Things have gotten pretty heated in the Health Care Debate, those opposed to Obama's proposed health care reform, have voiced their opinions and allegedly been beaten at rallies, enduring injuries for which they now cannot afford treatment, because they don't have insurance. Congressmen have yelled out at Obama, deeming him a liar. Kanye West told Obama, he would let him finish, but that Dennis Kucinich had the best plan for health care reform of all time. OF ALL TIME! President Obama stated in his speech, the time for bickering is over. He said that he will call you out if you continue to distribute false information about health care reform. Here's a review of some of the top myths surrounding the topic of health care reform.
1. Healthcare in the United States is #1
While the United States does have some of the best health care available to citizens, it is not available to all under our current health insurance system. Advanced U.S. medical technology has not translated into better health outcomes and neither has increased spending on health. The United States places 2nd in Total Health Expenditures, spending 15.4% of total GDP on health, just behind Marshall Islands at 15.4% (damn Marshall Islands, always trying to .2% up us). In a study examining rate of Total Preventable for Deaths, the United States and 18 other industrialized nations, the U.S. ranked 14th with 110% (deaths per 100,000 data from 2002-2003). Preventable Death Ranks
There is great health care in the United States, for those who can afford it. But when the rate of death from childbirth is still 1 in 4200, compared to Ireland at 1 in 47,600 and we rank 24th in Healthy Life Expectancy rankings, I'd be hard pressed to say we have the best health care in the world. But then again, when I placed 37th in a recent 5K, I made a t-shirt that said I'm the best runner in the world.
And speaking of running, as long as 74.1% of citizens over the age of 15 are considered overweight, a major risk factor for such preventable and leading cause of death diseases such as heart disease and diabetes, we're going to need to reevaluate our health care system, and our health environment. Maybe this isn't the time for Hardees to introduce the deep fried bologna biscuit?
2. Obama’s plan is universal health care, which is socialized medicine
This is true. Obama also was not born in the United States. Oh, what's that you've seen his birth certificate? That looks fake. And is Hawaii really a state? Also, did you know he's going to force your children into community service and that’s the reason he's giving more money to Americorps is because he wants to start his own National Army...of idealistic broke ass volunteers who can only afford to eat beans and rice. They're going to take over this country, one habitat for humanity house at a time.
That's all false. Except the part about AmeriCorps volunteers being poor and eating rice and beans. By definition, socialized medicine involves government financing and direct provision of health care services. Health care reforms dating as far back as the 1930s have been smeared as socialized medicine, including President Franklin D. Roosevelt's consideration of government health insurance when crafting the 1935 Social Security Bill; President Lyndon Johnson's 1965 legislation establishing Medicare and the 1993-1994 Health Care Initiative proposed by Bill and Hillary Clinton. Source
3. HealthCare Reform Increases Taxes
Yes it will. I'm sorry, I wish I could say this wasn't true. If you are a joint tax filer and your joint income exceeds $350,000 but is less than $500,000 you will have a 1% tax, if your joint income is greater than $500,000 but less than $1 million, it's a 1.5% tax. If your joint income is more than $1 million per year, 5.4% tax. If you're single and ballin out of control you would be subject to surtax starting at $280,000. So yes, it will increase your taxes. Cause I know most of my readers fall in the highest earning 1.2% of American households. I only speak to ballers.
4. Obama’s plan will provide coverage to undocumented immigrants
Undocumented immigrants are individuals who have come to this country and do not possess proper documentation. They are sometimes referred to as illegal immigrants, often as "ferners", but usually by people who think all Spanish-speaking people are Mexican, all brown non-Spanish speaking people are terrorists, and Africa is a country.
This is a big one. So much so that it caused Congressman Joe Wilson to yell out at Obama during a speech. Where there has been much contention about this topic is under the section that covers "Individual Affordability Credits". In it, it states "For purposes of this division, the term "affordable credit eligible individual" means, subject to subsection (b) an individual who is lawfully present in a State in the United States..." Under section 246 title NO FEDERAL PAYMENT FOR UNDOCUMENTED ALIENS it states, "Nothing in this subtitle shall allow Federal payments for affordability credits on behalf of individuals who are not lawfully present in the United States". So clearly, yes, the plan will cover undocumented immigrants.
What people are saying is that because it does not require you to show proof of citizenship, those immigrants without ID could get coverage through this plan. So there is a loophole if people wanted to get coverage.
5. The new plan will not provide coverage if you get sick, because it will cost too much
Hey, wait a second. That’s how insurance companies work now. Insurance companies already ration care through restricting coverage or procedures and tests like MRIs and CAT scans and denying coverage for pre-existing conditions. There's been a lot of mention of Breast Cancer, and claims that under the new health care reform, 300,000 women would die of breast cancer. The current reality (and as Director of a Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program, I know a bit about this) is that Emergency Medicaid does not consider breast cancer a life threatening condition. So if you have been screened and find you have cancer, you would not be able to enroll in what is known as Emergency Medicaid. You can still apply for good old-fashioned Medicaid, but that is a long process and can take up to 6 months, or longer. So in that 6 months that "non-life threatening" cancer is spreading, and growing and becoming, well maybe just slightly less "non-life threatening". In 2000, the Federal Government passed the Breast and Cervical Cancer Prevention and Treatment Act (BCCPTA), which allowed states who implement Breast and Cervical Cancer Programs to begin providing full Medicaid benefits to women under age 65 who are identified through state BCCP and are in need of treatment for breast or cervical cancer. This is a great program, but there are many U.S. citizens who make too much money to qualify for such programs.
Many people with health insurance are denied coverage for pre-existing conditions; often people can’t meet their deductibles in order to get full coverage they need. Many avoid having necessary diagnostic procedures done to catch diseases earlier, which would be cost-effective because treating, say cancer, at an earlier stage is less expensive, because of the cost. In the year 2007, 62% of all bankruptcies were filed because of medical expenses. Of those, 80% were covered under viable health insurance.
6.We don’t need health care reform
There is no health care crisis. And there was no holocaust and there was no landing on the moon, oh and also there's no such thing as global warming. Also, I almost caught bigfoot yesterday.
According to a testimony before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee on 2/24/2009 from Cathy Schoen, senior vice-president of The Commonwealth Fund, the number of adults who were insured, but underinsured increased by 60%. It is estimated that in 2007, roughly 25 million adults under 65 were underinsured in 2007.
The underinsured experience closely mirrors that of the uninsured, as over half of underinsured and two-thirds of uninsured do not seek recommended treatment, follow-up care, medications and do not go to the doctor when they are sick. Both of these groups have large numbers experiencing financial stress, including medical debt. So, yes Virginia, there is a health care crisis.
7. The new health care plan forces you to die
When you rename "end of life counseling" session as "death panel" of course people are going to get alarmed. The original myth is that the House health care reform bill mandates end-of-life counseling that will pressure seniors to end their lives. Betsy McCaughey stated on the Fred Thomson Show, "And one of the most shocking things I found in this bill ... is on Page 425, where the Congress makes it mandatory--absolutely require--that every five years, people in Medicare have a required counseling session that will tell them how to end their life sooner, how to decline nutrition, how to decline being hydrated, how to go into hospice care.
The reality? Section 1233 of America's Affordable Health Choices Act of 2009 amends the Social Security Act to ensure that advance care planning will be covered if a patient requests it from a qualified provider. Yes, that's right. You will be required (if you choose) to talk to someone about your end of life options. Again, if you request to have an end-of-life counseling session, it will be mandatory that you have one.
8. We Can’t Trust the Government to Run Our Health Care
Yes we can!!! And we already do!!!
Critics of the proposed government run health care system have wondered why we would want to trust our health care to the government, when the government has failed in so many other areas. They'll cite other government run programs they see as failures, such as the post office and the DMV, social security, and even Medicare. But the reality is that the government-run Medicare (which is the system most often cited as an example of how the new public option would work if passed) is extremely popular. According to a May 2009 Commonwealth Fund study, "elderly Medicare beneficiaries reported greater overall satisfaction with their health coverage, better access to care, and fewer problems paying medical bills than people covered by employer-sponsored plans". That same study reported that elderly Medicare beneficiaries were are 2.7 times more likely than enrollees in employer-sponsored plans to rate their health insurance as excellent, and are less likely to report negative experiences with their insurance plans.
That isn't to say Medicare is perfect, many doctors are no longer accepting Medicare because of declining reimbursement rates. There have been warnings that even more doctors would bail out of Medicare if reimbursement rates were universal. But things are worse in the private insurance industry. Ten percent of Medicare beneficiaries' physicians did not accept their insurance, compared to 17% with employer-sponsored plans.
A 2005 Washington Monthly article titled "The Best Care Anywhere", the Veterans Health Administration was described as being an industry leader in safety and quality measures. It was also praised as having spectacular information technology and its integrated health information system, including its framework for using performance measures to improve quality, is considered the best in the nation.
And finally, I think the Postal Service is great. Where else can you stand in line and hear this conversation:
Customer: Yeah I'mma need 2 one cent stamps.
Clerk: Ok
Customer: Now, how much are those stamps?
Clerk: They would be one cent each. |
