ride...can't some people READ ???? She WORKED for a living....It sounded like insurance would've taken ONE THIRD of her salary.
THAT'S America? Punish those who get sick ? Put them under an overpass in a cardboard box because they're sick and can't pay for insurance ???
isn't it interesting that the neocons in here didn't have a thing to say about our tax money pouring into Iraq ...like the 10 BILLION DOLLARS OF THEIR TAXES that just disappeared....
but hate the thought of their fellow AMERICANS getting help with health insurance ????
Obviously they LOVE supporting Muslim terrorists but hate their own countrymen !!!
posted on March 5, 2007 02:19:50 PM new
They refuse to even LOOK to the failings of the canadian system...or that of the UK either.
Wonder how many American's will be willing to pay SALES TAXES when they purchase a home....like they do in Canada.
Think about that and how else they 'pay' for their FREE lol health care.
They WANT all to be forced to have the gov. make their health decisions for them.
To have the gov. DECIDE how many doctors/nurses will be trained.
To have the gov. decide how many diagnostic machines should be purchased....and it's NEVER been enough....that's why they have such LONG, LONG waits.
To have surgery say for cancer....then have to WAIT for months until they can receive chemo or radiation.
Then they complain about the medical care our troops are given....and rightfully so, imo.....but they want that SAME gov. who can't do much of anything correctly/efficiently....to handle THEIR health care issues....make or regulate the type of care and WHEN they'll receive it.
No way....keep BIG BROTHER OUT OF MY health care. I'll make my OWN choices, thank you very much.
And our poor DO have health care. NOT health insurance...but HEALTH CARE.
posted on March 5, 2007 06:19:07 PM new
linduh, you're blowin' smoke out your ass as usual....what make you think all those TERRIBLE things will happen just because America wants to be strong ???
You just trot out the same old same old blah blah every time...
you sure don't sound very suportive of, nor confident in, your country !!!!
And it sure sounds like you don't want it to be as strong as possible !!!!
posted on March 5, 2007 07:37:03 PM new
Linda_K is obsessed with her hatred of Canada so tries to portray it as a 3rd world country, believing that others must share her ignorance and hatred. Thankfully they don't.
posted on March 5, 2007 07:43:46 PM new
I've read hundreds of CANADIAN website...studies....and they just don't agree with kiara's PERSONAL 'take' on the problems in their system.
She never will....she can't accept THEY don't see their health care as kiara does.
But others can inform themselves by researching the financial problems that both the UK, Canada AND France have LONG been experiencing. How their medical care is NOT all equal. It's different in different cities. VERY different.
Then there's their RATIONED care.....tsk tsk tsk
Heck Frances system couldn't even take care of the 15,000 [NO TYPO] who DIED from a heat wave.
Kiara often repeats that many Canadians LOVE their system.
Yep...my bet would be they are those WITHOUT major health issues....LOL
But don't get cancer....the wait might just kill you. That's why 10,000 Canadian women HAD TO SUE the gov.
Don't get old an need hip or knee replacements....you could wait and suffer FOR YEARS before it's your turn.
That's the reason many Canadians come down to the US and pay for their own surgeries....so they don't have to suffer in pain.
Nope....kiara just excuses THOSE who weren't getting even BAD health care away.
Guess when you don't need SERIOUS medical care...their system works. But when you do....you're putting your life in the politicans hands. THEY decide how much funding goes to medical care.
I don't agree with her 'take' on THAT ....nor do I hate Canada...or Canadians.
There's one that posts here that I do hold in low esteem. But it's NEVER been the majority of Canadians. NEVER.
posted on March 5, 2007 07:50:15 PM new
Canada is the second largest country in the world but with a relatively small population spread out over an enormous area so it wouldn't be cost efficient to put advanced diagnostic equipment in every hospital as it would not be utilized enough.
Canadians purchase their own health insurance and it varies from province to province. Over all everyone in Canada gets very good health care and most are satisfied and live long and happy lives. The system is not perfect.
On Otwa there were Canadians with greater knowledge about health care in Canada and they patiently tried to inform Linda_K about the system from their own personal life experience and it was noted there that Quebec was not representative of Canada but she chose to remain ignorant, preferring to google propaganda and smear campaigns, believing that others were equally ignorant.
posted on March 5, 2007 07:57:19 PM new
Again....kiara uses her SELECTIVE MEMORY.
Gawd, kiara, can you twist.
There were TWO Canadians on otwa that AGREED with my take. With the CANADIAN studies....with the CANADIAN news reports on the crisis your system was having.
I've posted links over and over and over again.
Your mind is STUCK in backwards.
You REFUSE to recognize ANY of the STUDIES that prove you WRONG.
That's why the people have been forcing your gov. to SPEND MORE on health care than they were. They were FED UP with the terrible waits. PERIOD. NO denying the TRUTH.
posted on March 5, 2007 08:07:01 PM new
The thread is probably still on Otwa, Linda_K. I even posted to it (one of my 35 total posts as opposed to your almost 5000 there) and I admitted there as well as here that Canada's system is not perfect.
Quebec is like a separate country within Canada and their province failed to treat the cancer patients. It had nothing to do with the rest of Canada and you've been told that dozens of times but choose to remain ignorant. You have never been to Canada or ever experienced health care there whereas I have, yet you claim to be an expert on it. Why is that?
If Canada was as bad as you depict, people would be dropping dead and fleeing as bad as they are in Iraq. They aren't.
Purjal who recently died of cancer posted this. I am so sorry that good people like Debbie could not afford insurance when she needed it. Poor people are sometimes covered by medicaid but the middle class is left without hope of any assistance.
"Well, I am one of the unlucky ones here in the US. I have some health issues that need addressing. I have no insurance because I can't afford it. My DHs company offers it for their employees and spouses, however, I have to pay the entire premium of 350.00 a month for myself. Can't afford that. I have a good job with a small company that can't afford to pay for employees to have insurance. It would put us out of business to offer it because smaller businesses have to pay larger premiums than larger businesses. Its a catch 22 situation."
"In order to get care, I have to pay twice what a person with insurance would have to pay and I don't get the option of paying a co-pay. I have to pay up front for any care in cash. An example: I recently had a ultrasound, up front for me was 446.00, someone with insurance, 15.00. I paid the difference the company wasn't getting from insurance companies because they have a contract in place to only pay so much. So I spend my savings to have the test. This I don't mind, I would rather pay as I go, but don't charge me double and triple just because I'm paying cash. If its something serious, I have to then make the decision to whether I can live with the pain or lose my house to pay for it."
"I agree with Crystal, if we just had a program that had preventative care for everyone, I would much rather my taxes went to that, than millions of people in this country waiting til they are practically dead with no hope of being fixed, going to an emergency room for major diseases to be cared for. Our county hospital is near bankruptcy because of the thousands in this state who have no insurance.
"Having to lose my house just because insurance companies are too expensive is just a bit beyond my comprehension. In this country, I should be able to get decent preventative care without going bankrupt to do it.
posted on March 5, 2007 08:37:36 PM new
As YOUR leaders have acknowledge the PROBLEM is growing worse. Because of the aging of your population.
MORE require care...and they just can't handle it EQUALLY. One has to live in the right city in order to have the BEST care they offer. That's not a great system imo.
And I NEVER claimed to be an 'expert'. So you LIED again. tsk tsk tsk
I do claim that I have RESEARCHED it for a long, long time. There is a difference between researching and claiming to be an expert.
But you ALWAYS HAVE to LIE....twist it more and more.
Come back to reality. Try to stay focused on what I've ACTUALLY said....not what you MAKE UP
posted on March 5, 2007 08:49:27 PM new
I'm sorry she died also.
BUT....again - did she die because she didn't want to sell her house to pay for the care she needed?
It's all about life choices.
Some don't want to use their own funds to pay for their own health care.
So that means others should have to accept sub-standard care themselves AND pay for those who COULD pay but don't WANT to pay. They want others [read NANNY gov] to pay it for them.
posted on March 6, 2007 12:05:49 AM new
Linudh slobbers""And on your comment:
FOR THE GOOD OF ALL
sounds like a communist logo/motto to me."""
DUH! Sounds like "for the common good " to me ! YOU are so anti- and un-American it's disgusting.
Linda_K
posted on March 5, 2007 08:49:27 PM
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I'm sorry she died also.""
#*!@ you are....YOU are glad she died because she didn't do exactly as you thought she should...quit being so two-faced !
"""BUT....again - did she die because she didn't want to sell her house to pay for the care she needed?"""
SEE right there you accuse her of deserving to die!
""It's all about life choices."""
That's what you don't "get", linduh...this is AMERICA....NO ONE should have to lose their home that they've worked so hard for because thet "CHOSE"(?) to get sick !
"""Some don't want to use their own funds to pay for their own health care."""
You're full of it...that is NOT the reason most people don't have health insurance.
Now quit trying to avoid the issue of our lousy health care by bringing up other countries....isn't the U.S. supposed to be the world's greatest country...don't you agree with that?
Then why can't it have the best health care in the world ?????
posted on March 6, 2007 05:25:42 AM new
Inappropriate and untrue is the usual description of Linda's comments. It's especially disturbing when the death of a member of the online auction community cannot be mentioned without Linda's tacky input.
Debbie was very kind and generous and for those good qualities loved by many. She will be missed.
Her comment illustrates so well the dilemma that so many Americans indure without access to health care.
posted on March 6, 2007 05:41:46 AM new
People with a much better command of words than I have say what they think of LIAR_K in words that describe her well.
I can explain what I think of Liar_k in one word that words is PIG.
Everyone knows this country needs a health care system except PIGS like LIAR_K.
posted on March 6, 2007 07:35:12 AM new
I doubt if Purjal is getting it right,that ultrasound for cash patient is 435 while insured pays 15?
I have a high deductible policy with Unicare,and I recently went for mammogram and ultra sound at a Houston medical center.
I know it would not exceed my deductible and I would be paying for them ,so I asked what is the cost for cash patient and what is the cost for Unicare patient.
Unicare has a contract with this medical center and I will get a 35% discount,but it turns out that cash patient will pay less than a Unicare patient.
They have a listed price ,then this price is discounted for Medicaid,Medicare and private insurance companies and cash patients.If a person is uninsured and cannot pay cash,then he pays the highest rate-the listed rate,while everyone else gets a discount.
You figure if Unicare patients get a 35% discount and the cash patient pays less,cash patient is getting a bigger discount .
So Purjal could be wrong,insured is paying more than 15 for the same service.
With ultra sound procedure,there are the hospital part and the radiologist who interprets the results,some hospital bill them together and some separate,it cant be 15 dollars for insured,it sounds too low.
Or,the insured has a super duper policy which pays for almost everything which is rare these days,or this insured has already exceeded his deductible ,so that 15 dollar is just some nominal fee he has to pay out of pocket.
[ edited by hwahwa on Mar 6, 2007 07:36 AM ]
[ edited by hwahwa on Mar 6, 2007 07:40 AM ]
posted on March 6, 2007 08:09:43 AM new
Now that the rude and inappropriate interruption from Linda is handled I will repost the comment by Purjal. Maybe now we can discuss the plight of people in the U.S. with moderate incomes who cannot afford health care.
Purjal who recently died of cancer posted this. I am so sorry that good people like Debbie could not afford insurance when she needed it. Poor people are sometimes covered by medicaid but the middle class is left without hope of any assistance.
"Well, I am one of the unlucky ones here in the US. I have some health issues that need addressing. I have no insurance because I can't afford it. My DHs company offers it for their employees and spouses, however, I have to pay the entire premium of 350.00 a month for myself. Can't afford that. I have a good job with a small company that can't afford to pay for employees to have insurance. It would put us out of business to offer it because smaller businesses have to pay larger premiums than larger businesses. Its a catch 22 situation."
"In order to get care, I have to pay twice what a person with insurance would have to pay and I don't get the option of paying a co-pay. I have to pay up front for any care in cash. An example: I recently had a ultrasound, up front for me was 446.00, someone with insurance, 15.00. I paid the difference the company wasn't getting from insurance companies because they have a contract in place to only pay so much. So I spend my savings to have the test. This I don't mind, I would rather pay as I go, but don't charge me double and triple just because I'm paying cash. If its something serious, I have to then make the decision to whether I can live with the pain or lose my house to pay for it."
"I agree with Crystal, if we just had a program that had preventative care for everyone, I would much rather my taxes went to that, than millions of people in this country waiting til they are practically dead with no hope of being fixed, going to an emergency room for major diseases to be cared for. Our county hospital is near bankruptcy because of the thousands in this state who have no insurance.
"Having to lose my house just because insurance companies are too expensive is just a bit beyond my comprehension. In this country, I should be able to get decent preventative care without going bankrupt to do it.
