Monday
Jul092007
'Sicko' exposes wounded health care system
Monday, July 9, 2007 at 3:00AM
By Ellen Ratner
Like many Americans I went to see "Sicko" this weekend, the second-highest-first-weekend-grossing documentary of all time. Sicko brought in $4.5 million in just three days. Yes, there were some major stretches of the truth such as the waiting times for certain procedures in Canada, but the point is clear: Even if you have health insurance, a medical issue can put you at the edge of bankruptcy.
About two hours after seeing "Sicko," I called my friend Christian to check in on her. She recently had a second mastectomy for three cancerous tumors in her breast. This was followed by a hysterectomy to prevent overproduction of estrogen which "fed" her cancers. Christian has her own business and has health insurance, but because her first breast cancer was diagnosed when she was 32, she cannot purchase disability insurance. She has not been able to work since March and is rapidly depleting her savings. She has a 20 percent copayment for her surgeries and had just finished paying off her chemotherapy and surgeries from 11 years ago when she was hit with the second mastectomy. Christian is the type of person most Americans would love to have as their friend or neighbor. She helps care for the children of a single parent, raises money for a local children's charity, volunteers her time and while recovering on her living room couch from these two recent surgeries, managed to get her many visiting friends to play bingo and raised $350 for our project in Gulf Coast of Mississippi.
Christian was upset when I called. She received another bill and had no idea how she was going to pay it. Her wonderful friends have chipped in to help with some expenses, but Christian is not a person who likes to ask for things. She simply wants health care to be affordable so she doesn't have to go to bed at night contemplating bankruptcy. I don't think that is too much to ask from someone who, as Bill Clinton says, "works hard and plays by the rules."
There is a solution to helping Christian and other Americans. Extend Medicare to all and allow people the option to purchase Medicare Supplemental Insurance. Medicare does not cover every cost, and many seniors purchase additional coverage, but it is easy to obtain and doesn't break the bank. For those that rail about fraud, waste and abuse in government programs, keep in mind that Medicare spends about 3 percent on administrative costs, while private insurers spend about 13 percent of every dollar on administrative costs.
In recent years, the health care industry has become very, very profitable. Doctors and nurses are making less, but the industry is flush with cash. Within the last few years, Health Maintenance Organizations, or HMO's, doubled profits and made $10 billion. I worked in a health care organization in the late 1980s where managers were given bonuses based on how high they hiked up the ancillaries, (blood tests, psychological testing etc). The amount spent on lobbying Congress from the health care industry could pay for those administrative costs incurred by providing access to a Medicare like single payer insurance system.
One recent poll taken by ABC News and the Washington Post a year and a half ago shows that 62 percent of Americans support government-run universal health care insurance; the numbers drop sharply if there is a waiting list or limits on physician choice. But, with Medicare there is neither. Why isn't there more support for universal health care? Simple, the profit motive and fear of oversight by the federal government. Former Majority Leader Bill Frist's company, HCA Inc., had to pay millions back to the federal government for Medicare fraud. Fear by money-grubbing companies and drug companies who don't want the federal government negotiating lower drug prices is no reason to deny insurance and, therefore, universal health care to Americans.
As the only Western society without guaranteed health care, we all deserve better and so does my hard-working and very charitable friend Christian. Michael Moore may be prone to exaggeration, but his primary diagnosis is correct: We have a very sick health care system.
Like many Americans I went to see "Sicko" this weekend, the second-highest-first-weekend-grossing documentary of all time. Sicko brought in $4.5 million in just three days. Yes, there were some major stretches of the truth such as the waiting times for certain procedures in Canada, but the point is clear: Even if you have health insurance, a medical issue can put you at the edge of bankruptcy.
About two hours after seeing "Sicko," I called my friend Christian to check in on her. She recently had a second mastectomy for three cancerous tumors in her breast. This was followed by a hysterectomy to prevent overproduction of estrogen which "fed" her cancers. Christian has her own business and has health insurance, but because her first breast cancer was diagnosed when she was 32, she cannot purchase disability insurance. She has not been able to work since March and is rapidly depleting her savings. She has a 20 percent copayment for her surgeries and had just finished paying off her chemotherapy and surgeries from 11 years ago when she was hit with the second mastectomy. Christian is the type of person most Americans would love to have as their friend or neighbor. She helps care for the children of a single parent, raises money for a local children's charity, volunteers her time and while recovering on her living room couch from these two recent surgeries, managed to get her many visiting friends to play bingo and raised $350 for our project in Gulf Coast of Mississippi.
Christian was upset when I called. She received another bill and had no idea how she was going to pay it. Her wonderful friends have chipped in to help with some expenses, but Christian is not a person who likes to ask for things. She simply wants health care to be affordable so she doesn't have to go to bed at night contemplating bankruptcy. I don't think that is too much to ask from someone who, as Bill Clinton says, "works hard and plays by the rules."
There is a solution to helping Christian and other Americans. Extend Medicare to all and allow people the option to purchase Medicare Supplemental Insurance. Medicare does not cover every cost, and many seniors purchase additional coverage, but it is easy to obtain and doesn't break the bank. For those that rail about fraud, waste and abuse in government programs, keep in mind that Medicare spends about 3 percent on administrative costs, while private insurers spend about 13 percent of every dollar on administrative costs.
In recent years, the health care industry has become very, very profitable. Doctors and nurses are making less, but the industry is flush with cash. Within the last few years, Health Maintenance Organizations, or HMO's, doubled profits and made $10 billion. I worked in a health care organization in the late 1980s where managers were given bonuses based on how high they hiked up the ancillaries, (blood tests, psychological testing etc). The amount spent on lobbying Congress from the health care industry could pay for those administrative costs incurred by providing access to a Medicare like single payer insurance system.
One recent poll taken by ABC News and the Washington Post a year and a half ago shows that 62 percent of Americans support government-run universal health care insurance; the numbers drop sharply if there is a waiting list or limits on physician choice. But, with Medicare there is neither. Why isn't there more support for universal health care? Simple, the profit motive and fear of oversight by the federal government. Former Majority Leader Bill Frist's company, HCA Inc., had to pay millions back to the federal government for Medicare fraud. Fear by money-grubbing companies and drug companies who don't want the federal government negotiating lower drug prices is no reason to deny insurance and, therefore, universal health care to Americans.
As the only Western society without guaranteed health care, we all deserve better and so does my hard-working and very charitable friend Christian. Michael Moore may be prone to exaggeration, but his primary diagnosis is correct: We have a very sick health care system.
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