Ending the 'Sick Care' System

We do need preventative care, but the problem is that these insurance companies keep on saying that "Preventative care is too expensive!" which is a big LoC, that everyone in the insurance industry seems to believe or have been fooled into believing.
Excuse me, Jaray24, but nowadays, people ARE entitled to some thing: proper health care, proper shelter, etc. People like you are the ones who TERRIFY me, because they say "People aren't entitled to anything!" and then turn out to be slime who are swindling or KILLING other people, like the one person who I knew from high school who turned out to have murdered 10 people IN high school!

The only problem with the health care is doctors charge more for people with insurance, so they get more money, and with that the Pharm companies charge more also to cover their costs.

Other than these two things the health care system is way better than it was 150 years ago. We as Americans need to get out of the "entitlement mentality" and realize that things could be worse. Be greatful for what we have and look at those who lived 150 years ago and they lost half or more of their children. Go up, take responsility for yourself, and eat right and excerice that is the best health plan. But American's are to LAZY to do it.

As someone who has witnessed so many loved ones die prematurely due to chronic diseases that could have been prevented, I find Senator Harkin's leadership one of the most hopeful harbingers of Obama's new administration. As some one with 2 young children, I am especially grateful that he plans to address the health & nutritional options made most readily available to our children at school. I applaud Senator Harkin's leadership!

I agree with Sen. Harkin. As a school teacher, I see the direct affects of poor nutrition on our youth. It is easier and cheaper to feed a family on junk. A jumbo box of snack cakes cost the same as a couple of nice apples or oranges out of season. I also agree that our youth need more exercise. Our "PE" system in schools do not work. Being given a bunch of dodge-balls and let loose on a court discourages most kids from getting active. Our schools need to work with kids to help them find an exercise program that works for them and maybe they will stick with it more than the one required year of "PE". I also help dental health will be addressed by the new administration. Even if a family has good health insurance, chances are they don't have good dental coverage. A person can go to the emergency room with an in-grown toenail, but can't get an absessed tooth fixed? That makes no sense.

[ Part II ] Then on the private side, don't socialize it, just regulate it. Pass a set of laws such that: (a) Medical care is for profit but, set the profit rate like utility rates are set (except higher). (b) If you are going to mandate that patients can't be turned away you must also mandate that patients pay their bills. Make it illegal to get out of medical bills in bankruptcy. Instead, the hospital or clinic must finance you at a minimum rate (enough to keep up with inflation) and over time length appropriate for the amount financed (like a car note or mortgage if the bill is big enough). Enforce payment with community service, (say volunteering at a hospital) for non payment. (c) Mandate that employers must put a percentage (at least 2%) of your pay into a health savings account (along with a similar solution for SSN). Withdrawals out of this account can only be in the form of cashier???s checks to clinics and hospitals. Mandated responsibility is much preferable to socialism. (d). Do not make any laws that require employers to provide medical care. Tying insurance to employers makes employees less likely to look for better employment thus depressing wages a bit. Higher wages means more money for medical care. (e) Doctors, hospitals & clinics should no longer be litigated against in CIVIL court. All the litigation in the world won???t prevent mistakes.

[ Part I ] It's not that a lot of people are scared of socialized health care it's that they recognize that it is wrong and immoral. Socialized anything means that you must take from one, against that persons will (which constitutes stealing), and give it to another. Also, the government is the last resort organization you want to take care of anything. Do you really want the same organization that brought you social security to provide all of the country???s medical needs?
That said there are times when government has to provide some services that the free market will not, such as Police and Fire Dept. services. Now because of fairness issues and government inefficiencies, these services should be kept to a minimum but, even I will admit something must be done here. So, because you cannot compare values and shop around in an emergency, emergency services should be provided by taxes the same way that police and fire are. So, have government Ambulance and ER but, once a patient is stabilized and able to be discharged from the ER/or able to make their own choices about continued care and after care then they transfer over to the privatized side of the medical system. Add to this the "Lifestyle Contributed Surcharges" as previously mentioned for those that go to the ER for not wearing seatbelts, crashing their motorcycles (as I have done), etc.

That's what propaganda would lead you to believe, but if you look at emergency rooms outside of the US, the are NOT overflowing 24/7 like ours are.

Socialized health care seems to scare a lot of people, but the capitalist health care system at work today has failed miserably. My handicapped 16-year-old sister couldn't even get approved for a wheelchair that my parents could not afford. The gov't system in place refused her three times. She had to live in a broken wheelchair for three years until they FINALLY came through. Give me a break. This may not be preventative, but I'd say it's a great example of neglegence on the government's behalf.

Aren't we still talking about Socialized medicine where it takes a month or two to get in to see a Doctor on even the simplest med-problems?

These changes can come about BEFORE the medical system is changed. Each person can choose to live in a more healthy lifestyle.
Dean Ornish has written books about how to do this, and why it works. Go to Amazon.com and get the titles. I recommend especially his newest, "The Spectrum," and the NYT best-seller on heart disease.
I personally have experienced the benefits. I participated in the Ornish-led GEMINAL study in 2005, aimed principally at reducing prostate cancer. Today, I have no detectable prostate cancer. But more important, really, is that I'm healthier in so many ways, including lower cholesterol, lower blood pressure, lower body weight -- and MOST importantly, i simply FEEL so much better!
Those of us who participated in one or another of Dr. Ornish's medical trials still meet regularly, on our own. It's what he calls a Self-Directed Community.
I wish you could have been with us to see the Good Morning America crew, filming us doing yoga, stare in awe at Zeph Rose doing a shoulder stand. I said to them, "It's hard to believe Zeph was 85 last week."
I wish you could meet Mel Leffert, who participated in one of the early heart disease studies, even though his cardiologist thought he wouldn't live through the year. That was 22 years ago. Mel, now in his early 70's, just started a new company.
I wish you could talk to so many men and women who say things like:
"Getting prostate was one of the best things that ever happened to me, because I discovered how to be healthy and more alive."
"Life is just -- bigger -- now."
"I am more open in my relationships, more sensitive to the world I live in, and way happier."
"I wish everyone could discover, as I did, what a huge difference it makes living like this."

So, no, Kat Kat, we don't need to wait until the medical system is transformed. I hope it will be, and I think during the next 4 to 8 years we will see dramatic changes. Dean Ornish is one of the leaders of that change. But now, today, you can choose as an individual to take responsibility for your own health. Read the books, get some friends, and step into a new life of robust health and happiness.

--Jack McClure
Petaluma, California
jmcclure@quantum.org

That will be a great day but what about right now?None of these politicians want to change a thing.The problem is the doctors and insurance company owners want to be rich.We have military hospitals all over the country fully staffed and ready to treat patients.Most of these hospitals are not busy at all.The Americans are being sold down the road.Well half of them anyway.I encorage all Americans to abandon our current system do not play their money game.We are all going to die sometime do not let the hospitals get all your assets on your way out.Other countries like Germany,Canada,and Japan make Americas health care system look juvenile.Demand your government does something now about the real problem of greed in our health care system.Preventable health care demands preventable screening.An apple is not going to prevent your onset of cancer.We need real solutions not more smoke and mirrors.Tare down the current establishment.