Where Does the "WE" Come from in Health Care

I felt the need to share a post from the Black Conservatives Yahoo Groups Courtesy of NYCBlackAmerican

The collective 'we' are building up massive debt in trying to keep up with health care costs. Well, let me tell you a little something about this part of the 'we'.

• For 44 years, I contributed to my own health care insurance program. When I was dissatisfied with the program, I changed it at the once-a-year option I got to do so.
• I paid social security taxes.
• I paid for medicare, Parts A & B.
• I paid my co-pays which were not reimbursed by anybody and, in some cases, had to meet a deductible before I could even begin to claim benefits.

Now, where has all that money I and my employers paid into the Medicare system gone to? Here are some of the benefits distributed by Medicare Part B using my dime: physicians' services; home health care; services and supplies , including drugs and biologicals which cannot be self-administered, furnished incidental to physicians' services, diagnostic x-rays and other tests; surgical dressings, and splints, casts and other devices used for fractures and dislocations, etc., etc.

My private insurance, which I must keep, also provides me with all of these services. I am only eligible for Medicare Part A, hospital insurance. I hope my hospital takes it [many do not]. Why do I need Medicare? I don't and did not choose to have it.

So, when Obama speaks in terms of 'we', just who is he talking about? Not me. The federal government has squandered all the money it collected from me and my employer over 44 years, and now wants to make me a party to that mismanagement. I don't think so.

Focus on the BIGGER HealthCARE Picture

Insurance is only a small part of the problem. The bigger issue is ACCESS to care. Which is the real challenge of preventive and primary care. Lot's of people have coverage, and still cannot get care, because of lack of medical personnel, the attack on the nurse practitioner (including midwifery), and advanced or modern facilities. Even those who do not have coverage, still in an emergency get CARE, IF THEY CAN GET TO IT.

A few years ago, I suffered a miscarriage. I had EXCELLENT INSURANCE. however the town where I live although has many doctors and hospitals, only one facility has an OB/GYN unit and a handful of OB/GYNs and only one taking new patients, after a 5 week wait list. There are many places across America with this same phenomenon.

I like to say that Health care today, is lacking localized medicine, and like WALMART has killed the neighborhood retailer and grocer, BIG BOX hospitals with its Hospitalists have killed the neighbood clinic! A Hospitalist, is a hospital employed doctor, so instead of having his own practice, 0r is a partner in a practice of other doctors, this doctor just gets a salary from the Hospital. In this model, the hospital worries with the basic business operations of insurance, billing, staffing, etc. related to caring for the patient. It is not necessarily like a HMO, but could at times feel like one. This model is encouraged by the lack of tort reform. Without that, then the malpractice insurance makes it unsustainable for the local health care facilities to exist.

So can we please get back to the issue of CARE, and ask our elected officials how is providing insurance going to fix this umbrella problem!!!

My $ 0.02

Tanya Callaway Crews