Dr. Oz Puts a Face on the Uninsured
Over the past several months, the face of health care reform has increasingly belonged to pundits, lobbyists, and members of Congress. After the Senate Finance committee's approval of health care reform legislation yesterday, the front pages of the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal featured prominent pictures of committee members Senators Max Baucus and Olympia Snowe. As the debate now enters its next contentious phase, we need to focus on the faces that are desperate for help: the 46 million uninsured Americans.
Who exactly are these uninsured people we keep hearing about? They're not what many people expect. The vast majority of the uninsured -- 81 percent -- come from working families with low incomes. Median net worth (assets minus debts) of the uninsured is zero, so there's no safety net to pay for unexpected medical costs. Because Medicare insures all but 600,000 of the elderly, most of the uninsured (45.7 million) are under age 65. The Kaiser Family Foundation has provided us with some insight with "The Uninsured: A Primer."
In today's episode of the Dr. Oz Show, Dr. Mehmet Oz puts a face on the uninsured. He traveled to Houston and, with the help of 700 volunteers and the National Association of Free Clinics, staged a free clinic that saw nearly 2,000 uninsured patients in a single day. People who had felt invisible were blown away to suddenly find themselves the focus of a well-organized health care initiative.
Founded in 1999, the National Association of Free Clinics is a wonderful resource that was a complete surprise to me. Nicole D. Lamoureux, its national director, told me NAFC is a member organization for the nation's 1,200 free health clinics, which come in all shapes and sizes and use different models and have a variety of funding streams. At their foundation are an astounding six million volunteers, including doctors, nurses, and administrative staff.
Free clinics saw four million patients in 2008 and are on track to see eight million this year -- even though funding and donations are down 20 percent. With little to no state or federal funding, they are financed by foundations, grants and donations. With the economic downturn, some retired volunteers have had to return to paid work, leaving clinics understaffed. There are no provisions in the health care reform bill regarding free clinics and they received no money from the stimulus package. Eighty-three percent of patients going to free clinics come from working households. Forty-four percent of free clinics operate on a budget of less than $100,000.
As I watched the taping of the Dr. Oz Show, some of the stories absolutely took my breath away: a middle-aged man who helplessly watched a tiny lip blister mushroom into a large malignant tumor; a woman who lost a breast to cancer and wants to feel whole again; a 14-month old infant with a hole in her heart and desperate parents with no insurance. One of the patients was a man with rectal bleeding who had a six-figure income until he lost his job and insurance last December. Unable to afford medical care, he put off any evaluation until Dr. Oz flew him to New York so I could perform a consultation and colonoscopy. His story is the focus of this week's CBS Doc Dot Com. See what happened below:
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One year, with our "company sponsored" healthcare, in order for each family member to receive anything outside of wellness care, we would have had to spend $22,000 in a calendar year for premiums and deductibles. $22,000! Out of network deductible was $6,000 a person. So even if you HAVE healthcare, that doesn't mean you can afford to use it. The entire system is revolting.
Dr. Oz holds my attention until he touts vaccines, daily aspirin, and soy.
He's just another cog in the wobbly wheel of modern medicine. Allopathic medicine is a total failure with regard to treatment of disease. Alm;ost every approach or treatment is wrong. Doctors totally ignore the healing properties of food and nutrition, while precribing dangerous, ineffective drugs. It's so bizarre.
Saw a figure of 18 million uninsured that make over $75,000 a year that choose not to have health insurance. Any confirmation on this figure?
Well, if the employer does not offer insurance and if your mortgage and expenses/e
Got let go at Clear Channel (replaced with a young, cute blonde) in 2003 and the cost for Cobra for my family plan was over $1200/mo. More than my unemployment benefits. Can't imagine it's changed much to date so can't see how many unemployed persons can afford Cobra.
COBRA does not apply if you work for a small employer anyway. I had coverage and my employer dropped it as soon as she turned 65 and didn't need me for a group anymore. And the cost of individual insurance for me (just one person) because I have a pre existing condition is almost 50% of my take home (from 2 jobs) - close to $1000 a month.
So I have none, and am sitting at my desk on my break, with a sore throat and a fever, probably making other folks here sick, but she doesn't pay us if we stay home, so........
in some parts of the country, you would be rich making $75K a year, in other parts, it is so expensive just for housing, that there is little left over. Many people are just a couple of pay checks away from
financial ruin. What shape would you be in if you didn't have anything but unemployment insurance
for a couple of months? would you be able to afford your rent or mortgage , food, other bills, insurance payments ( cobra payments are as much as rent in many cases) plus copays?
be honest, you probably would be in terrible shape like these people.
We don't hear all the stories. For every one story heard of issues with present health care there are thousands that are unhead.
Amen
In addition there are thousands who are denied healthcare by their insurance company.
And add to those the "underinsured" who's work insurance has such high deductibles and co-pays that many put off going to the doctor because they have to make a choice between visiting the doctor or paying the light bill or buying groceries for their families.
For anyone who still thinks that private insurance (aka the cartel) is not the problem...
A few weeks ago I listened to a local NPR program debating health care reform. A caller who said he works in the insurance industry revealed that there is an agency known as MIB and described that anyone who has ever had insurance has a "file" there, and insurance companies access that information. The host of the NPR show was stunned at this revelation, and so was I. I looked it up and found the following:
"The Medical Information Bureau (MIB), a Delaware corporation, is the world’s largest insurance reporting agency and represents approximately 750 member insurance companies. “The Medical Information Bureau (a/k/a, MIB Group, Inc., a/k/a, MIB, Inc., a/k/a, MIB Solutions, Inc.) collects and furnishes information on consumers to all Medical Information Bureau (MIB) member corporations for use in the insurance underwriting process. In addition to an individual’s credit history, data collected by the Medical Information Bureau (MIB) may include medical conditions, driving records, criminal activity, drug use, participation in hazardous sports, and personal or family genetic history, among other facts."
Yet family and friends can't get any information when they call the hospital you are in. And gay partners can't even visit there partners in many hospital under some circumstances. Amazing isn't it who is granted free access to our information and who isn't?
We have no implied rights to privacy when it comes big business.
Those rules you are talking about are part of HIPAA (health information portability and accountability act), an early spiritual forebear of the Blue Skies initiative, classic orwelian doublespeak. The stated reason for the rules is to ensure patient confidentiality, but its actual purpose was to punish medical providers and patients with ridiculous beaurocracy as pay back for having dared to push health insurance reform during the Clinton admin. Its supposed to protect your medical information from unauthorized access....
I work in Health care and this is true. Not only when you apply for insurance but companies check this database when you submit a request for a major procedure. That's how they verify preexisting conditions. That why I do not fill in every question on the health profile info in the doctors office. Where do you think that information goes? I will say again we already have death panels but hey are not run by the Government they have been run for years by Insurance companies. Americans need to become better informed.
Medical Information Bureau (MIB) will give a yearly report to you for free:
MIB’s toll-free number for disclosure is 866-692-6901 (TTY 866-346-3642 for hearing impaired). Note: Do not use this number if you are a Canadian resident
Somebody needs to hold a free clinic on the Washington Mall for about two weeks , promising whoever needs treatment and is uninsured will get it
.That way the politicians can get a close up look at who they are sentencing to death and disability and the news media will be unable to avoid covering it.
No one is sentencing anyone. It's not the government's job to educate you and make sure you find better than a minimum wage job. That's YOUR job. my brother never finished high school. Yet he manages to pay a mortgage, support his family of 4 and provide them with health insurance. I'm tired of hearing that it can't be done.
Just wait until it happens to you...or your child...or your brother. An awful lot of hard-working people have gotten canned in the last couple of years, and it's harder and harder to find a job, ANY job, let alone one with health insurance, particularly if you're over forty.
Wow. And what about the people who have to replace me at minimum wage? If companies are paying people minimum wage with no benefits (and we know how righties like to hold down wages), someone is still going to end up uninsured. Or do you propose to require that every job provide health insurance? And why is it your employer's job to provide health insurance? Do you know what a drag that is on competitiveness and entrepreneurship? Of course not. You were suckled on reaganism and you haven't had a thought since.
Having insurance is no guarantee they will actually provide the treatment you or your family needs! There are a million loopholes which they employ to to deny their customers.
All is does is guarantee that you can look down on people less fortunate than yourself.
What exactly is government's job? To protect business at the expense of the individual?
You talk about your brother, how are you providing for yourself?
You need to really pay attention to the statement " there but the grace of God Go I". Your brother is not making it because he is so smart or resourceful much of it is just luck or grace, whichever you prefer. You appear to adhere to the school that teaches you have complete control over every area of your life. If your brother became disabled through a illness or injury has he saved enough to support his family for the rest of his natural life. That comes to a few million dollars. We are all a accident or illness away from financial disaster.
My family is the uninsured. I used to be self employed and my husband still is. I'm currently am looking for work. We used to be self insured for health insurance. The last time I checked for a family of 3 it was around 800 a month with a 10K deductible and that was over a year ago. For over 13 years we paid into this scam and I estimate that we spent approximately $ 80,000 or more on insurance that we never got to use because we never reached the deductible. In fact, we just never went to the doctor unless absolutely necessary. Although now, my daughter is insured under the CHP+ program here, I can take her.
Even if we could get insurance, which we can't because we are both over 50, we couldn't afford it.
We have both worked hard all of our lives and I'm embarrassed to be in this position. I'm also angry, especially when I get e-mails from my cousin who is married to a plastic surgeon about how healthcare for all is a socialist plot.. She is revealing the ugly, selfish and greedy side of those who do not want insurance for all. I am sick of all of them.
You are a perfect example of why we need a single-payer health care system for all. There is no reason why you and your husband should be left with nowhere to turn in the event of illness or injury. And though I'm sure it doesn't help much I am angry with your cousins on your behalf, what a heartless way to treat you at this time.
Fanned ! The whole world needs more people with your concern for other people . I wish Congress was as human .
Guess what? The H.R. 3200 is going to cost about the same and you STILL will have a family deductible of $10,000. So explain to me how a health care bill will help you.
It won't help any of the individuals that need help. What it will do is create another bubble on Wall St., with increased insurance rolls and no legislation to curb the abuses the profits will go through the roof.
Please provide a link to that section of the bill that states this. Also we currently have five bills, 2 in the senate and 3 in the house. Which bill are you referring to ?
"The H.R. 3200 is going to cost about the same and you STILL will have a family deductible of $10,000. So explain to me how a health care bill will help you."
are you speaking specifically about hr 3200 or any bill at all? because while this particular bill probably won't help very many, that doesn't mean that a health care bill that was actually well thought out and crafted wouldn't.
This is America's shame...ou
And don't they understand that we are all human. Thank you for your excellent post. For all the wealth in this nation it is shameful that there are so many of us without access to health care. We can do better, we must do better.
You have access. The only one denying you access is yourself.
Most of the people who went to the town hall meeting would be all about TRUE healthcare reform as I am. However the bills that Pelosi, Reid, and Baucous are all working on are NOT indicative that true reform will be happening. I understand most people are upset with the way things work now, and why wouldn't they be? It sucks, plain and simple.. Unfortunately their practices are the product of government intervention. The Federal government was the one who blocked cross state sales of insurance, the Federal government is the one who mandated minimum coverage. This is just a couple examples of how the government helped to create what we deal with today.. Unfortunately instead of undoing what they have done to get us here, they want to allow business to continue as normal and they're trying to get into the game because they see an opportunit
I would suggest that if you insist on the plan you have and are truly looking out for the people then find an alternate source of revenue.. Do something like legalize marijuana and tax the crap out of it, or lift the ban on offshore drilling and capitalize on the profits.. Maybe start building casinos in the states that allow gambling.. The oil alone would pay for healthcare for EVERY person in America.. PLEASE STOP RAISING TAXES!!
Well, we were able to identify the four words that are motivating you.
You summed it up in your second sentence. Your problem is that you somehow believe it is the federal government's job to take care of you. The only person responsible for you and your family is you. The founding fathers never intended for this to be a welfare state. It is up to the citizens to take care of themselves. If they are unable to do that then they were expected to receive help from family and friends. The next step would be the local community. The federal government is not your mother. It's not responsible for taking care of every aspect of your life. None of the blue collars I know need the federal government to take care of them. They don't see intervention from the federal government as "helping them". You assume that everyone that is blue collar is poor and unable to take care of themselves and that just simply is not the case.
The founding fathers never paid for health insurance.
"Are there no workhouses? Are there no prisons? Let them die and decrease the surplus population
Why didn't Wall St. and the Banks ask their friends and families to bail them out? Why didn't they hit up their church kitchens?
Why did the airlines after 09/11, and the oil industry after Katrina ask for help and receive it?
The founding fathers also never intended our Republic from becoming a nation run by elites and dynasties established by the extreme wealthy citizens. That is what is happening and it is a repeat of the gilded age that was knocked down by Teddy Roosevelt and the post depression era which was knocked down by Franklin Roosevelt.
The wealthy have been working for a long time to misinform the public on the true conditions in the country. Why do you think we have had an inheritance tax for so long- under Republicans and Democrats? It is to prevent dynasties and multigenerational monied families from gaining control of the nation. The wealthy spin machine(actually funded by the Walton Family) has even changed the terminology from Inheritance Tax to Death Tax. The right has turned conservative lower and moderate income people against this even though it will only affect the top 1% of people in the country.
Ten percent of the U.S. population owns 81.8 percent of the real estate, 81.2 percent of the stock, and 88 percent of the bonds.
One percent of the U.S. population owns sixty percent of the stock and forty percent of the total wealth.
The above statistics tell me that the wealthy are not paying their fair share as they are not paying any where near the percentage of the nation that they own. (and politicians they own)
Although I appreciate the fact that Dr. Oz is getting publicity
and volunteers for the free health clinics, the face of those
who are un-insured are the same as the people you live
and work around. And despite what FOX news says, there are
a lot more than 20,000 un-insured people. I would like to pay
each month for health insurance, just like I do my car insurance,
a lower rate and a little higher co-pay. But, if it takes 7-10 years
to get any insurance going, it will probabaly not matter.
this is powerful stuff. i don't think anyone can watch scenes like this and not feel it.
If we do not take the profit out of health care and our money out of Wall Street the road we are on will not end . There are many not-for-profit health care facilities ran by local governments where insurance is not needed . The patients pay the facilities .
There is only one in the area I live in funded by the local Indian casinos. But if the poor are required to purchase insurance they won't even have enough left over to pay for the visits they have to make there out of necessity. Reagan closed our county and state hospitals.
I'm watching the Dr. Oz show right now. WHO ARE WE to chastise and penalize other countries for human rights violations???? Our health care system presents a huge human rights violation in itself. Our government needs to hold it's head in shame for letting for-profit health insurance companies get so out of control and dictate the state of our health the way they do. Shame, shame, shame on them. And a gratitude of Thanks to the National Association of Free Clinics. Thank you, thank you, thank you!
46 million Americans?? You have to be an American citizen to be an American. 15 million of these uninsured are illegal immigrants. Obviously, they can't be counted as Americans. You don't get to be an "American" just because you reside (illegally) within our borders.
Those here illegally deserve nothing, and that includes insurance coverage. Te only thing they deserve is deportation.
OK, so even if we buy into your hateful premise that those here illegally should not be treated for disease (which means, they are more of a risk to everyone else) or accident (would you seriously leave someone to die in the street because of immigration status? what if it were a child who had no say in where they live?), what is your answer for the remaining 31 million people who ARE citizens? Did you read this article about who the uninsured are, or are you just being negative?
I am not being negative, but you are being confused. Everyone gets emergency care. They don't get left to die in the street. You know that. Duh.
The best way to deal with the medical needs of millions of trespassers is to send them home. They have their medical problems and get treated in their own home countries. Get it? Too complicated?
I made no comment on the other people. It was not the intent of my letter. I commented only on those who are not supposed to be here. How do you know what my position is on our uninsured citizens?
Your letter was typically liberal-accusatory without cause. You think i'm hateful for thinking our laws should be obeyed so we can take better care of our own people-like you.
Calm down and start thinking.
Can you trust that none of the in-your-eyes illegitimate denizens of our shores will ever cast a germ-laden breath in your direction?
The right to accessing/receiving adequate medical care may be debatable.
The threat to your health from undiagnosed and untreated disease is not.
I want all people who are legal residents of this country to have access to health care. There should be emergency care only for illegal immigrants. Their presence in this country costs us about 100 billion dollars per year. That would cover all uninsured Americans.
Illegals using energency rooms for routine health care and all the costs of children being being born to illegals (including, caesareans and complications) has caused the closure of countless hospitals in this country. This makes it harder and more expensive for legal residents to get care. All of this is acceptable to you?
Come down off your high horse. You liberals are not superior people, just self-righteous people. Let's have less attitude and more rational argument.
For most of America's history- you just had to show up and work here and you were an American. That's how my Polish and Italian and German and French great great grandparents did it. We're a country of immigrants and all of us deserve health care.
Are you aware that there is no way for a hospital emergency room to check someone's immigratio
I don't know if 15 million illegals are part of that 46 million uninsured or not. I do believe in securing our borders but that is another issue. The illegals that are here will get health care somewhere, weather it be in the ER or a clinic. If they can't pay for treatment guess who does pay for it. US, as in the taxpayers and patients that can afford to pay for treatment. My opinion is that we may as well let them buy health insurance through a public option or we'll be paying for a lot of it in taxes and higher hospital costs.
One thing that is also hugely overlooked in this debate... which I didn't know until I organized a Public Option Now rally at Sen Bingman's office in Santa Fe in July.
Many more people who are "insured" actually have junk insurance with unacceptably high premiums and deductible
The sick person has to fight either their employer or the insurance company at a time when they are most vulnerable and weak, eg with a new cancer diagnosis, etc.
This in my opinion is the BIG UNTOLD story about criminal practices on the part of "insurance" companies (read "we'll take your money when your helathy, but we will bail on you when you get sick").
I heard the same stores over and over and over... people who'd paid into insurance for YEARS, then terminated when they got sick.
To me this is domestic terrorism of the worst kind. People go bankrupt, lose their homes etc..... AND THESE PEOPLE HAD INSURANCE!!
They thought.
Corporate shill blue-dogs and Republicans are complicit in perpetuating the domestic terrorism of the American people.
There is no way anyone but the insurers can win under the present system. If you have insurance and see a doctor regularly, every little complaint will end up on your list of pre-existing conditions, even if you and your doctor agree that it is nothing. If you avoid seeing the doctor to avoid racking up reasons to be denied coverage in the future, they will flag you as a health risk because you don't see the doctor often enough. Deductibles and co-pays are already so high that they represent a barrier to many working people seeing a doctor for anything less than a crisis. For some people, a co-pay of $30 means skipping meals or not paying another bill. All of these are reasons why anything less than universal coverage will simply not solve the problem.
Amen!
Co-sign. This is exactly why we need a single-payer system. Pre-existing conditions won't matter if everyone is covered.
The house always wins. We just need to decide if America is the peoples house or the corporations house. I think we're just confused right now.
I am sure that there are examples of this out there. But the polls show that 83% of Americans are happy with their health care. How can that be brushed off? It's not like the current system is a failure. There obviously are problems, mostly with costs. The Republican leadership has said that repeatedly. The argument is about how to fix all this.
Why won't the Dems support tort reform? Why can't people buy insurance across state lines? If these two things were addressed (they would probably save consumers a lot of money) more people and politicians might support the proposed (though incomplete) bill.
Tell me which state this is? The one with the great, affordable insurance that I could take advantage of if only we could shop across state lines? And if I bought their insurance, all the medical facilities near me would be "out of network". They are mostly the same companies with regional offices. There aren't enough insurers for any meaningful cost competition.
The people who like their insurance probably haven't had to rely on it yet.
"But the polls show that 83% of Americans are happy with their health care."
That must be the 83% who haven't got sick yet.
Seriously, this whole debate is about health care insurance, not health care. There's a difference. You may like your doctor (health care) but still think your plan is no good.
The same poll you cited (Gallup 2007) found that only 70% were satisfied with their health plan coverage. That would be 70% of the insured, not 70% of all Americans. So add the 30% dissatisfied insured to all those who are not insured at all, and you have 50% of all Americans who feel they are poorly served by the present system.
I agree with alex61's comment about tort reform. Democrats, you can't cherry pick your causes. Huge damages are so closely linked to sky-rocketing medical costs that you have to tackle both at once.
i haven't seen that poll about the 83% that are happy with their health care. If you are referring to health insurance, I'm not happy with mine and don't know anybody who is. My insurance provider automatically rejects about 40 % of my claims and delays payments to the doctors. By the way, I just got notification that my premiums are going up again. So is the co-pay and deductible. Benefits are going down. So they just raised their profits in 4 directions. The main point is that this will continue unless will have a robust public option to keep the health care companies in check.
I am sure that there are examples of this out there. But the polls show that 83% of Americans are happy with their health care.
__________
Here's the fallacy of this bogus statistic being pushed by the insurance industry and their paid congressional lackeys for the benefit of us gullible Americans who will believe any number shoved in out faces without probing deeper: First of all, this is a sample of people who actually *have* insurance and doesn't count the 46 million who don't. Since I doubt that many who have no insurance would be "happy" at not having any insurance at all, that alone takes a big bite of your 83%.
If you factor these 46 million who have no reason at all to be "happy," your 83% drops to about 67% of Americans. Still a significant majority, but far less impressive than 83%.
And of this 67%, probably another 10% have never been in a health crisis and potential life-saving treatment defined by their insurance carrier. These folks may be happy now but be in for a very rude awakening.
The 83% figure being bandied about is a meaningless, cherry-picked number that throws out pretty much anyone who either has no current coverage or insurance that will prove inadequate when the s**t actually hits the fan.
What a disgrace..
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