Defending the Truth

I have just sent out a letter to all Texas Representatives and Senators announcing a solution to our current health care program. Futhermore, I emailed this solution to everyone on my email 'buddy list'. We need to take care of ALL of our military personnel and their families... hope you guys can use this letter to send to your state reps!!
Hillary's got it all figured out. Right? NOT! Here's the rest of the story...I bet some of you can relate.!!!
My 81yr old grandfather proudly served his country in the military for yrs. Oh, Sure, he can get an appointment with the with the VA after waiting about 30days and sure, the government pays for his hearing and vision tests, but guess who has to pay for his hearing aid, eyeglasses, and medication at a cost $several hundred+ dollars....HE DOES!!!!(on his measly social security pension, so you guessed it....no hearing aid for grandpa, and cheap (over the counter) glasses, while Hillary will continue to recieve her hefty Congressional salary even when she retires until the day she dies, do you think she's stressing about her health care? DOUBTFUL!!!
Ok, so, can't relate to that one? Here's another one for you....
My father, who also proudly served in the military, then put in 25 loyal yrs as a tradesman(hardly ever taking a day off) was looking forward to his retirement. Sadly, wasn't all it was cracked up to be. His healthcare plan before retirement was about $40/month. Now, for the same plan.....GUESS....$850/month!!! "What!!!!NO?!!!YOU JEST??!! I wish I was folks, while my dad had to retire from retirement and get a job(we've all seen them; Grandma's & Grandpa's working at Supermarkets, Walmart, and convienient stores for minimum wage jobs)just to pay for healthcare; our dear Hillary wants to 'GIVE FREE HEALTH CARE TO ILLEGAL ALIENS!!!!
Still not convinced, ok, I got more....this fabulous healthcare reform plan that will rectify our current health care plan is loosely based on Britains health care system. 'You think the VA or Medicaid is BAD??, check this out!!!....Rich or Poor....doesn't matter, everyone's equal... ok that sounds good, right? But wait...remember the GOVERNMENT is directly involved with YOUR NEW HEALTHCARE SYSTEM!!!So you think waiting 30days to see a VA/MEDICAID doctor is bad? Try waiting 6months for an X-Ray; or if you need an MRI, the waiting list is about 18months!!!! And what if (GOD Forbid) you have a fatal terminal illness/disease....FORGET ABOUT IT....THERE'S NOTHING THE GOVERNMENT CAN DO....YOU'RE NOT COVERED....GO HOME!!!!
So folks, that's the 'rest of the story'. Ok, so now given what we know, what can we do? Well, we've all recieved the petitions to send to the President right? Unfortunately, he never gets them, we have to go through the "proper channels" so it does require about 10minutes of our time. 'Copy' and 'paste' the following letter(IF YOU AGREE)to all of your Congressional, Federal, and State Representatives. Please visit 'www.Congress.org' to retrieve all of your representatives from your state. I have attatched files for Texas, if you are in another state, feel free to attatch your reps email contact info. Also, please, please forward this message to EVERYONE on your email 'Buddy List'; you can also print the forms for people that do not have email.
'DEAR SIR/MADAM
I HAVE A SOLUTION TO OUR CURRENT FAILING HEALTHCARE SYSTEM. FIRST, UNDER 'NO' CIRCUMSTANCES WILL FREE HEALTHCARE BE 'GIVEN' TO ANY AND ALL ILLEGAL ALIENS.
NEXT, IMMEDIATLEY STOP THE GOVERNMENT FROM CONTROLLING HEALTHCARE AND INTRODUCE A BILL MAKING IT 'MANDATORY' THAT ALL EMPLOYEES(PART TIME AND FULL TIME ALIKE) RECIEVE COMPANY HEALTHCARE INSURANCE AFTER A 90DAY PROBATIONARY PERIOD, WHETHER THEY WORK 10HRS A WEEK, OR 60HRS A WEEK.
THIRD, IN THE UNFORTUNATE EVENT THAT A U.S MILITARY SOLDIER IS CALLED TO SERVE HIS COUNTRY IN A TIME OF NEED, WAR, POLICE ACTION, OR CRISIS, ALL COMPANIES THAT EMPLOY SAID SOLDIER WILL CONTINUE TO PROVIDE MANDATORY HEALTHCARE INSURANCE COVERAGE TO SAID SOLDIERS FAMILY AT NO COST FOR THE DURATION OF HIS MILITARY TERM.
LAST, PROPOSE (ON THE SAME BILL) THAT ALL EMPLOYEES (INCLUDING RETIRED EMPLOYEES) CONTINUE (AFTER A 20-25YR SERVICE CONTRACT HAS BEEN FILLED) TO PAY FOR SAID COMPANY HEALTH INSURANCE, NO MORE THAN THE TOTAL AMOUNT PER MONTH THAT THEY PAID WHILE ACTIVELY WORKING.
I EMPLORE YOU TO TAKE THIS SOLUTION AND TAKE THE NECESSARY STEPS TO TURN IT INTO A 'NEW BILL' THAT CAN BE VOTED ON AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. THANK YOU IN ADVANCE FOR YOUR IMMEDIATE ATTENTION TO THIS MATTER.
SINCERELY,

RealtorKM; your devotion to this cause is nice- it definitely needs attention- but there may be some problems with your demands.First, you want to demand the government to not control Healthcare policy. That's fine; but you want them to introduce (or pass) a bill demandingthat all employees recieve employee insurance after 90 days. Isn't this controlling policy? To do this would mean that all companies would be forced to supply insurance to employees. More control.
Not all businesses can afford to do this. What about your local mom-and-pop grocery store or even local bar? to do this would mean that the business in question would raise the prices for its product and/or services-ultimately to be paid by you the consumer. And what about the self-employed? Who is to responsible for this segment?
I think you are actually looking for is group insurance for everyone.If I remember correctly the insurance law in Illinois (I live here) from when I took my insurance licensing exam a few years back; a company must have 15 employees applying to qualify for group rates on health insurance.
I do agree with your proposal for our men and women in uniform in time of war.
Your next proposal is a bit of a problem in that a retired employee is really no longer the responsibility legally of any company.They pay his pension(If any) and hopefully this employee took care to continuetheir health insurance when they retired under the provisions of COBRA.
You are forgetting that insurance companies are for-profit companies. Rates are going to rise with claims being filed, clients lost, doctors fees, medical service fees, and more reasons. We cannot control insurance premiums
anymore than we can order a child to only charge 5 cents at a lemonade stand.
I understand your frustration, though. Personally, I was happy that the government finally started Medicare Part D Prescription Assistance. Now, we can somewhat alleviate the problem that many senior citizens were facing when they were forced to choose between purchasing medication or paying for rent (or food, for that matter). Let's face it: medical costs are not going down (they never do). We are going to all have to start planning for our future expenses in a different manner than generations before us.
Social Security is not the answer in its present state.Personally, I think if we are to rely on the politicians to solve this. I would be all in favor of a forced retirement savings plan.How about all the money you spend throughout your working life be split into half so that 50% of your contributions (when made) purchase bonds? Your healthcare expenses upon retirement or disability would be easier to pay. The other 50% of contributions could be self-directed into an IRA.
What do you think?

89% of people in the United States own cars, 100% of car owners are required to own car insurance. There are no cries for governmental help with this insurance. If health insurance were a requirement, then we would not have an issue, everyone would be covered.

Car insurance is required and as so, what has happened with the prices?? There is competition for low costs. WHy, because the more business a company gets the more profits it earns. SInce health insurance is not required, there is no competition for lower premiums..... Hmmm if you require it, in due time the cost will meet the demand.

dmk

The difference is you don't NEED to drive or own a car.

Thanks DMK, I feel the only people NOT interested in making 'Health Insurance" required by business owners would be the business owners and CEO's themselves because it would cut into their profit margin. I like your argument about car insurance, so why not make health insurance mandatory also!! I agree, the more competition for health insurance, the lower the rates will be. It's time to take care of the 'little guy' instead of filling the pockets of "THE MAN".

Your comparison with car insurance doesn't hold water.

You can control your driving record (to a large extent) and choose what car to drive, and pay car insurance accordingly.

However, most people who suffer health problems have no control over them and cannot decide NOT to have them. Often these are poorer people who are unable to afford any kind of health insurance.

Health insurance companies are constantly being accused of "cherry picking" healthy customers and penalising, or dropping cover for those with health problems.

I cannot understand the mentality that places more faith in insurance companies, who are driven by shareholder value and in which you have no influence in decision-making, versus government, where at least you play a part in electing and determining their duration in office.

Shoving responsibility for health insurance on to employers isn't the answer either. It can become a huge burden and makes US companies uncompetitive against foreign competition.

Ford and GM spend more money on health insurance than on steel. Starbucks spends more on health insurance than on coffee. And we all pay the price

[quote=garysher;94600]Your comparison with car insurance doesn't hold water.


Same thing happens with car insurance. Poor people caqn not affoerd it. And if they get into an accident guesws who gets stuck with the bill..I know the answer to this. BTW always get PIP.

Sarge, I disagree with one of your stats. The state of Wisconsin is not a state that requires mandatory auto insurance. I know this because I live in Illinois near the Wisconsin border; and there is an ongoing problem of Illinois residentscomplaining that since our cars can be siezed and towed for lack of insurance upon any traffic stop( Illinois does require mandatory auto insurance) what about people from Wisconsin who drive in Illinois?
I do agree about the mandatory health insurance; though. I think we would see a firestorm from the segment of society who will want to know who is to pay for it.
Your idea was actually bandied about in a focus group I belong to. However since I had experience in the insurance field, I probably popped a few balloons when I wanted to know how to insure,say, an elderly person with a history of heart problems. Current insurance rating sytems will dictate that this man is "high risk". If the insurance company were to insure this man, I can promise that his health premiums would be substantial. Now, we would be back to the part where we have to figure out how the elderly are to pay premiums such as this fictitious person would have forced to. Many are in this position as we speak.

Representative John D. Dingell, Democrat of Michigan, who has introduced bills to extend Children's Health Insurance, agrees:

“To rely on a bunch of good-hearted insurance companies whose purpose is, quite frankly, to make money — to expect them to go into the charitable business of taking care of a lot of hungry and impoverished kids — strikes me as the height of folly,” Mr. Dingell said.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/01/wa...html?th&emc=th

You are correct, sir. This is a poor reflection on our values as Americans. However, try to explain that the next time you visit your doctor or; God forbid, you should wind up in the hospital for some reason or other-the first question you will be asked is for your insurance card. Ten seconds later you will be asked for the applicable co-pay.
Whether we like it or not; hospitals are a for-profit entity. Yes, they all have an indigent fund; but those are quickly wiped out by non-paying former patients and truly indigent patients who have major procedures done and such other reasons.