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No, Really--You Can't Trust Insurance Corporations

Posted by Shum Preston on February 5, 2008 - 12:06pm

There’s a reason that registered nurses across the country oppose the individual mandates that require people to purchase products from heartless insurance corporations—-and support replacing these insurers with a universal, non-profit,single-payer coverage fund.  Nurses deal with insurance corporations every day and know that you just can’t trust them.   



We see it yet again in Bush's new proposed budget; private insurers used their lobbying muscle to game the system:

The Bush administration would cut roughly $560 billion from Medicare over the next decade but would leave intact program subsidies to insurers worth an estimated $150 billion over the same period.

Basically the insurers are undermining Medicare by protecting their profits and overhead at the cost of the program’s quality. 

An individual mandate proposal operates on the assumption that if we can just get everyone signed up with these insurers, they’ll turn into responsible human beings and help solve the healthcare crisis.  They won’t; they’ll just strip it of more care dollars.

That’s why it was such good news that Schwarzenegger’s California bill for mandates was defeated last week.  State Senator Leland Yee, who cast a courageous vote against the bill explains why:

the Franchise Tax Board would have been authorized to collect premiums by garnishment of wages or mortgage liens on the property of working Californians….the consumer would have been forced to foot the bill so insurance companies could profit. Instead of pushing such a fatally flawed legislation, we should all be fighting to change our failing health-care system without penalizing those who can least afford it

Finally, Deborah Burger, RN, President of the California Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee writes Sen. Clinton a memo about her healthcare plan.

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Could we,PLEASE,get the insurance companies out of healthcare?

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on February 6, 2008 - 1:37pm.

This is a letter I sent to Hillary and a bunch of other people and newspapers.

Date: Fri, 1 Feb 2008 04:51:31 -0800 (PST)
From: "Lonnie Ward"
Subject: Issues
To: "Sen. Hillary Clinton"

Dear Sen.
To me,since no one seems to want to impeach Bush or Cheney,the first most important issue facing us right now is ending the occupation of Iraq,with no permanent bases.
The second is healthcare,which,according to who is speaking,is either the best in the world or a system that is broken.I believe the healthcare delivery system does a pretty good job.It is the way we pay for healthcare that is broken,into lots of pieces,with the federal government paying for many,( the aged and disabled on Medicare;Congress,the military,and the bureaucracy on a plan), state governments paying for their employees and part of Medicaid,as well as charitable care at state hospitals;some employers who provide some coverage for their employees;people who have private insurance;and people who try to pay for their healthcare services out of their own pockets.
With all that money being spent 47million people still have no healthcare.
I believe we could do better,with a single-payer system, by expanding Medicare to cover everyone,and here are the reasons why:
1.By taking the profit motive of the insurance companies out of healthcare all that money could be used to provide actual healthcare.
2.No one could be denied service,for any reason,period!
3.The focus of healthcare could be shifted from treatment to prevention of disease.
4.A system of e-files could be established,so that people's records would be portable,many deaths which occur now due to Dr.'s indecipherible handwriting on charts and prescriptions would be prevented,and the costs of malpractice suits and settlements would be reduced.
5.Waste,fraud,abuse,and all the costs of administering the present system would be eliminated.
6.Not every Dr.'s office or clinic needs an MRI,CAT or PET scanner.Better accountibility for the costs and distribution these new,expensive technologies would further reduce costs,since many tests are prescribed for reasons of liability,and some just for the fees.
7.The costs of R&D by the drug companies would probably have to be subsidized in order to keep them in the business,patents should be granted for a reasonable time,but not extended for minor changes,like adding a stripe around a capsule,even if it is gold-colored.Generics should be the priority.The FDA must return to testing new drugs,with adequate staff to do the job,and the NEW MEDICARE must get the best price!

Some will scream "socialized medicine" as an excuse to keep doing nothing.Why shouldn't the healthcare services available to Congress,Federal employees by the millions,State employees,and part of the civilian workforce, be available to everyone,since the amount of money being on each of the pieces should provide excellent care for all.

This would be my plan for healthcare,if I could implement it,and I'm glad to share it with everyone.I am:
Lonnie D.Ward
HC 70 Box 704
White Sulphur Springs,WV 24986
Phone:304 536 1864

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Keep on sending it

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on February 29, 2008 - 9:23am.

I think you should send this letter to all the candidates not just Mrs.Clinton. You should also send it everyday until they get sick of it! Perhaps as many people as possible should send the same letter everyday until they are as sick of it as i am of their useless healthcare plans.

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