RE: Healthcare Debates

[Guest guest]

There is a lot of bad information floating around out there. The " death

panels " is one of the worst. One, because it isn't even in the bill anymore.

Two, because they were not actually death panels.

The so called " death panels " were just consultations between the doctors,

patients and families in making end of life care decisions. The idea was to

provide for a way for all involved to come to a decision on how medical care

would continue - such as whether one would continue treatment, or just

manage symptoms. The current default practice is to treat the disease with

no consideration of quality of life. I think that those of us who have been

close to the edge with our CML, and know that the treatment can be worse

than the disease, can appreciate this.

On the France thing, it is telling that they spend less than us to insure

everyone.

In the long run, we also need to address the big Pharma problem and the

artificial shortage of doctors/cost of med school.

The problem isn't just insurance companies, but also with companies like

Novartis charging $50k for something that costs them $3k, the shortage of

med schools and the mid-six figure cost of med school.

[ ] Healthcare Debates

I am glad to see a healthy debate over the heathcare problems we face today.

I went to the websites that Carl cited and found them very interesting and I

enjoyed the little animations to help understand the bill. Everyone will

have their own opinion and I hope we can have a friendly debate as to why

you have formed your own opinion about the bill. Some feel it is fair and

some feel like it is being forced down our throats. I just posted what I

read, but I also enjoy reading other's who do their own research, which is

what makes (I think) for a healthy exchange of beliefs.

We should all do our own research to back up our views, so we will not

appear to be biased. Carl's bandwagon may be different, because he is in a

different position. I feel for you Carl, but I think by the time that you

will need insurance, there will be something you can rely on and I know you

will do your homework.

I think Bobby is right when she says that the insurance companies are

greedy, but who is it that controls the prices on the drugs we take? Who

goes out and raises money to give the researchers to produce these drugs?

Some belong to this group and there are many others out there that we need

to praise, but the drug companies do not pay the greatest amount to do the

research, they get government grants.

I complain often enough about the enormous costs that people like Jackie,

Bobby, Ernie's dear wife, Len who has spent years in hospitals, Jerry and

others including myself who have spent a fortune traveling to research

centers to get into these trials; living in hotels, motels and apartments

and having to eat in restaurants, just to get a bite out of the apple. I

think we have a gripe, too. Why doesn't big Pharma pick up some of the tab?

I don't know who has invested more and traveled more than Jackie or Bobby.

If I left anyone out, I'm sorry but I don't know your situation. She had a

mutation, the dreaded T315i, but there are mutations which are probably even

worse and now she has had to move to a transplant and has to remain in

Houston for 100 days after BMT. She has to live in apartment when she is

not in the hospital getting infusions and some of her family has to be there

with her at all times, there are usually two at a time. My heart goes out to

those people, too. To repeat what Bobby has said, we give up our bodies,

too. Time and time again, we have failed to respond, still looking for the

holy grail.

There are organizations that assist with paying for drugs and I have read

there are some that help with insurance, but since I still pay for my

insurance, I am automatically disqualified, but I am insurance poor, I know

some of you have heard of that expression. I have not researched that part.

Maybe someone else will have more information.

I think people who are against it are worrying about the huge debt we will

be passing on to our children and grandchildren and the added question of

whether we will have rationed health care and a death squad who decides who

will live. That is also a big concern to many.

The French health system is not perfect, nor is the English system. When I

needed a doctor, they were all on strike and I had to find a private

physician and a bad experience there, too. I had a small encounter with it

in France, but I am citing here an article from the Dallas Morning News (the

one I got when I lived in Dallas) on the two healthcares. Compare the

numbers folks before you come to any conclusions and keep an open mind that

there are different opinions for different and personal reasons:

" Rice University alum Dutertre, who's lived in France since 1968,

has had good and bad experiences with French health care. " Many liberal

Americans are convinced that the French system is the be-all and end-all

solution to health care costs in the United States, " she said. " But the

system is costly to both the workers and the state. In fact, it is going

BANKRUPT. "

" Bankruptcy looms for America as well. Health care absorbs more than 17

percent of the U.S. economy, or $2.4 trillion. The French fork over 11

percent. In 2006, U.S. spending averaged $6,714 per person. The average

resident of France spent $3,450. This year, U.S. spending is expected to

near $8,000 per person, while French officials estimate spending there will

come in below $5,000. It's not that the French are younger. One in six of

France's 61 million people are over the age of 65; one in eight Americans

are over 65.

" France and the United States pay for their health care in different ways.

Most U.S. health care spending is private. The government's share - what you

pay for in taxes for Medicare, Medicaid, military and other government

employees - is 46 percent. The rest is paid through insurance split between

employers and workers, and in out-of-pocket expenses borne by consumers.

" In France, national health insurance pushes the government's share of

health care spending to 80 percent. Consumers and their employers pay for

the rest through supplemental, private insurance and out-of-pocket expenses.

In both countries, patients with the money to pay for more or better care

not covered by insurance are able to buy it through private clinics and

doctors. Health expenditures have grown faster than prices for nearly

everything else in both countries for many years, despite decades of reforms

aimed at capping prices, supply and demand. President Barack Obama has made

a priority of providing health insurance for all Americans while lowering

health care inflation. France has insurance for all but battles health care

costs in the National Assembly every year. "

http://tinyurl.com/qw8vgn

__________________________

FYI & thanks everyone for their input,

Lottie Duthu

_________