April 23, 2008...7:57 am
We Need Better Healthcare
Reading about Health Care:
It is never a good thing if many of your customers can no longer afford what you are selling.
The UnitedHealth Group, which announced disappointing first-quarter earnings on Tuesday, said the weakening economy was causing fewer businesses and employees to sign up for its health insurance.
One of the great reliefs of my professional life has been getting health insurance not only for myself, but for Douglas. When you quit your day job, you lose those sorts of benefits.
I know that when we watched Sicko on the plane trip back from Israel, we both wanted to move to a country with Universal Health care.
I’ve only recently been going to a dentist after a lapse of 10 years. I’m dating a woman who has chronic back pain, but can’t see a doctor because of her lack of insurance. My parents pay over $600/month for health insurance for the same (or slightly worse) coverage that was practically free 10 years ago. It’s out of control.
We had a scare a few years ago when D had to have an emergency appendectomy. This was before Ask A Ninja, when we were deep into the writing of our original Ninja thing. He was in rough shape and could have died if not for an expensive emergency surgery.
I was so angry at a system where you should be focused on the best care, instead you’re worried about if this will ruin you financially.
We all got lucky that day and he pulled through. But I know he had to deal with the massive bill (over $20k).
Not sure how to fix it, but it needs to be fixed.
12 Comments
April 23, 2008 at 8:05 am
Hmm… had a buddy living in London since he was thirteen, and the very first thing that he said about living there and coming back that he missed was
a) you get to smoke quite young
b) no worries about healthcare. Break a leg, go to the hospital, no questions about it, covered.
Granted, the tax is huge for that kind of thing, but I think its extremely nice. My girlfriend is going through the same thing right now, no insurance, crappy job that won’t give it to her, and needs to go to the doctor. Several times we’ve had to say “Lets see if it gets better, because we can’t afford to go get whatever drug the doctor is going to give you and dear god if they run tests…”
Are there any cons to what they are doing across the pond? I mean, other than the tax. Is there any reason you don’t see this as a viable solution? Seems to be working well for them, on the utter surface that I’ve dove into atleast.
April 23, 2008 at 8:23 am
I think that the lack of universal health insurance is seen by many corporate leaders as a good thing. It means that it is more difficult for small business to emerge and take market share, and keeps corporate employees “on the plantation” at lower wages.
Sadly, these folk are short-sighted and don’t seem to realize that they are hurting society and their future wellbeing in return for short term profit.
April 23, 2008 at 8:28 am
We need it fixed badly. I know tons of creative people working for companies and not happy just for insurance. They all have good ideas and talent to do their own thing, but lack of insurance is there biggest reason for not doing it.
April 23, 2008 at 8:36 am
Kent, as a dialysis RN in a top notch teaching hospital in Philadelphia, I only see things getting worse. Not sure of the exact percent but something like 90% of health care dollars are spent on the last six months of a persons life. And the baby boomers are hobbling into their 50’s and 60’s. My only advice, eat well, exercise and be careful to avoid any unnecessary accidents.
April 23, 2008 at 8:55 am
I found a really ideal way of addressing the problem - I signed up with a Christian medical escrow organization. The principle is this: Give a pre-determined monthly sum to an escrow account, and if something serious happens, you’ll be given the money to pay your bills. They also will help negotiate lower rates for you.
This has been perfect for me because I am self-employed, and based on my medical history, uninsurable. It doesn’t cover preventative medicine or prescriptions, but since my main worry is a long-term illness or a major accident, I can live without it. Plus it is RIDICULOUSLY lower than what I’d have to pay if I actually could get insurance…
The only caveat is that it assumes everyone who signs up is a practicing Christian; you agree to not smoke, abstain from sex outside of marriage, and no recreational drugs. You are asked to pray occasionally for people in dire circumstances. And the literature makes regular references to scripture and Jesus. So if you have a problem with religious language and expectations, and don’t want to curtail some of your recreational activities, it’s probably not for you.
It’s based on a scriptural principle: help carry one another’s burdens, support one another, care for one another.
I’m not aware of any non-religious versions of this form of medical escrow, but it makes sense that they’re out there!
April 23, 2008 at 9:57 am
I am not a fan of the Universal Health care. I do not trust the government to handle it correctly, but what I do want is to only have to pay my insurance premium and get everything covered. I am a teacher and spend about $500 a month on health insurance. At the start or every year I have a $200 deductible on my wife, each of my kids and myself, so I have to dish out per year $800 before insurance kicks in, then when it does they only cover 80%. I want to pay my insurance monthly cost and be done with it.
April 23, 2008 at 10:26 am
@Kent - Dude, healthcare sucks here. Bonny is working just to make sure she get’s good insurance. I’m paying $107 a month for really crappy insurance.
@Ken - I think that people that have to deal with universal healthcare are better off that us here, but they surely have long waiting lists for the bad stuff like cancer treatment and such.
@Susan Houston - I’d like to hear more about that escrow thing. Looks interesting, but how can anyone be sure they don’t run out of money before you need it.
April 23, 2008 at 11:07 am
You have very healthy-looking teeth. I never would have guessed you skipped the dentist for that long. Good on ya.
April 23, 2008 at 11:10 am
I have a feeling that things are going to get much worse before they get better. And with the economy turning the way that it is?
Watching Sicko made me both sick to my stomach and a bit resentful. As the rest of the world marches forward we as a society choose to stay behind. It won’t be long before Universal Healthcare is concidered a basic human right. Not that it will make a difference.
Right now I’m paying $35o a month for a $3,000 deductable then 100% coverage for me and the boys.. I pay the $3,000 into a Health Savings Account ($250/month) so I don’t have to worry. I lucked out BIG time. My neighbors who are a bit older pay $2,000 a month for just the two of them.
April 23, 2008 at 11:43 am
much of the issues you have with the current medical industry can be linked back to all the regulations and laws the government has placed on it … what makes you think more regulation will really fix it?
A huge percent of people receive *free* health care … those costs are passed on to those who actually pay.
If you don’t receive enough* from doing Ask A Ninja, how long would you really keep doing it?
I include the “*” after enough because you can and do receive more then just money, and that might not be what you are working for at all.
Same idea applies with medical industry. If you limit how much a medical professional can make, then it effects the number or supply of services. When you have less medical professionals, you either get higher prices, or rationing (which they have in every universal heathcare system I know of at least in part, if not whole).
April 23, 2008 at 11:51 am
Nation
Free markets are grand, but if you put profit motives on health insurance, only the healthy will be covered. It’s expensive and drains the coffers to cover the ill.
Medical professionals will always get paid well because they are well trained and a scarce resource. I’m fine with that.
My problem is with Medical Insurance companies making profits off denying coverage for sick people.
Take that profit off the table and put the focus back on how to get the nation healthier than any other on the planet.
April 23, 2008 at 12:21 pm
kentnichols
have you ever looked at how many of the insurance policies are regulated by the state governments? how they are forced to provide coverage for specific things, even if the customer does not want it?
It would be like requiring all auto coverage to be full coverage. There are simply people who don’t need or want to spend money on that.
Now medical is different … under federal law the medical industry must provide services. Just go spend some time in an ER on Friday afternoon/evening about 6pm. It will be crowded, because they legally have to treat anyone who shows up, because normal Dr offices are closed for the next few days (part of the law).
third party payment systems (what the insurance industry has turned into) is an issue. Another issue is a culture of not wanting to pay people for services they receive … this is an issue with podcasting, music, entertainment, and other industries too.
I want you to get enough* from doing this blog, so that you keep doing it.
If you take the potential for profits from any industry, you kill that industry. I am not saying all industries should survive, but we are all better off with a healthy society, the real questions that I am not sure have been answered include:
1. what is the status quo? most pro UHC people ignore the fact that lots of the issues are due to government regulations
2. what is the goal? everyone will eventually die, not everyone can be saved or cured - especially at our current level of knowledge. Humans are very complex and we don’t fully understand it … like one might understand a car.
3. what is the best way to choose who receives services? since services are scares/limited there must be a method of determining who receives what. Fundamental to this is “should a government decide who wins and who does not?”
With that last one, it currently does … those who are responsible, who pay their bills, or want to do right loose, simply because they are stuck picking up the tab for those who do not pay, or are better at gaming the system.
my perspective is from the spouse of a medical professional where almost all the patients are covered under a state program. then I am an entrepreneur myself and focused on economics, finance, etc … just adding that to give a little insight as to where I am coming from.
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