I can’t help but think we need to keep up the battle for health care reform and health insurance reform — even though the realist in me constantly smacks down the optimist within me and honestly believes we’ll see no real, beneficial health care reform.
There simply are too many politicians, lawyers, HMOs, insurance companies, etc., who stand to loose if we do anything as radical as provide GOOD health care to everyone. And anything less than some serious reform of the present system of health insurance and health care almost seems to be a waste of time.
One of the “red herrings” used by insurance companies to deceive many folks, I think, is this old, “Don’t let government bureaucrats dictate the health care you can or cannot get; don’t let them come between you and your doctor!” You’ve heard that over and over again, I’m sure. Perhaps you even worry about that happening to you.
Let me tell you something about the present system, in case you don’t know it: Presently, in most cases, you have an INSURANCE COMPANY BUREAUCRAT already coming between you and your doctor. Very, very few people have health insurance that allows them to jump up on those exam tables and say, “Go ahead, Doc. Do anything and everything you need to do — my insurance’s got me covered.”
In most cases, you need anything much more serious than treating a hangnail approved by your insurance company before the doctor can do his thing. And in most cases, you’ll be limited by your insurance coverage so that kindly old Doc won’t be able to do the treatment he needs to do because you can’t afford it even with insurance — or perhaps those insurance company bureaucrats will rule a “pre-existing condition” on you.
Ah, well. Between the insurance companies, pharmaceutical companies, and their lobbyist minions, as I’ve said before, I really don’t expect we’ll see useful, legitimate health care reform in this country.