Ending the 'Sick Care' System

Senator Tom Harkin is correct about preventive care, but before that can work we need to overhaul our whole system. We need to change health care in so many ways. Probably the first and most important way is to stop separating Mental and Physical health. Health is health, and there should be social workers and psychologists associated with every physicians office. The addition of a mental health component would help remove the stigma of mental health care. Another aspect of complementing our health care providers with mental health care workers is that the patient would be seen as a whole person and would receive care that deserve as human beings. .

Also there is great greed in our American Health Care system. While many believe that it is the doctor who is making all the money they are wrong. It is the insurance companies. The insurance companies represent their shareholders and not their customers. American's have been sold out to these insurance companies especially when it comes to health care. The people who are deciding whether your treatment plan is appropriate have Master's of Business Administration degrees, and if they do have input from medical doctors these doctors are on their payrolls, all right there are some doctors that are greedy.
As a cancer survivor (hopefully) I struggled with not having my primary symptom being heard because my complaints were not active when I went to the doctor. This is the basis of the managed care approach; if it is not active today while you are at the doctor then it doesn't exist. I even had another Medical Doctor tell me there was a problem ant that I needed to have it checked I was still not heard. The average amount of time a woman waits for the doctor to figure out that she has bladder cancer is three to six months, I waited at least five years.

Also many people may or may not realize that the insurance companies invest in other companies such as hospital, funeral homes, nursing homes, pharmaceutical companies and companies that provide alcoholic beverages. It is easy to see that the insurance companies are getting us coming and going.

Yes improve the America's health care, but don't limit it to prevention or to all talk. Talk is cheap and doesn't solve the issues that people are dying because their health care providers who are being driven by the insurance companies aren???t hearing them. With the American economy not doing well, more American's will be ill because of lack of food, warmth, inability to pay for medications and or pay for a doctor visit.

Now is the time for action not only by Senator Tom Harkins or Tom Daschle but also by all Americans and their government. Oh yes, aren't we the government? The premise of our country is "By the People and for the People."

Kat Kat

This is a great idea, a thing that would move mountains, if it isn't talked to death by reasons that it is too expansive, whatever.

This makes sense to have oranges, apples in competition against the big candy bar.

If more Americans were into wellness and getting in shape we would spend less money on health care and energy. For that matter lets hire "Welness Coaches" who would work with doctors and hospitals to help people do this. What a great way to stimulte some jobs! Also, we should all take a Red Cross First Aid class so we would know what to do in emergencies. I have taken it and I deal with my minor injuries and sicknesses myself. It would cut down on the many useless calls and visits that hospitals have to deal with.

Whether it is prevention or treatment, the insurance companies will always have a shortsighted financial incentive to deny the patient the care he or she needs.

And for this reason, the insurance companies have to be removed from the equation. The will fight hard because trillions of dollars are at stake for them. But in the end, like a bad tooth or a tumor, the insurance companies must be taken out. they must be replaced by a system citizens control. Our lives depend on it.

Prevention is th eonly way to go! However, to get people to practice prevention, exercise and proper nutritiion, is th key. People in this case needs to be all people, from children to seniros. Using a Health consumption tax, to both help pay for prevention and encourace prevention, would cause non-healthy foods and activities to cost more than their healthy counterparts. For those who exercise regularly, any health copays would go down. All schools must have sufficient exercise programs and provide only helathful foods - get the vending machines out of the schools and don't allow students to leave the school campus for fast food venues..

The system is set up for one thing- the almighty stockholder.
I have a high deductible plan. Colonoscopy/mammogram, etc are covered under routine visits at 100%. UNLESS your family history shows a predisposition or prior history of issues. Then it's no longer routine and I have to pay. So if we LIE to our doctors, we get free preventative healthcare. What's wrong with this?

Right now I am having all the symptoms of the colon cancer that runs in my family. But, I am still having to wait until it gets much worse to be able to get adequate care.

I am on Medicare. But I do not have $150.00 for the colonoscopy copay up front.

What kind of alleged system will deny me an early colonoscopy but will pay for hospice and end of life care to the nth degree when early symptoms are missed?

I shouldn't be that surprized though...currently there are three drugs I need to take all the time which cost a total of $1500 a month...I can't afford to use my medicare drug plan for them because then I would hit that yearly financial donut limit when I have to pay for all prescriptions in less than two months...

I also need two hearing aids and new glasses. But, no entity I can find will help me pay for them. The only dental care I can get from these same entities is to have teeth pulled when they are painful. I am in agony now from infected teeth but need to hang on to them as long as I can.

I am also beginning to feel the effects of eating with only $79 a month in food stamps. My already affecting me malnutrition is making all my other medical problems much worse...

I am prime nursing home bait now because of hearing loss, sight loss, possible colon cancer, loss of all teeth and malnutrition.

For approximately $6,000 right now in preventative health care payments the state and federal governments could save a huge amount in future health care and custodial costs by helping me stay in my own home.

Can anyone explain to me why making me the costly million dollar senior later is better than far less costly help now?

Perhaps it is time to institute "Lifestyle Contributed Surcharges" on care in addition to copayments and deductibles for conditions, illnesses, etc. that are related to unhealthy lifestyle choices. It seems that the majority in the public only understand "play or pay" when it comes to health and health care. DrDavidRobinson4Health.com.

Perhaps it is time to impose "Lifestyle Contributed Surcharges" on care above and beyond copayments ans deductibles. You choose to live an unhealthy lifestyle and avoid preventive care and healthy measures, and you develop a condition that can be related to or is a cause of your unhealthy lifestyle, then you pay a surcharge for care as a "penalty" for your choice to be unhealthy. Play or pay is the ONLY thing the majority of public understands. DrDavidRobinson4Health.com.

I agree 200% with bspenerco's comment. WHY did the FCC "ALLOW" drug companies to advertise on "The Big Product-Pusher" ????? ( Believe me... I KNOW the answer.... More 'Bucks' ) Ever since that decision was made, now every prescription will pay for it. During my dinner-time, I absolutely do NOT need to hear the words "mucus" or "fewer periods" coming out of my TV speakers !!!!!! How incredibly whacked and disgusting can it get? If it doesn't get turned around, can you just imagine how much WORSE it is all going to get??? How about a commercial from "Scot" on the most proper method to wipe your butt????

Hopefully the time is finally right to change our healthcare system. It is hopeless as is. Our current system is a cobbled together mis-mash. The only thing we do well is high tech/high cost procedures.

Prevention is extremely important is terms of providing the best care for patients and would produce important cost saving over the long haul (if the existing "procedure focused" reimbursement structure is changed,) But, the elephant(s) in the living room are end of life care and mental health care. If these are not addressed, medical costs will continue to skyrocket.

Let me see: Can I list all the costs in current so-called System we "enjoy" if we could afford it.
1- Pay for all the advertizements for anything medical - whether via TV or Billboards or yada yada
2- Pay for all the Doctors insurances to cover threats of lawsuits. Same for Hosipitals - yada yada
3- Pay for all the stock holders profits that must go out monthly for all of the above and below.
4- Pay for all the taxes on anything associated with the above.
5- Pay the interest on the money borrowed on all of the above and everything inbetween that "moves a dollar around.
And I am sure that there are 20 more items ... but we have to make a profit on everything we do ... or there would be ever more little people crowding into this world and older people like our parents still living when we could well be moving into thier houses sooner. I think that is biblical ... "And ye shall make a profit on everything ... thus sayeth somebody".
Frankly ... I am embarrassed as an american, that anyone would even think of changing the status quo. Chenney may have lied along with his leader and his daddy - but he was absolutely firm about things like this. Just imagine the havoc you will cause if you really do go through with the "Change Ideas"? -lkreed

A big start to lowering heath care costs... BAN ALL PHARMA ADS! Pass a law that says prescription drugs cannot cost 1 cent more than they are sold in Canada or any EU country. Lower obesity by 50% simply by Banning corn syrup and hydrogenated oils in foods (we did just fine without them 30+ years ago). The savings will more than pay for universal care for all.

Spend $5.00 to save $!5.00 is all Mr. Ornish proposes. Makes as much sense as the nose on your face. But untill we, as a people, finally see the logic, again, we will continue to do things "on the cheap".

Let's get Single Payer Universal Health Care for ALL American Citizens NOW. With all of the bloated costs in the current system...how can they say "we can't afford to cover everyone". It's simply cheaper NOT to cover everyone...and big Pharma and Medical companies don't want it. Stand Up, America!

Modest money spent on preventive health care would result in a significant reduction in money spent on corrective or emergent care. I hate the thought of nationalized medicine, but I may be willing to pay tax dollars for nationalized preventive care with personal insurance remaining to cover the rest. Kind of a middle road approach but...