I have been having similar difficulty finding a responsible, in-depth reporting of what the proposed bills entail and how they will specifically address the existing problems, whatever they may be.
I do know that we have existing examples of government-run healthcare systems. Medicare and Medicaid have been running on a net-loss business model for years. The VA Hospital system is overflowing with wounded or disabled men and women who wait months for procedures that would be available in a few days in the private sector, and getting approval for anything through them (or through TriCare, the semi-private insurance company for the U.S. Armed Forces) takes weeks, sometimes months.
Right now, I can take my son to the E.R. and pay $20 for the visit. If he needs medication, I pay no more than $35 for that prescription, and no more than $10 if that same prescription has a generic equivalent. I don't need to get on a waiting list, and I certainly don't have to fight for years on end because I made the visit without checking with my insurance company FIRST. My parents fought TriCare for 3 years over a bill to treat my brother for a concussion at an out-of-system hospital without getting proper clearance first. If that's the system to which we would have to look forward by a government-controlled system, I'll be self-treating everything I can.
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ninetydegrees
no subject
on 2009-08-17 05:33 pm (UTC)I do know that we have existing examples of government-run healthcare systems. Medicare and Medicaid have been running on a net-loss business model for years. The VA Hospital system is overflowing with wounded or disabled men and women who wait months for procedures that would be available in a few days in the private sector, and getting approval for anything through them (or through TriCare, the semi-private insurance company for the U.S. Armed Forces) takes weeks, sometimes months.
Right now, I can take my son to the E.R. and pay $20 for the visit. If he needs medication, I pay no more than $35 for that prescription, and no more than $10 if that same prescription has a generic equivalent. I don't need to get on a waiting list, and I certainly don't have to fight for years on end because I made the visit without checking with my insurance company FIRST. My parents fought TriCare for 3 years over a bill to treat my brother for a concussion at an out-of-system hospital without getting proper clearance first. If that's the system to which we would have to look forward by a government-controlled system, I'll be self-treating everything I can.