Posting Date: September 29, 2008
The problem facing Health insurance in America
Both presidential candidates have offered plans for health insurance, but there is an important and marked difference between the two. Republican John McCain wants to force insurance companies to offer reduce cost health care. Democrat Barack Obama wants to offer public insurance plans.
What's the difference?
Well, if the problem is you can't afford health insurance, both plans will help.
But, if the problem is the health insurance companies are insensitive, greedy, rip-off corporate robber barons who are not afraid to thumb their noses at the needy and government regulations, then Obama's plan is the only one that will help cover the 46 million and growing number of Americans who can't get health coverage.
The problem isn't just money. It is that the government won't enforce the laws. The problem is the insurance companies like Humana and Blue Cross/Blue Shield know that and routinely reject coverage for people based not on costs but on their health needs and circumstances.
I've written about my friend (who will remain nameless) whose family was covered by a Humana through the husband's job. When the job ended, they saw the cute, warm and fuzzy commercials that Humana spends millions to broadcast on TV promoting "Humana One."
They applied while their job coverage with Humana was still in effect.
Humana One rejected them saying that the wife had asthma and the son needed medication, too, for ADHD. But they would sell the husband the insurance anyway for over $750 a month. (Cobra was over $1,800 a month and was too costly.)
Both the son and wife had "prior conditions" that were already covered by Humana, yet Humana decided to arbitrarily reject them from receiving coverage.
Complaints to the people's champion, the Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan, went unanswered. Maybe Lisa thought the complainers were not Democrats and would not support her candidacy for governor when she runs soon.
Even though they applied within 60 days of leaving Humana. Even though they had a letter of pre-existing conditions - which means those pre-existing conditions can't be used as reasons for rejection of coverage. Even though they have had coverage all their lives paying into the system with no major health care concerns and no current major health issues, Humana rejected them.
Same thing at Blue Cross/Blue Shield. They rejected coverage because of the pre-existing conditions that should have been covered.
Complaints to Madigan were unanswered. Thanks only to Gov. Rod Blagojevich, the family's son is now covered - for most but not all of his medication needs. Seems the Blagojevich's "All Kids" Plan doesn't actually cover everything as it claims.
That's government for you.
And there apparently is nothing an American can do about that. Because this country has been talking about health care insurance problems for years.
McCain says he wants to give that family the option to purchase insurance cheaper. Cheaper than $750 a month? What good does that do?. His plan isn't for families like that, families who have been rejected by the robber barons at Humana and Blue Cross/Blue Shield.
Obama says that the family deserves to have coverage and he wants to set up a plan to give them coverage.
Is the choice that we should only help the poor who can get coverage, but make it adffordable? Or, is the choice we should help those in need, who "need" the health care but can't get it no matter what the price?
Obama's plan sounds like it is the only one that would cover both sides of the loophole that faces this country's 46 million uninsured American citizens.
It sounds like it is a far better option than the lousy service that one gets from the private health insurers who have their lobbyists dumping cash into the political campaign warchests of people like Lisa Madigan, who by the way, has an extremely generous health care program that will cover her for the rest of her life even after only a few years of state service.
She doesn't have to worry about health care because Lisa Madigan gets a policy that, by the way, is paid for by the taxpayers.
She has the very public healthcare plan that Obama wants to offer to the rest of us.
I say, make the bastards at Humana and Blue Cross/Blue Shield suffer. Someone should go after them.
But, while waiting for "hell to freeze over" in Illinois government, maybe the answer for now is Obama's health care plan. Maybe Obama's plan is the only way to do that.
It's the only one that will help everyone who needs health care, the most serious threat facing our country next to terrorism.
(Ray Hanania can be reached at rayhanania@comcast.net. Listen to Ray's radio talk show on WJJG AM 1530 on Mon., Tues., Thurs. from 8-9:30 a.m. and Wed., Fri. at 8-9 a.m. His weekly TV Show “30 Minutes” is broadcast every Friday at 7 p.m. on Channel 19 in Oak Lawn, Burbank and Bridgeview.)
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