Profits Before Patients - A PBS Interview w/Bill Moyers

[Lastchance09]

Over the past several months you have probably heard a lot of debate over health care reform. There have been a lot of lies and confusion blasting through the airwaves, in newspapers, and on the Internet. And I'll admit that Obama has not done the best job in convincing people why we must reform health care. Neither has the media - they are more focused on the politics, Democrats vs. Republicans, the cost, and how this will hurt Obama's poll numbers. As Obama said, it's not about him.

What the media should be doing is reminding us that the #1 cause of bankruptcy are medical bills, how policies are being canceled when patients need them the most and how the insurance industry pays millions to members of Congress to make sure nothing changes. We cannot wait another 50 years - yes, 50 years. Despite what you have heard, this bill isn't being rushed. It's been debated for decades and put off for just as long. Many of you probably remember when Bill Clinton tried to get it done. You will hear about cost and yes it will be expensive, but members of Congress are working on that and it is absolutely false that your health benefits will be taxed (unless you are in the top 1.2% income bracket), it does not force euthanasia, it won't ration care and bureaucrats won't be deciding your treatment. Oh, there are just too many lies to list.

Whatever your ideology, political party, beliefs or experience. Whether you have great insurance or no insurance like me - please watch this interview of Wendell Potter, a former PR exec for CIGNA, talking to Bill Moyers about what really goes on. Come on, it's PBS and Bill Moyers, you can't find a more respected station and journalist. Please click on the link below.


http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/07102009/profile.html




UPDATE

If you would like some clarification, go here: http://www.whitehouse.gov/realitycheck/

 

[Lastchance09]

An Article From Newsweek

Funny, but not really.


http://www.newsweek.com/id/209817

 

[mgm1]

Have seen the Bill Moyer's program last night, it is a reall eye opener. Very sad...

 

[PhyllisG]

I also saw the program and it just makes you so angry at the greed of these people. Profit driven health care industry is ridiculous by definition. They seem to spend more money on their salaries, bonuses and perks then on anything else. I also saw the consumers and executives who testified before congress. There is a special place in hell reserved for some of these people. You don't want the govt. standing between you and your doctor. Well what about that corporate executive standing between you and your doctor who is only looking at the corporate bottom line?

 

[kathryn]

Thanks for the links.

I'm getting extremely frustrated with those who are trying to block health care reforms by using patent lies and scare tactics (who ever started the Orwellian rumor that patients on medicare would meet with someone to determine how they want to die? Ridiculous! And to think that people believe it! How stupid are Americans?).

And the Republican who said that defeating health care reform would be a way to break Obama, be his Waterloo? Obviously, it's more important to him (and to some others) to defeat Obama and position the Republican party for the next elections (hey, he won, he's our president, get over it and find a way to work with him!)

 

[kathryn]

Profit driven health care industry is ridiculous by definition.

ITA
Something that literally affects lives should have nothing to do with making a profit.

 

[jordan]

I definitely think we need health care reform. I don’t think that the President or any of the law makers have done a very good job explaining how their plan for reform is going to work nor do I get the impression that they know enough about the changes that they want to implement. I would like to see the President and all the law makers take the lead in participating in a pilot program for whatever health care program passes by majority vote. Just as importantly, I feel that if people are happy with their current health insurance they should be able to keep their insurance and opt out of paying for health insurance that they don’t want or need. I think that if the reform is good then it will speak for itself and people will want to participate in the program.


jordan

 

[Lastchance09]

I definitely think we need health care reform. I don’t think that the President or any of the law makers have done a very good job explaining how their plan for reform is going to work nor do I get the impression that they know enough about the changes that they want to implement. I would like to see the President and all the law makers take the lead in participating in a pilot program for whatever health care program passes by majority vote. Just as importantly, I feel that if people are happy with their current health insurance they should be able to keep their insurance and opt out of paying for health insurance that they don’t want or need. I think that if the reform is good then it will speak for itself and people will want to participate in the program.


jordan

They haven't done a good job of explaining it because they do not have a solid plan yet. Right now there are 3-4 bills/proposals from different committees in the House and the Senate. Now they have to be rolled into one and then voted on not long after Congress returns. The goal is to have a bill signed by the President by the end of the year. Also, Obama has stated many times that if you like your health care plan, you can keep it. He has said this repeatedly because it is one of the lies that is constantly being pushed by health care reform opponents. When Obama told congress to draft the bill, he gave them guidelines and that was one of them.

 

[sparrow13]

T He has said this repeatedly because it is one of the lies that is constantly being pushed by health care reform opponents. When Obama told congress to draft the bill, he gave them guidelines and that was one of them.

And we all know that presidents and politicians never, ever lie to get what they want.

Hey, we're from the government and we're here to help you...even if that means rushing through some 1/2 baked scheme that is so convoluted we can't even coherently explain how it will impact the person on the street...that would be you...of course none of us has actually read the bill(s) so we don't really know what's in there and that makes it difficult to explain it in all but the most broad and rosy terms..don't worry about it though...a chicken in every pot...seriously, your government knows what it's doing...by the way did you trade in your clunker yet?...and honestly the particulars really don't concern us because we made sure to exempt ourselves from the scheme....that's one thing we *do* know for sure...it's going to be so wonderful we don't want any part of it...what's that you say?...if boondoggle participation isn't going to be mandatory why is "exemption" language even necessary in the first place?....er, um,er....no, the cost of private insurance won't become so high that only the elite (that's me!) will be able to afford it, condemning the peasants (that's you!) to whatever red-tape health nightmare the government has created in its irresponsible rush to push through aforementioned 1/2 baked scheme...no...no...no...it's going to be wonderful...trust me...I'm from the government and I know what's best for you...don't think too much about these things...no I don't want to see your IRA statement...put that down...now isn't it time for American Idol?

I'm grumpy, I don't like Bill Moyers, and I need coffee.

 

[Lastchance09]

Aaaah, where did you get that rant? Faux News? Fair and Balanced? nah, just fairly unbalanced. Maybe you listen to Rush, Beck? Ron Paul fan, Libertarian?

Politicians lie, of course. Presidents lie, of course - I recall the famous words of Nixon "I am not a crook" and Clinton's "I did not have sexual relations with that woman", but unless you can find in any of those health bills presented that you will be forced to give up your private insurance then you are just repeating talking points from the opposition - not facts.

It's incredible that you or anyone else rail against a bill that you haven't seen. And guess what? your source of information hasn't seen it either so I have to wonder where they are getting their talking points from. Hmmm, could it be.............those lying politicians? And I'm pretty sure that those lying politicians are getting their talking points from the private health insurance industry that you seem to have no problems with.

So many people rail against gov't in favor of private business and the free market, but don't realize that private businesses work very closely ($$$$$$) with the gov't to shape the very policies that you hate.

And this rushing that you speak of? Guess who that talking point came from? That's right - a politician. Obama said we've been talking about it for 50 years. The article I provided a link to in my post says it's been 97 years! Nothing new and radical is being introduced here. Even the smear campaign that the opposition is running hasn't changed. And the only reason anyone is calling for a slow down is so that they can kill the bill. The oppo also needs more time to spread fear and lies like "it will kill old people" or "people will die waiting in line like they do in Canada" or "We'll be like Cuba!" - Bwa ha ha ha!!

FYI - when the final bill is drafted, you can go to the gov't website and read every single word yourself. Or you can wait for someone in the media - who we can trust all of the time, right? - to interpret it for you.

I love Bill Moyers and he is one of the last and few remaining journalists left in our ratings hungry media. Whether you agree with him or not, he bases his arguments on facts. He doesn't have to rant, lie, distort or engage in fear mongering to get his points across.

 

[PhyllisG]

I like Bill Moyers also. I don't know any seniors who are willing to give up their Social Security checks, their medicare health insurance, any veterans who are willing to give up the VA health coverage or for that matter any politicians who are willing to give up their health insurance. All of these are govt run programs. Maybe when the citizens of this country can receive the same health care coverage their representatives receive we can find a solution to this problem I feel that we are no longer viewed as "citizens" by many but rather as "consumers" and/or "workers". Medical bills are the leading cause of bankruptcy filings in the US.

 

[Stacy]

Beauracracy is ALREADY running the health care system! I work for a great group of doctors, who contrary to what alot of people believer are NOT out to make more money for themselves so they can buy fancy cars etc. Reimbursement is getting less and less and just to make payroll for employees and to pay bills...which are rising as fast as reimbursement is declining, ie. malpractice insurance is going up every year. This is forcing them to see more patients per hour just to make ends meet. And, believe me, this is NOT how they want to operate. They feel rushed, and feel like they arent doing as good a job as they should b/c they're being forced to handle one medical complaint per visit for the sake of time. One of the docs I work for has even taken out a personal loan just so she can pay us. And, no, she doesnt drive a BMW, she drives a beat up mini van. From my perspective, I spend half of my day on the phone trying to get prior authorization for medicine that the patient has been stable on for years b/c the insurance company suddenly doesnt want to cover it. That's time away from the patient care I should be doing. It's all quite insane. Health care reform cant come quick enough and the scare tactics are ridiculous and all at our expense...literally!

 

[caseysmomgo]

So true, Stacy! ...the pharmaceutical companies are in the pockets of the insurance prescription plans, who try to dictate to the doctors what medication the doctors should be prescribing. Let the doctors be doctors, already... and why is Viagra an approved drug on my prescription plan, yet they make doctors "prior authorize to death" other drugs that are necessary to save lives?

 

[sparrow13]

Aaaah, where did you get that rant? Faux News? Fair and Balanced? nah, just fairly unbalanced. Maybe you listen to Rush, Beck? Ron Paul fan, Libertarian?

Politicians lie, of course. Presidents lie, of course - I recall the famous words of Nixon "I am not a crook" and Clinton's "I did not have sexual relations with that woman", but unless you can find in any of those health bills presented that you will be forced to give up your private insurance then you are just repeating talking points from the opposition - not facts.

It's incredible that you or anyone else rail against a bill that you haven't seen. And guess what? your source of information hasn't seen it either so I have to wonder where they are getting their talking points from. Hmmm, could it be.............those lying politicians? And I'm pretty sure that those lying politicians are getting their talking points from the private health insurance industry that you seem to have no problems with.

So many people rail against gov't in favor of private business and the free market, but don't realize that private businesses work very closely ($$$$$$) with the gov't to shape the very policies that you hate.

And this rushing that you speak of? Guess who that talking point came from? That's right - a politician. Obama said we've been talking about it for 50 years. The article I provided a link to in my post says it's been 97 years! Nothing new and radical is being introduced here. Even the smear campaign that the opposition is running hasn't changed. And the only reason anyone is calling for a slow down is so that they can kill the bill. The oppo also needs more time to spread fear and lies like "it will kill old people" or "people will die waiting in line like they do in Canada" or "We'll be like Cuba!" - Bwa ha ha ha!!

FYI - when the final bill is drafted, you can go to the gov't website and read every single word yourself. Or you can wait for someone in the media - who we can trust all of the time, right? - to interpret it for you.

I love Bill Moyers and he is one of the last and few remaining journalists left in our ratings hungry media. Whether you agree with him or not, he bases his arguments on facts. He doesn't have to rant, lie, distort or engage in fear mongering to get his points across.

Goodness why so hostile? All kinds of insults and nasty comments in there, when you don't even know me or what I believe - or how I came to believe it. I could tell you more about who I am, what I believe and where I like to get my information but you've already determined who I am and painted such a colorful picture of me as a drooling idjit that I think I will just sit back and enjoy being that for a while. I rarely get the chance to take a load off.

Really though, what's tiresome to me is that our hostility has become so predictable! Anyone who doesn't agree with Obama is OF COURSE a drooling, FOX news obsessed automaton. Please people, think "originality" when insulting others! It softens the blow.

All the Bill Moyer fans will be happy to know that I don't dislike him quite as much since I've had my coffee. Woot!

OK, I am off to drool and practice being an idjit for a while.

 

[jordan]

They haven't done a good job of explaining it because they do not have a solid plan yet. Right now there are 3-4 bills/proposals from different committees in the House and the Senate. Now they have to be rolled into one and then voted on not long after Congress returns. The goal is to have a bill signed by the President by the end of the year. Also, Obama has stated many times that if you like your health care plan, you can keep it. He has said this repeatedly because it is one of the lies that is constantly being pushed by health care reform opponents. When Obama told congress to draft the bill, he gave them guidelines and that was one of them.

Our elected officials should be able to explain everything that is being considered. If they don’t understand everything about what is being proposed then they can’t intelligently vote on what should be in the final bill. The American people should be informed of all the details and what it will cost them. People should be able to speak out for or against the bill before any final vote. We were promised transparency and that promise has not been fulfilled. I don’t blame any one political party, group of people, or News outlet for the information that is trickling out. I just want to have a discussion in this country without all the blame and name calling. Not everyone will be happy 100% of the time, but we can't draw a line in the sand. It is time to listen to each other. Even when good information is being released there is distortion of the facts, but when inadequate information is being released than it shouldn’t surprise anyone when people start to question and worry about what the heck is going on.

I don’t feel comfortable that my health care options will not be affected. I don’t think anyone can say that there won’t be an indirect impact on our health care choices with the proposed changes. What about my taxes? With the economy the way it is, I want assurances that my taxes will not be increased to pay for someone else’s health care insurance if I decide to pay for my own health care insurance. What if I need to use my money to pay my heating bill? If I don’t have heat it will definitely impact my health in the winter; I can literally freeze to death in my area, but I can’t rely on tax payers to pay my heating bill. I think we need to find a way to make health care affordable to every American citizen, but we don’t need to spend money that we don’t have to pay for more than we absolutely need. Why can’t we pass laws that balance profit with reasonable consumer cost for services? And why isn’t the program good enough for our elected officials?


jordan

 

[DDRdiva]

I like Bill Moyers also. I don't know any seniors who are willing to give up their Social Security checks, their medicare health insurance, any veterans who are willing to give up the VA health coverage or for that matter any politicians who are willing to give up their health insurance. All of these are govt run programs.

Don't ya just love it when politicians are "anti-government"?

 

[pressju]

Not to add fuel to this fire, but I thought it would be worth noting for those who do not want to "pay" taxes for the 45 million others who do not have health insurance now - you already are. Your tax dollars go to cover the catastrophic care that the uninsured seek in emergency rooms, which is exponentially higher than the care that would be covered by basic health insurance. If your child was desperatley ill and you had no coverage, would you hesitate to take her to the ER? And since a good proportion of our tax dollars are going to this inflated health cost, it DOESN'T go to your schools, fixing your roads, employing more police officers. So yes of course you are going to pay taxes towards this program. But it is smart money going toward better care, so that over the long haul there will be more money going to the things we want it go to: better schools, safer streets, high speed technology driven public transportation.

Every single person in the U.S.A. benefits from all of us paying taxes. Every single one of us is hurt by those who have no choice but to use emergency rooms for standard care.

I think one the issues here is the "long term" benefit. We are being asked to invest in the future of this country and we want results NOW. Let's all wake up and get real: the greed driven health care system has gone on for too long thanks to the strong hold that lobbyists have had on Washington for decades. It is our job to stand up and say, "Spend my tax dollars wisely already!" The blow hards from both sides are sound bite junkies. Turn off FOX, CNN, MSNBC and the radio and go READ the bill.

Then decide.

 

[sparrow13]

Not to add fuel to this fire, but I thought it would be worth noting for those who do not want to "pay" taxes for the 45 million others who do not have health insurance now - you already are. Your tax dollars go to cover the catastrophic care that the uninsured seek in emergency rooms, which is exponentially higher than the care that would be covered by basic health insurance. If your child was desperatley ill and you had no coverage, would you hesitate to take her to the ER? And since a good proportion of our tax dollars are going to this inflated health cost, it DOESN'T go to your schools, fixing your roads, employing more police officers. So yes of course you are going to pay taxes towards this program. But it is smart money going toward better care, so that over the long haul there will be more money going to the things we want it go to: better schools, safer streets, high speed technology driven public transportation.

Every single person in the U.S.A. benefits from all of us paying taxes. Every single one of us is hurt by those who have no choice but to use emergency rooms for standard care.

I think one the issues here is the "long term" benefit. We are being asked to invest in the future of this country and we want results NOW. Let's all wake up and get real: the greed driven health care system has gone on for too long thanks to the strong hold that lobbyists have had on Washington for decades. It is our job to stand up and say, "Spend my tax dollars wisely already!" The blow hards from both sides are sound bite junkies. Turn off FOX, CNN, MSNBC and the radio and go READ the bill.

Then decide.

Great post!

 

[hiitdogs]

I read this thread a while ago and wanted to respond but got too tied up with work.

A lot of people seem to be satisfied with the status quo, think that things are not so bad, and that the majority of uninsured don't want to get health insurance. Personally, I don't think the biggest problem is the uninsured. The biggest problem is the underinsured. Those people who think they have insurance and all of a sudden they get sick and the bills start piling up.

I had health insurance for over 12 years, until my husband got laid off. Luckily we were able to get health insurance because up to this point none of us had been seriously sick. A few months later I got diagnosed with cancer. Dealing with the health insurance has been a disaster. First they claimed pre-existing condition and refused to pay at all which would have left me with over $ 100,000 in medical bills, just for the tests and my surgery. Had I not refused chemo and radiation (for different reasons than cost), it would have added $ 250,000 in medical bills. Who on earth has $ 350,000 sitting around in a bank account, waiting to be spent? And that's only for the first few months of "conventional" treatment.

Now, I have a legal background, I am a pain in the butt and I don't take "no" for an answer and still it took me a gazillion letters back and forth, phone calls and eventually threatening to go to the media to get them to stop that nonsense about pre-existing condition.

Now they are screwing around with deductibles, not paying what they are supposed to pay. 9 months after my diagnosis, I am still frickling around with medical bills from November. I am lucky, I am in pretty good shape but what about those people who don't know their way around those kind of contracts and are seriously sick. They don't need that kind of stress, they need to heal and not have to worry about their medical bills.

9 months after my diagnosis, I am still supposed to pay $ 25,000 in medical bills because they are claiming the provider is not in their network, classifying the treatment as something different and claiming my diagnostics and PETscans were "elective". Really? Hmmmh.

Now that I am marked with the C-word on my forehead, no insurance is going to touch me or I am looking at over $ 1,000 in health insurance premium, or an exclusion of anything cancer related which will be, of course, everything. There is no doubt that my current health insurance is going to dump me as soon as they can and then I will join the ranks of millions of uninsured Americans, those who some politicians claim "don't want health insurance".

Over a million Americans file bankruptcy every year because of medical bills. Most of them are not the ones who don't have insurance, it's the ones who thought they had insurance.

We are the only civilized country who does not ensure that its citizens have health insurance and keep claiming that the cost is too high, we cannot afford it. Frankly, what we cannot afford is to do nothing. The only ones who stand to profit is the health insurance industry, hospitals, drug companies.

I heard minority leader John Boehner talk the other day about our health care system being the "envy of the world". Really now? I want to have some of the coffee he is drinking Just because we have the most expensive treatment of any country doesn't mean that we are healthier or better off. We pay twice the amount of what other countries pay for health care expenses and we only have half of our population insured.

So who are we protecting? Who should be the focus? The health care industry or the patient?

That being said, I think we are spending way too much money to overmedicating people. Whereas drugs should be the last resort we have come to give everyone drugs as the first treatment. The best treatment for the patient is not always the most expensive one.

 

[PhyllisG]

Carola You have said it all too well. I think of this every time I read about someone being satisfied with their insurance---guess they haven't been seriously ill. There is an ad running on TV now with a Canadian woman who "could not get the life saving treatment she needed in Canada so she came to the US for the treatment". She then goes on to tell her story about the wonderful care she received here that was denied to her at home. Who paid for that?! No one ever says that I have heard. I also saw a woman testify before Congress that she was denied surgery for breast cancer because she didn't divulge a pre existing condition--acne! I am sure the horror stories are endless.