Image via WikipediaAmerica’s health care dilemma is about to come to a dramatic conclusion within the next few hours. Senators in Washington are set to cast their votes on president Obama historic health care bill that promises to provide access to affordable healthcare for approximately 30 million un-insured citizens.
Conservatives who have been dead set on killing it from the start have been whipping their supporters into a heated frenzy in all facets of society. For months the offices of democratic senators were bombarded with letters, phone calls, and even threats in relation to the Bill.
On right wing radio I heard Limbah say “We have to kill it before it gets passed or we won’t be able to touch it afterwards.” While many people side against it for political and ideological reasons there are many others who simply tag along for more frivolous reasons such as, they just don’t like Obama.
America’s health care system is arguable the best in the world. It functions on a system developed through Capitalism and Free Enterprise. The problem is it is vulnerable to corruption in many ways. There have been many cases of people losing there coverage if they are chronically ill. Some people have to mortgage their homes in order to pay their high hospital bills. There are still others who have to make heart wrenching and unethical decisions as to whether they should keep their severely ill family member on life support or lose their life savings in paying the medical bills.
The main characters in the health care system are; Doctors, hospitals, pharmaceutical companies, and insurance companies. All the main players have become tight partners in exploiting the public’s health issues. While some conservatives might agree to this to a certain extent their main issue is excessive government involvement in one of America’s key liberties, free enterprise. They believe that companies should be allowed to make a profit without the government trying to socialize how they operate. If people cannot afford health premiums they need to take it upon themselves to do better in life. Improve their education, get better jobs, stop complaining and stop relying on government hand outs.
Doctors are well educated, highly paid, and do a very good job but unfortunately most are at the mercy of the system they work in. Most doctors prescribe and administer drugs provided by the hospitals they work for. The hospitals have deals with selected pharmaceutical companies. These pharmaceutical companies provide an array of drugs and medical supplies to the hospitals. They develop drugs in their own facilities and by aligning themselves with universities around the country where they do research and development. New drugs are often tested in these schools and in the hospitals they partnered with.
Insurance companies are singled out as the bad guy in the whole system. When someone with insurance gets treated in the hospital, (usually the hospital that the insurance company deals with) the insurance company picks up the bulk of the bill. Insurance companies have thousands of clients paying anywhere from $200 to $2000 per month depending on their coverage. Most people are covered through the companies they work for. The company covers part and the employee picks up the rest. A select number of others are covered by the government through medic-aid. The government also picks up the tab for uninsured emergency care that people cannot afford to pay for out of pocket.
The problem with the health insurance industry is that most insurance companies have turned into unethical money hungry monsters. They collect money from people for years to provide assistance in times of illness but when that assistance cuts into their profits they look for ways to dump their problem clients or deny coverage.
Insurance companies see their targeting as unjustified. They argue that high premiums are often the result of abuses in other areas. $30 for one aspirin for example is the result of the hospital knowing that a patient’s health insurance will pick up the tab. Their excuse is that everyone else inflates their prices so they have to keep up by hiking premiums.
Whatever the outcome of the vote, Americans can look forward to continuous debate and animosity surrounding the whole issue of health care. If passed it will bring many needed changes to the health care industry. Socialist or not, one thing is clear, peoples lives should not be treated as a commodity.
Conservatives who have been dead set on killing it from the start have been whipping their supporters into a heated frenzy in all facets of society. For months the offices of democratic senators were bombarded with letters, phone calls, and even threats in relation to the Bill.
On right wing radio I heard Limbah say “We have to kill it before it gets passed or we won’t be able to touch it afterwards.” While many people side against it for political and ideological reasons there are many others who simply tag along for more frivolous reasons such as, they just don’t like Obama.
America’s health care system is arguable the best in the world. It functions on a system developed through Capitalism and Free Enterprise. The problem is it is vulnerable to corruption in many ways. There have been many cases of people losing there coverage if they are chronically ill. Some people have to mortgage their homes in order to pay their high hospital bills. There are still others who have to make heart wrenching and unethical decisions as to whether they should keep their severely ill family member on life support or lose their life savings in paying the medical bills.
The main characters in the health care system are; Doctors, hospitals, pharmaceutical companies, and insurance companies. All the main players have become tight partners in exploiting the public’s health issues. While some conservatives might agree to this to a certain extent their main issue is excessive government involvement in one of America’s key liberties, free enterprise. They believe that companies should be allowed to make a profit without the government trying to socialize how they operate. If people cannot afford health premiums they need to take it upon themselves to do better in life. Improve their education, get better jobs, stop complaining and stop relying on government hand outs.
Doctors are well educated, highly paid, and do a very good job but unfortunately most are at the mercy of the system they work in. Most doctors prescribe and administer drugs provided by the hospitals they work for. The hospitals have deals with selected pharmaceutical companies. These pharmaceutical companies provide an array of drugs and medical supplies to the hospitals. They develop drugs in their own facilities and by aligning themselves with universities around the country where they do research and development. New drugs are often tested in these schools and in the hospitals they partnered with.
Insurance companies are singled out as the bad guy in the whole system. When someone with insurance gets treated in the hospital, (usually the hospital that the insurance company deals with) the insurance company picks up the bulk of the bill. Insurance companies have thousands of clients paying anywhere from $200 to $2000 per month depending on their coverage. Most people are covered through the companies they work for. The company covers part and the employee picks up the rest. A select number of others are covered by the government through medic-aid. The government also picks up the tab for uninsured emergency care that people cannot afford to pay for out of pocket.
The problem with the health insurance industry is that most insurance companies have turned into unethical money hungry monsters. They collect money from people for years to provide assistance in times of illness but when that assistance cuts into their profits they look for ways to dump their problem clients or deny coverage.
Insurance companies see their targeting as unjustified. They argue that high premiums are often the result of abuses in other areas. $30 for one aspirin for example is the result of the hospital knowing that a patient’s health insurance will pick up the tab. Their excuse is that everyone else inflates their prices so they have to keep up by hiking premiums.
Whatever the outcome of the vote, Americans can look forward to continuous debate and animosity surrounding the whole issue of health care. If passed it will bring many needed changes to the health care industry. Socialist or not, one thing is clear, peoples lives should not be treated as a commodity.
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