THE SHAME OF AMERICAN HEALTH CARE

It's getting worse, and the government continues to formulate policy that benefits corporations rather than citizens. Health insurance has been my personal albatross for years: back in the mid 90s I developed some minor arthritis coupled with some gastro issues that require daily medication; that's the main reason I went into teaching, to get access to good health insurance. Little did I know that teaching would also drive me crazy. So I'm back in school, with an expensive major medical plan paired with quack shack student health center primary care. I have no drug insurance, which means that a big chunk of my personal expenses go to big pharma. I keep my fingers crossed that my health doesn't deteriorate. It turns out that I'm not alone in these circumstances. Indeed, many from my socioeconomic group are worse off.

From the Houston Chronicle:

For a growing number of people, a salary of $50,000
or more doesn't guarantee medical bills will be covered

Paul and Cathy Kashevos live in a three-bedroom, 2,000-square-foot house on a cul-de-sac in Richmond.

He is a salesman, and she is a temp-agency staffing coordinator. Together they make about $60,000.

But the middle-class income wasn't enough when Paul Kashevos' hospital bills for heart treatment drove him into bankruptcy last year. They have lost health insurance to pay for treatment that could run into six figures if his heart problems return.

"I'm already late going in to see somebody about adjusting my pacemaker," he said.

The Kashevoses and other households earning more than $50,000 a year are part of the fastest-growing segment of the U.S. population without health insurance.

And

Medical bills may be the cause or a significant cause of roughly half of the personal bankruptcy filings nationwide, according to a Harvard University study released this month.

It concluded that a majority of the debtors surveyed for the study were middle-income, owned homes and had health insurance at the onset of their illness. Many lost it because they couldn't hold their jobs after becoming ill.

Emphasis mine. Click here for the rest.

It strikes me as insane that in a country as developed and wealthy as ours that anyone would have their sense of financial security ripped out from under them by major illness. Health care is a right. This really is pretty sickening, and it's only dumb luck that has kept me from losing everything to pay for health care. Meanwhile Congress plays the violin.

Again from the Chronicle, this time from the editorial page:

The medically bankrupt? They are all around us

Many in Congress have a response to the problem of increasing medical bankruptcies: make it harder for families to file bankruptcy regardless of the reason for their financial troubles. Bankruptcy legislation — widely known as the credit industry wish list — has been introduced yet again to increase costs and decrease protection for everyone who turns to the bankruptcy system for help. With the dramatic rise in medical bankruptcies now documented, this tired approach is no different than a congressional demand to close hospitals in response to a flu epidemic. Making bankruptcy harder puts the fallout from a broken health care system back on families, leaving them with no escape.

The problem is not bankruptcy laws but the health care finance system and chronic debates about reforming it.

Click here for the rest.

The solution to the problem is easy: goverment must take over health care financing and pay for it with a new payroll tax as with Social Security or Medicare; ultimately, this is much cheaper than the current system because the overhead costs would shrink dramatically--the insurance industry is simply a sleazy middle man, and getting rid of him would help businesses and citizens alike. Unfortunately, Congress just doesn't give a shit. They have kickass health plans, and until they begin to actually feel the squeeze themselves, the country is fucked. It's shameful.

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