My Response to "Sicko"

I originally wrote what you are about to read as part of an assignment that was given to me in my very first Medical Insurance Billing and Coding class called Medical Office Management and Compliance. The assignment was that we were to watch the Michael Moore movie "Sicko," then we were to write a paper for or against socialized medicine. I wrote this paper in June 2010, so all the information contained therein is recent for that time. You'll understand why that is important as you read on. I highly urge you to please read this in its entirety regardless of what you think of socialized medicine or not. Oh... and I'm going to add some things that I didn't have in my paper. One last thing... I got a A on this and my professor asked if she could use it for a paper she was writing for her doctorate!

Health care. In America, heath care is a mostly privatized industry with for profit companies who supply payments to medical providers for services provided. We also have a few social programs that are managed by the government. The majority of the rest of the world provides health care through their government, so the question is, why don’t we?

There are pros and cons, as with anything else, to both government-managed programs and privatized programs.

Some pros of government-managed programs are that:

• everyone is covered
• there is no such thing as denial of coverage due to a previous condition
• no one person has to pay for services provided
• no one person has to pay a premium
• medicine is either free or at a very low cost
• no one can ever lose their insurance coverage

Some cons of government-managed programs are that:

• everyone has to pay a share of the “premium” through taxes; taxes that are very high (there's no such thing as a free ride)
• denial of payment can and does happen due to the government not wanting to pay for overly expensive or what they consider is unnecessary procedures such as experimental procedures (it's true, just ask a Canadian)
• even if a patient has the money to pay for a procedure and/or medicine, the government can refuse to allow the patient to pay, stating they (the government) will no longer pay for current or future procedures and medicines, therefore the patient cannot pay as well (sounds childish, but it is a fact)
• the federal government must know how to manage such a program; no government can run this type of program due in part to a lack of proper funding (that's partly why a good deal of European countries are now either going bankrupt or are already there)

Some pros of privatized programs are that:

• the programs are more sustainable in a free market society (which we still barely are no thanks to Obama)
• they allow for more of a pricing competition, which is crucial in a free market society (opposite of a socialist society that Obama wants to make us)
• some procedures are free or at a low cost (fact, but it depends of your coverage... KNOW YOUR COVERAGE!)
• some medicine is free or at a low cost (fact, but it too depends on your coverage... KNOW YOUR COVERAGE!)

Some cons of privatized programs are that:

• not everyone can qualify for coverage
• denial for coverage due to previous conditions is common
• denial of payments happens due to the carrier not wanting to pay for overly expensive procedures or what they think is unnecessary procedures such as experimental procedures (sound familiar?)
• employer provided insurance is lost if the employee looses his/her job
• the individual must make insurance premium payments on a regular basis in order to keep your coverage

With all the pros and cons of each system, some of these systems work (barely) within some countries, while they do not in others. I think that the socialized version of health care doesn’t work as well as Mr. Moore portrayed it in his movie. I know it wouldn’t work here in the United States and to prove it, all we would have to really have to do is look at our own version of government managed health care, better known as Medicare and Medicaid.

The Medicare program is going bankrupt.

According to Rep. Paul Ryan, who sits on the House Budget Committee, there is a projected $38 trillion shortfall within the Medicare program alone. Rep. Ryan says that both sides of the house are responsible for this shortfall. If this isn't enough proof that the government doesn't know how to run a healthcare program, then what about Medicaid?

Medicaid, which is financed by each state, is bankrupting each state.

Rep. Bill Cassidy from Louisiana said on the House floor that Medicaid is bankrupting each state. This is happening, according to Cassidy, because too many people are going to be put into the Medicaid system, which is going to have to be paid for by raising taxes, which will lead to increased layoffs. This increase in layoffs will lead to more Americans that will be put into the Medicaid system (or Obamacare if it isn't repealed), as they will risk the possibility of losing their current health care insurance. More Americans in the Medicaid (or Obamacare) system equals more needed money to pay for it, which increases taxes, which will lead to even more layoffs. The cycle is viscous and continuous!

It’s known that the American government doesn’t always use funds in the best way.

Take for example the taxpayer money that was used in the early 1990s for the study of “bovine flatulence” and its effects on global warming. This study was conducted thanks in part to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). They believed that bovine flatulence was a greenhouse gas and that, as such, was destroying the ozone layer. It turns out that this is not true. In fact, later studies have lead scientists to believe that these gases could actually be good for the environment.

Then there was the $1.7 million marked last year to study pig odors at the pig farms in Iowa. It’s true that Iowans thought this was important because the smells are unbearable, but one really has to ask if $1.7 million was too much in light of other issues such as our problems with funding for Medicare and Medicaid.

As I have mentioned earlier, no system is truly fool proof. There are pros and cons for both private and social programs. Within our own boarders, I think that we should give both programs a chance has we have been doing, but things have to change within both programs and how they are managed.

I partly agree with private insurance companies and their unwillingness to insure some individuals. Some individuals are unhealthy thanks to either their environment such as their job or through no real fault of their own such as genetics. I think these people should have a chance to at least partial privatized coverage. There are also people who are unhealthy due to their own negligence thanks to their lifestyle such as smokers and the obese. It might sound harsh, but I don’t blame private carriers for not wanting to insure them. This is because they brought their health concerns upon themselves.

There are those of us who cannot afford to pay either a high premium or a premium all together. I think this is where Medicare and Medicaid can step in.

I really don’t see why a private insurance couldn’t be used as a secondary carrier with a government program as the primary or even reverse for those who could and would be willing to pay a premium such as with the elderly and Medicare. For those who can’t afford private insurance, the government plan would be their plan of choice. The ability to choose between the two will create real, substantial, positive change in our health care system. This is because our financial system is set up to create a vast variety of choices due to competition that is based on finances. I see no reason why this can’t be applied to our health care system.

I think the first real issue, then, is how to pay for all of this. Some people complain that private insurance is too expensive. Some complain that socialized medicine will cost us too much especially at a time where our economy isn’t all that healthy. Are these really the problems we think they are or is there something else that we need to consider? Maybe an underlying problem that needs to be fixed.

Paying for private insurance plans is rather straightforward. Individuals pay a premium set by the carrier over a certain period of time (normally monthly) in order to keep their insurance. If a private carrier wants to remain competitive, it needs to adjust its business model. This partly comes in the way of how much the carrier pays in insurance payments and the amount of premiums they charge. Creation of jobs ensures that Americans are able to pay their premiums. What the best way to create jobs as far as the government is concerned? Lower taxes and get out of the way!

Paying for government plans really needs work.

Our government is rife with instances of fraud, waste, and abuse over financial matters. This is what has been keeping us from properly financing our socialized medicine programs better known as Medicare and Medicaid. Our federal government has been and continues to spend money on things that they shouldn’t be in light of other issues such as the decline of money available for Medicare and Medicaid. Spending such as (in 2009 under the Obama administration):

• $25 billion that is spent every year on federal properties that are not being used (yeah... that makes all sorts of sense)
• $123 billion spent annually on government programs that have been found not to work (gotta love that waste, but it gets better)
• $2.6 million that is being sent to China to train their prostitutes on how to drink more responsibly on the job (are you friggin' kidding, Obama!?!?!?)
• improper purchases such as home gaming systems, jewelry, liquor and vacations on government credit cards; our tax money at work (and no... this money wasn't paid back by the thieves. Oh... and when I was in the military, if you did this with your government issued credit card, you'd be spending time in Club Fed a.k.a. Leavenworth!)
• $3.9 million spent recently on rearranging desks and offices at the Securities and Exchange Commission’s headquarters (ah the Democrats move in!)
• $146 million spent annually on upgrades to flights for federal employees who refuse to fly coach (aw... poor babies... I NEVER got that chance and I was a federal employee for 20 years!)
• $350,000 spent to sponsor David Gilliland who is a NASCAR driver (BS flag is up)
• $500,000 given to Alaska Airlines so they could paint a Chinook salmon on a Boeing 737 (BS flag is now waving)
• $100 million in unused travel tickets initially purchased by the Department of Defense (DoD) that were refundable tickets, but that the DoD had never gotten refunded (see... they could have used that money to give me an upgrade from time to time!)
• $60,000 per hour to take pictures of Air Force One in front of national landmarks (way to waste my money, Obama)
• $50,000 for paintings painted of high-ranking government officials; that is for each piece, not a total amount (way to waste my money guys!)
• $1.3 million per month in rent for a medical lab that cannot be used by the federal government (no idea if anyone is using it or not)
• $2.4 billion on new jets for the Pentagon that it says it does not need and will not use (thought this was "funny" seeing as how Obama wants to cut military spending)
• $1.8 million spent to build a private golf course (yeah... I get to pay for it, but I can't play on it! BS flag is now ripped to shreds!)
• $2 billion that is paid annually to farmers not to farm their land (talk about a waste)

Just within the above examples over this past year, which is only just a sampling of the waste, the total bill of fraud, waste, and abuse comes to a total of well over $152 billon; $152 billon that could have been used to help fund Medicare and Medicaid.

The aforementioned total doesn’t even cover the amount of money the federal government distributes to people who could work, but choose not to. Rather, they believe they are owed by the federal government just because they exist. I know this sounds harsh and even cruel, but there are people who honestly cannot work because of a disability. These people have every right to money they cannot earn on their own. Those who can work, but rather choose not to, are only causing a financial strain on a system that is being overly strained as it is. They take money that could otherwise be spent on social programs like Medicare and Medicaid. The obviously hard part in this is: 1) Do we take away from the needy even if their need is under false pretense and 2) If we do, who gets to decide? Do the ends really justify the means?

We need REAL change for our medical insurance programs, which comes first with fixing Medicare and Medicaid and not creating a monster that will end up consuming us just as it is Europe and Canada. We need to get people working again so they can have their employer sponsored healthcare to help relieve the financial stress on the government programs. Cutting taxes at this point in the game is going to be the only real solution for that. It worked for Reagan and it would work for Obama if he would just stop trying to convert us to the United Socialist States of America (USSA).

The other problem with healthcare is with the people. Too many of us think that medical insurance should pay for everything, but it was never meant to work that way. It was meant to pay for the really expensive stuff (like surgeries or ongoing care like for heart disease) leaving the individual to pay for cheaper services such as check ups or cold/flu medicine.

In America, heath care has become a mostly privatized industry with for profit companies that supply payments to medical providers for services provided. There are also a few social programs that are managed by the government. The majority of the rest of the world provides health care through their government. I think that Americans could have both health care systems with some work needed on both systems.

Bibliography

50 Examples of Government Waste. 8 October 2009. 29 June 2010 <http://blog.heritage.org/2009/10/08/50-examples-of-government-waste/>.

Cassidy, Bill. Congressman Bill Cassidy: Latest News: The Immorality of ObamaCare. 03 March 2010. 29 June 2010 <http://cassidy.house.gov/index.cfm?sectionid=22&parentid=21&sectiontree=&itemid=408>.

Cow Flatulence Not Tied to Global Warming. 8 April 2010. 29 June 2010 <http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/healthscience/2010/April/Cow-Flatulence-Not-Tied-to-Global-Warming/>.

Ryan, Paul. Speeches, Statements and Editorials: Budgeting for Bankrputcy. 3 March 2010. 29 June 2010 <http://www.house.gov/apps/list/speech/wi01_ryan/3310P.html>.

Samoa News: Iowans say pig-odor study passes the smell test. 29 June 2010 .