I is also for inflation protection: a proper health care policy should include this to protect a person from rising costs, and to have added benefits to compensate for it.

L is for long-term care insurance: this is to protect our elderly citizens, who will still require health-care coverage at nursing homes or palliative care institutions.

M is for maximum allowable cost: mainly on the cost of medication, as a list of drugs which can be reimbursed basing on the cost of their generic equivalent.

medicine—taiyofj (Flickr.com)

M is also for Medicare: this is the Federal program which provide health benefits for citizens aged 65 and above. Those who are insured help to pay for these qualified citizens, along with the government, for hospitalization costs, basic insurance, and other medical expenses.

N is for nursing home: oftentimes referred to as long-term facilities or palliative care institutions, nursing homes exist to take care of those who can no longer take care of themselves, be they the elderly or the chronically sick.

O is for outpatients: these are patients who are treated in health care facilities such as hospitals and clinics but do not stay overnight or long-term.

P is for pre-existing condition: most health care policies list down pre-existing health conditions which they are not willing to cover under their plan. The new health care reform aims to get rid of this policy, especially for children.

P is also for premium: in health care insurance, this is the payment one pays over a given period to be insured.

Q is for qualified Medicare beneficiary: the government selects someone who is living below the Federal poverty line to become the beneficiary for basic medical coverage.

R is for reform: what Obama wants for the existing health care program in order to provide better and fairer coverage. Provisions are in order to have even pre-existing conditions be accepted by insurance companies.

S is for second (surgical) opinion: a lot of health care plans recommend and actually pay to get a second opinion prior to a patient getting surgery.

T is for therapeutic alternatives: sometimes referred to as holistic or organic medication, these are drugs that similar therapeutic effects as pharmaceutical drugs, but are of different chemical makeup.

T is also for third-party payer: this is when a company like HMO or an insurance group or entity pays for medical insurance for someone who has it.

U is for universal health care: the vision to have all governments in the world recognize that health care is a basic human right.

A is for American Health Care: A quote from the article “American Health Care System: More Broken Than You Imagined” sums up the situation thus far:

The proportion of those who are underinsured increased from 9 percent to 14 percent, or 25 million people, between 2003 and 2007. Sixty-one percent of those with medical bill problems or accumulated medical debt were insured at the time care was provided.

 

B is for bills (hospital, medical): The way things work now, even with a supposedly “full” insurance, many hospitals and clinics can and will find ways to deny health claims and bill you for something outrageous. What more for those who are uninsured?

Jennie Stuart Memorial Hospital Bill 1922—dlofink (Flickr.com)

C is for Conscience Clause: One of the unfortunate things about the current state of health care is the “conscience clause” of many hospitals, pharmacies, and clinics run by religious people. Refusing to render services or goods for clients whom they think are “religiously and morally offensive” (such as buying birth control or assisting in abortion) should be addressed properly by universal health care reform.

D is for diagnosis: Many existing insurance companies are turning down certain pre-existing conditions and diagnoses for both children and adults. A diagnosis should be able to tell you how to treat an illness, not have you ostracized by the very people who can help you get better.

E is for elderly health care: Elderly people need special health care treatment and consideration. The alleviation of symptoms are as important as the prevention of age-related illnesses.

F is for fines for the non-insured: Once health care is mandatory, those who still refuse to buy health insurance will be fined. Stiffer penalties can urge people to see the importance of universal health care and comply with it.

 G is for guidelines: So that people fully understand how health care works, guidelines must be presented to everyone buying proper health care insurance explaining where their money goes, and how they can use this reform to their advantage.

H is for human right: Ted Kennedy had said it before: “Health care is a human right.” For people to suffer from serious illnesses and not be treated because of the high cost of hospitalization and medical bills, means we may as well be living in medieval times.

I is for insurance: By the year 2016, everybody has to have insurance, which will roughly cost $5000 per individual, and $12500 per family. These amounts only cover the most basic insurance, although there is an option to upgrade to fancier ones with better coverage.

(To be continued)

Having a little less than 50 million uninsured Americans has sparked debates on Health Care Reform. CNN explains in simple terms what it is all about for everyone to understand.

Basically, Obama wants everyone to have insurance. Uninsured people stand to be in a load of trouble in case of medical emergencies or health problems. Even worse, the rest of America’s tax payers have to pay for uninsured people in cases like these. Tax money and insurance premiums of tax payers end up covering the uninsured.

The Health Care plan has already been passed, and some provisions are already in order. It is still a work in progress, as many other stipulations are expected to be revealed in coming years. However, as one of the milestone provisions, it is now illegal for insurance companies to refuse to cover a child with a pre-existing condition. Before the Health Care Reform, kids with pre-existing conditions were turned away by these insurance companies. As a result, many families had to face expensive medical treatments for their afflicted kids with no financial safety net to help them.

As well, it is now illegal to put lifetime limits on benefits. Health Care Reform laws put a stop to this. Children are now also allowed to stay within their parents’ insurance coverage up to the age of twenty-six.

Future provisions of the Health Care Reform for insurance companies include accepting adults with pre-existing conditions. So heart diseases, asthma, cancer, and other pre-existing health conditions must be accepted and covered by insurance companies.

By the year 2016, everybody has to have insurance, which will roughly cost $5000 per individual, and $12500 per family. These amounts only cover the most basic insurance, although there is an option to upgrade to fancier ones with better coverage.

Those who refuse to buy health insurance will be fined. It will cost $350 per child and $700 per adult (for a family of four, that is around $2000 in fines).

That health insurance is an expensive thing is a fact. What the law wants is for people who cannot afford this to be covered by Medicaid. Those who do not qualify for Medicaid can still get subsidies from the government to help them afford health insurance.

There are, of course, arguments about how Americans should not be forced to get health insurance with laws like these. Health care is a controversial topic, but one thing is for sure: something must be done about it, and soon.

Depression and the elderly: new Healthcare law provides depression screening discusses how Medicare now covers preventive services for certain mental health issues.

Sad old woman, Sad—quinn anya (Flickr.com)

What this can do is make it easier for senior citizens to open up about their depression, since studies show they are more likely to trust their orimary-care practitioners compared to clinical pyschologists and psychiatrists.

And while there is no real evidence supporting the claim that elderly people are more likely to be depressed than younger ones, depression is still expected to set in as age-related illnesses do. Body issues, degenerative diseases, and other health concerns can cause depression. Depression, in turn, can make physical symptoms worse.

That mental health should be addressed as much as physical is an established fact of health care. One of the main problems, as gleaned by studies conducted on elderly people and their perceived stigma of seeking psychiatric help, is that it is not very easy to discuss their problems and have them screened.

Now, with Medicare covering the annual cost of depression screening among elderly citizens, there is a greater chance to determine if our beloved older friends and relatives are indeed suffering from depression. As well, sixty percent of the treatment of mental health problems is now covered by Medicare.

Health care may seem very complicated since everyone debates about its pros and cons. Today, we take a look at how several people define health care, including politicians, professionals, and some simple folks who can greatly benefit from, or find fault and issues with it.

In this clip, McCain and Obama debate about health care on television as part of the presidential debates a couple of years back. They talk about the fine needed to be paid by large businesses (and small businesses) who need to provide health insurance to their employees.

Meanwhile, medical professionals themselves have different opinions on health care. In this forum called Doctor vs Health Care Crisis, a doctor pointed out why she has problems treating patients on Medicaid who obviously can afford hospitalization yet live unhealthy lives. She wrote a letter to Obama called “Why Pay For the Care of the Careless”, and some choice quotes from it can be read below:

During my examination of her, the patient informed me that she smokes more than one costly pack of cigarettes every day and somehow still has money to buy pretzels and beer.

And, you and our Congress expect me to pay for this woman’s health care? I contend that our nation’s “health care crisis” is not the result of a shortage of quality hospitals, doctors or nurses.

Rather, it is the result of a “crisis of culture”, a culture in which it is perfectly acceptable to spend money on luxuries and vices while refusing to take care of one’s self or, heaven forbid, purchase health insurance. It is a culture based on the irresponsible credo that “I can do whatever I want to because someone else will always take care of me.”

Once you fix this “culture crisis” that rewards irresponsibility and dependency, you’ll be amazed at how quickly our nation’s health care difficulties will disappear.

Many replies followed, giving us a glimpse of how normal folk really feel about health care as we know it today. While the bottom line is that health care SHOULD BE for everyone, a closer look at how fair the current system is that pushes for it must be done so that nobody feels oppressed and neglected by it, nor take advantage of it.

On December, 1978, Ted Kennedy spoke passionately about Health Care in Memphis, Tennessee. His speech was a great example of how health care affects everyone, even the lawmakers who can do something to make sure everyone can afford it.

In an article called My Father’s Health Care Legacy, the former Senator wrote:

What many people may not realize is that my father’s passion for universal health care coverage was shaped while caring for me, then a 12-year-old child diagnosed with an extremely deadly form of bone cancer of my leg. His interactions with doctors and nurses, and his waiting room conversations with other parents of children with life-threatening illnesses and disabilities, greatly informed his thinking.

Health care, when stripped to its essentials, should be a right and not a privilege for only those who can afford it. Any parent would want that for their children, and vice versa. The “care” in health care must never be overlooked when drafting policies around it.

For instance, RB 425, an Act concerning a State Basic Health Program aims to be an option under federal health care reform designed to provide an affordable alternative to purchasing insurance in the Health Insurance Exchange for low-income people in high cost states like Connecticut. If passed as a bill, this can allow 75,000 adults with incomes between 133% and 200% of the federal poverty level to still have access to quality health care.

Basic health care, 04a HealthCareHumanRight UMC NE WDC 27March2012—ElvertBarnes (Flickr.com)

Healthcare debate, Terri Shaw—Center for American Progress (Flickr.com)

Every day the debate rages on in America. Thousands and thousands of people don’t have coverage for their personal being or their loved ones. Socialism may not be the answer to our troubles – but this sure isn’t.