Monday, June 15, 2009

A quick pondering of healthcare reform…

Let’s jump right on in, shall we?

A bitch heard some shit over the weekend that gave me pause.

Some politicians who oppose healthcare reform are spinning a tale that everything is cool/okay/fine/not-even-sorta-broken and functioning exactly as it should to benefit the health of the masses.

Blink.

They are saying that most Americans will have to wait for healthcare or get prior approval for non-emergency procedures.

Blink again.

And this bitch can’t help but wonder if they have lost their damn minds.

Let’s add a question for those folks interviewing the politicians who are saying that shit…have y’all lost your damn minds too?

Is there some sort of healthcare insurance never have to make an appointment or get non-emergency procedures approved hook-up that a bitch doesn’t know about?

***cue crickets***

Is there some sort of insurance coverage that the millions of uninsured and under-insured Americans could score but are not aware of…or are willfully not taking advantage of?

***tell crickets to keep it going***

Yeah…uh huh…right.

This bitch isn’t going to get into what needs to be done…that’s a discussion that’s long over-due and thankfully happening now. But I damn sure am going to address the deliberate misrepresentation of what is.

When I had to have my fibroid surgery, I had to wait to see a specialist...wait to get my surgery approved by the insurance company...and then wait to get that shit scheduled.

The only thing I didn't wait for was the motherfucking bill.

Congress may have all kinds of coverage for all kinds of procedures at affordable rates with a huge provider list to choose from…that may be the reality for those who represent the people and that may be why they can’t grasp why their pesky constituents are complaining.

But the people experience a very different system that could use some damn reform…and millions of Americans would fall on their knees and thank the gods if they could just experience the system the rest of us are fucking fed up with.

Now part of that reform should be addressing the waiting and approval end of healthcare...but some of these fools need to get educated on the fact that people are already waiting and struggling to get approval from the big insurance companies the fools are protecting.

Pause…admire stamina of cricket crew…continue.

But hey, those politicians could put an end to all the fussing if they would just extend to the masses what they are currently enjoying so much that they have no fucking clue how fubar healthcare in America currently is.

“Go cricket…get your groove on…it’s your birthday…work it!”

Lawd, give me strength...

***log off before uninsured cricket crew collapses and needs medical attention***

10 comments:

Jeffrey Ricker said...

You better shut them up! You know crickets aren't covered under your plan and they charge by the chirp.

dinthebeast said...

Should that also read "cute crickets"? Just wondering...
And thank you for this post, health care is a personal issue to everyone who ever needs it. One time needing it and not having it be right will leave a different impression on you than what I'm seeing from both the politicians and the media folks covering them. I just hope that there is a different way for their eyes to get opened to the reality of what's happening, because it looks to me as if money will keep most of them comfortably isolated from it. And even that is assuming that they WANT to do the right thing.
-Doug in Oakland

Landlady of Fat said...

OMG nothin' pisses me off more than knowing those fucking cows in government get EVERYTHING handed to them on our dime then when we ask for just a taste of what they have they go all "penny pinching" on our asses.

Oh don't get me started.

Rileysdtr said...

"Most.. will have to wait for healthcare?"

Dude. Clearly they have never been in a big city ER. I think the fastest I ever got out of there was 6.5 hours, and that was on a Sunday morning when most of the drunkard injuries had already been cleared.

As for the "prior approval" concept, it's called "Prior Authorization" in the industry and already exists, for everything from major surgery to a new sinus medication.

revqueer said...

I'm trying to understand why AMA & Republicans (and some Democrats) are opposed to healthcare reform. I can only guess that health insurance works wonders on economies of scale. Huge-ass group insurance is cheaper per person and easier to administer since there's 1 benefit schedule for everybody. Economies of scale that are beneficial to ALL of us mean the few of them have to settle for some piddly BMW or Mercedes-Benz rather than a Rolls Royce or a Bentley. My condolences.

As for my family's individual experience, we could find only 2 docs in the entire city (one of the five largest in the US) to accept my pregnant partner as a patient. One said, "I don't accept your insurance." As plan groups get bigger, corporate medicine loses the ability to opt-out, and is fighting like hell against giving us the option to opt in to a public system.

Anonymous said...

"When I had to have my fibroid surgery, I had to wait to see a specialist...wait to get my surgery approved by the insurance company...and then wait to get that shit scheduled.

The only thing I didn't wait for was the motherfucking bill."

WORD.

gawd DAMN if i wasn't *just thinking* about this today - as i decided yet again to put of a cash-paid doctor appointment i can't afford, because i don't have a condition serious enough to go to the ER for it ... just serious enough to make my life fucking miserable if i *don't* treat it. (thanks, dubya - that 'emergency only' policy you got = GRATE).

but you know, specifically, what i was thinking?

when i have work, i get paid at least a week later. sometimes a month later.

when i go to a doctor or a grocery store, or for anything else i need - i pay RIGHT NOW.

why can't *i* bill for everything i need at net 30? or -60 or -90?

'cause i'm not an effin' corporation, that is why.

i should incorporate, i guess. that seems to be the solution for everything!

Dianne said...

My little guy needs his adenoids and tonsils out. He sounds like Darth Vader.

We took him to his pediatrician in December. He saw the ENT specialist in February. They did the sleep apnea test (because everything is sleep apnea now, you know) in April. We got the results (after chasing down the doctor) in May. She's finally seeing us to discuss the results next week. IF she agrees to do the surgery, it will probably be the end of August.

My mother died of cancer. She found a lump on the back of her neck in August, but couldn't get it looked at till November because that was when her new job's insurance would begin.

Tell me again why public option health care would be so bad???

Hammer said...

Hey ABB!

My friend Anne Feeney (a great singer/songwriter/activist) is organized the "Singout for Single Payer Healthcare Reform" tour...check it out and donate $10.00 to her cause. It's amazing.

Shark-Fu said...

Will do, Hammer Che.

Nancy Harris said...

With various health care reform bills floating around both the House and the Senate, President Barack Obama is pulling out all the stops to get the votes that the bill needs, which is good news for the public option. President Obama continues to rally behind health care reform. I am really concerned that the fiasco of this reform may make Obama a one-term president.

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