I recently came across www.bluecrosssucks.com, a website dedicated to the outing of Blue Cross of California and the numerous patient horror stories they keep so well hidden under their belts. It's difficult to believe that stories such as the ones posted on the website are actually true, but they occur daily all across the country due to the lack of adequate health coverage for every American.
One story featured a sixteen-year-old who had to be airlifted to a trauma center after a motorcycle crash. Though insured, he was not covered because he went to "an out of network hospital."
Another man went to a hospital room after feeling horrible abdominal pain, nausea, constipation, and after noticing dark blood present in his stools after a visit to the bathroom. Doctors decided to perform an endoscopy, but after checking the patient's HMO, decided instead to send him home. Turns out the patient's HMO would not cover an endoscopy because his blood pressure and hemoglobin were fine. Phew! Close one there, HMO! This patient was in need of medical attention, but was just too much of a financial liability.
The government directly covers 27.8% of the population, still leaving 46 million Americans uninsured. Many private insurance corporations deny coverage for those who may need expensive care such as those with chronic diseases like diabetes, lupus, or arthritis. On the other hand, health care premiums are driving employers into the ground since the cost of health care is so heavy, causing hesitation on their part to provide workers with health insurance.
So where is one to turn if they want to be covered in case of an emergency? Sure, private insurance companies may turn down diabetics and lupus patients, and the occasional arthritic elderly person, but what becomes of everyone else? Surely they must be covered?
A young couple, Jennifer and Greg of Pasadena, are perfectly healthy and both have private health insurance. Their infant daughter, however, was denied coverage by Blue Shield of California because she had a "minor hip joint misalignment," which the doctor said was "nothing serious and probably temporary."
Another man using a private health insurance provider would not be treated for a fractured bone after he, a single male seemingly incapable of immaculate conception, neglected to pay the co-payment for the birth of his miracle child and the increased coverage rates for his new edition. The company that covered him invented a child, and because he did not pay for his imaginary bundle of joy, he would not be treated.
A woman in California would not be covered by a private insurance company because she had undergone infertility treatments, which the company considered a 'preexisting condition.'
These stories are ridiculous, but serve as proof of the need for insurer's to turn a profit over the need of sick individuals to receive treatment. So what can we do?
Chief executive of Blue Shield of California Bruce Bodaken said that universal coverage was the answer.
The United States is the only industrialized country without a universal health care plan. Scotland, France, England, China, India, Israel, and Australia among others, all provide their citizens with universal coverage so that everyone is treated, regardless of socioeconomic class or of any preexisting conditions that they may have.
And yet many continue to claim that universal coverage is a utopian ideal that would not work in America.
It remains a hot button issue since conservatives do not want the burden of paying for the health care of others and want the freedom to choose to opt out of the national health care system. OK, but let's look at another country for a second...
France, which rates number 1 in health care spends about 9.8% of their GDP on health care. America, which rates 37th in health care, now spends about 13.7% of their GDP on health care.
Does it still make sense to not want to spend money on the health care of others? Costs are manageable when everyone is covered because the young and healthy balance those that are older and sicker. Private individualized health care creates greater hidden costs that most tax payers are unaware of since they end up paying for the millions of uninsured Americans that still require health care. President Bush stated that all Americans have access to health care, all they have to do is show up at an emergency room. While it is true that emergency rooms cannot deny any patient care, most would-be patients hesitate to show up because of the bill that they will receive after being treated. And the point of health care is not to show up when you're already sick and dying, but to prevent that from ever actually happening.
So what's wrong with universal coverage? Nothing. It is neither utopian nor impossible to achieve. The transition from our current health care system to that of a universal one may be difficult, but the sooner it happens, the more lives will eventually be saved.
My current coverage ends in about two more years and I'm quite accident-prone, so let's get universal coverage started already. I'd hate to be denied health care because I refuse to pay for my imaginary child's coverage. Who happened to be born with a unicorn-like horn. And a misaligned hip socket.
An Eroding Model For Health Insurance
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-insure21-2008oct21,0,6869686.story?page=1
Moore's 'Sicko' Lands Blows on US Health Care
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=11285514
Blue Cross Sucks
http://bluecrosssucks.com/consumer.htm
Health Care Horror Stories
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/11/opinion/11krugman.html
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