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If you have NF and are against Health Care Reform - you are nuts.

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I had to jump through hoops and actually change my "health care provider" (what a crock that term is - more like the thug with a gun that takes my money and then wants to give nothing in return) to get an appointment to see a NF Doctor here in Orlando. I read a article over the weekend that stated that MOST CEO's of health care corporations earn between 50 and 100k AN HOUR. That's right, you heard me - 100K AN HOUR. Scream "socialized medicine" all you want - I'll sign up this afternoon if I could. Prescription drug prices sometimes 400% higher in this country than in others (like that evil Canada right above us). We need health care reform in this country and we need it NOW. If you are not in agreement with my position, so be it. If you LOVE the way things are now, keep on voting against your own best interests. I'm no major Obama fan, but at least he's doing something more than the knuckleheads that ran this country into the ground over the course of the past 8 years. I have NF1 and I am sick of being ignored and telling me "it's all in my head".

NO.
IT IS NOT ALL "IN MY HEAD".

It's on my face it's on and my arms and it's on my back and it's on my chest and you and the major health care concerns in this country can kiss my fat Irish ass.

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38 replies

I stand right behind you on the Health Care Reform. If there is one issue i am very passionate about it is this one. I have been blessed to have good health insurance but i have to many loved ones without it. There is no excuse for anyone to be denied health care for any reason. Period.

I am right behind you too. If my former so called health care company had actually covered my NF, I might not be on disability today.

Warthog, Studies show that MOST Canadians are happy with their health care. We live longer than Americans on average, we have lower infant mortality rates, and we are in the top five in the world for cancer survival. Until 2001 Canada spent a decade being ranked number one of 175 countries on the United Nations Quality of Life survey which measures criteria as life expectancy, literacy, school enrolment and gross domestic product per capita. Since then we've continued to maintain top 5 and we are ranked number 4. The current top ten are as follows Norway, Australia, Iceland, Canada, Ireland, the Netherlands, Sweden, France, Switzerland and Japan.

Also don't believe everything you hear. Some of the so-called Canadians who did commercials and were used as examples of the evils of Universal Health Care were basically being fraudulent. Case in point, one lady featured supposedly needed to go to the U.S. because she was dying with a brain tumor and they couldn't get her in for surgery fast enough. Turns out it was a benign cyst. I'm not trying to be rude when I tell you that a lot of Canadians think some of the misconceptions about us and our health care are quite funny.

Our health care is publically funded but privately delivered so contrary to popular belief I do get some say in what doctor's I'm referred to and can even make a second choice if the first guy doesn't pan out. That's not to say everything here is perfect, is it perfect anywhere? Just don't believe everything you hear.

Both my mother and MIL required elective surgery this month and neither waited even as long as two weeks. Like I said it isn't perfect, amongst other challenges we have a very real doctor shortage but I'm pretty sure the near 50 million uninsure Americans would think it was pretty darn good.

Cindy

I have thrown my opinion in once before on this but I will say it again in short....When our countiry is so self involved that we allow our sick, hungry, poor or elderly to go without health insurance we should be ashamed of ourselves. Just because "you" may have great coverage doesn't mean we all do. I have to fight everyday for what I have, afraid that my son will go without care because I may not be able to afford our premiums. My husbnad is self employed and as a family of 6 our insurance costs more each month than our house. So what happens if we can't afford it one day with the economy at it's current state? I think that those with health insurance and small families take it for granted that they have what they have but where would they be if they didn't have that great job? It is selfish to think just because someone has something doesn't mean that the counrty as a whole wouldn't be better off taking care of each other. It's a shame that people don't step out of their own sheltered box and see how the rest of the world lives. How many of you know what the CEO's of insurance companies or drug companies make? I do... I have seen it first hand and most of you would be horrified. I'm sure they want us to continue to pay out of pocket so they can live in their multimillion dollar mansions on the beach fronts. Someones paying for them to afford that...I wonder who... I'm personally tired of it. BRING ON THAT "SOCIALIZED MEDICINE"!

I stand beside you on this one as well. I'm one of many that can not get health care. Right now the only reason I can see a doctor I'd because of an accident. When that money runs out or the year is up I'm back to nothing.
No medical help is why I didn't get disability. I didn't have enough evidence! No medical is why I needed to apply for disability in the first place.
I would rather be on a long waiting list to get knee replacement surgery then to know it's never coming.
Yeah sure as soon as the medical reform kicks in there will be so many long lines and waiting times. It will most likely be like that for a few years. That just shows you how bad we need it. There is that many people out there that need help but go without. So as soon as they can get the help they desperately need they will run to get that chance. It will be hectic for a while but it should settle down.
Medical shouldn't be a privilege for the Wealthy. It should be gift for everyone!

What's sad is when people put their faith/trust/passion into medicine or in this case Health Care Reform. It's the American selfish desire. It's so ingrained in our culture. The feelings of entitlement. Getting one's mind of oneself and onto others will lessen the bitterness. Insurance and medicine will not cure, but only covers up the problem for a temporary time. There will always be sickness on this earth, and there are millions of people in worse situations. Think of them.

of=off as in "off oneself"

I don't know how a person can feel medical insurance is a gift, nor how a person can feel government is the cure-all. Government is not the answer.

My opion is they are going to get this passed then the health care providers will start killing us off.Its population controll we are over populated bad,They will come up with things we have to do like new shots we have to have new meds we have to take or whatever to get us to doctors who will be paid to start killing the weak people and old off.Then they will go after the ones who aren't sick make them sick and OFF them too.We are being killed by our goverment.Wake up and see.

If I didn't have health insurance, I'd be dead. Thank God that hubby has it through his employer.

Some people aren't so lucky. Spinal cord surgery and a brain hemmorage nearly killed me over 10 years ago. Having health insurance keeps me alive. Somebody without it would've died, in the same circumstances that I went through.

I don't need to tell you what my opinion is.

I really expected to get flamed with my recent post.
I see we have a couple of the standard tea party types that swallowed that Reagan bullshit that "government" is not the solution to anything and that you should be able to provide healthcare for yourself or there must be something "wrong" with you. What the hell is government for unless it providing help for the citizens of the country? Does it exist only to spend trillions on wars and war machines? Does it exist only to prop up failed banks and investment companies that gambeled away it's fortunes on risky ventures and when they went broke all of a sudden were "too big to fail" so we gave them the keys to the treasury? And as far as the concerns for big pharma, "they have to make a profit" that's a load of crap too. When was the last time big pharma came up with something that cured something? In my lifetime it was polio. What have they done since? NOTHING. Instead we get pills that manage restless leg syndrome and make your dick hard. Great. In case you don't recall CUBA has a lower rate of infant mortality than the US does, those godless commies live longer than we do too.

Fact: No job, no healthcare. Unless you can afford the extremely pricey "Cobra" healthcare plans, you are screwed. Did you see the story last week about the poor guy that died because the freaking battery went dead in his pacemaker like heart apparatus because the insurance company would not cover it and pick up the costs? We have a 9/11 like catasrophe every few months because people die for want of health care. Wind up in the hospital for a week without health care and you'll be selling your house and car to pay the bills off. I have a friend that had to have retnal eye surgery over the summer in France and he was in the hospital for 2 weeks. His total bill? $2,500.00. Period.

If this had occured in the United States, that surgery would have cost him tens of thousands of dollars.

I am sick and tired of paying for wars and billion dollar fighter jets with my taxes. To fight who? Where?

I want health care reform and I want it NOW.

Ungrateful. Sick of paying? Get up and go fight for yourself instead of whining that you aren't getting enough, you are treated fairly. Go live in a 3rd world country and see how good you have it in America. Or not even a poorer nation; go live in the inner cities or rural areas. Me, me, me. Sounds like liberalism spew.

Kivalina, Is that what you think happens in countries like Canada? That we just let elderly people die. Let me tell you my grandmother is 104 years old and they wanted to do surgery on her as recently as just a couple of years ago. Her sister just passed at 107 and they wanted to treat her as well.

I actually do believe the government is killing you but not in that way you describe. Until governments become what they were intended to be...the voice of the people, not the protector of corporations.... then what happens to the collateral damage along the way is pretty much inconsequencial. Governments turn a blind eye while big pharma reaps in the cash by selling drugs that haven't been adequately tested. Case in point Merck killed as many as 60000 Americans with vioxx...possibly more than the Vietnam and Korean wars combined. Despite their eventual response do you not think the government was complicit in that? The government continues actively promote certain drugs by this company despite inadequate testing. Companies like Dow Corning and Monsanto threaten agriculture the world over. They feed us genetically engineered food which studies show rats won't eat. Who ever heard of a rat not eating anything?! For the first time since the dawn of man people don't actually know what food is. Did you know that in 13 states there are Food Libel laws that prevent people from criticizing food producers. Was the government not complicit when it had informaton for at least three decades about the dangers of tobacco. How many millions did that kill. Corporations have taken away the ability of decent people to get ahead as the top 5% of rich people control more and have more wealth than the bottom 95% combined. There is no truth in our society anymore because governments, corporations, and the media pretty much control the spin. Special interest groups and lobbiests have got it all nailed down. Its all about the mighty dollar and between that and doing what's best for citizens, your life isn't worth diddly squat. Yes, your government is killing you because there's profit in it. Sad but true.

Cindy

O.K.......yes I am for some kind of medical insurance reform. But i am afraid that the system will be abused even worse than it is now.
Illeagal immigrants will be the first in line to recive medical treatment, FREE medical reatment.....OH WAIT.............THEY ALLREADY GET IT NOW!...FREE!
and if we think illeagal immigration is bad now, ha ha just wait!
next will be the single welfare mothers whom pop out kid after kid after kid with hand extended out expecting us...hardworking individuals to fit the bill for not only her but all her kids.....boom!... again these people are allready reciving FREE healthcare

Yes....america needs healthcare reform....FREE? no i do not think it should be free....but needs to be reasonably affordable, and needs to be mandatory such as car insurance with monthly premiums and needs to of course cover pre-existing conditions
govrnment controlled insurance? NO!
the wealthy should get the same coverage as people with less money
hope i didnt offend anyone with this post.....just get really bent on the subject of "Handouts" Ive never recived one red cent from anybody or any organization without plenty of blood, sweat , and tears..... Ive allways had to.... and still do work my ASS off day after day...year after year to have what little i do have........pretty proud of that fact too.
soooo guess i will end with, if there is going to be a program of some sorts...it needs to be for AMERICAN CITIZENS ONLY! no exceptions....and be straight across the board for EVERYONE and not just for those whom know how to "work" the system

CindyLouWho,I never said anything about Canada and I have never been handed anything either,I did have health insurance was costing 600 a month covered whole family or we thought it did till I had a bunch of tests run for my NF problems.Then we found they wont cover me because I was born with NF.So I quit seeing doctors all together dropped the insurance and now I can't work at all.I do nothing.we live off a 1 income worker and live pay check to pay check.I just really don't trust any insurance of any kind myself.

Kivalina, You said that once the bill was passed that they would start killing people off. I thought you were making reference to Universal Health Care and the care of the elderly. There has been a lot of misconception about health care for the elderly here and the suggestion has been raised that older Canadians get substandard care. My point was that elderly people do get decent health care here and contrary to popular believe we don't set them adrift in a canoe on the tundra once they hit age 70.

Cindy

Kavalini - i can relate. for my NF sister to get coverage (she has a dead beat ex-husband) to get HMO coverage for herself, it would be over $800 - based on her age and sex. HMO doesn't require pre-existing conditions, if you apply during open enrollment (once a year HMO's are required to have open-enrollment.

When her two sons were under 18, they qualified for a state run plan for kids called 'Healthy Start', which gave free coverage to lower income families with kids. Well, it worked great for a few years, then she no longer qualified for it - she made $30 too much annually to qualify.

My sister is self employed - she pays her own taxes, including SS. Somebody on the other bb told me that my sister should get a job that had health insurance - buy why. She had her own business but can't afford the insurance rates it would cost. Even if she had a regular job, she wouldn't be able to afford it. But if she were unemployed, she would get health coverage. So, go figure.

I also wanted to add that not everything is covered under our system. We have a combination of private and public coverage. PRIVATE coverage takes care of things like psychological services chiropractic, orthodonture, prescriptions, dental, glasses. For example, I have three children with orthodonture needs including one who has major issues...since we are really only one income only my husband has coverage...I fully expect to pay $12,000 out of pocket for orthodonture over the next three years. I pay virtually nothing for prescriptions ($25 dollars per year for all five of us) and next to nothing for basic dental. Those that don't have private coverage through work can apply to have some of those items covered by other funding programs. Most cosmetic procedures are not covered either. My government funded health care covers the basics....I would pay nothing for an emergency room visit, clinic visit, doctors app't including all specialists, hospitalization, or surgery.

Cindy

Guthrie, Oklahoma.
A hotbed of enlightened thinking, and open minds.
"Me, me, me. Sounds like liberalism spew".

That's right.
It is.

And in case you think that the churches have your best interests at heart...

"Catholic pastors directed to distribute anti-health reform materials at mass" Source: The Colorado Independent

This past weekend the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops instructed pastors at parishes across the country to distribute material urging Catholics to oppose the health reform bills making their way through Congress for allowing public funding of abortions. Priests were to insert the Bishops Conference pdf leaflets and letters into parish news bulletins, distribute them at church doors or place them in pews. They were also directed to read a statement at mass to reinforce the message.

he Conference of bishops reportedly sent the orders out last Thursday, the same day Speaker Nancy Pelosi presented the mammoth 2,000-page House reform bill to lawmakers and the public.

The material explains that the Catholic Church supports reform that will “protect the life and dignity of all people from the moment of conception until natural death.”

The insert contains phone numbers and web addresses at which constituents can contact their Representatives.

CNSNews reports that the Catholic Church has a “major stake” in the legislation:

A little over 100 million Americans are treated through Catholic hospitals and health centers. There are 624 Catholic hospitals in America. Also, 11 of the nation’s 40 largest health care systems are Catholic, such as Ascension Health, Catholic Health Initatives{sic} and Trinity Health.

(snip)
See also:

Priests being told to preach against Healthcare reform
by wade norris
Tue Nov 03, 2009 at 11:25:35 AM PST

The US Catholic Conference of Bishops is telling priests to oppose health care reform in upcoming weekly masses with both leaflets and in sermons - by saying that it will provide for abortions.

This is a lie and a shame for all Catholics and people who view providing basic health care to the 47 million without health care in the US a moral obligation.

A lot of people don't realize We have health care programs for the sick, elderly, and poor like medicaid and medicare. Many go without coverage because they are miss informed. Health care reform is good but we need to be able careful how much power we give the government.
What we need is more high risk pools that help people with existing conditions obtain coverage.
Most people live pay check to pay check and cannot afford the increased taxes socialized medicine would cost.
The more control we give the government the more freedoms we lose.

They could esaily restrict risky activity (like budgie jumping and motorcycle riding) because it costs the system too much money.
Many countries with socialized medicine have enforced population controls. and some force abortions and contraceptives.
I know this sounds crazy but it has happened before.

When you say socialized medicine you think equal care for every one. But many countries with socialized medicine run off bribes. So it is still the wealthy that get coverage first as their names are slipped to the top of the piles for operations and organ donations.

Right now the government acts as a referee, regulating the health care industry. If they become our provider there is a HUGE CONFLICT OF INTEREST!

No one minds supporting the truly poor, sick and elderly. It's just supporting freeloaders that people are concerned about.

I'm not Catholic but they have so many charities and organizations that really help the poor and the needy.
Abortion is a political issue that crosses the into the moral realm. The should not be criticized for voting by their conscience. (there is a loop hole in the current bill that allows for abortions.)

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