“Get Government Out of Health Care!” O.K. Will Do!

There are people who are screaming this from every possible vantage point. “Get government out of health care!” “I don’t want government running ANY health insurance or health coverage!”

O.K. Fine! Here goes!

The government listens to the voices of these people and here is what government does.

Medicare A and B, as of 2:00 PM today, is now null and void. As of that time every single person who had this coverage MUST buy private insurance. Medicaid is also null and void as of 2:00 this afternoon. Anyone seeking benefits from this program are now expected to get an insurance policy and use those benefits.

The Military Health services are being sold to private corporations. Any and all military currently in the service and any veterans, as well as their families are now required to obtain private insurance at their own cost. Veterans Administration offices as well as all hospitals, clinics and other services are being closed at midnight.

All Federal employees are, as of midnight, no longer covered. This will include the F.B.I, C.I.A., F.D.A., and other federal agencies. Those who are employed by any federal agency are now expected to buy their own private health insurance on the open market.

Members of Congress, Members of the Senate, and all their staff and family members are NO LONGER covered by the group insurance plan, as of midnight tonight. This will include every staff employee, including those in the embassies around the world, their families, and all staff attached to the embassies, including security services and janitorial.

The federal government is also hereby mandated to enact the clearing of any other health care insurances covered by government, from State employees to local City and Town employees. This will require that all Fire, Police, and Emergency Services persons must now buy their own health coverage from insurance companies.

All hospitals, clinics, doctors, nurses and other personnel are now asked to find other employment, as their services are no longer required. The Federal government is putting all buildings up for sale in an auction format.

Get Government out of Health Care Services? This is what you are demanding, so this is what you get.

Health Care Costs under Universal Health Care System

I was going to put in information on several countries, but quickly realized that would end up being far too long, far too complicated for me ( conversion of pounds to dollars, etc) so I am going to stick with one country.

This is the coverage in Canada under the current law in Manitoba, but it is basically the same across the country.

Canadian residents receive the hospital and physician care they need, without worrying about whether they can pay for it. The Canada Health Act says each province and territory must offer health care that is:
* publicly run
* comprehensive, to cover medically necessary services provided by a doctor or hospital
* universal, to offer every insured person the same coverage
* portable to other provinces
* accessible, to prevent barriers to medically necessary hospital or physician services

What medical services are insured by Manitoba Health?

Manitoba Health directly pays physicians’ services that are medically required for you or your dependants.  If you are a Manitoba resident, and are physically present in the province for 183 days, you are eligible for insured medical services.  Benefits include the following services:
* Patients who are billed for insured services by physicians who practice outside the plan are entitled to reimbursement from Manitoba Health
* Physicians’ services
* Surgery / anaesthesia
* X-ray and laboratory services in approved facilities when ordered by a physician
What other practitioners’ services am I insured for?
Optometrists
If you are under 19 years of age or 65 and over you may receive one complete routine eye exam every two years.  Exams for all ages will be covered if deemed medically necessary by your physician or optometrist.
Chiropractors
Manitoba Health will insure a maximum of 12 visits per Manitoba resident per calendar year.  The adjustment of the spinal column, pelvis and extremities are insured chiropractic services.
Dental Surgeons
Manitoba Health will insure certain dental procedures when hospitalization is required.
Which hospital services are insured?
You are insured for the following hospital services:
* Accommodation and meals at the standard level
* Necessary nursing services
* Laboratory, x-ray and diagnostic procedures
* Medications administered in a hospital
* Use of the operating room, care room and anaesthetic facilities
* Routine surgical supplies
* Occupational, speech and physiotherapy
* Dietetic counselling
Cost
Manitobans do not pay health care premiums.

That’s right! Manitobans DO NOT pay premiums, nor do Albertans, nor do most of the people in Canada except those living in British Columbia, Ontario.

The premiums for those living in BC. are:

In B.C., premiums are payable for MSP coverage and are based on family size and income. The monthly rates are: $54 for one person $96 for a family of two $108 for a family of three or more.

Yes, that is $108 dollars for an entire family of three or MORE!

Here is the site, for those who need to verify

According to World Health Organization (WHO) 2001 statistics, Canada’s total expenditure on health as an expenditure of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is 9.5%. This can be compared with 13.9% in the  United States and 7.6% in the  United Kingdom.

The bogus arguement is that Universal health care will be MORE expensive than the cost of health care now in the U.S. These percentages show otherwise, completely otherwise because the U.K. has also limits on the cost of medications and other services NOT available under the Canadian system.

Ontario has just recently begun to charge health care premiums on a sliding scale, according to income.

Here is the site for the premium rates in Ontario

If you earn less than $20,000 PER YEAR, there is NO COST at all. Period.

If you earn up to $72,000 dollars per year, your monthly premium is $50, yearly cost is $600.

Say you earn more than $201,000 per year, then you pay the MOST, which is $75 per month or $900 per year! Can you afford this on that kind of income? My bet is that you definitely can, even if you are budgeting your income.

So you can understand the confusion with some of us when there are claims of creating a hugely expensive health care system, and we know these numbers from our own daily life.

Our system covers the basics that most people need on a routine or emergency basis, including ambulances in most provinces and certainly doctors, hospitals, and surgery.

Remember here, there are provinces that DO NOT HAVE ANY HEALTH CARE PREMIUMS AT ALL! And yes, they get the services too.

Remember also that the provinces that do charge health care premiums also have a sliding scale that eliminates payments from those who do not have incomes below a certain level, so the health services are there for every single family and person.

What Does NOT Happen In Countries With Universal Health Care

There are so many stories, so many ways that people are made to suffer because of financial limitations that it has become almost acceptable to live this way.

This video has one of the many stories of insurance companies denying coverage to pay for ONE person’s income. Personally this story is unbelievable to me, but apparently this story is common too.

CEO is paid millions while people are denied service and health care by the company.

O.K. so what is the solution here? There have been debates over private versus public health care, profit over the social need to care for each and every person, and certainly debates over the way health care is seen as either a corporate business versus the responsibility of the society and government to see health as a necessary service.

There are videos playing as advertisements on the media that have spotlighted horror stories about health care in countries where the health care systems are seen as “socialism” or even as some kind of horror in and of itself. What is missing are the videos of the people who are dumped on the sidewalk outside of hospitals because those people are old, need health services and either they or the families cannot afford the medicines, the support, the care necessary.

People living in countries with Universal Health Care are horrified when they see this inhumane treatment of people who have lived a long life. These people have raised families, probably worked hard, yet this is the treatment they get when they get ill or need care? THIS is totally unacceptable in a civilized society.

Get something straight, here. Grandparents, the elderly, are NOT dumped in countries where there is universal health care. Yes, some people wait for surgery that is ELECTIVE, meaning non-life threatening, but if there is any indication of a life-threatening condition, then the surgery or other care is immediately done.

No system is perfect, given that human beings are not perfect, not machines who can just make precognitive decisions that are all-knowing, all-seeing, but from what is currently happening in the U.S. there is obvious room for improvement. Children are literally dying from lack of care, and people are literally dying because of the lack of money. Even those WITH insurance are dying because of a truly bizarre practice of reneging on coverage post-surgery.

In those countries where there is universal health care, medications are given that are generic first, unless the doctor specifies otherwise by stating “no substitutions” on the prescriptions. The generic versions of the medications MUST be as effective as the brand-name by law. The companies that produce the brand-name medications are saying they put far too much money into research and development, but the reality is that the percentage of the money spent is very low. Profit is the main goal with these companies too, and generic medications are less profitable.

Universal health care also gives the patient the power of choice. If one doctor is not satisfactory, then the patient can easily find and see another doctor. The care is there, for the patient to choose, and the doctors are certainly NOT suffering from lack of income.

The lies that are out there about the idea of universal health care are totally bizarre, and for some people, a form of fear mongering that echoes the Bush claims of WMD’s.

Some countries even have care and private nursing for the elderly, the house-bound, those who have no means to get to medical services, and some countries even pay for housing and care for those same people. Imagine having a nurse and a doctor go to the patient in a place where there are people who care daily for the patients. Imagine the patient paying $6 for a medication instead of $80, and no charge for going to a clinic or diagnostic lab for treatment!

Bottom line here? Patients are the ones who have the power of choice, and patients are the ones who are the beneficiaries of heath services. Doctors are quite well paid, and there are no bureaucrats “rationing” care. Yes, there are limits on some things like using highly expensive treatments when less expensive treatments are just as effective, if not MORE effective. But if those treatments are not quite the ego boost that some people need, they are quite welcome to find those very expensive treatments as long as the patient is willing to pay the difference.  The basic cost IS covered, however.

Ambulances go to the scene of accidents and pick up patients and take them to the nearest hospital without charge. Even air ambulances will do that, and not charge the patients. Yes, there is NO cost to the patient for an ambulance! No-one is asked for their wallet before anyone cares for a seriously injured person, and that would be considered bizarre if that happened.

Get the facts straight before you decide that “socialized” medical services are, somehow, evil.

There have been literally decades to debate, to research, to find facts, to get information, yet somehow some people are demanding more time. Why?

The only answer I can see is that those people demanding MORE time are either very glad to keep the status quo, or they have a vested interest in keeping the companies profitable, or they are fearful that the change means that every single citizen is, in fact, equal to them!

Enough already, there has been plenty of time to find the facts, GET ON WITH IT!

Bush Puts Through Health Bigotry Law

I am honestly sitting here shaking my head at the antidiluvian measures the outgoing American president created in his last days of office. What this law does is make it blatantly apparent that Bush wanted to overthrow the decision of the U.S. Supreme Court re: Roe vs. Wade and make it possible for further governments to reverse that decision.  It also is apparent that this is a deliberate attempt to force the U. S. health system into a Christian only belief system.

The health measure he created and made into law by decree, without any possibility of debate is completely filled with bigotry. What this law does is make health providers, from doctors and nurses, to pharmacists and others the people who can impose their own bigotry and disdain for human life onto patients and clients.

Imagine this scenario. A person who has AIDS or is HIV positive has to see a doctor, and that person also happens to be gay. Well, according to this law, the doctor, the nurse and any others can refuse to treat, refer, or even see that patient because of their own “moral persuasion.” The providers can have the “moral persuasion” that being gay or lesbian is abhorrent. Now, add in the fact that the patient is possibly pregnant and wants to get some information on the genetics or have other health treatment and it becomes a total nightmare. This law gives health providers the means to impose harsh judgements on lives and the ability to deny any care whatsoever.

Or, imagine this one. A senior is looking for help with pain, and wants to be admitted to hospital for possible testing, but that patient is not a Christian, but perhaps pagan, or of another faith which requires special treatment. The health providers, including the hospital, can now deny that person the ability to have their community come in and provide any counselling or symbols. This could mean those who are Sikh being forced to have facial hair shaved, their turbans removed, and any prayer items removed from the room. Or, worse still, the patient is told, ” We cannot, with our moral stance, treat you at all. Find another place.”

When it comes to health care for women who face unwanted pregnancy, or have to find ways to deal with a health issue during pregnancy, the situation becomes very ugly if bigotry and religious belief come into play. I know there are some doctors who will absolutely refuse to refer, provide alternative information, or even talk to patients who face pregnancies that endanger the mental or physical health of a woman. This is blatant bigotry.

Doctors, pharmacists and others are in the field to provide health care, not judgement, bigotry and even racism with their medications. IF you are one of those who insist on being so narrow minded, then either limit your practice to patients who are of the same mind or get out. Find a position in another field, perhaps research, but DO NOT impose your beliefs on others, even if the outgoing president provides you the means.

It is time for Bush to get the hell out of power, and it is obvious that the beliefs of Bush are set in the early 1920’s, certainly not even close to current society belief and practice.

It is time that the American public understand some things. There have been people who are gay and lesbian since the time of Caesar, and there have been unwanted pregnancies since long before then. Women have aborted fetuses for centuries, either with medical help or without. OUR modern society is facing a huge problem already with overpopulation, scarcity of resources, and the idea that forcing another child to become part of an unwilling society is far more of a violation of their rights than stopping the process.

Each child born now needs to have at least 65 years of food, shelter, clothing, and work. For every child born now, there will be that much more drain on the finite resources of this small planet, and when that child is resented, avoided, or even worse, facing abuse because some “health professional” imposed religion on the mother, it becomes a very nasty world for that child.

I have no problem with parents who want to have children, but remember, those who are responsible parents are the ones who use birth control, limit the family, and make sure that every child they have is supported, loved and given the necessities.

Each year I see articles on the costs of supporting more and more families in poverty. The numbers increase every year, yet this law makes the likelihood of far more people either dying in agony from the bigotry, or living in poverty because of that same bigotry. Phooey. Time for our society to grow up, face the reality that we all have no other place to move to, this is the one and only planet we have! It is time to ensure that each person is given respect for their choices, their lives and their needs.