Tweet
One thing that I really loved in Obama's DNC speech was the reference to values and the need to reestablish a sense of shared values and a common purpose. I personally think this is the underlying cause of a lot of issues in the country. We've lost any sense of responsibility for the less fortunate, and if you lose your house, your job, your insurance, etc. - it's your problem. I've seen several posts here stating as much, and it just makes me cringe.
So SELF magazine recently had an interesting article, about women who were denied insurance. One of the women (a healthy 32-yr old mother of two) was denied coverage b/c of her "history of infertility" and the fact that she took Metformin and Actos. Another woman (a 40-yr old widow with 2 boys) had emergency surgery for a growth on her fallopian tube. Four months after her surgery, her insurance company completed a 'routine review' of her records and discovered a pre-existing gyn condition...This condition was a ONE-TIME notation in her file of irregular periods. Even though she supposedly had coverage, she was suddenly responsible for $15k from the emergency surgery (and is still paying it off, 7 yrs later).
The article had a quick breakdown of the candidates' policies:
OBAMA:
- maintains it's the fed govts responsibility to make sure every American has access to insurance
- would require all insurance cos to offer a basic set of benefits to everybody at affordable rates, regardless of the applicant's medical condition
- under his plan, insurers couldn't charge sick people more, nor could they turn people away
MCCAIN:
- wants to offer a tax credit to people for whom insurance is too expensive, worth $2,500 (families would receive $5,000)
- says its up to states, w/ the help of the fed govt, to devise programs for people insurers won't touch b/c of past or present conditions
- suggests more states might run programs such as the high-risk pools now in 34 states (covers 200,000 people today)
Giving the focus of this website, I thought these examples were interesting. Anyone here taken IF drugs? Had irregular periods? What if you had emergency surgery and then were denied coverage? Several of the women in the article still haven't been able to get coverage at all. I look at the McCain plan and I see nothing that would ensure these women get help. These are not poor women, or unemployed women. They are women like us who are victims of an appalling insurance system. Under Obama's plan, they would get some relief, mainly b/c insurance companies would have to change their behaviors. It ain't a handout! What good is a tax credit going to do if an insurance co won't cover you? What if you live in a state that lags behind in developing a plan? Are the insurance companies going change on their own, b/c they care about us?
This is where I am absolutely stumped when people say either choice is a good one for this country. These men believe fundamentally different things. Do you believe everyone should have access to health care coverage or not? I agree that Obama's plan would cost a lot (while McCains is widely expected to have virtually no impact on the number of insured). But even if *I* have to pay more, I'd rather live in country where people's basic health needs are covered, where insurance companies can't take away benefits or deny coverage to women who are just like me.
So SELF magazine recently had an interesting article, about women who were denied insurance. One of the women (a healthy 32-yr old mother of two) was denied coverage b/c of her "history of infertility" and the fact that she took Metformin and Actos. Another woman (a 40-yr old widow with 2 boys) had emergency surgery for a growth on her fallopian tube. Four months after her surgery, her insurance company completed a 'routine review' of her records and discovered a pre-existing gyn condition...This condition was a ONE-TIME notation in her file of irregular periods. Even though she supposedly had coverage, she was suddenly responsible for $15k from the emergency surgery (and is still paying it off, 7 yrs later).
The article had a quick breakdown of the candidates' policies:
OBAMA:
- maintains it's the fed govts responsibility to make sure every American has access to insurance
- would require all insurance cos to offer a basic set of benefits to everybody at affordable rates, regardless of the applicant's medical condition
- under his plan, insurers couldn't charge sick people more, nor could they turn people away
MCCAIN:
- wants to offer a tax credit to people for whom insurance is too expensive, worth $2,500 (families would receive $5,000)
- says its up to states, w/ the help of the fed govt, to devise programs for people insurers won't touch b/c of past or present conditions
- suggests more states might run programs such as the high-risk pools now in 34 states (covers 200,000 people today)
Giving the focus of this website, I thought these examples were interesting. Anyone here taken IF drugs? Had irregular periods? What if you had emergency surgery and then were denied coverage? Several of the women in the article still haven't been able to get coverage at all. I look at the McCain plan and I see nothing that would ensure these women get help. These are not poor women, or unemployed women. They are women like us who are victims of an appalling insurance system. Under Obama's plan, they would get some relief, mainly b/c insurance companies would have to change their behaviors. It ain't a handout! What good is a tax credit going to do if an insurance co won't cover you? What if you live in a state that lags behind in developing a plan? Are the insurance companies going change on their own, b/c they care about us?
This is where I am absolutely stumped when people say either choice is a good one for this country. These men believe fundamentally different things. Do you believe everyone should have access to health care coverage or not? I agree that Obama's plan would cost a lot (while McCains is widely expected to have virtually no impact on the number of insured). But even if *I* have to pay more, I'd rather live in country where people's basic health needs are covered, where insurance companies can't take away benefits or deny coverage to women who are just like me.
.
Comment