Health Care Reform | 07/02/2009 10:50 am

Obama Tries to Sell Health-Care Plan, But Others Still Worry About Medical Bankruptcies (Video)

There are too many people being sent into financial ruin with crappy coverage, experts say, so what’s Congress going to do about that?

By The Staff at wowOwow.com

We here at wOw told you a few weeks ago about a horrible tragedy going on in America. It turns out, two out of three bankruptcies in America are due to medical bills. If you or your spouse suffers from a serious ailment that lands you in the hospital for any extended period of time, it just may send you into financial ruin.

Now, The New York Times follows up on that, reporting on how even as Congress and Washington try to push through health-care reform to cover the tens of millions of Americans without medical insurance, many health policy experts say giving everyone an insurance card won’t be enough to fix this particular problem. For many Americans, the coverage they have is so skimpy, any major problem can send them right into the red.

"Underinsurance is the great hidden risk of the American health-care system," said Elizabeth Warren, a Harvard law professor who has analyzed medical bankruptcies, and who is heading up the panel overseeing distribution of the government’s economic bailout funds, to the Times. "People do not realize they are one diagnosis away from financial collapse."

Many hope President Obama and Congress will take this into account when they debate health-care reform. Obama yesterday pushed his plan on how to insure the more than 45 million Americans currently without coverage, and he promised to sign a health-care reform bill by the end of the year that cuts health-care costs, expands access to coverage and creates greater efficiency in the system. A key part of this plan includes a public option.

The middle class may be a particularly tough crowd for Obama to sell his plan to. A new CNN/Opinion Research Corp. survey released yesterday shows that people are worried their health-care costs would go up if the administration’s proposals passed, and only one in five thinks that his or her family would be better off under the Obama plan. Fifty-one percent of people surveyed say they favor the president’s health-care plan, with 45 percent opposed.

You can watch Obama at the Virginia town hall below:

192 Reader Comments (so far…) Sign In or Register to comment

Great info, Bill. What is the $9K breakdown? Can you find out? Is that including treatment/RX costs, and Flex accounts?

Or, merely the cost of insurance coverage for 6? If so, double check their figures. Do you pay nothing? is your employer a NGO?

By C jay on 07/04/2009 11:20 am

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I pay nothing toward that plan, just co-pays, reduced prescription costs, and 20% up to my deductible, with a $1m lifetime coverage cap per individual. I get a statement annually breaking down the costs of my various benefits, but without much detail. All it says is "this plan, this deductible, this percent——————$9k"

I put aside some money into a flex account in addition, and it saves me several hundreds of dollars annually. It’s almost tapped out this year, though, because of two operations and several emergency room visits.

What’s an NGO?

By Bill Lee on 07/04/2009 9:14 pm

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First off C jay…I am sorry for all of your health concerns, really I am. First things first, with our current health care system. TORT reform in Texas brought 15,000 doctors back to the state of Texas. We are doing very well here, as a state, in many ways. Obama is beholding to trial lawyers and will NOT persue tort reform, because of the Millions and Millions that they donate to the Dems. Jury awards drive up the costs of health care to the tune of $2,000 PER FAMILY. That money should be ours, to buy coverage that we choose. Malpractice reform and punitive damage caps are essential to bringing the costs into line. The other problem is that there are not enough doctor and medical professionals to treat any additional patients as it stands now. If there are 50 million more added…along with the 120 million that will eventually be forced onto the government plan…IT WILL NOT WORK. You will be waiting over a month just to see a primary care doctor…hundreds of thousands will be waiting for proceedures…and you will NOT have a choice. More doctors and medical professionals must be trained BEFORE any more patients can be adequately cared for. The shortage will only get worse as salary caps and specialties are limited by the government. So that is a FACT…what then? RATIONING of health care. Your care will be decided by 15 members (not one practicing medical professional among them) who decide just WHO gets a proceedure. WHERE it will be done, according to their age/cost standards. Your care and the decisions to pay or not, are GONE. The Comparative Effectivenss Research Council will dictate who is deserving of what proceedures, period. They will also dictate to your doctor how and what they want done. By the way, my 83 year old mother just had a hip replacement last year….all is well and she had wonderful care and the doctor that we chose… So America…before you start chasing after something for nothing….remember the nothing part. There are many other ways to fix what we have, not give it up to the government who has never succeeded in running anything. * Allow purchasing of insurance over statelines * Allow small businesses to pool together * Inact Tort reform *Cap malpractice and punitive damage awards * Bring more medical professionals into the system Obama only want immediate control over the additional 17% of the economy that this health plan gets him. HE DOESN’T care about making the system better….his family has access to the best of care….He wants the power and money that government run health care provides HIM. Ask for a better plan…an American plan…for Americans…not the huge corporate giants that are in bed with this administration.

By Kelly In Texas on 07/04/2009 1:03 pm

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Health concerns, or actualities of life, KIT?

And, there you go again with the non-sourced quotes. in re: TORT reform in Texas brought 15,000 doctors back to the state of Texas. We are doing very well here, as a state, in many ways.

Not so!The state board is eons behind transferring medical licenses so now we have so-called M.Ds./D.O.s working here who are notstate licensed, in many cases their license applications sitting on chairman’s desks, while the docs are working, some in responsible life-dealing positions, like reading women’s mammograms (falsely no less - I lost a breast to one of them, and I’m damned careful!).

The docs who’s been sued, and lost, are flooding into Texas (Doesn’t that just warm your heart? Better check our your doctor’s credentials, those blokes are driving most of us nuts.)

Why are they flooding into or back to Texas? Because they’re medical malpractice insurance will cost less because now in Texas, under the blessed Tort Reform, they can only be sued for $250,000.00 no matter what they do to patients. Hence the insurance is less expensive here. Eh, what happens to protect RNs in Texas. Nada!

There are foreign owned "clinics" here now, too - some out of Israel in fact, that hire these recycled docs. And how do they protect them? Well, there’s a little invitation in clinics and hospitals that reads, "Tell Us How We Are Doing" - so someone fills it out at one of "those" clinics, and mentions they’re like more information from Dr. So and So, or they were unhappy with the care, or with Dr. So and So, and within a few days a Certified Letteris delivered to the naughty complaining patient signed by the head of "the clinic (which has opened it’s own hospital here, too now)," which reads they are sorry they are not able serve that patients ‘needs’ so they will not see them again, followed by the usual verbiage that it’s "very imporatnt you access care soon, and in the interim … " IOW, these re-cycled docs are firing patients for SPEAKING UP AND OUT, which Lucius Leape M.D. pleaded for patients to start doing to save lives (back in the late 90s!)

Sure, things are great in Texas!

What should be done? The state board of medical examiners must beef up processing of medical licenses, and/or the hospitals, medical schools, et al must not employ a physician without being state board licensed, much less only coming in the to the U.S. on an I-9 Visa sectioned for fulfilling gaps in scientific need. No other medical professionals may work without a state license, why should doctors? Belived me, KIT, excellent clinicians do care.

For other greedy guts, money is their only concern. They need to either get out of medicine, or have a brain transplant.

By C jay on 07/04/2009 4:44 pm

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Once again C jay…I feel for the health problems that you have experienced. However, we are doing very well here in Texas, no matter what your personal experience was. There is a shortage of doctors and medical professionals everywhere.

Tort reform has helped and will help with health care costs. Obama will not touch them because he is in bed with the trail lawyers. Like with anything C jay…you must be your own advocate, you must be responsible for checking out who your doctor is…but you DO have a choice…for now. There are very good doctors and some that are not. Having a government run plan will not see the best of the best…they will leave. Your choices will be narrow…your waiting time longer than some people may have.

Me and my family have had the best of experiences medical speaking here in Texas. But I do make time to research and know just who my doctor is, and what his standing is. It is after all…my responsibility, no one elses. My mother has had 2 life saving proceedures with stenting and a hip replacement. She has had extended rehad and is doing wonderfully.

As I have said..it is up to the patient to hire and check out who their doctor is, and what their qualifications are. I choose to take the time to find out, and could not have had a better outcome.

By Kelly In Texas on 07/04/2009 6:46 pm

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AND FINALLY….

"And, if you’re thinking you can maintain your current level of access by simply living with the tax increase and retaining your employer-based coverage, think again. It probably won’t be available. According to the Lewin Group, a respected non-partisan policy research firm, the public option would price most private health carriers out of the market: "The number of people with private health insurance would decline by 119.1 million people. This would be a two-thirds reduction in the number of people with private coverage." Because your current insurer won’t enjoy the taxpayer subsidy that allows the public plan to charge below-market premiums, it won’t be able to compete. You’ll be forced to go on the public plan because there won’t be any other coverage choices.

You will not, however, enjoy those below-market premiums for long. Once the public plan has gained a monopoly in the health coverage market by pricing everyone else out of business, your out-of-pocket expenses will begin to creep up. The pretext for this will involve the need to defray ever-increasing costs, as if Obamacare had not been foisted on you based on the promise that it would control such costs. By then, you may be feeling a little nostalgic about that the old health care system, the one in which you were the final arbiter of your own medical fate. In the dim mists of memory, it may not seem as "inefficient" and "expensive" as it once did.

But the old system, like John Brown, will be moldering in the grave. Meanwhile, in addition to being saddled with those old, familiar health insurance premiums, you will be paying higher taxes and have considerably less access to care. This is how Obamacare will change your life. "

http://spectator.org/archives/2009/06/17/how-obamacare-will-change-your

By deber B on 07/02/2009 11:45 am

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Deber…is this the "hope and change" that obama promised???? Now I get it….yes, the hope will be gone and it will sure be a change!!!!

By Libra Lady on 07/02/2009 11:53 am

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deber b — Since I am not a "paste up" poster I ask that you please go to Newsmax.com and watch the video regarding Helen Thomas and Chip Reid,CBS - rip Obama and the Administration as to the "Controlled" Town Hall Meeting yesterday. Article by Kenneth D. Williams. To say that Helen Thomas was upset is an understatement. And, of course, Robert Gibbs continues to look like a buffoon!

I liked Helen’s quote after the press conference.

"Nixon didn’t try to do that. They couldn’t control (the media). They didn’t try that. What the hell do they think we are, puppets? They’re supposed to stay out of our business. They are public servants. We pay them. I’m not saying there has never been managed news before, but this is carried to fare-thee-well - for the town halls, for the press conferences. It’s blatant. They don’t give a damn if you know it or not. They ought to be hanging their heads in shame."

I say — Go Helen!

By Lady Gator on 07/02/2009 1:07 pm

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WOW! Unbelievable! Go Helen!

By deber B on 07/02/2009 1:37 pm

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Lady: …regarding Helen Thomas and Chip Reid,CBS - rip Obama and the Administration as to the "Controlled" Town Hall Meeting

The MSM speaking up, and actually pointing out the obvious, I was shocked. Gibbs smiled through the whole thing, and the more he smiled, the more Helen Thomas couldn’t seem to stop talking. She definitely was not finding anything funny about it.

Glad someone else saw press conference besides myself. Frankly, I thought I was halucinating.

By Marjorie C. on 07/02/2009 1:41 pm

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Marjorie and Deber — I also thought I was halucinating! Helen appears to be a force to be recokned with! She was "not nice" to Bush, however, it looks like she has found a new target! It’s not nice to "fool" mother Helen!

By Lady Gator on 07/02/2009 7:02 pm

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I liked when Helen said…"I thought obama ran on transparency" perfect Helen…just perfect!!!

By Libra Lady on 07/02/2009 11:05 pm

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YO! Go, Helen!

And while you’re at it, be sure to tell bo to be more transparent about whether or not the 46M people without healthcare includes illegal immigrants. If it does, then here’s a flash! At least half of the 46M people are illegals. Why do I want to pay for their healthcare????

By Andrea Brandon on 07/03/2009 2:35 am

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Andrea, before you yelp, check out your suppositions to find out the facts. Utilize www.thomas.gov, and read bills, so you know the truth yourself.

Secondly, are we now going to insist that our doctors, RNs, and all medical facilities act as ICE agents? Shall we check "papers" before treating a suspected case of Measles, TB, food poisioning? Do they do that in Mexico, Canada, the UK, Spain, France, Germany (remember Trier is on five borders - I’ve been there!), Russia, Bulgaria, Peru, Panama, Switzerland, Norway … any civilized nation? Huh?

Get with it, Andrea - you know better than that. What please is your healthcare coverage? Speak up and out on that!

The next time you hear an elected person speaking against single-payer health care coverage, ask him/her what they are covered under, and the last time, to the date, that coverage was utilzed. You will trip over the brass tacks.

By C jay on 07/03/2009 7:00 am

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C jay,

Pretty presumptuous of you to assume I didn’t research and analyze without bias. [You know, SOME of us ARE able to do this - regardless of which type of insurance we have or have not.] The fact is that there is much dissent about ObamaCare. And with good reason.

By Andrea Brandon on 07/03/2009 9:45 am