It's crap like this that makes me believe that a revolution is coming.
Posted by idiosynchronic at December 28, 2007 06:26 AMHere's the lovely story I got to read first thing this morning.
Posted by snark at December 28, 2007 06:37 AMSo what else is new. This country is beyond belief.
Posted by JohnT at December 28, 2007 06:37 AMWell, Hitler found an unique way to rid Germany of "inferiors" and we just are refining that same notion.
Posted by Judith at December 28, 2007 06:59 AMSnark brings us the tragic story of a little girl denied treatment by the big bad insurance companies which is really sad. Turns out however the big bad insurance company is really the Union run, non profit, Superior Officers Council. Then we find out that self insurers like this union run fund are NOT subject to State Department of Insurance jurisdiction. In other words the government sends money to the union to insure its members and there is no oversight by the government. Instead of paying a REAL insurance company they pay the union. It is the UNION that is refusing treatment to this little girl not some for profit health insurance company. I don't know what is sadder, the unions lack of commitment to its members or the government agency that does not hire a REAL insurance company to save a few bucks. Perhaps it is how lefties use stories such as these to make it seem that insurance companies are bad and government is good.
Posted by manapp99 at December 28, 2007 07:05 AMRemember when your health was a private matter between you and your physician? What the hell happened?
Posted by Judith at December 28, 2007 07:16 AMSnark brings us the tragic story of a little girl denied treatment by the big bad insurance companies which is really sad.
I made no mention of "big bad insurance companies".
I simply posted a story I read this morning about how fucked up the medical insurance situation is in this country. Denying that little girl coverage because what she needs is considered a "dietary suppliment" is an abomination regardless of who made the decision.
Posted by snark at December 28, 2007 07:17 AMTurkana
Where in the Constitution does it say a state cannot secede? I guess I missed it. Article IV covers admission but says nothing about leaving. I guess it's like joining the Mafia.
uh, john- try the texas vs. white decision.
Posted by Turkana at December 28, 2007 07:26 AM"The program would be broke if we tried to cover food," said Sweeny, who has run the program for 32 years.
and this child will die if you don't give her food. Food, money. Food, money. What a dilemma.
Yeah, I'm sure this is the beginning of the end for the program Sweeny runs. We just cannot afford to feed those children with this rare disease. Maybe we can build 'Dying Houses' for those who cannot get or afford the medical help they need. Yeah, that's the ticket, 'Dying Houses.'
Posted by Judith at December 28, 2007 07:32 AMThis Country is morally bankrupt!
Posted by Judith at December 28, 2007 07:35 AMThis kind of things is already happening. If you make a routine doctor's appointment, you may get turned away if you don't have that magic insurance card. Even then, some doctors turn you away if you have a high deductible plan. Never mind that an individual has cash in hand to pay the doctor directly.
Yuck.
Posted by forHealth at December 28, 2007 08:53 AMJudith, you seem to have glossed right over the union side of this. How magnanimous of you, "unions just can't do no wrong, they're us." "Unions always look out for the good of the people."Unions always seem to support Democrats. Look at the teachers union, always support Democrats and our schools continue to graduate less able kids. Generation by generation our kids are less able than other countries kids, no union there to get in the way.
BTW, Canada also has these healthcare problems. Special, anything special and they send them to the US for care. Just look at how many Canadian mothers have American babies, not enough beds. France is beginning to charge other Europeans a healthcare premium for people retiring to France, $4500 a year or it's equivalent in Euros. They don't want outsiders costing them their best healthcare in the world reputation.
Posted by peter at December 28, 2007 09:07 AMPerhaps it is how lefties use stories such as these to make it seem that insurance companies are bad and government is good.
manapp99, Bad doesn't describe insurance companies. They are ruthless and cruel. And you know the bottom line is the almighty dollar! Don't even deny it!!
You don't address the problem here. If we had universal healthcare perhaps this little girl would be taken care of and another family would be better off.
Don't blame all the Unions. Most Union employee's have a choice: A PPO or an HMO and if you're stupid enough to pick a HMO you're screwed. Don't get sick that year until you can change back over to a PPO.
With universal healthcare there is no Union involvement. For that matter, no state or local government involvement and no insurance companies to worry about profit.
Defending insurance companies... conservatives showing their care for family values again?
And what will the CEO's of insurance companies make this year?
maybe pants pissing peter will inform us of who "always" says that ""unions just can't do no wrong"? great strawman. yeah, those awful unions, the people who fought so we could have a 40 hour work week, overtime pay, safer workplaces, an end to child labor, etc.
"They [France] don't want outsiders costing them their best healthcare in the world reputation."
b-b-but pants pissing peter, France has "socialized" medicine!
Posted by at December 28, 2007 11:45 AMThe system is broke, and only blind idiots try to defend it.
Posted by at December 28, 2007 12:16 PMAnon:
As Unions lose power, this is not unexpected:
affordable health care - gone
40 hour work week - gone
overtime pay - gone
safer workplaces - gone
an end to child labor - give it time
We all know the answer or at least one or two options to our Health Care crisis. We have been talking about it for at least twenty years, and NOTHING has been done. We will still be talking about it twenty years from now, and hundreds of thousands will die in the meantime. There is no longer a concern for quality of life in America, if there ever was a concern, unless your on a feeding tube and someone wants to pull the plug.
"And what will the CEO's of insurance companies make this year?"
Seven of Six, well you can bet that their salaries and bonses of millions of dollars will be paid for with pain, suffering or death. It's the American way. Greed is good.
that's "bonuses"
Posted by Judith at December 28, 2007 12:30 PM