Why are minorities with cancer getting diagnosed late?
Comment: Maybe Kennedy can share his excees treatment with the rest of us, Ya think!!!!!!!?????
Comment: Did you neglect the miracle of the vegetable used for our daily use.
Vegetable soup can cure the cancer in the remote mauntainous town in China.
They had used the natural_pure vegetable for the cure of the tumor in the body.
The first is how to eliminate the pains.
Best regards,
Yoon Ki Lee
Comment: Did you neglect the miracle of the vegetable used for our daily use.
Vegetable soup can cure the cancer in the remote mauntainous town in China.
They had used the natural_pure vegetable for the cure of the tumor in the body.
The first is how to eliminate the pains.
Best regards,
Yoon Ki Lee
Comment: Sad to say that cancer has become a huge economy, along with other diseases. It's no surprise that a cure hasn't been found, or has it been found but not made available due to the big money maker cancer has become. I laugh when I hear how the medical community ponders over "finding a cure for cancer". Here is a suggestion: Why not outlaw the poisonous sprays on our fruits and vegetables to begin with, cut out preservatives & other chemicals from canned and prepackaged foods, demand that pharmaceutical companies disclose all the damaging effects done to our bodies by over the counter meds and prescription meds, outlaw the use of growth hormones on farm animals that are then slaughtered and sold for food to the masses. Oh no, these suggestions wouldn???t work because it would affect the MONEY!! bottom line for doctors, farmers, food companies, pharmaceutical companies, and not to mention the heads of the FDA. Sarcasm? Absolutely!! I forgot to take my happy pills, which numb and cloud my brain from the stark reality.
Comment: The World Health Organisation has made it mandatory for children under the age of five to be mandatory monitored and vaccinated as they have a growing immune system and milestomes to achieve. With age the immune system declines, kidney function does the same and cancer comes more frequently. So why doesnt some form of legislative compulsion be inforced in our population of age to get checked up and screened for cancer. Wouldnt it make sense to for the landing to be just as smooth as the take off.
Comment: The health is the most important thing for one person. The site called pubspa also has much knowledge about the health care, skin protection.
Comment: As a person who was indeed diagnosed late. I can assure you it happens. I was treat ed 3 years for what I was told was an anal fissure.
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Comment: Okay, technically, 495.5-billion dollars, so far. That's still allot of money that could have been better spent, especially in the midst of a health-care crisis that predates the ill-conceived invasion and has probably caused much more death and sorrow than 9/11 (which Iraq had nothing to do with, anyway).
Comment: Where, my friend, do you think that money would have been spent instead? On some bridge you would never see, or some grant to study the effects of sunlight on milla turtles....you get the idea.
It's not for or against war, it's just that it would have been spent elsewhere anyway.
Comment: You're right, the money, were it to have "existed" outside of the Iraq situation, may well have been misspent in some other way (though a half-trillion dollar bridge sure would be something to see). I am essentially saying that it would have been nice if we put such a priority on health matters that we would have spent a similar sum between 2003 and now, as a better health-care system is far more important than any of the stated goals or likely outcomes in Iraq.
Comment: I agree with Lemon8R -- this is yet one more reason this country needs an intelligently designed and compassionately administered national single-payer health care system. Such a thing, combined with improvements in public education, greater emphasis on preventive health, and environmental clean-up in poorer regions, could quickly and decisively effect major improvements in the health and well-being of millions. Certainly a better set of goals to throw 5---billion dollars at than Iraq has been, so far. PHNP.org
Comment: As a medical oncologist I am able to see the devastation that occurs in the lives of the people their family that are diagnosed with late stage cancer. When cancer is diagnosed early, it is often cured. When it is diagnosed late, we treat it with very expensive drugs and the patients often die anyway. Universal access to care is not only the ethical choice, it is also the fiscally responsible choice. I think that everyone, conservative and liberals, should be able to agree on that. All religions teach that we are our brother (and sisters) keeper.
Comment: True...early diagnosis is key. Take a look at some of the ideas at Cancer-Survivors.Info
All of this is key!!!
Comment: What does "REPORT ABUSE" MEAN?
Comment: I can not believe all the racist and prejudice comments. The aricle was about medical care and late diagnoses. People need health care and good health care regardless of their race or econical level. I am my brothers keeper. This great country was build on people coming to this land for a better chance. Look back to Plymiouth Rock. This great country allow all the comments on the internet. So you do have a right to your opinion but try to respond to the articles content. Poverty is the root of poor service to anyone. Welfare to the poor or big corporations is the American way.
the research on breat cancer has bee primarily on middle class white women. Therefore, research nees to be conducted by sociasl economical with the whole population then stratified for the other factors of class, acessibbility, geographical location and attitude, medical's community's attitude of care, profit bearing treatment, and patient experience with heath care, and of coure the fear factor of sickness and old age.
i am an upper class African American living the gret city of NY. I am a retired principal and I have been frugal and have amassed money. Yet my money could have not saved my life. My life was saved because of the FREE medical plan that came with 40 years of employment with the City. My life was saved by dedicated doctors of an HMO who cared and treated me like a valued Chil of God! I was a type A and I had to reinvent myself so tht I could LIVE. I no longer controll things and realized that only
god is in control. At first I was angry because I nerver drank,smoked, ofr drugged and I had cancer. I realised someone was going to have so I accepted my lot in life. I really believe all these hormones, pesstisides added to the food are responsible for the increase in cancer. As a result I have changed my priorities and i spend my money on truly organic food. I grow some of my own vegetables and herbs. I pray, treat other with the greatest of kindness and respect, and help people to empower themselvesto reach their fullest potenial when they interact with me. Since I know God is soverign I get out of the wy and allow God to do what is needed. Before my cancer I thought it was all about me. It is about the cosmos and human beings. All God's creatures are good. Let us find the answers for the good of the universe which includes all kinds os humans. Please coontinue to do the research because 20 years ago I would be writing this comment. Please cdontinue to find better ways humankind can exist.
Comment: My goodness, where did you go to school. No wonder half our children can't read, spell and write. Looking at your response, I can see why. Your grammer is terrible.
Comment: I believe their is a ned for research for Africqn American who has insurance. I had breast cancer at age 57. I found the lump which moved and mu primary doctor sent me for a mammogram. It did not show up on the mmammagram. I had to put the doctor's hand on the lump. Immediately I was sent for a sonogram. Bingo it was seen and it was odd shaped. Everything was tasken out of my hands and it was a rollercaster ride,It appeared early stage until the post operation study and then it was diagnoised as Stage 3B fron stage 1. It was agressive, odd shape and 14 out of 30 lymph nodes infected. I had immediate care. My prognoises was 30 percent survial. That was 71/2 years ago. I had advance cancer not because delayed treatment but just because I am Black. Iwent to the doctoras soon as I found the lump that was less than a centimeter. I have bee followed every month for 61/2 years and noe every 3 months. Praise Jesus 7/12/08 I will be 8 years cancer free.
So as i begn there is a need to refine your research to include race with those who get immediate care, the agressiveness of breast cancer in black women even thogh we get breast cancer at alesser rate, economical level, asess to good medical care, geographical location, and spiritual coneection.
Also i am retired with free lifetime medical an drug care. I have been blessed withcivil service retirement.
Comment: Yep, thats true I am what is considered a middle class white man, who has a decent job, but I have no health insurance-I guess I could if I did not have a house payment? Or if my employer offered to pay for me and my daughter in the Health Policy, but they do not, they only pay for the employee, to add my daughter would cost me an additional $255.00 every two weeks, I asked my employer for the money and they gave it to me, we went out and got additional private Health care at $267.00 a month-after no claims and less than a year they wanted to raise it $50.00 more a month, at that point we had to cancel, I am just one of the millions of working and uninsured.
I think that for certain all races and creeds are being affected by this, not just hispanic and blacks, though it may be that they somehow don';t seek treatment as early as other races??
The rich people want the poor to die off first-they are the ones who can afford treatment, they don't care if you or I get treatment-we would only stand in the way of their families and people recieving treatment, we would burden the already overloaded and taxed Health care system..
I remember a time prior to 2001 where I had decent medical insurance, but that changed, and I know it will never return..
I haven't been diagnosed with anything yet-and I pray for all of you who have-All things are possible with God-Pray and He will hear you.
Comment: Of course blacks are going to be diagnosed late - they're ALWAYS late!
Comment: Yes, black people are diagnosed late because that by design so the doctors can experiment on them.
Comment: mY guess is that poor people in general get diagnosed late, and minorities are disproportionately poor.
Comment: I am American living overseas. Here we have National health Insurance, which also applies to any foreigners resident (working/studying/married to a local) here. While no medical diagnosis is infalible as I'm sure many posts will document, overall nobody who who needs treatment is denied it nor has to worry about being uninsured and suffering delays in treatment or the risk of being bankrupted by the cost.
If the theory is that having no National Health Insurance in the USA gives the US the best medical care in thw world, than why:
1) Do so many Americans lack access to proper health care?
2) Does medical tourism exist and many insurance plans in the US now encourage and fund overseas treatment?
3) Do many locals from here return here FROM THE USA to seek medical treatment of all sorts (and it's not a language issue either)?!?
I have no comment on the race issue; it's one I find too sad and complex that it should ever be an issue. Instead I note only that if Americans really do care about each other in the way that they should then they should stand up and demand universal national health care.
Maybe it's relevant to point out that the funcing of this is a progressive effective tax. Higher earners not only pay a greater amount in absolute terms, but also a higher percentage of their income into the programme. As a relatively higher earner I sometimes look at that line and object slightly in my mind to the sum of money that I pay in for the rare times I actually see a doctor. Then in the rare instance when I do go to a hospital and/or pass by one and see the people receiving treatment I see no other way. It's not communism nor even socialism. It's not against any capitalist system as most hospitals are for profit and so encouraged to provide the best service (treatment) possible in order to attract customers (patients) to their facilities. It's simply good government and one of the best representations of good government, family values or anything else one would like to sum it up as. Nothing is perfect nor will it ever be, but that should not stop anyone from trying to make it as good as it can be!
Comment: I do hope you stay wherever you are...
That's one less hysterical Democrat/Socialist vote to worry about.
Comment: Look, if you want to not be "coddled" by what you deem a nanny-state, then just stay inside and don't participate. Please leave the rest of us, who would like to pool our desires, resources, and talents alone, so that we can further attempt to continue the collaborative endeavor that is civilization. :-)
Comment: That would be fine with me. The problem is, they won't let me or any other person who doesn't want to join the Socialist Revolution stay our, opt out, or anything else along those lines. That's my issue.
Comment: As a person who was indeed diagnosed late. I can assure you it happens. I was treat ed 3 years for what I was told was an anal fissure. I was given medication and was never told how to use it. Not by my doctor, nurse, or pharmacist. During a colonoscopy it was learned that I didn't have an anal fissure. What I had was stage 4 colon cancer. and I had insurance. Now does it matter if I'm black or white. Had I received the proper treatment, I could have been spared the painful radiation treatments, the botched surgery by a intern, a second surgery to correct what the intern did, and a third surgery a year later. Folks while you're getting all bent out of shape over this and that race. People of all races, colors and creeds are dying. Right now while you batter back and forth, some elderly person is trying to decide whether and how to pay their heating bill, purchase needed medicine, or put food on the table. A mother is trying her best to get her sick child to the hospital. There people right now in trouble. People who are lost, afraid, and alone. And all we can do is sit at our computers and play the my race is better than your race game?
Comment: The experience you describe sounds rotten and I do truly wish I had some kind of "magic power" or super-science at my disposal that could spontaneously heal you. You're right, though; we not only have to constantly strive for improved access to care, but better care over all.
I'm surprised that pyramid116 hasn't chimed in yet to tell you how the people you describe at the end of your well-written comment are all leeches who just haven't tried hard enough to take proper care of themselves or their families. Seems to be how he'd describe it anyway...
Comment: Posted By: pyramid116 @ 02/17/2008 10:46:01 PM Comment: I don't like paying Health Insurance premiums any more than you do. But that's far better than some general universal health coverage idea that has been proven a failure in every country in which it's ever been tried. Long lines, and a general decline in the quality of care. Try getting some simple medical procedure done in Britain today, or anywhere else in
Europe when they were having this debate, and tell me how that goes.
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While I share your skepticism about socialized medecine, I thing that the relatively simple procedures are not the issue. Those seem to get handled rather well, if you make allowance for the delays in getting service due to the fact that care is no loger rationed. The real problem lies with the more difficult procedures and therapies. They tend to disappear when the economic incentive is removed. Medical research and innovation suffers too insofar as the incentive is greatly diminished. The talent tends to flow to those areas and disciplines that are rewarded.
Comment: Oh, and I might add that Europeans (Dutch) have replaced Americans as the tallest in the world, even adjusted for racial bias. Those countries that you mentioned have substantially lower incidences of infant mortality than Americans. Those countries have lower death rates for cancer and other diseases as they are generally treated earlier. ALL the evidence supports universal health care. We all pay for it, but more money goes for early treatment and prevention through care instead of the bigger bills passed along for the high cost of treatment for serious conditions - which by that point are also often resistent to treatment so the money sadly is spent on somebody who dies without ever having a chance to return to society as a contributing member - not to mention the loss of their own life and the loss to their family and friends.
Comment: I do live with universal health care, albeit not in Britain - in Taiwan. It works. It's expensive as a part of my pay check, but it works. In fact, I get access to a doctor faster and more easily than I used to in the US.
Comment: You know, I am payroll deducted for health insurance premiums, and I get to the doctor pretty quick, too. . Why not just hope for China to annex Taiwan like they've always wanted to, and get everything completely free, while you worship Mao's tomb? Sounds like a better idea to me.
Comment: Comparing tiny Taiwan to the medical establishment behemoth in the U.S. is ludicrous...but go ahead.
I for one would hope that the leading economic, military, medical, and everything else power the world has ever seen would not suffer from an inferiority complex by copying Taiwan in anything.
Comment: Disparities in health care does indeed exist within the American health care system. As an undergrad, I was dumbfounded by the by the evidence that was uncovered by myself in an internet search for a research paper. If you discard all the variables and just look at the patients that have health insurance, the disparity still is evident. It is still true if you only consider the patients who have Medicare or Medicaid. The only constant variable, in the previous situations that I mentioned, are the doctors involved. Either consciously or subconsciously, a large number of American doctors aren't aggressively treating illness in the minority population. In one study, African Americans who had health insurance and suffered from cardiac disease, weren't referred to specialists, at the same rate as there white counterparts. In another study, pain control was clear and evident in the white population but was sorely lacking in the African American research subjects. The statistics don't lie and they shouldn't be ignored. As for me, I am neither white or black, just another student working on a masters degree and hoping to one day make a dent in the health care problems that face all Americans.
Comment: The primary goal of the health care corporations in this country is not to treat you, help you or cure you. The goal of these corporations is to make a profit. Thats why you hear horror stories , because when it comes time for these companies to make a decision, do we grant this person a 25K opertation or do we increase our profits , what do you think they will do.
Corporations have no soul , corporations have no conscience, you are just a bottom line and the bottom line is you are an expense. Thats why Im voting for Clinton, because this is not just a campaign issue for her , this is her passion, this is her legacy. This is the greatest country on earth, no one , should have to die , because they are too expensive.
Comment: Posted By: Bass26 @ 02/17/2008 10:08:59 PM Comment: The United States is the only country in the world that still has some form of democracy left. We should try to build and enforce democracy to make this country a shining example to the rest of the world. As a people, it does not matter who wins the presidency of the United States, we will still have to work and pay taxes. The only way this country and come together, and the true panacea to all this mess that we are in is to have Barak Obama for president.
Sir or Madam: The United States is not now and never was a "democracy." It is a Constitutional Republic that allows a limited amount of popular participation in government. The notion that we have some responsibility to other nations is childish: the only responsibility is to provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare and ensure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity. Equally childish is the notion that as some sort of penance or PR ploy, we should put our trust in an eloquent and untried demagogue as Chief Executive and Commander in Chief. The subtext of your remarks is that white folk can demonstrate that they are not racist by voting in Obama. But if we are genuinely concerned to bring the country together, whyever would one choose the very most liberal US Senator instead of one with a long and proven record of bucking the ideologues in his party and working across the aisle to find solutions to our problems?
Comment: Generally white people are in a collective denial. No it is unreasonable for them to expect you to just get over having lost your identity, because of hundred of years of racism... while letting us know that they are part Irish, Swedish, German and Italian. What's really funny is the attempts they've made since 1964 to support the notion that black people are the true racists. Of course, not all white people are the same. I appreciate the efforts of those who are smart enough to know that if you don't l"let them have the bread, they may take the palace."
I've had relatives die rather than seek medical treatment, because they are afraid of doctors, partly because of the history of the country. I thought they were out of their minds until I had to have surgery and ended up a guinea pig, even had the resident's instructor contact me to ask whether she ask my permission to do certain things. She did not. I'm also bother by this whole "women" thing that we see around even the Clinton campaign, when what is meant is white women.
Comment: Health care is not a black, white or brown issue. Its about everyone, regardless of race, having the ability to obtain affordable health care. Health care costs are out of control. I don't want a free ride, just a level playing field. I worked non-stop for 40 years, never asking for anyones help, but now I would be grateful for any help and to not have to be on my death bed to receive it. Its not easy to ask for help or to choose between eating healthy, paying bills or paying for a NEEDED prescription. My only "luxury" is internet service. No cable, no dinners out, etc. Health care is not a "luxury". I don't know why some ppl don't take advantage of health care that IS available, but for millions of children etc., it should be mandatory to provide it.
Comment: Don't be naive, you are paying for uninsured and underinsured patients. Hospitals pass these costs onto you with inflated rates to insured patients and insurance companies, who then pass it onto their clients. If people were able to obtain tests that would provide early diagnosis or prevention then your costs would be lower. You would probably be paying about the same in the long run and people would be saved. I was like you once, had insurance I could afford, worked hard for most of my life ias an emergency responder that might have saved your life once and now I am underinsured. I pray it never happens to you.
Comment: You sir or madam, trestles25, personify some of the reasons why black people lash out in anger. I will not sanction any racist over-generalizations about whites made by fellow African-Americans, but at the same time I REFUSE to tolerate the same coming in my direction from any one else. You know what's not right? How you claim to be upset are tired of being blamed for things "you" didn't do, yet your entire diatribe is laced with "facts" that are little more than sweeping stereotypes, gross over-generalizations, slanted characatures of the truth, and some outright falicies. You sir, in your fiery response have demonstrated and confirmed the type of thinking and attitude that spurs many African-Americans, whether tactfully or not, to still take issue with the socio-political identity of this country. You are tired? You have no clue what it means to be tired. I am tired of hypocrites like you who get upset when anyone mentions racism or discrimination, and then turn around spew the type of banter that personifies both. I am tired of being accused of getting a free ride or having things handed to me when, because of those perceptions, I have to work twice as hard as others to be seen as equal. I am tired of the ignorance( whether feigned or real) of how I am suppossed to "get over" 400 years of oppression, murder, and explotation because it's in the past. You need to understand the dynamics of history. The past is the foundation for the present and the future, how you expect 4 centuries to be undone in less than one is amazing, but that's for another conversation. You sir, are the epotimy of the modern day racist, masking the same old hatred in thin veils of pseudo-intellect and arm chair politi-speak.
You keep of the work, and we'll continue to run in place as a country on these issues.
Comment: I find it very interesting, but not surprising at all, that the comment above from the Black Panther-like "Nubian Moor" about "eradicating whites" didn't even phase you, but you've written this guy a couple of pages printed about why blacks are angry. Just giving you some perspective, if you happen to read it.
Comment: I feel compelled to post my comment after reading the comments of everyone. There is good in every race, however, it seems that white people of British and American ancestry are getting a bad rap. One should do some research and investigate the goodwill missions that British and American white people are doing all over the world. These people sacrifice their lives to save the innocent all over the world. Although, in the United Kingdom and the United States, nefarious and pernicious white people are rampant. I do not think it is relevant to give my race, but from my experience, I have been around different races and have some wonderful and not so pleasant experiences. Everyone is trying to compete to be the best, but they forget that when you leave this world, everything stays behind. There is bickering and prejudices in every country. In India, a country of twenty eight states and seven provinces, prejudice is manifested among states and the color of your skin. The white children that are of the British rapists against the Indian women are treated worst than any caste in India. In Africa, we see Blacks against Blacks fighting to prove tribal superiority over each other. In Ireland, we used to see the fighting with catholics against protestants. In Bosnia, Iraq, Turkey and Israel we hear violences every day. In the West Indies we do not hear much news about violence among the ethnic groups, but it does exist. There is good in everyone, and we should not try to annihilate each other for unthinkable reasons. The United States is the only country in the world that still has some form of democracy left. We should try to build and enforce democracy to make this country a shining example to the rest of the world. As a people, it does not matter who wins the presidency of the United States, we will still have to work and pay taxes. The only way this country and come together, and the true panacea to all this mess that we are in is to have Barak Obama for president. He deserves a chance and also people of color will believe that America is truly the melting pot of the world. Frederic Douglas who is considered one of the greatest, if not, the greatest orator of all time in the United States, would have been proud to see the rise of Barak Obama. The American people are wonderful people, it is the politicians in Washington that is turning democracy in fascism. One love.
Comment: eeeeyyyooooghh..... now Obams is a panacea? ( solution to all our problems, heh?)
And "politicians in Washington" are the source of our problems?...,,, hmmm.
And Senator Obama is what? A POLITICIAN IN WASHINGTON.
And Sen Obama is running to be what? A POLITICIAN IN WASHINGTON.
!?!?!?!?!??! Has all logic just disappeared.
Lord, just put us out of our misery.
Comment: Barack Obama is doing well because he is new to the process, and is different. That in itself is VERY appealing, given Hilary or old-man prickly McCain. But the guy is far too liberal to garner my vote or anyone else who might want to take care of themselves without being on the government dole the rest of our lives. He will win, if no one tests him or makes him talk about what he really believes in. I can't vote for anyone that thinks the American Government can solve anything short of undoing about 68 years of Federal Government expansionist programs and policies kill the independent spirit of a people over successive generations. And quite frankly, nothing behind anything the government does has such a noble purpose. The purpose, unfortunately, is to keep us all dependent on corrupt camera-hungry idiots in Washington for our next big fix of state-love. Oh, and to keep voting for those losers. Gee, I wonder why voter turnout is at such historic lows?
Comment: So the 5 year old, the 80 year old, the disabled and infirm or the hard-working families who can't afford insurance premiums are dead beats? What an ignorant belief system you have. Let's put them out in the fields to pay their way?
Comment: Find the words "dead-beat" in anything I've typed. You can't. So don't do that--it can't even be deduced from what I've said. As much as you would like to think that I'm different than you, I'm not. I just know through the careful study of history that Uncle Sam isn't going to give us anything that will help this country long term. The power of this government exceeded it's Constitutional limits well over a century ago. I don't like paying Health Insurance premiums any more than you do. But that's far better than some general universal health coverage idea that has been proven a failure in every country in which it's ever been tried. Long lines, and a general decline in the quality of care. Try getting some simple medical procedure done in Britain today, or anywhere else in Europe when they were having this debate, and tell me how that goes.
Comment: First of all, I pay taxes just like you do so it wouldn't be a free ride at your expense. Second, the tests I am referred to are not exotic, they are recommended screening for cancers-colon, breast-, blood tests, etc. And the programs you talk about are not that easy to obtain. If you understand that private ins. is out of reach for millions of working and retired people then you are finally getting the point. As I said my monthly premium is one quarter of my monthly income, ;lus all other expenses for testing, persriptions, etc. Its not affordable. And health care is a federal problem, you pay prevent now its la lot less expensive for the gov't later when they are paying for treatment of a preventable disease thru hosp. premiums for medicare patients higher to compensate.
Comment: My main point was that it isn't a Federal issue, therefore the Federal Government should never have become involved. That includes Medicare, Medicaid, and every other Socialist FDR program invented to get people hooked on the gvernment. And I'm not some rich guy, preaching from high on a hill. These programs, which you just admitted are available are not EASY to obtain. Really? That tells me what I'm up against out there. People who don't want anything to be too difficult for them--let the US Nanny State take care of all of it for me. You need to increase your income if you can't afford health insurance. I pay it too, and I don't make much. You've got options. My car insurance is pretty hight, too: Gee, I think the government should help me with that. Oh yeah, my mortgate (wait they already are getting involved in that business, helping out people who sign bad documents, etc.).And my gas bill, electric bill---where does it end? I guarantee you I'm saving like a mongoose in heat and would opt of of Social Security and ALL government programs forever if they would let me. There's millions of us who just want to be left alone.
Comment: And there's probably millions more who would like to have a few basic things, like their health coverage taken care of in such a way that they don't have to worry about being denied coverage or going broke for medical reasons, or dying in an epidemic that spirals out of control due to a spotty system that leads too many to avoid treatment; to have such worries minimized so as to better pursue other things like better jobs or paying their gas bills. It's not about having "government" pay for "everything," it's about pooling our resources to broaden care access AND lower the amount we already pay. Specifically for health care. Just because the free market works for many things doesn't mean it works for all things. I don't want the gov't paying for my auto insurance, but I would like it if my tax money was going to a system which ensured that both a pauper and rich tycoon had equal access to the best in health care. Seriously, check out the FAQs at PNHP.org. ( pnhp.org/facts/singlepayer_faq.php).
Also: It's great that you yourself could increase your income. Many people either aren't as clever as you or are in situations where there may not be any real options for more money.
Comment: Believe it or not, I actually like the idea. The problem, one of many actually, is that it won't stop there. I actually typed it out above. I liked Karl Marx when I read him too, but it's much different in reality. Just like rent controls in some countries are supposed to increase the availability of affordable housing for everyone, so we can all be in love. The problem in practice, for example, was that no one had any incentive to move or obtain housing that fit their needs, so others could not find housing and the waiting lists that were supposed to end actually increased! Taking away the economic incentive that founded this country is a recipe for disaster; who cares if it works elsewhere? Does our system of government work elsewhere? No, not like it used to here. The United States has been unique since its founding, and I don't think that is a bad thing at all, inspite of all of our problems.
Comment: You sir or madam, trestles25, personify some of the reasons why black people lash out in anger. I will not sanction any racist over-generalizations about whites made by fellow African-Americans, but at the same time I REFUSE to tolerate the same coming in my direction from any one else. You know what's not right? How you claim to be upset are tired of being blamed for things "you" didn't do, yet your entire diatribe is laced with "facts" that are little more than sweeping stereotypes, gross over-generalizations, slanted characatures of the truth, and some outright falicies. You sir, in your fiery response have demonstrated and confirmed the type of thinking and attitude that spurs many African-Americans, whether tactfully or not, to still take issue with the socio-political identity of this country. You are tired? You have no clue what it means to be tired. I am tired of hypocrites like you who get upset when anyone mentions racism or discrimination, and then turn around spew the type of banter that personifies both. I am tired of being accused of getting a free ride or having things handed to me when, because of those perceptions, I have to work twice as hard as others to be seen as equal. I am tired of the ignorance( whether feigned or real) of how I am suppossed to "get over" 400 years of oppression, murder, and explotation because it's in the past. You need to understand the dynamics of history. The past is the foundation for the present and the future, how you expect 4 centuries to be undone in less than one is amazing, but that's for another conversation. You sir, are the epotimy of the modern day racist, masking the same old hatred in thin veils of pseudo-intellect and arm chair politi-speak.
You keep of the work, and we'll continue to run in place as a country on these issues.
Comment: thats crazy you cant blame the doctors for being racist, the minorities cannot afford the insurence or treatment,, itsnot the doctors fault, the minorities are too lazy to work, im in high school right now and most of the minority population doesnt care about school at all, our society is way too politicly correct, you cant connect all this the way that they do,
Comment: To Lazy to work? Have you seen the job market lately or are you already living in mexico? Have you ever had the place you've worked at for years, just up and lock the doors? Have you ever had your paycheck bounce? Have you ever trained your new manager who's making 4 times as much as you are, then once he's learned all you had to teach, cut your hours? Stop watching reality tv and start living in the real world.
Comment: thats crazy you cant blame the doctors for being racist, the minorities cannot afford the insurence or treatment,, itsnot the doctors fault, the minorities are too lazy to work, im in high school right now and most of the minority population doesnt care about school at all, our society is way too politicly correct, you cant connect all this the way that they do,
Comment: I am a white, anglo-saxon, middle-class woman who worked for the Fire Dept. for 25 years and recently had to retire on disability, yet I am paying a huge monthly premium for insurance, have a large co-pay and deductible, and I have to pay 20% of the total bill. I can't afford to have all the tests that are recommended and have to pick and choose which are most important. The only thing that will keep me healthy is affordable health care and that means universal insurance. I am no the only one. There working poor, retired elderly, etc. don't havequalify for hree ins. so what do we do?
Comment: Well, first of all, you likely don't need all of those test that you claim they told you that you need. The medical industry in this country is BIG business, as any hospital administrator will tell you. They want you on medication, hooked, and believing that all M.D.'s are the smartest people in the world. Oh, and attorneys, too. If you're disabled, there are a variety of programs already at the state level anywhere that will assist you with your conditions. Working poor, retired, and all others have the option of accepting the private insurance offered by their employers for a payroll premium, or Medicare/Medicaid. Nothing is free with the goverment: someone, usually like me, has to pay for it. And that runs contrary to everything a Union of States is supposed to be about. Health Care is not a Federal Issue any more than what you had for dinner tonight. It's up to the states, like everything else should be. Civil Wars have been fought over such things.
Comment: "The medical industry in this country is BIG business, as any hospital administrator will tell you. They want you on medication, hooked, and believing that all M.D.'s are the smartest people in the world."
Okay, you've finally said something we more-or less agree on -- the influence of big money on medicine. The rest of your post, I differ with, but here you are largely right-on. Though you and I would probably be on opposite sides, maybe we DO need another Civil War...
Comment: The last couple sentences should read: I am not the only one with this problem. There are the working poor who make too much to qualify for gov't insurance but don't make enough to pay for private ins., the elderly on fixed incomes who have to choose between eating, paying living expenses or having medical tests, etc.. What do we do? Regardless of what you, who have insurance that you can afford, think, most people who need help with insurance are not dead beats.
Comment: It is disgusing to see how - even though the article CLEARLY pointed out that race is only one of many factors contributing to this discrepancy (socio-economic is primary, education is probably second) - this forum's comments are so racist. The majority of the posts from black and white contributors are equally racists and ignorant.
The racial disparity is mainly because of the socio-economic disparities and the fact that a disproportionate number of minorities are in the lower income level groups. Look for disparities with people of the same income and education levels and there is NO huge gap in treatment.
We all need to "drop the dash" from our ethnicity (no more african-american, italian-americans) and stop letting these "trigger words" catch our attention. We ALL are better and smarter Americans than we allow the media to give us credit for. Wise up, America. Stop playing into the media and politicians hands. The more people READ varied sources of information, the more they are able to separate the hype and the headlines from the real information contained in the article(s).
Comment: Well, first of all, you likely don't need all of those test that you claim they told you that you need. The medical industry in this country is BIG business, as any hospital administrator will tell you. They want you on medication, hooked, and believing that all M.D.'s are the smartest people in the world. Oh, and attorneys, too. If you're disabled, there are a variety of programs already at the state level anywhere that will assist you with your conditions. Working poor, retired, and all others have the option of accepting the private insurance offered by their employers for a payroll premium, or Medicare/Medicaid. Nothing is free with the goverment: someone, usually like me, has to pay for it. And that runs contrary to everything a Union of States is supposed to be about. Health Care is not a Federal Issue any more than what you had for dinner tonight. It's up to the states, like everything else should be. Civil Wars have been fought over such things.
Comment: In working, in my capacity as Medicaid Administrator with the local school systems here in Hamilton County, we were always surprised to find that the participation rates for physical exams, innoculations, etc. were consistently lower for those children on Medicaid than for those who were not. This was despite the fact that those with private insurance had copays and deductibles while the Medicaid children could get these services for free and with transportation paid for, if necessary. We implemented all manner of educational and supportive initiatives over several years and the numbers barely budged. Conclusion: access to free health care does not in any way ensure that the access will be appropriately employed.
Comment: More to the point that the cultural mindset is the problem, not the amount of money or access to the system. However, just as our ridiculous Presidential candidates argue, we need universal health care about as much as we need more illegal aliens in Texas or California. But our broken government will and the corrupt sound-byte driven fools that comprise it will never understand that. The social issues facing this country won't be solved until it becomes unprofitable to keep us all divided by race.
Comment: In the big picture, you'll likely find that the poor and low-income people of all races without health insurance. Of course, if you use the favored "per capita" argument, the results are inevitably skewed, Lack of health insurance is more likely an economic indication of whether one can afford it or not. People will choose food over coverage every time.
Comment: When I'm driving I often let blacks go in front of me even though they don't give the "wave". I figure that I owe it to them because of slavery. When they cut me off, I don't get angry. I deserve to be cut off because I am white and they have suffered at my hands.
Comment: The person depicted in this story is obviously black. Blacks need constant care and nurturing like children. They require this attention from cradle to grave. We need to do the right thing and let blacks now when and how they should be examined and whites should pay for it out of their own pocket's if necessary. Its the least we can do for having enslaved blacks 175 years ago.
Comment: No, that's not the least we could do, idiot. Obviously you're about as bright as your blogname implies.
I was not a slavemaster, nor were you a slave. Move forward-
Comment: Obviously your sarcasm detector needs to be calibrated dick-nog.
Comment: Ok then...lets all have a glass of dick-nog!
Comment: It is simple to understand and you might want to do you own research before you go throwing around your race card. Hospitals do not like dealing with uninsured people . White, black, Asian, Hispanic, etc.... It does not matter what color you are. The doctors and hospitals want there money when they want it. it is simple as that. Now going to manatory health insurance is completely ignorate, too. You need to be doing your research and reading or let me guess since you are the minority your school was to poor to teach you how to read. That is why you have the internet. What you don't understand on that part is that YOU as a tax paying American get FINE EVERY YEAR THAT YOU DO NOT HAVE INSURANCE and the company you work for does not have to supply insurance for you. They will be fined, too, but when you are talking about a 1,000.00- 10,000.00 fine to a multi-million dollar company. That just a small inconvience for them. People its time that you quite leaving in you dead ancerstor days and on your government. It's time to become adults and learn from the hard times. YOU ARE NOT THE ONLY ONE THAT SUFFERS FROM BAD TIMES. Let you know. I am white, poor, have NO insurance, and paying my own doctor bills through payments.
Comment: This Is b.s. *** white people make me sick you people are always going to get the best treatment because simply you control every *** thing in america and try to control everything in the world blacks and latinos are to complicated for simple whites to understand so you turn everyone into a statistic excepts whites hmm the thing is we don't have failing health living around you devils is whats makes our health fail but what are we to do wait to blacks take over the world again and eradicate your race and we are not the minorities you are all over the world black and brown is the majority theres more of us so how we the minority?
Comment: That all you got Nubian? Let the white devil show you the way...
I'll be waiting!
Comment: It is amazing to see that, despite the clear indication in this article that disparities in (timely) accessing health care persist even when factors such as race and insurance coverage are controlled for, that commentators continue to ignore the conclusion that other factors must be at work. I guess it would just be too politically incorrect to recognize that factors such as differences in education, personal responsibility and intelligence could be at work. Even the author seems incapable of acknowledging the possibility.
Comment: Sounds like the nubian is the real racist here...gee, eradicate our race? Not possible. Maybe you should try for your GED before you attempt to post something on a Newsweeek blog. It just makes you look bad.
Comment: The person who wrote this obviously didn't pass their college level writing class. You know when they tell you that the Title should reflect the contents. Southwind52 is right. The problem has nothing to do with the people being black or white(as I'm sure many people of both colors have suffered because of this problem). It has to do with health care. When she said minority what she really ment was black by the way. She should change that. White people ARE a minority in California, and from the article it's obvious she only feels sorry for black people.
Comment: This is B.S...
The something they are looking for is that no matter what our society does, this discrepancy will still exist. The old adage you can lead a horse to water, but can't make him drink applies 100% to these situations.
Absent house calls and forcing treatment on these people, nothing will change. It's not race at all, it's a cultural mindset that's at the heart of the problem. That's what makes it seem racial, but it's definitely a belief system that mainly blacks have in the U.S. that has a deleterious effect on their lives. It's up to them to be contributors and reap the benefits or stay in the shadows and be a statistic. Gee, maybe we should just give them money--oops, already tried that too. Didn't work.
Comment: this is ridiculous. I personally know several minorities who complain about illegal immigrants getting better care and more expedient service. One of my close friends is a 34 year old latina woman who has three children and good medical coverage. She told me that there were illegal immigrants getting more attention at the medical center she was at, and she had all of her medical information and the legitimate paper work to be helped. These types of articles trigger hatred and more racism
Comment: Obviously the patient is black. Blacks need constant care and nurturing from cradle to grave. If the gov't won't take care of them they are likely to go without. This is why we need to make sure we set aside proper funds every year to take of blacks. Its our responsibility.
Comment: I think this has more to do with education than it has to do with minorities. People who are ill educated when it comes to health will face more difficulty whether they are minorities or not minorities. It is neither a question of insurance. If you are Medicaid you can receive medical treatment. This is a poor excuse for socialized medicine distributed by civil servants.
Comment: this is ridiculous. I personally know several minorities who complain about illegal immigrants getting better care and more expedient service. One of my close friends is a 34 year old latina woman who has three children and good medical coverage. She told me that there were illegal immigrants getting more attention at the medical center she was at, and she had all of her medical information and the legitimate paper work to be helped. These types of articles trigger hatred and more racism.
Comment: I don't think it's a matter of black or white or what your color of skin. Its the people with little or no insurance.
Because the hospital wants there money. Jerry From Arkansas
Comment: The system is largely controlled by white men. It is a system of power and privilege that was cemented by the historical upbringing of the United States - from European Imperialism, Colonialism, to the present day. To deny the Eurocentric historical upbringing of the United States with its ideology of Manifest Destiny throughout the centuries is to ignore a huge influential factor in the shaping of white America's modern-day subconscious mindset.
Comment: You need to read your history a little better historyreborn. Europeans came here to spread Christianity. Black slaves were sold to the English by black tribal leaders and brought over here to pick cotton. Which didn't last very long, as most Americans(many of them my ancestors) didn't believe it was right(except for the southerners who were getting filthy rich off them). When you say that today people have the same subconscious mindset as the "imperialistic and colonial" people does that same subconscious include the special privledges that black people get? Like the money they get? The fact they can get into a school 20% easier than a white person? The fact that they have destoyed freedom of speech? The fact that its illegal to give a black man or women an IQ test when white people have to? The fact that black people only make up for 12% of the population and are responsible for over half the murders/theft/violence and nobody says anything about it? The fact that three days before the black hooker who claimed to be raped by the Duke lacross team was all over the news a black man drove a white graduate student at NYU under a bridge, put a bag over her head, raped her, and killed her and it wasn't barely covered on the news? This article didn't even have anything to do with Black or White the fact that the lady that they are talking about it this article would sit there with a lump on her chest while there are god knows how many free(in that since that all the people who are working are really the ones who pay for it) clinics out there and not do anything about it is beyond me. Black people are destroying what makes this country this country. The rights that made this country this country are being voided every day to make up for things that no one alive and under forty was even responsible for or can remember. It is already going down the craper and when people like you sit there and dog on it, it just gets worse. I am tired of being accused of things I didn't do. Keep up the work sooner or later the articles will read, "People dead due to lack of money that the white people who left took with them."
Comment: Ditto, trestless...
Only in America does that kind of crap stil fly-
Only in America, the land in which they claim to be so aggreived, do they have a higher standard of living than any other black in the world. Yes, the same country who used human slave capital like all other civilized nations before the economic engine gave us tractors, gave them their freedom. Their own African Kings sold them to us for a profit, very much like they do when the U.S. sends food to Rwanda or Sudan only to see it sitting on a beach getting rotten while they stash the cash.
Nothing has changed, only the crap we have to listen to with the advent of Cable News and political correctness.
Comment: See why we need a good universal insurance plan for the United States.
Comment: In addition to the access problem, there are long waiting times to get an appointment for deadly conditions. I've had to wait 6 months for an appointment and could not get any of the cancellation opportunities. It's a wait in line and you'll be seen situation with specialists.
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