The high cost of Healthcare

[Jim DeVito]

It seems to me, a possible way to start would be to simply extend the services offered to veterans to anyone that can show a need for this type of coverage.

That makes sense. The problem is that where is that money going to come from. Where is the burden of that cost going to fall? On low-income families.

We need to first work the cost of health care that is spiraling out of control.

In listing to the NPR reporting. It seems that Doctors in some of the country's can charge less due to that fact that the do not have a pile of debt when the graduate medical school. But that would require more use of the "s" word. So who knows.

[Bret Callentine]

The problem is that where is that money going to come from.

well, personally, I'd love to see the U.S. drop out of the United Nations. There's a couple billion right there.

But, since we know that won't happen, there has to be a way to wrangle a little more out of the system without additional taxes or excessive fees that end up getting passed right back to the individual.

I would always require that individuals pay at least a token amount. But, the bulk of funding should probably be some sort of result of drug license agreements through the FDA. Perhaps the government could offer limited extended proprietary rights to the drug developers in exchange for certain fees.

Of course, if you really want to cut corners and fund this thing fast, all you would have to do is legalize marijuana, but tax the crap out of it.

[Bret Callentine]

Also, isn't there already a program (or programs) available for tuition credits for doctors willing to work in certain areas of need.

I believe my sister in law did something like this.

As for inner city family practices...

I'd go for tax abatements on facilities, tax incentives for doctors to hire staff from the individual neighborhood, and possible government assistance in acquiring equipment.

I had to sit in the waiting area for the emergency room a couple years ago with my 6 year old son who was bleading uncontrollably while I watched a mother yell at the attendent for letting other people go ahead of her son, who was there to have his stiches removed.

We need to take the burdon off Hospitals and put an emphasis on prevention and reasonable expectation.

[Jim DeVito]

We need to take the burdon off Hospitals and put an emphasis on prevention and reasonable expectation.

Well Bret, That is also a good approach. I think it has been well documented that havening a primary care provider is a win win for everybody.

[Danielle Masters]

We need to take the burdon off Hospitals and put an emphasis on prevention and reasonable expectation.

Well Bret, That is also a good approach. I think it has been well documented that havening a primary care provider is a win win for everybody.

I think this is a great idea, but then comes the problem of how do the working poor pay for a primary care physician. The reason people go to the ER for minor problems is because they can pay the ER later while doctors offices require payment immediately. While our current system is working for many, we need to find a solution that fills the gap and helps cover those least able to get care. It would be a win-win solution because it would help people get care and it would take a burden off the hospitals.

[Justine Cooper]

I thought mothers of children who qualified for state care could also receive it? Did you check or is that what you lost?

Yeah that is what I had Justine, but because my husband's income went up a bit, about $2,500, last year I lost my coverage. My social worker tried very hard to find a way to help me keep it but there is only so much they can do. We go back in October to see if I can re-qualify. It's kind of a catch 22 we hope I can qualify because it's scary to not have coverage, but then again that means our income is low. It frustrates me that I cannot go out and pay for coverage because no insurance company will cover me knowing what costs they have and if they don't cover my preexisting condition it's pointless. I know other people going through this same thing and it's just not right.

There lies the insidious, fundamental problem of the entire social service program-cutting off aid for money, food, or healthcare at a certain income level has always kept the poor poorer. Social service in any form should be a ladder with many steps. Because it has always been a cut off, many inner city people for decades did not try to "better" themselves or they would have lost any aid they received. Women in inner cities that continued to have children did not conceive of getting married or they would have lost all aid. It was more beneficial in our system to be a single parent. Yes I know there is a lot of criticism of how many women continued to have children to get a "paycheck", but the system encouraged that, and for many, they saw no other way out. I know there are more programs now with welfare to work and welfare reform, but the system is still set up with a direct cut off income for many that either encourages them to stay below the line, work under the table, or risk being the middle class/working poor.

I know a couple in Avon Lake who spent like they had all the money in the world, fifty thousand dollar cars, three thousand dollar tv's, etc. and then when they couldn't make their bills, claimed bankrupty and walked away. Another couple here in Lakewood works harder than any couple I know, the mom working two jobs, living check to check and paying off health care debt while paying for their daughter's college. The kicker? They had health insurance but the company found a way NOT to pay the expensive hospital bills. There are highly educated people hired by insurance companies with the sole responsibility to find ways NOT to pay the bills. The problems with our health care system are so immense, but there are solutions. It is not the poorest of the poor or the richest among us who need this the most. It is the middle class, the hardest working, the ones who slip through the crack. Imagine someone you love dying because they couldn't get medical care. Yes it should be a right in this country. Instead of allowing our vice president to make millions/billions off of rebuilding contracts in Iraq, the place he bombed, an easy answer would be to allow nonprofit companies to rebuild, with a set salary and any profits going into our health care. If the United Nations were doing their job, they would never allow government officials to profit from a war they initiated. There is money out there to help people, it is just going into the wrong places.