Healthcare System in Crisis--What Can You Do To Protect Yourself?
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One of the things that the Republicans have done while in power is to allow the insurance companies to have their way with the healthcare system, and they are now giving the insurance companies their way with the justice system. Our healthcare system should be the best in the world, but we have three times the infant mortality of other modernized countries; twice the adult disability of other modernized countries; hospital errors kill 190,000 people each year; 1.5 million Americans are injured as a result of medication error. It is because the doctors are squeezed by the insurance companies to see too many patients; hospitals are only concerned about their profits; drug companies do not disclose the risk of their products to the FDA, and insurance companies spend more time denying claims than they do enforcing safety systems in hospitals. Yet the Republicans and their lobbyists want to blame injured patients for the high cost of healthcare. They are continuing to change state laws so that injured victims do not recieve their day in court. The jury is the great equalizer, and the only safety net for those who have been injured by the carelessness of the healthcare system, but the Republicans make fun of the jury system. Even though Harvard Health Group has found that 90% of the medical malpractice claims are not frivolous, and the Congressional Budget Office Study reports that all malpractice lawsuits combined are less than 1% of the healthcare bill, Republicans blame the injured victim for the cost of medical care. Wake up, America!! It is the insurance and corporate lobbyists who are spreading the message. If you know the facts, you can let your voice be better heard. Michael Townes Watson, author of America's Tunnel Vision--How Insurance Companies' Propaganda Is Corrupting Medicine and Law.
Insurance executives, owners of an industry worth 7 trillion dollars per year, are keeping more and more of the income, but paying less and less to the people who lose life, limb or property. That's becuase insurance profits can be set by the insurance companies, without anti-trust regulation; and because state legislatures and Congress have taken away the civil justice system as the equalizer between large insurance companies and people who are hurt by their insureds. This phenomenon is apparent not only in the Katrina injustices, but in all areas of insurance remediation. My biggest beef is with the medical malpractice insurers, who are supposed to be there for those who are injured by the medical profession. More than 190,000 people are killed each year by hospital error and over 1.5 million people are injured by medication errors every year, yet insurance companies are still trying to take away the civil justice system from those injured and the families of those killed. They have succeeded in doing so in many states, and are still on their mission to accomplish it everywhere. Five times in the past four years, Bill Frist, the Senate Majority Leader Surgeon, whose fortune comes from his family's ownership of the nation's largest hospital system, has brought to the floor legislation that would have rendered even the most seriously injured, or dead, victims of medical error with the right to put in their pocket, in most cases, no more than $75,000. Yet he sold his hospital company stock for over 15 million. Sound fishy?
Insurance executives, owners of an industry worth 7 trillion dollars per year, are keeping more and more of the income, but paying less and less to the people who lose life, limb or property. That's becuase insurance profits can be set by the insurance companies, without anti-trust regulation; and because state legislatures and Congress have taken away the civil justice system as the equalizer between large insurance companies and people who are hurt by their insureds. This phenomenon is apparent not only in the Katrina injustices, but in all areas of insurance remediation. My biggest beef is with the medical malpractice insurers, who are supposed to be there for those who are injured by the medical profession. More than 190,000 people are killed each year by hospital error and over 1.5 million people are injured by medication errors every year, yet insurance companies are still trying to take away the civil justice system from those injured and the families of those killed. They have succeeded in doing so in many states, and are still on their mission to accomplish it everywhere. Five times in the past four years, Bill Frist, the Senate Majority Leader Surgeon, whose fortune comes from his family's ownership of the nation's largest hospital system, has brought to the floor legislation that would have rendered even the most seriously injured, or dead, victims of medical error with the right to put in their pocket, in most cases, no more than $75,000. Yet he sold his hospital company stock for over 15 million. Sound fishy?
Last week I injured my right shoulder. By the time I realized I better get to a doctor the pain had become very intense. My doctor was at his wits end ordering tests to try and make sure that it wasn't something more serious. He was concerned about my shoulder and wanted an emergency MRI of it. My insurance came back to him and said that I had to be in pain for months before they would authorize an MRI. As I sat in pain, he had no recourse other to give me some pain medicine and send me off to the hospital.
The truth is it did end up getting resolved without the MRI, but at the time he wanted to check for something that he wasn't able to check for. My idea of insurance is that if the doctor thinks some test is required, it's his say, not the insurance companies.
At the time I was in a lot of pain, and my doctor's hands were tied by the insurance companies. It was a very horrible situation.
Thanks for posting,
John.
Doctors and Nurses and even the best-intentioned Hospitals are struggling to meet overwhelming challenges. Insurance companies and drug manufacturers are not evil horned beasts, but they are reaping profits and whether those are justified and being used to address the real underlying causes is a matter for extended debate.
This isn't a simple problem. It's solution won't be a simple one - working toward a better situation is one which deserves a great deal more attention and honesty than the current Congress has given it.
This weekend I learned yet another Aunt, another 'cancer survivor' was given her latest prognosis - 4 months to live. She is a distant relation and I know her suffering second-hand through a cousin who for years has been an essential part of her support network.
The Aunt is a widow, childless with an equally frail elderly sister as her only immediate family. Her life has been extended - the quality of it questionable, the cures being as bad as or worse than the illness. Now facing this tragic inevitable outcome, she lashed out at my cousin who turned to me to vent the frustration she knows I can understand first hand.
Finding her a place to die, caring for the caregiver - a few unexpected chores on my to do list.
I refuse to sue over my stroke because I was aware of the side effects. I knew that when they said could cause spontaneous stomach bleeding it meant spontaneous bleeding anywhere in the body. I found out before my stroke because after swimming I occasionally had bruising on my arms. I asked my pharmacist if any of my meds could be causing this. The answer was yes. I said Vioxx but I don't remember which COX-2 inhibitor I was taking. I am back to NSAID's and guess what they too have the same warning.
The case against our current health care system is monumental. You have pointed out many of them eloquently. I wish we had had real leadership in congress back when President Clinton tried to reform healthcare in America. I put the blame on Al Gore. If Gore had been an equal to President Johnson we would have gotten real change instead of fizzle.
You asked what we could do to protect ourselves. First interview your primary care doctor. I had a primary throw me out of his practice because I was constantly insisting that he learn about Post Polio Syndrome (my disability). Also I was insisting that he remove a lump in my breast. It had been diagnosed as probably a cyst. Well I had a cyst on my rectal wall that blew up to the size of a grapefruit. When they took that out they found cancerous tissue on my anus (boy I'm sharing too much maybe). This was less than a week after he did a prostrate examine. Even if it was the size of a golf ball at the time, how do you miss it? Second, know your pharmacist. They are a great source of information. Most major pharmacies run a computer program that picks up dangerous interactions. Third speak to your insurance company every time they deny a claim. Appeal their decisions. Call your insurance commissioner. Remember you are your own best advocate.