How many mothers have had to sit a watch their children die because they were denied the treatment that could have saved their lives.

Time and time again you hear stories about the “so called” Dr.’s that work for these insurance companies being given bonuses for denying claims.

My own sister had cancer. She was a hospice patient mainly because she could not afford the incredible amount of medications that she needed. She was told, by a hospice nurse, that if she pursued aggressive treatment that she could no longer receive hospice care. Now, please don’t get me wrong. I thank God for hospice. They are an absolute God sent. The problem was that her insurance did not cover many of the medications she needed. Her medical bills were mounting up and, being on a fixed income, there was no way she could have paid them all. So, as I watched, my sister, whom I loved with all my heart, died.

Anyone who says that our health care system is fine the way it is are obviously the ones that can afford good quality health care. It just astonishes me though, because it always seems that those with the most money have the – It’s your bed, now lie in it – attitude and no compassion for their fellow man. It’s so sad.

I watch President Obama’s healthcare program on ABC and was shocked that he could not give the woman who has a 105 year old mother with a pacemaker a straight answer as to whether or not, under his health care reforms, 100 year old citizens would be able to be treated with a pacemaker. He didn’t lie, but he left me feeling that under his reforms, her mother would have been denied the pacemaker, but treated with pain medications to keep her comfortable. What a shame! In addition, President Obama keeps talking about reducing the waste in repeated tests and services that are redundant and costly. I agree that these tests are wasteful, but much of this practice stems from physician orders that are being written to mitigate lawsuits. President Obama’s healthcare reforms do nothing to address medical liability; so I would assume that until this is addressed, wasteful tests and services will continue under his reforms….unless strong arm tactics are used against our doctors.

As a professional healthcare worker, I am concerned about the growing disenrollments of physicians from State Medicaid Plans and the the Medicare program throughout this country. My father-in-law had a serious stroke and is under Medicare. The internist that we want him to see will not take him because he stopped taking Medicare patients. I want my father, and everyone else who uses the healthcare system, to have the choice of seeing a qualified physician and not a nurse practitioner or physician assistant. Evidence in healthcare is beginning to show that while physician extenders such as nurse practitioners are cheaper to see, they order more tests and prescribe more drugs than medical doctors.
Do not throw out the whole healthcare system because of a small percentage of hardship cases. Instead, address the circumstances that are causing these hardships, fix the rules surrounding pre-existing conditions, and limit medical liability. That will solve the problems and save trillions of wasted tax payer dollars.

http://stories.barackobama.com/healthcare. They give a human voice to the problem. Note that the majority of contributors are women.

The public health care option would not be like the British model where the government actually provides health care. The model proposed would still keep physicians in the private sector. It would just remove the profits from insurance companies and give them a reason to become more efficient. But please don’t buy into the fear mongering about European health care. My husband is English and my father-in-law has been living with skin cancer for more than a decade. He is living a dignified and independent life at the age of 84, debt free. My mother-in-law did die of breast cancer but survived with her diagnosis for over twenty years into her mid-seventies. She received warm and competent care throughout her illness, and was able to go through her experience with the dignity of no medical debt!

Elizabeth

>>We can’t just sit here and molt as the ranks of the uninsured grow and families suffer devastating consequences.