60 Minutes: Charity Trying To Make Up For Failing U.S. Health Care System
By Logan Murphy Sunday Mar 02, 2008 11:01am
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Download | play (h/t Heather)
If you're looking for a story that shows the abysmal state of health care in America, look no further. 60 Minutes traveled to Knoxville, TN to film a free clinic set up by a charity group called Remote Area Medical Volunteer Corps, or RAM. The charity was initially started in the 90's by it's founder, Stan Brock, former co-star of Wild Kingdom, to give health care relief to remote areas of Latin America, but after watching this segment it's clear that America's health care system doesn't look too much different than that of a third world country.
Brock has no family, takes no salary and has no home. He is completely dedicated to RAM, as are the doctors and nurses who volunteer their time and expertise. The local response to this RAM clinic in Knoxville was amazing, yet profoundly saddening. Hundreds of people showed up for the clinic, many drove hours to get there and waited up to seven hours just to get a spot in line to be seen -- and ultimately, hundreds had to be turned away. These were not Cadillac driving welfare queens, they were average, working Americans who are under insured or have no insurance at all. The most disheartening part of it all is to see how many of these people had avoided seeking medical treatment for years because they couldn't afford it and are now reduced to begging for help. It's a microcosm of our medical system and it's a damn ugly sight in the world's wealthiest nation.
The full video and transcripts available at CBSNews.com
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yeah that's friggin sad.
i also liked the segemtn where they shot the ray gun at peace activists.
kind of goes hand in hand.
We need to get the corporations out of Congress. Without Campaign Finance Reform, we'll never be able to do anything about problems like this one. The only way to do it is a grassroots effort to elect representatives ready to vote for CFR, and if it takes ten years to populate the Congress with such people so be it.
Without CFR - and without additional effort to limit the control of corporations over all our media - efforts to reform health care will be met with massive "socialized medicine" propaganda blitzes.
That is what the Republican party wants. If you can't afford it at the market price, piss off! Whether it is healthcare, housing or even food.
The US is first tier third world - face it.
Dugg it.
Stories like this can't get enough attention.
"it’s a damn ugly sight in the world’s wealthiest nation."
Remember seeing the convoy of 50 trucks coming to give aid to New Orleans? From MEXICO!?
This is how I felt then. That was a "damn ugly sight."
Are we still the world's richest nation?
It would be interesting to know who these poor folks voted for? Not that if Gore won TN in 2000, there wouldn't be the same problem, at least there would be someone listening to the problem. gw & gang won't even do that.
This is insanity. We live in the most wonderful country in the world, and we can't take care of our own countrymen. I fear for our future. What of our children? Our grandchildren? The fact Bush is still in office dismays me. Now we have talking heads blaming us, the middle class, for our failing economy. That's Republicans for you folks!
Dr. Acula @ 7:
We're morally bankrupt if that's what you mean.
Peoples Front of Judea @ 6:
I would second guess calling us the richest nation in the world. I prefer the largest debtor nation in the world. If our debts are called, we're screwed. If oil changes to euro's, we're screwed. Hence, war, and more of it.
To call any pol's healthcare ideas "universal coverage" is pure b.s. Both Obama's and Clinton's plans include the insurance companies that have f*cked up healthcare in this country.
That is heartbreaking. We are a proud people being taken down by filthy greedy pigs. Shame on Bush, McCain and the GOP.
Peoples Front of Judea @ 3:
I don't think so. Think about every insurance co. exec seeing that report and thinking about the hundreds of dollars they might have made from these poor people, then calling their personal congressperson to complain and demand this commie is shut down.
a brilliant bit of journalism. every republican should be forced to watch it. this and the don spiegalman expose last week.
i am sick of hearing about the welfare generation, and americans are lazy.
between our health care system, our economy, our voting systems(diebold) and the war, we look like a 3rd world country.
it doesn't resemble the country i grew up in.
how many more days till bush is out of office?
All big business should be strictly regulated. The so-called free market have destroyed the middle class. It has done nothing except help insurers, big oil and telecoms get filthy rich at our expense. Tax the ultra wealthy and big business, it is our only hope.
I'm sorry to burst EVERYONE'S bubble, but this story is a reflection of our nation. Of ALL of us....especially me.
I mean we have stories like this one posted all over the place. Websites like C&L will post stories about health care, about soldiers dying needlessly in Iraq, about Corporate greed and government fraud. Then hundreds of readers will post a message on the board and discuss and debate the issue among ourselves. Then what happens? What happens after every one of us logs off from the computer at work or from the computer at home?
Yeah, we whine and complain about the system and debate whether Clinton, Obama, or McCain will be the answer. But for the most part, we are ALL content with our lives. We may not be happy with the way things are, but when push comes to shove, we are happy enough to settle for it.
I'm not saying this as some Republican moron who's trying to make a "America: Love It or Leave It" argument. I'm trying to make the argument that for all of the bad stories, and for all of our complaining and debating, what are we as individuals doing about it? The average person in this country is not going to miss a day of work to protest or fight back against anything. Whatever the government or the corporations feed us, we're going to eat it whether we are hungry for it or not. Everyone on these boards talk big and bad, but when it comes to action, we are VERY LACKING. You have the motivation to organize around getting Obama elected, but we have ZERO organization when it comes to holding government and corporations accountable. 1 million people can support the Obama campaign, but 1 million people can't get together and use their collective voices and purchasing power to force corporations and government to give us the products and services we need and when we need them.
I mean I'd be more than happy to sacrifice my daily comfort and convenience to actually make this country live up to its rhetoric and hold those people accountable who do not. But I fear that I'm only preaching to the choir and a thousand voices is a million voices too few.
So keep posting. Keep talking. Keep debating. But when you log off this evening, what have you truly done? What have you truly accomplished? I'm ready to take action. How about you?
As a physician, I always wondered how long it would take for the shame that is the health care system of "the richest nation in the history of the world" to be exposed. I hope that 60 minute segment was an eye-opener to a lot of people!
I don't have to look any further than the free medical clinic for the uninsured in Camden NJ where I volunteer each week. The idea that growing numbers of our neighbors have to rely on the kindness of strangers for the basic human right of medical care makes me sick to my stomach. But without volunteers, what will happen to the ill and the frail while our inhumane and profit-driven system is being argued? It makes me ashamed of my country.
Dr. Acula @ 12:
Yep, every time I hear their plans referred to as 'healthcare plans' it makes me want to scream: They are NOT healthcare plans!! They are healthinsurance plans!!
The sad fact is a lot of people who HAVE healthinsurance are NOT getting the healthcare they need. Makes me sick! uh-oh
If there is ever a reason to vote for Hillary Clinton...this is it.
After Obama gets the nomination, you will see how polished and vetted Hillary Clinton was.
It is a shame we have let the mainstream media and blogosphere choose our candidate by very SELECTIVE JOURNALISM...
abiodun @ 18:
Hi :) I get this burning sensation when I'm peeing on republicans... What do you recommend?
Oh yeah, trolling the forums for free medical advice FTW!
Jack Jett @ 21:
How will we see that exactly?
TN ?? Aren't these are the very same public who will keep touting Bush, 4 more years for Bush, Bush, Bush !!!!
I remember watching the same thing in the 1960's about poverty in america. 40+ years later and very little has changed. If you vote for the GOP you are part of the problem.
don't worry! our current crop of corporatists will guarantee that money gets funneled through the insurance companies long before the concepts of care and coverage for americans are considered.
Jack Jett @ 21:
so hillary guaranteeing health insurance profits is a solution?
(Begin Snark)
Well, we didn't get to be the worlds richest nation by paying for everybody's damn healthcare!
(End Snark)
I have to tell the people that think this will change much to wise up. A little help here and there might come about, but the problems are systemic. Until you set incentive mechanisms for healthcare AND congress, this is way it's going to go.
Thanks for the post, I caught the end of this and had been looking for the story -- difficult, because I'm in canada and we can't watch your content.
Sad state of affairs, but at least you have people willing to step up and help out.
It is high time for more tax cuts for the wealthy!
I find it hard to believe this is the United States anymore. We will soon no longer need trash pickup as anything you set at the curb is picked up by the needy. I set an old, rusted, metal shelf at the curb for pickup and someone stopped to load it into their pickup truck for salvage. This is not my country.
May God help us, our government won't.
Peace!
PJ
Two thoughts...
One, was that ever a propaganda piece on their "ray-gun" in the same 60 Minutes installment. It seems the reporter (Pelley?) consistently believes whatever he's told by authority figures. Despite the way the test "crowd" was outfitted, he never once asked if it would be used on protesters in the States, or what controls would be in place to prevent that. Nor was the effect of the ray on contact lens wearers - potentially fusing the lens to the cornea - ever discussed that I recall. Meanwhile, the idea that that would "solved" Fallujah is questionable. A crowd control weapon's usefulness against IEDs, rockets, and in searching houses door to door ain't exactly clear.
Two, one of the recipients of that health care said it was "god-sent" and another woman said, "God will provide." Maybe they should start pressing their government to provide the same.
abiodun @ 18:
Oddly, I got my eye-opener last week. My wife's insurance is a little better than mine so she has herself and our two daughters on her insurance and I get my through my work.
The policy for her company was recently changed that it no longer offers full coverage for children's eyecare. I'm going to have to pay upwards of $500 to $600 for my daughters' appointments and glasses for one of them. That's stretching our budget quite a bit, but I can't imagine those families that need to do something to help their kids and have little or no options. If nothing else we need universal healthcare for our children.
I keep asking: in what way are we better off than we were before the Bush administration and Repub congress domination? They can only come up with "We haven't been attacked by terrorists." [plus the the rich are getting richer, and trickling (tinkling?) down to us I guess] In every possible area--education, the war's toll, national debt, National prestige/respect, manufacturing etc. etc. they have screwed it up and we have reason to worry about our and our children's future. Keep asking: what are you guys proud of?
A picture of the future of corporatized america....
I recomend watching the whole segment.
I made a donation.
http://www.ramusa.org
Mister Anderson @ 17:
I'm sorry, Mr. Anderson. After all the crap you gave Neo, I don't think I'll take your advice.
Pressure you elected representaives to support HR-676.
The U.S. is officially a 3rd world country in my eyes. The US gov't cares more about bombing 3rd world nations than the the health of its own citizens. Fucking disgusting.
The only health care plan that would have led to universal health care was Edwards'. Many of you chose Hillary or Obama over Edwards. The media in the debates ignored Edwards and Kucinich. Yes the media has chosen the candidates and we have to choose which one will be best. Either one will be better than McCain so choose carefully. Perhaps the health care plans they promote now will morph into true universal heath care.
The U.S. Government spends the fifth most money per capita on healthcare in the world, only behind Monaco, Norway, Luxembourg and San Marino.
Whereas government spending covers 80-90% of total healthcare expenditures in socialized systems throughout Europe and in Japan, our government expenditures only cover 45% of our total costs. Total U.S. expenditures are often more than double what these countries pay. The results of all that spending are not impressive.
Life expectancy of the U.S. is 45th in the World.
Infant mortality is roughly 30% higher than the Western European countries.
And for overall satisfaction? See this chart:
http://content.healthaffairs.org/content/vol20/issue3/images/large/010_T...
Something is terribly wrong with our healthcare system. It’s the same problem with the mortgage market. Corporate and individual greed and the delusion of economic rational behavior have supplanted good regulatory policy and the vigorous enforcement of those regulations.
In a related anecdote, a patient I saw today with (now) advanced lung cancer, had this gem in his history and physical:
"He developed severe, unremitting left sided chest pain beneath his clavicle and along his left anterior chest about 4 to 5 months ago. He did not seek medical attention due to lack of health insurance."
Cheers,
lj @ 34:
read the PNAC manifesto and look at Iraq and NOLa, then look into busch's eyes and see that it has all been planned: The retrograde. pre-NewDeal USA. Why Smedly butler retired rather than create nazi america via coup; why butler didn't want the serve the busch family plan for america and henry ford's plan the turn the us citizens into forced labor for his factories.
i wonder how BAD does it actually have to get before people wake up?
they should have done a show of hands in the crowd who were republicans and who voted for Bush in 2000/2004.
something tells me that it would have been the majority.
Is there nothing that 25+ years of "free market" "pro capitalism" "market driven" corporatist policies have not destroyed?
People need to do something that matters..easy things if you think about it....
Stay home on weekends and not buy their gas, don't go to Walmart and buy from China,
let these greedy corporate jerks know that we're not going to take it anymore. All they care about is their stock prices and their stockholders...Screw the people that made their companies.... Where did OUR AMERICA go?...OH YEAH America Incorporated!
2nd American Revolution is coming....and soon.....
By the skillful and sustained use of propaganda, one can make a people see even heaven as hell or an extremely wretched life as paradise.
-Adolf Hitler
zugzug @ 37:
Neo IS Mr. Anderson
silly woman crying and saying "the LORD will provide"!
I truly feel for her and I fear her mentality. It does not acknowledge where the help came from.
the real help came from people. she'll probably vote for McHageeLovingBigotedasshole.
Filthy Harry @ 23:
I assume that Jack is referring to HRC's tax returns and the Clinton WH documents that will be released "sometime soon".
My wife and I watched this last night. When they mentioned the part about "isn't this what happens in third world countries?" she got tears in her eye. It led to a long discussion of health care in our country and the possible solutions. We both agreed on three main points the Democratic president would need to push to change this scenario.
1. Nationwide effort to help educate and promote healthy living.
2. National consortium of the health care insurance industry bringing their suggestions to the table to provide input on how we can find a balance between coverage for more individuals and fair profits.
3. National consortium with health care providers bringing their suggestions to the table giving us their input on how we can find a balance between providing services for more individuals and fair profits.
What a PATHETIC, pathetic government we have. What in the hell is wrong with them? And what's wrong with us that we're so apathetic?
cmhmd @ 42:
It's a hell of a menu that many folks have:
1. Financial Ruin
2. Sickness and/or Death
Pick one!
this is horrible.. and people say "we shouldn't do anything"
Liberal AND Proud @ 44:
nope!
the fact is that corporatist is pathological, predatory and parasitic.
1) by design it must grow to consume all available materials
2) by design it must endlessly grow profits
3) by design it must dominate the consumers income
I am a well educated white male with arthritis, living in Sweden. I used to live in America for close to 10 years. Because I am an expert in my field I was offered the best health care in the world under my employers insurance policy. But I could also tell that America is not the place to be if you, for instance, happen to be a not so well educated single mother or something. Then the care you were offered didn't come anywhere close to what was thrown at me.
The political establishment (both Dems and Repubs, because this isn't anything that has happened over night) should be ashamed of themselves for having allowed this system to take hold.
That said, the fascists have definitely made things worse by burning up the money in Iraq instead of investing it in health care, education and infrastructure. I am sorry to tell you, but as a macro economist it is my expert opinion that America is going down the tubes. I have seen all the third-world signs grow in significance and quantity since the mid-90's when I worst moved there.
America was built on a dream, that dream is about to come to an end, thanks to the greed and selfishness of a few evil men...
Pawsie @ 52:
busch did something!
how about that children's healthcare veto?
Dr. Acula @ 7:
Nope!
Tim @ 45:
Stock up on ammo from your local gun shop, NOT Walmart.
CoIntelPro @ 47:
When I think of the damage these blindly following religious types have done to the country, I have trouble having much sympathy.
You know how many of these fuck ups voted for bush SOLELY on the basis of his lip service to jeebus, regardless of the evidence of his incompetence?
Health Care in America is the reason I'm living in Thailand, as I said before, my wife who is healthy couldnt get insured because of a (non-existent) pre-existing condition.
We're immersed in a bloody war no plan for leaving. We're running the biggest deficit
in the history of the country. We're losing the manufacturing edge to Asia, while our once-great companies are getting slaughtered by health care costs.
Gas prices are skyrocketing, and nobody in power has a coherent energy policy.
Our schools are in trouble. Our borders are like sieves.
You can't call yourself a patriot if you're not outraged, but every one of the GOP are flat out against Universal Healthcare but they all wear that fucking stickpin..
scott d @ 15:
Way too many!
carefulwiththatAXEeugene @ 1:
It may be a senior moment, but for the life of me, I am trying to remember what the third segment of 60 Minutes was. Was It the primary elections?
bill w @ 60:
322 and change. Countdown to ecstasy (OK, improvement...)
fastfeat @ 57:
Better Yet, do your own reloading and remember that one well placed shot works much better than a whole box of ammo.
WE SUCK.
I think the clip on C&L is shortened. The complete clip is on the CBS news site at http://www.cbsnews.com/sections/i_video/main500251.shtml?id=3898008n&channel=/sections/60minutes/videoplayer3415.shtml
Just thought I'd share this...
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/rankorder/21...
Thanks Bush...
wild_idea @ 24:
That's right FUCK'EM and all those other fucking southern states! Ignorant cocksuckers are still fighting the civil war in they're inbred minds and voted for that fucking retard sitting in the Oval Office. I'm soo FUCKING SICK of the southern states and the they're fucking bullshit that drags this country down. Racisim, homophobia, plantation capitalism, oil obsession, the Grand Old Party, creationism, illegal immigrants, Wal-mart, Britney Spears not to mention Evangelicals and Politicians that wrap themselves in the flag and wave a bible around yelling about morality when YOU ARE THE SCUM OF THE FUCKING PLANET!!!
Everything that is shit about the USA comes from the south.
And Obambam only wants to insure medical coverage for the children.
What about the adult parents of the children
Or the childish adult like me?
natisman @ 61:
Can anyone remember the last time Andy Rooney was actually funny?
I say replace him with Bill Maher.
No capital reserves left, the nation is $20 trillion in debt, $53 trillion in worthless IOU's, all of the capital marketplaces are teetering, and the nation is bleeding red ink at the rate of $1.43 billion per day.
And people still don't get it.
I bet most of these people, like the lady in need of new glasses, have voted republican their entire life. God didn't take care of her, it was a person who volunteered to work on their weekend off, that helped her. She should have spent more time and money throughout her life helping others, than giving to her selfish and useless church. And it was the people she probably voted for that put her in that f'ed up situation!!!
WAKE UP PEOPLE!!!
God bless him.
As a note, charity doesnt work. Churches have been exempted from tax and heavily funded for several centuries and have yet to 'solve' a single social issue from hunger to poverty from oppression to homelessness.
This is an important less.
L.A. Confidential @ 70:
I get it. Who wants to get on a crowded raft with me and flee? I hear Jamaica is considering legalizing pot.
72 should end - this is important - no idea where the less came from.
Hi All - I am as pissed off as anyone about this segment. It's an ugly reminder of what happens when we let corporations take control of our health care.
But perhaps more startling is 69 comments on this thread without a big "Thank You" to Stan Brock. Are we nothing more than a bunch of bitching whiners that we cannot recognize the greatness of this man? Let this be a reminder that stories like this are not all about rage against the machine. There are those among us who lead by example and Mr. Brock should be commended by all for his untiring work. Our country needs more people like him.
RE: The woman who kept on saying "the lord will provide".
She didn't notice that the lord didn't provide. Those caring other people did provide for her help. her lord must be busy elsewhere.
The reason there will never be universal health care in the U.S. is simple: Americans are only moved to action when they are directly effected. Unless the proportion of Americans without health insurance reaches well more than 50%, Americans will continue to blame the state of coverage on immigrants, lazy liberals and lawyers.
As one under-paid, under-insured person I know states it "at least we are not Canada where you have to wait forever to see a doctor". In other words, Fox News told me Canada sucks -- I'm sure France does as well -- so shut up about health care and put the brats on the grill.
Americans blame poverty on the poor, torture on the tortured, and Katrina on gays and African-Americans -- how do you expect them to rally around universal health care?
CoIntelPro @ 26:
You are so right. Obama and Clinton are already stating that their health care reforms will be through the insurance companies. That makes me want to puke in their corporate faces. The only way to change healthcare in the United States (by socializing it 100%) is from a grass roots angle. Protests out in front of hospitals. Protests out in front of insurance companies. Protests out in front of doctors' offices. A handful of people with signs and useful information would certainly get this nation to face its moral failures in health care.
One interesting fact is this: Hospitals and doctors usually charge the uninsured more than they do profit-making insurance companies. Further, you can't get a hospital to list their service costs out in the open ("How much for three stitches? How much for a CT Scan?") because of this disparity between what they charge the insurance companies and the uninsured. The entire system is designed so the patient has to take whatever the hospitals/insurance companies want to charge. And the charge is always set to make the greatest profit.
There should be a day throughout the nation when people flock to all health institutions for protest. Nothing less than 100% socialized health care (including psychological and dental care) should be accepted. The Dems are almost as bad as the Repigs on this issue.
"...while our once-great companies are getting slaughtered by health care costs..." - Bangkok Bob @59
Bob,
It's ironic that the corporations/great companies are getting slaughtered by insurance costs, because they are some of the most adamant opponents of universal healthcare. They favor the system we have, were you only get affordable insurance if you are an indentured servant or wage slave chattel to some big employer. That healthcare is unavailable to those without a choice job, is a matter of design. If you know that being self-employed, or employed in a "non-choice" job will meanthat you can't afford health insurance, you are more likely to fear for the job you have, be an obedient little worker and not even contemplate quitting. In this fashion, the "great companies" have turned access to healthcare into a heavy shackle that people gladly wear around their necks. Making sure that their are 45-50 million Americans who do not receive a healthcare ration serves as an additional example to keep the rest of us in our places.
You would think that corporations would be the single most voiciferous element of society agitating for universal, single payer healthcare, because by dropping their healthcare benefits, they would instantly become much more profitable and much more competitive. But they aren't. Keeping their work force dependent and fearful, is apparently of prime importance. If we had free universal healthcare - socialized medicine (oooh, that's scary) that is financed by a payroll tax (no need for employer matching tax) - it would inevitably mean that millions of workers could leave jobs and employers whom they hate, in order to go do work they found more satisfying.
In the end, the resistance isn't about providing "socialist" benefits. It's about ending slavery to the corporate world. Corporate America is going to do everything in its power to make sure that never happens. And
prostituteselected representatives on both sides of the isle are going to make sure that they get their wishes.Way to stereotype an entire section of America, sadsad. I live in Kentucky, I am a liberal, and I agree with you on a FEW points you make. Yes, there are many people in the South who hold these views. But, also, many do not. There are many good, decent people in the South land. There are good people all over this country, but there are also some not so good people. You can find rednecks and religious zealots in every state of the Union. Hate to burst your bubble. Peace.
Dicksknee @ 79:
What else does everyone DESERVE even if they can't afford it? A new car? Cable? Big screen T.V.?
Its all the corporations fault maaaan!
Big government will NOT fix all your problems. Hard work, personal responsibility and determination might, though. Try that instead of whining until someone comes along and pays your bills for you.
(P.S. I don't agree with Iraq / war spending)
Incoming "bushbot / neocon / repig" pathetic responses in 3...2...1...
After watching this segment, does it still seem like just an accident that the United States -- despite all of the resources which we have at our disposal -- has one of the highest infant mortality rates among the industrialized nations? That's not just shameful -- that's positively criminal.
Watching that tragic documentary last night, I couldn't help but wonder how many of those people waiting for healthcare voted for Bush because of his "Christian values"?
Bluestocking,
Not only one of the highest infant mortality rates for an industrialized nation, but our healthcare is only slightly better than Slovenia's.
HR fucking 676, god damn it! When the fuck are we going to open our eyes? We have truly lost our country, and our political system is soley in the hands of the corporations and the warmongers. They DO NOT give a shit about the poor and the working class.
And I was naive to think that the US would never remotely be comparable to a thirrd world country...
How sad...
And the fascism continues...
Our only hope lies in the VERY few public servants who are not bought and paid for by these special interest groups, one of them being Dennis Kucinich. Let's get the word out about them and do all we can to regain this country through a grassroots movement. Difficult? Yes. Impossible? NO (and for as cynical as i've become, to still hold out hope is something...).
What this really shows is the fact that no matter who we elect, Democrats or republicans they fail us as legislatures. Both parties are so busy trying to get re-elected, accepting money from health care and drug companies they ignore what they were elected to do in the first place. I think ONE TERM is enough for any lawmaker. After that kick their ass out.
And all this stuff about we can vote them out is crap. We can't vote them out, you see the crooked corrupt election system. If they only had one term they would do what they were elected to do. SERVE THE PUBLIC AND NOT CORPORATIONS.
EVERY SINGLE MEMBER OF CONGRESS AND THE WHITEHOUSE SEEM TO FORGET...'''''''THEY ARE PUBLIC SERVANTS''''''''THEY ARE SUPPOSED TO WORK FOR US.
B @ 83:
As long as you know what a tool you are...
B @ 83:
I agree to a certain extent, but try this one on for size: A civilization/culture/community/country is an organized grouping of people. This organizing is done to confer benefits onto the people who belong. If the citizens of the greatest nation on earth are not receiving these benefits then there is a problem. Color me a commie, but I'd kinda think that this being America, we could afford to give in on this one, and give everyone free healthcare. The 'greatest country in the world' tag sounds kinda hollow if people are dying due to their inability to pay for massively available healthcare. I mean, does EVERYTHING have to be a commodity?
Those who've said that Bushworld doesn't care are spot on...
Dumbya is more concerned with "there's no recession here" or "protect the telcos" than he is with some "hick" in the backwoods of TN.
Then he'll "retire" and "who cares" - I got mine! I showed them sonsabitches! Mess with George and you'll pay ya' know? Be a lawbreaker and he'll bend over for you...
Criminal, simply criminal...
Charity happens in WA state too. I know. The charity allowance has had to take care of me since July 2001. At least it's administered correctly in my state. Not so in others
Uncharitable Care: How Hospitals Are Gouging and Even Arresting the Uninsured
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines04/0108-07.htm
State Secret: Why Are Uninsured Patients Paying The Highest Prices For Hospital Care?
http://www.democracynow.org/2004/1/7/state_secret_why_are_uninsured_pati...
And the motherload from a DN! search
Search Results 1 - 10 of 61 for Uninsured
http://www.democracynow.org/search?query=Uninsured&relevance=1
How can this be that much of an eye opener ? I thought Mikes Moores Sicko hit the nail on the head pretty well. One of Peter Jennings last projects was an excellent piece on US health care. I remember the scene in it when an ambulance with insured aboard kept getting refused at various Emergency Departments. Its not that there wasn't ample hospitals in the area or that any natural disaster overwhelmed the system. It was because many hospitals closed their Emergencys rather than provide Federally mandated health care to uninsured and illegal aliens. More than one way to skin a cat i guess.Health care in US is a real crapshoot isnt it ? Even if the high and mighty insurance companies allow you to have overpriced insurance , there are no guarantees are there ? They will still deny you the care you need and thought you had paid for . Then you might die anyways because the greedy assed HMOS have closed Emergency Departments to pad their bottom line.SICKO is actually a large understatement. What Hillary and Obama propose is NOT universal health care. Their plans just appear to drive more into the willing greedy arms of corporate Amerika. Any true Universal Plan would include a guarantee of service,fairness and standardization of pricing and audits to make sure the CEO isn't buying luxury homes and cars with your health insurance dollars. You would have to basically freeze the US system in order to overhaul it, cut the fat and start fresh. We all know thats never gonna happen. Will just get worse.
B @ 83:
Law enforcement, Firefighters, roads.
And yes, c. atrox. B knows s/he is a tool. Not enough though. I'd like to see it walk a mile in my shoes.
sadsad @ 69:
You forgot moonshine and NASCAR........
Amitola @ 96:
Blue eyed blondes
Dicksknee @ 79:
A good start would be by throwing their TV's - those instruments of mass hypnosis and collective conditioning- into the trash.
FH-
I guess I just fail to see how we can, "Afford to give in on this one"? Do we tax the rich even more? what % of their earned income to we allow them to keep? Simply because we make less than the "Rich" do we deserve to keep our $ more than they do? There will always be have and have-nots.
I firmly believe if everyone could feasibly have wonderful top notch health care without inconveniencing anyone else, it would be wonderful. It is not possible though.
I pay for my own health care and am by no means wealthy. I simply have priorities.
Could we please stop talking about ´third world countries´ as if there was such a thing as a ´third world´?
Please?
I know it is so much cumbersome to say, for example,
countries-that-have-been-f"cked-over-on-a-regular-basis-for-the-sake-of-my-fake-middle-class-lifestyle,
countries the West has kept in conditions of under-development through unfair trade conditions and global imperialistic dominance,
.... I dunno, use your degree. But one´d hope that, in the same line I am not expected to make religious claims in the social sphere, also others would refuse to use misleading language and non tangible realities in order to describe phenomena like, well, the situations of countries that, believe it or not, share this very same world.
Single payer is off the table! The people who make the rules are never the ones who suffer them.
Filthy Harry @ 14:
Wouldn't hilary's plan make insurance mandatory even if you couldn't pay for it in the first place any plan that does that is criminial what was kuccinch's plan ?
Why can't people understand it's not that there isn't health care it's that it's to damn expensive
Maybe we should demand that either the congress critters should have the same access to health care as the common citizen why are they the aristocacy??
Helluva country ya got there.
Marge @ 88:
Honey, I don't know how to break this to you, but the folks who run our government couldn't care less about you and they most definitely are not public servants.
Oh, sure they pretend they care, throw us a bone every now and then (can't wait for my "stimulus" check), and they fill up the potholes in the hghways (the ones they haven't yet sold to foreign countries). We all went to the polls in 2006 and even managed to elect a whoole bunch of "servants" from the opposition party (Dems?), and we all see how well they have served us??!!
Unfortunately, it has been going on this way for quite a long while (about half a century) and the creeping fascism is pretty well entrenched by now. I doubt the folks who own the gold (and the Fed) will be melting any of it in the near future to provide us with health care. I guess we can stop buying stuff, you know boycott corporations, but in the end that would just mean more of our neighbors would lose their jobs, and the corps are all global now, so they can still make a nice profit. I guess we can march on DC, but now they have that cute little ray-gun thingy (and I'll bet ya' there's one in the garage behind the Capitol as well as Fallujah) and that lovely army of Blackwater mercenaries/thugs all trained up.
I have no answers, but I try real hard not to live in a delusion thinking we can make it all better by voting. Maybe we could boycott the election........
Saw that. Struggled to keep from crying outright. My wife kept saying how our country is broken, our country is broken. Utterly shameful. I'm well paid, well above average, but fearful of a lay-off or medical catastrophe; we'd go bankrupt, been fearful for years.
B @ 99:
Please, the money this country wastes? We could pay for top notch healthcare for everyone in this country many times over for what we're spending (wasting, literally throwing away) in Iraq. Like I said, the measure of a country's greatness is the measure of the benefits the members of that country receives. And to have our citizens dying due to inability to pay for healthcare in a for-profit system to me is a sign of a failing society.
The problem isn't because it's not affordable, the problem is because the powers-that-be prefer to have our healthcare be a commodity. I know this is America, with free-market blah blah blah, but still you'd think at least healthcare could be a gimme.
Gumby69 @ 39:
If you're talking about Iraq being a third world nation, it was not...but it is now.
Iraqis had free health care long before we came over and fucked everything up
for them. Now they don't have shit, we don't have shit and ain't life grand for
the rich fucks who have made all that possible. What really makes me sick is
our representatives get the best health care available at OUR EXPENSE and
we are left out in the cold like the hundreds that lined up that weekend only
to be turned away.
How much longer are we going to take being turned away?
unsurebtwilling @ 102:
I don't know. To be honest I don't pay much attention to the details of healthcare insurance plans cause I know no matter what if I get sick with something big, I'm going to have to battle with my insurer to be covered.
I'd be more amiable to health insurance if it was guaranteed I'd be covered. All I hear are arguments over who gets the right to take my money then fight to deny me coverage when I get sick.
Happy2bCanadian @ 103:
Could you send me a Care package full of cannabis?
I promise to use it recreationally.
ysbaddaden @ 109:
Jamaica is considering legalizing it. A good place to flee to.
Can we please stop talking about the U.S. health care "system"? We don't HAVE a health-care system. A system is when everyone has the same options and chances. There are many definitions of system" in the dictionary, but what they all have in common is conscious organization and harmony. If we had a system, it wouldn't matter whether you grew up in Tennessee or Manhattan.
For example, we have an education system: You pay your taxes and you go to school. And yes, in that case it does matter whether you grow up in Tennessee or on Fifth Avenue, but at least that's considered, you know, a problem that needs fixing. And at least the rules are there for anyone to see.
What we have in health care is that if you can afford CheneyCare, you get it. If you can afford good care, you get it. If you can afford lousy care, you get it. If you can't afford any care, you don't get any.
There is no more of a health-care "system" in the U.S. than there is a car-buying system.
Amitola @ 96:
And you forgot gunpowder and the farmer's nubile daughter.
Amitola @ 96:
And Pork Rinds, you forgot pork rinds.
I was on a trip trough the states and had never encountered Pork Rinds in my life but there was a store that sold them so I bought a pack. I put a handfull in my mouth and after 3 seconds I spit them out. Who the FUCK could eat that shit except for people who have massive brain damage from decades of inbreeding?!?
Heathwood @ 8:
Some people will always vote against their best interest.
sadsad @ 113:
You can have my pork rinds when you peel my cold dead hand off the bag (dead due to massive coronary brought on from blocked arteries and inadequate healthcare)
What a sad piece that was. Those people reminded me of cattle at an auction. I wish that George and all his other rich buddies could, for one time, feel what it is like to be poor and in desperate need of medical attention. (Now that I think of it, George Bush actually is in desperate need of medical attention for his mental problems but I digress). Stan Brock - you are an absolute angel.
Filthy Harry @ 110:
Just keep an eye peeled (ouch!) for the zombies:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5WCKRoJG5eM
sadsad @ 113:
That's what the moonshine's for, makes both pork rinds and your cousin more attractive.
Thanks for putting this on. This was a devastating, bitchin indictment of this President and this country.
60 Minutes, with all that firepower is doing it's job again kinda trying to make up putting Don Siegelman
opposite the Oscars. That will never be forgotten. That reminds me that I'm looking at CBS, who caved
in to the RNC and Big Tobacco.
B @ 99:
Yes. We make less than the Rich, so we get to keep more of our money than they do. That's the principle that took us, in the years 1900-1980, from a semi-agrarian nation struggling to get out from under the shadow of its own civil war to the greatest economic colossus the world has ever known. We won World War II with a top tax rate of 91%. I seem to recall people actually making things and getting rich during those times.
"Tax the rich even more"? The top tax rate in this country is one-third of what it was 30 years ago. Some people may have to sell their third boats so that other people don't die of diseases with known cures. They'll just have to deal.
As for "inconveniencing" people, well, I am inconvenienced by having to pay for this war. So I don't have to, right?
The purpose of any business is to provide the least amount of product for the most amount of profit.
This is the reason no country on earth has a for profit healthcare system with the exeption of the Ass-backwards States of America.
ysbaddaden @ 117:
I think zombies are just potheads with the munchies.
We should resolve now that the health of
this nation is a national concern; that
financial barriers in the way of attaining health
shall be removed; that the health of all it's
citizens deserves the help of all the nation. -Harry Truman
Harry's been dead quite a while now and everyone's still waiting. By the way, most people are either Republican or Democrat depending on their parents preferences. Don't you wonder how many people standing in that line voted for George and the Republicans?
I ALWAYS WONDERED HOW LONG IT WOULD TAKE BEFORE THE "CHARITABLE" DOCTORS WITHOUT BORDERS LOOKED TO THEIR OWN HOME.
The American People have been languishing and DYING for decades with sub par health care.
WE NEED NATIONALIZED SINGLE PAYER HEALTH CARE FOR ALL.
NOW.
This is the most important core issue of this election season.
I am part of America who still has insurance. My montly premium for health insurance is $1445.00 a month.
It's killing me.
Can you imagine how much I could spend in my local economy if every dime I had wasn't going to the insurance industry to prop up their evil empire of selling peace meal substandard health care for profit? I say substandard because the doctors are more interested in their golf game or their affairs than the patients.
The patients, like the customers in America, like the voters, ARE LAST.
I wish we didn't accept that so readily. I with we were REALLY the home of the brave and would act like it and demand SOMETHING, ANYTHING from our government.
Currently it gives us nothing but fear.
Peter G @ 123:
Considering they voted for W in 2000, I'm sure they did the same in 2004. Stupid crackers.
bill w @ 78:
In her mind the lord did provide. He sent those volunteers to provide healthcare. She probably voted for Bush last time and will vote for whoever her Paster recommends this time.
I watched the 60 Minutes segment last night. Did you notice that a lot of those people actually had health insurance but their coverage was so poor or the deductable was so high that they may as well be considered uninsured.
Stan Brock is a saint. The Remote Medical Volunteer Corps and Stan Brock should have been on the front page of every newspaper in the country this morning. Hundreds of people waiting in line up to seven hours just to get a spot in line to be seen and hundreds more turned away.
Michael Moore, we need another movie!
We are all slaves to the elite. We help them everyday make horrible amounts of money. When we are broken then it is time to throw us away. We don't deserve healthcare because we are not one of the elite. The war between us and the elites is coming..... Be afraid, b very afraid...
I saw this segment last evening and it breaks your heart that this can happen in America while those we have elected over the years in both parties have let our helath care system be sold off to the highest bidder and the lobbyists on K Street. I looked RAM up, got their address and sent them a check for $100. If those we have elected can't do the peoples business then it's time for major changes come this November while sending many of the fat cats packing.
P.D. @ 9:
What's so wonderful? Please tell me!
My daughter broke her ankle over the weekend, Fri night. We took her to the emergency room where she was parked in a wheelchair in a room for 2 1/2 hours before she was seen by a doctor. There were 4 other rooms that had people in them to see the doctor as well. The doctor apparently was catching up on his montly paperwork, because from where we were, we could see him comming in and out of his office to the nurses station every 10 minutes or so with a clipboard and papers. He did this for an hour and a half without seeing any of the patients in the 4 rooms, and the nurses sat around discussing office politics.
I've heard claims of people being worried they might have to wait around if were go to a system of health care similar to Canada. How can it be any worse than it is now?
HDon @ 130:
You get to pay more for the wait in America. what are you a communist terrorist?
Filthy Harry @ 131:
P.S. sorry, in my snarkiness forgot to say good luck to your kid. Good luck!
I saw this last night, what a great story that needed to be told. Most stupid Americans think they are covered by insurance. Wait til they actually need it and are denied by the insurance company. Then what? Sue? I doubt you can afford it with all those medical bills now, and the insurance company lawyers will keep it tied up for years. Its worth it to deny healthcare and screw over Americans. Too bad a lot of Americans believe the socialized medicine lies. I know we have the resources to do a better job than anyone else in the world on healthcare but we choose to make Insurance companies rich instead. Sad.
You have the government you deserve. Love it or leave it you say, you can now suffocate in it………
Dicksknee @ 79:
I'll give you an anecdote:
I live in BC, Canada.
My 8 mo old daughter has had a lowgrade fever since Friday that drops to normal after we give her Baby Tylenol. I live in a town with a population of about 4k. We have a hospital here. My wife decided that we should take her in to emergency to see if there was a serious problem at 7:00 pm (when 60minutes starts). We were back in time to see the last segment on RAM after being seen by a Registered Nurse.
Additionally, the nurse suggested that we bring her back to see our doctor at 8:30 this morning and my daughter was seen by 9 am.
One thing I will mention about Obama's plan vs. Hillary's. His plan has a government option where people can choose that instead. This is probably the only way that you guys will be able to get a foothold for Universal Health Care to work. This is also what John Edwards proposed.
HDon @ 130:
Complain to the ER manager. I've had to do that. Those guys need to straighten up their act. Also, cc any complaint to the hospital chief. The people in charge can't fix it if they don't know.
And it's bullshit about having to wait forever in Canada. Utter bullshit.
Jack Jett @ 21:
the clintons had 8 years to get a health care system through...they failed
what makes you think hillary can get it done this time....especially in a much worse economic situation
HDon @ 130:
you had it ez
my niece broke her leg a few months ago
my sister was forced to first go to her primary, then drive across town for xrays, then drive across town to get the leg casted.....this took an entire day
then they noticed that my niece wouldnt walk on the leg and kept complaining about pain....had to take her back to the doctor, who said this was normal....it wasnt
went in for a checkup 2 weeks later and the doc discovered that the leg had been casted improperly and my sis had to watch as they removed the cast and recasted....the leg wasnt healing properly and my niece developed a huge blister on her heel
my sis is fully covered through work.....doesnt stop health care from being inadequate
cmp @ 126:
Absolutely. Many of these people have pissed away money to insurance companies for years to get any sort of coverage, only to find that when they got sick, their coverage was worthless. Insurers undoubtedly make high profits on this type of coverage, knowing full well their customers will never be able to use it.
Scams like this (ie: minimum auto insurance coverage, required by nearly every state to obtain drivers licenses but totally useless in the event of an accident) line the pockets of these corporate thugs. In my case, basically $200/mo cost just to keep my driver's license valid. Fascism at its finest.
McCain the Liar @ 133:
The issue that is usually noted in the Health Care debate is the 50 million uninsured . The iseue you note probably adds another 50 million to the problem. Insurance companies do not give money away and they go to court to establish legal presidents for future claims. They are experts at denying claims and/or reducing the amount of the claim. I have dealt with insurance companies on non health issues when they were on my companies side and when they were not. They are experts in these matters and you cannot compete against them.They will wear you down .
Pony up, folks...
FYI, their web site (ramusa.org) takes PayPal.
Nice... (fuckin' country).
I am a Canadian. I have never waited for a doctor. My entire family will attest to the excellent, leading, world-class attention every single one of us has had thoughout our lifetimes. I can't imagine not having such.
Single-payer. It's the only way.
One insurance plan, in each state or nationally, so that there is one insurance pool for everyone. There is simply no question that this is the most efficient, cost-effective way to provide health insurance and health services. I (and all Canadians) am part of such a system, and it works. It works in every country in Europe, it works in Japan, it works in the UK.
Under single-payer insurance, there is no such thing as being refused treatment because of a "pre-existing condition", no such thing as retroactive cancellation of insurance. No co-pays and no deductibles, either. There's no need for any of these phony, mercenary barriers to accessibility, because everyone is in the same insurance pool. There are no profits to protect, all revenue into the system goes to provide actual care. Overhead is no more than 2% of total cost.
Don't let anyone get away with references to evil, wasteful "socialized medicine". Note that this term is never defined. It's a cheap, inaccurate smear that is used by ideologues and boneheads to avoid acknowledging the unquestionable efficiency, accessibility and quality of care in public single-payer systems in comparison to the US.
I immediately went online to give them a donation.
HDon @ 130:
Hdon
To answer a few questions for you
In any emergency department in Canada there is a triage system in place.
Depending on the time of day your daughter would be initially evaluated by a nurse practioner(someone who is trained in triage)
If there are more serious cases(not to say your daughters wasn't)ie:life threatening, they will be seen first
I am not saying that our system is perfect, in fact in some population centres some emergency rooms get overloaded.
But there is no one there checking to see if you have insurance, or a cashier to collect money before the doctor looks at you. Your daughter would not of been forgotten.
I have been through the emergency dept many times, and yes I have WAITED sometimes. But I have not been left to suffer while the doctor attends to paperwork
Give this guy a Congressional Medal of Honor. I was awestruck when 60 minutes aired this story right AFTER the story about the poor USAF needing billions of money for this new machine called "Active Denial System" or something or other. Billions for a weapon of Martial law, but 0$ for healthcare. Does anyone else see a problem with this?
As a Canadian, i will respond to "waiting times" myth . If you go to an Emergency here with a non emergency ? You probably will wait for a while. They practice a funny thing around here called triage. Those in most need get to go to the front of the line but most Canadians , myself included, don't have real problems with that . I suspect one would appear to be quite the asshole yelling and complaining about badly injured accident victims jumping the line but thats just me i guess. ER is merely what its name suggests and thats EMERGENCY. The my crap dont smell soccer moms showing up with Buffy in tow everytime poor Buffy sneezes dont belong there. The medium sized city ( 100k ) where i live has many after hour clinics to cater to the sniffles and bumps crowd. Nurses i know tell me of the same bunch of hypochondriacs that show up at ER time after time with non threatening problems just for something to do on a Saturday night. These are the folks that clog the system. The system here in Ontario has been undergoing a lot of streamlining and changes. You cant get everything you need at every facility due to elimination of duplication of services to make system more cost effective. We dont have expensive MRi machines at every hospital so you may have to travel 20 miles to get that MRi and wait for your turn. Those in dire need get the treatment they require one way or another. A friend of mine had a heart attack and they airlifted him 50 miles to the hospital that specializes in that type of medicine. He survived, had a perfectly good bypass and has been fine since. I had to wait over a year to have re constructive knee surgery due to the fact that it was a new technique at time and was only offered by one surgeon locally and he was busy,talented and worth the wait. I could have had less involved ,cheaper surgery done quicker but it was my choice and my Doctor supported it. Who would have thought they could mirror the function of a knee ligament with a hamstring and a bunch of staples..LOL
i guess my point is that people adapt to what they know. Ive never known anyone that has suffered needlessly at the hands of the Canadian Health Care system. Id take it any day over a system that shuts 50 million people out, picks and chooses who gets what based on profitability and bottom lines and has CEOS of hospitals making or stealing millions which affects the bottom line too.
Most of the bullshit coming from US about Canadas system is the usual suspects. Folks afraid of losing grasp of the golden goose called health care for profit.
Having price controls aka reasonable profit on drugs sure is a plus too. The Viagra commercials sure are clever and funny at times but i dont want that attached to my bill either.
Mister Anderson @ 17:
RAM could definitely use more volunteers at their weekend clinics. Their schedule can be found here. If you can't volunteer, you could consider donating.
omg, this just brings tears to my eyes. Why do we even pay taxes, what do we get, a f*cking $3 TRILLION dollar war?
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