Is Healthcare Armageddon Next?

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What is happening in the health care "business" is the same thing that happened in the banking industry. The ostriches running the show do not realize that there is only so much money that they can milk out of Americans. Perhaps these corporate leaders of pharmaceuticals and insurance are not worried for themselves since they have seen the government bail out their counterparts in the banking industry...even allowing a huge bonus program to reward them after they brought the country to its knees. The fact that Canada can negotiate lower prices reveals how huge the profits really are. What's good for big business IS NO LONGER GOOD for America. Big business now consists of a small number of greedy, unprincipled crooks given immunity by the government while they pillage the little guy. Small businesses and the self employed will not be able to function much longer because of this corruption. When most businesses are forced shut down in the near future, where will the corporate crooks be able to spend their money? There is an old prophecy that says they will be "throwing it in the streets".

David of NY 9:59AM July 11, 2009

I am a disabled female who worked for 47 years of my life and who thought she was doing fine until the corporation I worked for had to restructure due to bad business decisions, poor management and the greed of CEOs. Thousands of employees were left with no job, no stock, and no retirement. Now, through no fault of our own we must depend on Social Security, which is why millions of us will defend it to the death. The cost of healthcare is not due to the patients or the doctors but because our dear President Bush allowed the insurance and pharma industry to write the rules and regs for their industry, for their own benefit and profit. Now, we are paying through the nose. It has come to the point where seniors and the disabled will not be able to afford insurance because the industry is making billions while we are making choices like...do we buy milk and bread or do we go to the doctor. I have written several organizations advising them that companies are eliminating supplemental insurance where we were paying $30-50 a month---now we are being forced to pay $150-200 a month for health insurance. If we receive $1,000 a month in SS benefits and have to pay $700+ for rent that leaves us only $250 for food, prescriptions, utilities, etc. What will happen in the VERY near future is that the 40-50 year old children or grandchildren will be paying for the healthcare of their parents or grandparents. The insurance companies get paid right away before anyone else and at 18% more than original Medicare. Bush is making sure he leaves his buddies well cared for and the hell with the seniors, the elderly, the ill or disabled. The baby boomers will end up picking up the tab so that the industry can continue making billions.

Ann Marie of IL 7:26PM November 05, 2008

I do EVERYTHING possible not to seek US medical care.
Yes, I'm a citizen, employed, healthy... and I know a diseased entity when I see one.
Let the US medical/drug/lawyer industry sink just as the financial industry did.
Good riddance. Since it can't get worse...any change could only be for the better.

Ben of CA 12:08AM October 26, 2008

It would be helpful in furthering this discussion if the writer would be more accurate. Almost all insurance policies have an annual out of pocket maximum built into it. So it would not be accurate to insinuate that the average insured person would be responsible for 20 Percent of a $500,000 bill. However, a point missed is that most policies also have a lifetime maximum. With the higher treatment costs being referenced, this should be a big concern to anyone seriously ill.

Dan of OR 8:46PM October 21, 2008

Please do a series on the current status of the HIV/AIDS crisis. It just seems like all the worry has gone away in society and the media. I was a middle schooler in the early nineties who learned quite vividly about the dangers of unprotected sex and HIV/AIDS in sex ed. There was so much fear and it seems to have gone away. Is there now a cure for AIDS?

Gary of MD 10:32PM October 13, 2008

Please do a series on the current status of the HIV/AIDS crisis. It just seems like all the worry has gone away in society and the media. I was a middle schooler in the early nineties who learned quite vividly about the dangers of unprotected sex and HIV/AIDS in sex ed. There was so much fear and it seems to have gone away. Is there now a cure for AIDS?

Gary of MD 10:30PM October 13, 2008

Please do a series on the current status of the HIV/AIDS crisis. It just seems like all the worry has gone away in society and the media. I was a middle schooler in the early nineties who learned quite vividly about the dangers of unprotected sex and HIV/AIDS in sex ed. There was so much fear and it seems to have gone away. Is there now a cure for AIDS?

Gary of MD 10:28PM October 13, 2008

what should i know about this type of medical and dental plans

adrienne of FL 8:24AM October 12, 2008

It discourages me that I seem to be the only person noticing that the major problem with our health care system is not the insurance companies or the means of payment (thought that is bad).
It is the complete domination of the system by "mainstream" (actually allopathic) forces that make huge profits on expensive, drug, surgery and high-tech medical treatment. It is the fact that much of this care is self-perpetuating (many drugs are taken to deal with the "side effects" of others) and dangerous (conservative estimate of at least 100,000 dying each year from their doctor-prescribed treatment).
The other countries that do so much better for far less money all use some forms of alternative care - herbal, homeopathic, naturopathic, acupuncture, etc. England, at $2,000 per capita vs. $7,000 for the U.S., has 5 homeopathic hospitals, all covered by the National Health. Their health results far surpass ours, and they cover everyone. Germany's Commission E, in the 1980s, did extensive research on traditional and herbal remedies, then covered those found safe and effective.
Until we make changes in the KIND of health care offered, the march toward medical bankrupccy will not be halted. The problem with the U.S. system as opposed to elsewhere is that we only have limited choice in what will be covered - and it is a really bad option, both health and cost-wise. Why is it that a woman has a "right to choose" about having an abortion - but not about how she may decide to handle her health problems?

Liberty G of RI 9:45AM October 11, 2008

I agree that people should be allowed to die naturally, without life support that prolongs their suffering. But to mandate so would lead us precipitously close to euthanasia. What we need is a culture change rather than a policy change.

Craig of MI 1:13PM October 08, 2008