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| -photo from www.insurancegreed.com |
Health insurance in America has been under fire for decades as a business that reaps profits, while providing the least amount of coverage possible. Discriminatory and abusive practices, such as rejecting health insurance to people based on pre-existing conditions, or current health ailments has been brought to light by such documentaries as Michael Moore's movie "Sicko" in 2007. Those with insurance have paid insane premiums, deductibles, and co-pays to their employee sponsored HMO/PPO plans, then were unable to get health care services approved or paid for. People have died of cancer and other treatable life threatening diseases due to health insurance company negligence and abuse, and our healthcare industry workers. Americans have had to choose what healthcare services they can pay for themselves in full, an impossibility for most. Those with Medicaid have been unable to get access to even basic care although the necessary care was covered under the government subsidized program for the poor. This is a continuing serious problem. The "Obama-care" bill has many flaws, including requirements for people to pay for insurance that cannot afford it. This was insurance industry lobby input added to the bill to get bi-partisan support. The bill DOES in theory eliminate the worry of health insurance companies being able to drop or deny coverage based on pre-existing conditions. That said, Obama-care lost most liberal and Progressive support because it is a far cry from universal healthcare based on ability to pay, a common goal they share. It also does not take on discrimination based on several areas, including marriage status. There is no federal mandate holding doctors accountable to their Hippocratic Oath instead of allowing them to deny patients care based on payout amounts. While an emergency room doctor and staff may deny important health care services to patients, they are still being allowed to bill for their astronomical prices, especially Medicaid patients. They charge thousands of dollars a head for the patient attempting to get healthcare, for having a television on while waiting 5 hours for little to no care, and hundreds for a bandaid. American healthcare is a for profit industry not based on improving health. The sicker the patients are, the more money our doctors and healthcare workers make, because they can charge per visit of course, and profit off of each disease that is failed to be treated early on or prevented altogether. Big Pharma shoves drugs through the FDA without proper trials or safety precautions as a first priority, they are then released on the public. Many years later the drug may kill or injure enough people to be taken off of the market, but it is rare. Doctors are given even more money by pharmaceutical companies to make their patients part of the experiment. The general public is being ripped off and lied to, and we deserve a healthcare system based on keeping us healthy, available for all.
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