Seriously? Why is it that in order to be guaranteed health care in this country you have to be in the last third of your life? The most expensive part of your life in terms of medical and healthcare?
Medicare was established in 1965 and was for adults over 65 years old when lifespan of the average American was 70.2 years. The average life span for an American is now 78 years old (and watch the Today Show to see people over 100 every day). Then in 2003 Medicare was expanded to provide a prescription drug benefit. The rest of us got nothing. More and more employers are not providing insurance, part time positions are generally not eligible and forget about it if you have a "pre-existing condition".
Medicaid? HA! If you are an adult, the income limit to qualify for Medicaid are incredible. I live in the state of North Carolina, for an adult to qualify for Medicaid they can not have a monthly income of more than $317 dollars for a family of two. Yes, you read that right, $317 for a family of two.
If you’re sick enough you can apply for disability but even then, no Medicare for TWO years. Well how does that work? If I am sick enough to qualify for disability which means I can’t work what am I supposed to do for the next two years?
When Medicare was approved there had been a national survey that found that only 56 percent of those 65 years of age or older had health insurance. The CDC reports that about 65 percent of non-elderly Americans had private insurance in 2008, the lowest it has been in 50 years.
Am I missing something? Is there a rule somewhere that says that it makes more sense to allow people of working age to be healthy and maybe even be able to work better or longer? That suffering through financial ruin to pay medical bills builds character? That late diagnosis and increase death is good for the soul?
So what’s it going to be? Do we have to wait until we’re at 56 percent, (which could be the end of the year if the economy doesn’t improve) or can we actually fight for ourselves and others to have a right to health care like the rest of the industrialized world?
7 comments:
I couldn't agree more with your frustration right now!
here here! it really makes me angry. my sister was diagnosed with a liver disease that only 1 in a million people get. she has worked all of her life and can't any longer. she was able to get on medicaid until after a year she was finally approved for disability. so now she was taken off medicaid and can't get medicare for 2 years. the doctors won't even look at her for a mandatory transplant unless she has at least 80,000 as a down payment. what a crock! the health care system sucks big time!
I am so sorry to hear about your sister. I don't understand why people aren't outraged.
Here in Arizona, my husband and I went for years with no healthcare. He worked full time, and I went to school full time. He made less than $7000 per year. We had a one child. The child qualified for Arizona's form of Medicaid. He and I had nothing. I went for years without getting my period. I went to the county family planning clinic for help. They told me I would probably end up completely infertile if this continued, but they couldn't help me. I just got out of the hospital after major surgery. I had a cyst on my ovary the size of a cantaloupe. It had been causing pain, nausea, and was almost certainly the reason I did not have periods for so long. Back when the problem first started, I could have been treated with hormones to control the problem. As it was, my ovary was destroyed and had to be removed. Medical neglect and the great American healthcare system are directly responsible for my situation.
You're not missing anything. It's totally crazy that we don't have a public plan for universal coverage. It's insane. And I'm not feeling terribly optimistic that we'll have one anytime soon. The insurance industry lobbyists have too much money to throw around and are too powerful. :-(
I am on Medicare. We have worked and paid into Medicare all of our lives, and once we are on it, it isn't free. Medicare doesn't pay much for doctors, hospitals or drugs, so Medicare recipients have to pay for a secondary insurance to pick up the slack, that is why someone said a certain percentage on Medicare have insurance. The ones who don't have insurance, have to pay the money out of their pocket. We also have to pay for part of our prescriptions.
Those of you who are too young to be on Medicare are our kids and grandkids, nieces and nephews, and we DO want you to have medical insurance and health care, we agree that the system needs to be changed, but the reason us old folks are so mad and upset right now is because the administration has openly said they plan to cut 500 billion from Medicare in order to help carry out their health care plan. That means they will have less money to spend on us older folks, which would mean they would give us a pain pill instead of giving us the treatment we need.
The other thing that is upsetting us is the section in the health care bill that says every 5 yrs. (or more often) we will have to have a counseling session with someone to talk about whether or not we want to 'go' instead of being treated, under certain circumstances. That has always been and should always be between us, our physician and families.
The older you get, the faster time passes, before you know it, you will all be Medicare age, hopefully. We aren't fighting this thing only for ourselves, but for you.. who are our kids, grandkids, neices and nephews. When your time comes, we want you to have decent care and not have to suffer needlessly, especially when here in the U.S. we have the most advanced health care procedures and doctors in the world.
There is a lot of corruption in Medicare and Medicade. The feds need to fix that first, then figure out a way to see that everyone can get the care they need. But you should also know there have been 250 ammendments to the health care bill, one of which will provide free medical care to illegals, and they won't have to pay anything for it, and another ammendment says union members will get health care but not have to pay anything in (all the rest of us will be taxed), and the farther the feds stretch the dollar, the worse our health care will be, no matter what your age.
The main reason us Medicare folks are angry is because we have actually read sections of the bill and ammendments that apply to us, and we are afraid. And you have heard on the news that we who attend the townhall meetings have been called in and shipped in and we're a bunch of thugs. Take a good look at who is at the meetings. It is grandparents, aunts and uncles who are so outraged and scared, we are getting up out of our recliners, and the only reason we shout is because the feds and media keep blowing us off, calling us Nazis and won't listen to what we have to say.
Anonymous - I have published your comment even though it is wrong in so many places. You are clearly afraid and while I understand that I wish that the facts could make their way though the haze. I'll be putting up a post specifically answering your concerns within the next few days.
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