Update: The U.S. House has voted in favor of the Health-care Reform Bill with 219 Democrats voting in favor and all (178) Republican Congressmen voting against the reform along with 34 Democratic traitors. President Obama will soon sign the historic legislation. 🙂
Many Americans are worried that a national health care system with universal coverage would be an expensive proposition for the United States. In fact, a better-organized system, covering everybody, would almost certainly cut our health care costs – after all, every other rich nation’s health care system is cheaper than ours. Americans also tend to believe that the private sector can run a medical system for less money than the government can; all the evidence from around the world suggests the opposite.
– T.R.Reid in The Healing of America, P.24-25
Folks, at long last a bright sunny day has dawned for the American people.
A red letter day, if you ask us.
For far too long, America’s evil quartet of greedy doctors, callous insurance companies, rapacious pharmaceutical firms and mercenary hospitals have collectively killed tens of thousands of people every single year by denying medical care to the sick who were uninsured and couldn’t afford the high costs.
In collusion with their scumbag Republican partners and lobbyists, this evil quartet has massacred far more Americans than Osama bin Laden did on that fateful day in September 2001.
Think we’re kidding?
Harvard Medical School researchers have calculated that every year 45,000 people die in the U.S. because they can’t afford medical care. We wouldn’t be surprised if the number is significantly higher.
The numbers of uninsured Americans are growing and we reckon it should be around 50 million today. Not a small figure for a country of 300 million people.
Citing a World Health Organization study, T.R.Reid writes that in terms of fairness the U.S. health-care system is behind Bangladesh and Maldives. How disgusting.
Such is the dark side of the U.S. health-care system.
Healthy Reform
Today, the Obama administration took aim at one party in the evil quartet – America’s cruel, merciless health-insurance companies – and placed a big step forward in providing universal coverage.
Obama’s reform bill ends some of the pernicious practices of the U.S. healthcare system that have made life miserable for millions for several decades and killed several hundred thousand Americans over the years.
Here are some key features of Obama’s health-care reform bill (keep in mind that some of the benefits won’t come into effect until 2014):
* 32 million Americans are now expected to gain access to health insurance under the new bill.
* America’s disgusting insurance companies will no longer be able to deny coverage for pre-existing conditions, drop sick patients from their insurance rolls or put a cap on paying for the treatment. For far too long, insurance companies here have routinely denied coverage for pre-existing conditions, abruptly dropped sick members from their rolls, capped reimbursements, jacked up premiums at will and generally made life hell for members. And where do you think all the profits made from such cheap and murderous practices are going? Recently health insurance company Cigna handed out a $111 million retirement package. Yes, that is $111 million.
* Americans must buy insurance in the to-be-created exchanges or face fines (comes into effect in 2014).
* Families making too little money to buy insurance (i.e. earning up to $30,000 for a family of four) will be eligible for Medicaid. Unfortunately, this provision will not take effect until 2014. So expect another 135,000 or more Americans to die in the meantime.
* Tax credit assistance will be available for families (of four members) earning up to $88,000 so that no more than 9.5% of their income is spent on buying insurance. Sadly, this provision will not come into effect until 2014.
* Yes, children can stay on their parents’ policies until they are 26.
Are We Satisfied?
Hell, no.
In our not-so-humble view, the best health-care system for the people is something like UK’s National Health Service where the government provides health care to all the people without any medical bills or alternatively a single payer system like Canada.
Unfortunately, there are too many rogue elements in the U.S. standing in the way of currently getting the UK system or even a Canadian-style health-care delivery model.
So, for the nonce we’ll settle for Obama’s reform bill and hope that eventually we move toward a UK or Canadian system.
More Work Necessary
Here’s what Obama’s healthcare reform bill does not address:
* America’s insurance companies still do not face competition in most of the markets they operate in. That is because President Obama abandoned the public option he initially championed.
* America’s doctors are the greediest bastards on this planet. Some of these sick scumbags charge as much as $120 from uninsured patients for a mere 1-minute of cursory consultation. Obama’s bill does not address the high fees charged by doctors for minor procedures and also fails to impose penalties on doctors for refusing to see Medicare/Medicaid patients.
* America’s pharmaceutical companies have raped the citizenry of this country with impunity by charging extortionist prices for their drugs. Why do you think millions of Americans buy the same drugs from Canada, India or elsewhere. Because they are much cheaper. Obama’s bill does not address the high cost of drugs in the U.S. nor does it simplify the process of import of drugs from foreign countries.
* America’s hospitals are sickening and inefficient organizations where emergency room visits even for those with insurance can take five to six hours and the uninsured are charged three to four times what others pay. Obama’s bill does not address the ridiculously high fees charged by hospitals for medical procedures.
* America’s sky-high health-care costs are still not addressed by this bill. Sad. The high cost nightmare of the American health-care system will not change until we bring insurance companies, doctors, pharmaceutical firms and hospitals completely to heel under our boots.
We must have price controls in place at every layer in the health-care delivery chain. No ifs, no buts.
Until the above problems are addressed we would not consider the current health care mess in the U.S. to be completely fixed but today certainly marks a good first step on the road to a civilized society.
By the way, Obama succeeded where that serial philanderer Bill ‘Suck-My-Dick-Monica’ Clinton failed.
As for the ReThuglican Republican pigs, they didn’t even try because they just don’t care for the American people. All these ReThuglican malefactors care about is their corporate benefactors
Folks, decent health-care is a fundamental right of every human.
Not a privilege.
Time all nations recognize it and, more importantly, act on it.
Hooray, Obama Defeats Evil Mothafuckas with Health-Care Reform; Ends Mass Murder in America added by SearchIndia.com on
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Hei guys
Congratulations! Hope it only starts to get better over there
SearchIndia.com Responds:
We hope so. Parkalam (we’ll see).
Is the post really written by usual SearchIndia blogger. I am skeptical since signature line is missing. This blog does not have a comparison/reference/peeing on India’s current health-care system (anything such exist?!). Not even a word/phrase/sentence or a paragraph….
SearchIndia.com Responds:
You write: This blog does not have a comparison/reference/peeing on India’s current health-care system (anything such exist?!).
Funny. 😉
The above post is aimed primarily at our U.S. audience and we did not think it relevant to touch upon the dismal Indian scenario.
That said, India has no worthwhile health-care system to speak of nor will it get one in the next few decades.
India’s government hospitals are a joke at the expense of the poor.
@SI: India’s government hospitals are a joke at the expense of the poor.
I dont remember of entering a government hospital when sick but once . I was injured at head- skin was slightly slit by a truck’s number plate while playing hide and seek (more than 17yrs back). Police filed case since that road was not meant for parking trucks. So following the rule, I was taken to a Govt hospital, they shaved my head for stitching. They stitched brutally (think of any horror hollywood movie) without anesthesia. Doctor reasoned that the skin on head would be usually hard and rough, so I would experience lesser pain (later my father was told that the hospital ran out of anesthesia?!).
Guess what? I still feel the pain and was crying out my life. From then, I seldom step into this biggest slaughter house/graveyard of Chennai…(recently built)…
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:GovernmentHospitalChennai.JPG
SearchIndia.com Responds:
You write: I seldom step into this biggest slaughter house/graveyard of Chennai
According to Wiki, Government Hospital in Chennai is ‘one of the best in the state and ranks among the top ten in the Indian subcontinent.’ Go figure!
one of the best in the state and ranks among the top ten in the Indian subcontinent
It’s like claiming Surya is the best when compared to Vijay/Ajith/Vishal/Simbu, ambu et al. I live in chennai and encountered many mishaps of these stinking-so-called-hospital from many who actually visited.
Further wiki pages which usually gets updated frequently shows
This page was last modified on 17 December 2009 at 07:10.
I wonder whether anyone had ever moderated this page to reflect reality.
SearchIndia.com Responds:
We’ll take your word for it.
Just finished watching Schindlers list for the nth time. Such a charmer. I always wonder how did Steven Speilberg managed to release Jurassic Park and this movie at the same year. Both are two extremes when it comes to story, human values, script or whatever.
SearchIndia.com Responds:
Here’s a nice quote from Schindler’s List:
Spielberg – nice achievement indeed
Jurassic park: Filming took place from August 24 to November 30, 1992
Shooting for Schindler’s List began on March 1, 1993 in Kraków (Cracow), Poland, and continued for seventy-one days.[2]
But still amazing.. instead of being obsessed with releasing Jurassic Park, he started working on the list.
There are many memorable quotes in this movie but which i liked the most was…
“This is very cruel, Oskar. You’re giving them hope. You shouldn’t do that. That’s cruel!”
Amon yelling at Oskar for splashing water at the Jews who were tightly packed in the train and getting dehydrated. Even though Oskar know that those Jews were taken to slaughter house, he did a good deed for them. This is one of the scene which depicts Oskar’s change of mind and also paves way for Amon to develop doubts on Oskar’s actual intention.
SearchIndia.com Responds:
Yes, the above is indeed a nice quote.
Just back from Philadelphia after watching a lovely French movie. Review coming later tonight.
So you went for a movie…I was worrying why my comments haven’t been moderated for quite a long time and of course about you too.
You can do a good deed by post a line at the top of site visible to everyone if you are going somewhere (even to sleep, if you know what its means) like “I am out and your comments wont be processed for the next 5 or whatever hours”. Will be very useful for fragile hearts like me…
SearchIndia.com Responds:
You write: You can do a good deed by post a line at the top of site visible to everyone if you are going somewhere (even to sleep, if you know what its means) like “I am out and your comments wont be processed for the next 5 or whatever hours”. Will be very useful for fragile hearts like me…
Ha ha ha!
Yes, we went to Philly…had different kinds of Chaat at a Pakistani Chaat house (Bombay Chaat, Samosa Chaat et al) and then headed for a movie.
Haha joke.
now every body must buy “insurance”.
no guarantees of quality of service.
As some on on reddit put it “As long as some one can’t make a profit off of you, you’re gonna be left to die.”
SearchIndia.com Responds:
You write: no guarantees of quality of service.
A good first step considering the tens of thousands who die every year because of lack of health-care.
Let’s give Obama some well-deserved credit, shall we.
You sound like the ReThuglicans with their shrill cry that the world would collapse if the Health-Care Reform Bill became law. Here we are, 24 hours after Obama signed the bill and the sun still rose in the East today and the world is still standing!
umm.. did Karl Rove rub off on you or what?
I point out one area for improvement and i sound like the “others”
Ehhmm. You pointed out more than that in “More Work Necessary” 🙂
Compare that with : every one is forced to buy tickets to all Tamil films. Those who cannot will be provided subsidies. No theater owner can deny entry to any one any more. But there is not guarantee of the quality of the theaters, or the crap they show. Would you not want to point the obvious flaw here?
SearchIndia.com Responds:
You write: every one is forced to buy tickets to all Tamil films. Those who cannot will be provided subsidies…
Watching Namitha’s bountiful bosom is not the same as having your life in the balance when you fall sick and can’t get treated because the country is at the mercy of the obscenely greedy quartet (Docs/Insurance Firms/Hospitals/Big Pharma).
duh. there is no guarantee that you will get to watch “Namitha’s bountiful bosom”. It could be vadivelu and Senthil all the time. “No guarantee of quality”
Now that all of us have to pay for insurance, And there still is no guarantee of any quality of service, all we get is the same mistreatment for more expense.
having your life in the balance, and not getting treated, and paying for not getting treated, is worse!! This Law only says we have to pay, insurance of fine, we have to pay. It does not say the health care providers have to provide care or incur fines. So now the infrastructure that was handling, very poorly i might add, about 200 million people is not supposed to provide for all 300 mil. You can guess what’s going to happen to the quality of service.
I’m more than happy to pay for my insurance and help out a few of my neighbors,unfortunate, but when all this Law does is force me to pay to the fat cats at united health, blue shield etc, but does not assure me that i or those i end up helping monetarily will be getting good quality in return for my increased expense, I cant support it. Now if there was a Public Option, there could be some hope. without it, there is no competition.
SearchIndia.com Responds:
You write: all we get is the same mistreatment for more expense.
You misunderstand.
Forget mistreatment. Earlier there was no treatment because uninsured couldn’t afford to buy insurance. In 2014, uninsured can buy insurance through the so-called insurance exchanges or if the consumer can’t afford to the govt steps in to assist him/her. Presumably, there will be some choice. Even if there isn’t, remember currently too in much of the country there really is no competition.
As for your point about quality of service going down, keep in mind these insurance exchanges are going to be government regulated and hence not just a money-spinning deal for insurance firms. Unless, we slip back into ReThuglican control and their stupid mantra of less regulation we should be better than before.
Let’s wait and see how the new law gets implemented evolves before showing it the middle finger.
Bottom line, we agree with you that it could have been better but a good beginning nevertheless given the tremendous resistance Obama faced from the status quoists.
have you seen ‘the legend of 1900’.. its quite .. hmm.. unique..
music by Enino Morricone and directed by Giuseppe Tornatore (director of Cinema Paradiso).
couldnt really clasify this film and also couldnt say its a classic.. but.. overall its enchanting .. not much of a story but.. there are scenes I couldnt imaging myself watchin again in other films.. its unique… its extraordinary.. and the music .. heavenly.
SearchIndia.com Responds:
No, we haven’t.
We’ll watch it for sure because we
likelove both Enino Morricone and Giuseppe Tornatore.The plan does not solve the single biggest problem of controlling the insurance industry.
Rather it feeds millions of citizens to them with the costs borne by the government.
Your comparison of Obama to Clinton is wrong as well. Hilary not Bill championed the health care debate in the mid 90s and did not get the support from the Democratic party first before pushing in her agenda which proved to be her undoing.
SearchIndia.com Responds:
1. You write: The plan does not solve the single biggest problem of controlling the insurance industry.
Wrong.
The single biggest problem is the tens of millions of uninsured Americans. Everything else is secondary to that. Through the just-passed bill, Obama and Democrats have to some extent addressed the single biggest problem – uninsured Americans.
The second problem is further reining in the insurance industry, and crushing the scumbag triad of doctors, hospitals and pharmaceutical firms.
In the not too distant future, insurance companies can no longer deny coverage on the basis of pre-existing conditions or cap reimbursements. So insurance companies have been reined in to some extent already.
2. You write: Hilary not Bill championed the health care debate in the mid 90s
Wrong, again.
It was Bill Clinton’s initiative initially.
According to Wiki, Bill Clinton campaigned on that plank.
You might want to read Clinton health care plan of 1993.
The fact that it was derailed by vested interests was a tragedy of epic proportions for millions.
Your logic of blaming the uninsured people is analogous to blaming the vast population of Jews for the Holocaust. There were too many.
I agree that doctors, hospitals and pharma is to blame as well, but the only wheel which does not provide a valuable service and gets money is insurance. If you think insurance has been reined in, you are sadly mistaken.
The logical solution was to include the public options and put caps on the litigation damages which would have negated the insurance and gotten the support of the doctors.
This is just the beginning of a long battle ahead.
SearchIndia.com Responds:
1. You write: Your logic of blaming the uninsured people is analogous to blaming the vast population of Jews for the Holocaust.
Gosh, when did we ever blame the uninsured people?
God, these poor souls are the victims dying on the altar of greed of Doctors/Insurance firms/Hospitals/Big pharma.
2. You write: The logical solution was to include the public options and put caps on the litigation damages which would have negated the insurance and gotten the support of the doctors.
Agree on the public option.
As for the bribe of putting caps on the litigation damages to get the support of the doctors, that is a one-trick pony the doctors have been riding on for years, i.e. blaming trial lawyers.
In our not-so-humble opinion, most doctors here are obscenely greedy scumbags with no concern for their fellow human beings. Their only goal in life is to kneecap trial lawyers.
$120 for a 1-minute consultation is beyond disgusting. But that’s the way this doctor tribe of mothaf*ckas function in this country. There needs to be price/fee control by the government on doctors, hospitals, pharmaceutical firms and the upcoming Insurance Exchanges.
@SI: As for the bribe of putting caps on the litigation damages to get the support of the doctors, that is a one-trick pony the doctors have been riding on for years, i.e. blaming trial lawyers.
So True!! every time you go in to a doctor’s office, even before you get to see the doctor you have to sign a waiver of your rights to a fair trial and agree to resolve any disputes through an arbitration process outside of the judicial system. Wonder what the stats are on how often a doctor gets sued and how much it costs them. [ + the nation ]
@SI: In our not-so-humble opinion, most doctors here are obscenely greedy scumbags with no concern for their fellow human beings. Their only goal in life is to kneecap trial lawyers.
And to purchase a Boat!! Have you ever been to a doctor’s office without a boat magazine in the waiting area? Its like they are sending you not so subtle hints..
SearchIndia.com Responds:
We have doctor friends from India who have fed us some horror stories of how the judicial system and trial lawyers have conspired to make life miserable for everyone.
While we are no great fans of trial lawyers, we think the fear of these sharks is what keeps the hospitals and doctors from stepping over the mistreatment line into the dark ill-treatment zone.
Our doctors here have been mostly of South Asian origin and we haven’t seen the boating mags. Maybe, they are buying fancy apartments in Chennai or Ahmedabad.
i dont fully understand about the proposed health care bill. but from what i read, i believe people will have more options for where to buy insurance from in 2014. if thats the case, employers will have the freedom to stop providing health insurance to its employees. it is just a benefit provided to entice people working for them. they might just scrap the option of providing health insurance to the employees. why take the trouble negotiating with the big corps for a competitive premium prices when their employees can get it by themselves? If these employers give the premium cost directly to the employees, its fine. Otherwise, the companies are going to take home a huge chunk of employees money.
SearchIndia.com Responds:
One of the biggest achievements of the new law is that it to some extent reins in the insurance companies’ horrible practices like no coverage for pre-existing conditions et al.
Let’s see how the insurance exchanges work in practice. One of the biggest problems is that in a lot of states the insurance firms have little competition. That works against consumers getting competitive prices.
you said: “One of the biggest problems is that in a lot of states the insurance firms have little competition”
really? quick google, i found plenty of companies offering health insurance in Arkansas. am i missing something?
you said: “One of the biggest problems is that in a lot of states the insurance firms have little competition”
really? quick google, i found plenty of companies offering health insurance in Arkansas. am i missing something?
SearchIndia.com Responds:
You write: quick google, i found plenty of companies offering health insurance in Arkansas. am i missing something?
In a lot of markets, there’s little real competition.
Please see below links:
Arkansas Times:
Competition Lacking Among Private Health Insurance Companies