You make some worthwhile comments in your issue focused on "Health Reform", but there are two rather large elephants in the room which nobody is talking about.
1. We don't pay serious attention to the tens of thousands of toxic chemicals in our commonly used products - and in our bodies, per a recent CDC study and others. These
chemicals are connected to many common and serious health conditions, especially the expensive and growing chronic ones, such as asthma, autism, endocrine disruption, cancer.
2. Other countries get far better health results by using, as the World Health Organization (WHO) points out, multiple health care modalities (otherwise known as CAM - Complementary & Alternative Medicine). England, which spends ~$2,000 per capita vs. our $7,000 plus, has 5 homeopathic hospitals under its National Health. Germany's Commission E in the 1980s studied many traditional and herbal remedies and approved those found safe and effective for prescribing under their national health.
Why don't we address these two major potential actions for better - and cheaper - health in the U.S.? Simple - how many billions of dollars are being made by marketing the products that include unhealthy chems - and by restricting our health expenditures to pharmaceutical drugs and high-tech medical practices?
I predict that this will eventually change, only because the current course we're on is totally going over a cliff, with both its poor health results and its drive toward bankruptcy for all.
Liberty Goodwin
of RI
@
Dec 13, 2009 11:27:36 AM
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farleigheh
of DC
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Nov 23, 2009 02:54:55 AM
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evalynwind
of GA
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Nov 23, 2009 02:54:48 AM
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renfogle
of
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Nov 23, 2009 02:54:37 AM
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faravicke
of AL
@
Nov 22, 2009 22:38:22 PM
govt health care
Why are people so afraid of of healthcare for this nation.....my nephew in canada has run a bill of over $300000000 due to CMT and LUPUS inherited from his familly...he owes NOTHING , the canadian heakth plan pays it nall....his DRS are the best in the world, and yes, some are from the USA.....the ones who are fighting this are the greedy republicans........if any of them came down with a serious desease and wiped out all their money, where would they be without a pot to p in...leaving a debt for their children, that's a lot of bulls....the ar we are in is leaving a lot more, not counting dead men and women, x military who are not getting what is due them because of all the crooks and scammers
gerrymo
of TX
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Nov 22, 2009 12:33:30 PM
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claytonper
of AZ
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Nov 22, 2009 11:49:23 AM
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christabel
of ID
@
Nov 22, 2009 11:49:15 AM
what to do while we wait...
It seems like we could be waiting on a deadline that keeps getting postponed when it comes to health reform. I think that the only thing Americans can do to be prepared for this long wait is to research their health insurance options, and pick something that is tailored to them. It is crucial during this hard economic time to provide stability for our families, and not spend unnecessary funds on health insurance policies that don't fit our best interests.
Websites like www.enetinsurance.com are the solution to easy research on health insurance options. eNetInsurance is a free health insurance agency providing medical quote comparison and affordable health insurance plans for individual, families, small business groups and senior citizens from the nations top carriers. Find a health insurance policy that fits you and your family without hassle.
Julie Madison
of CA
@
Nov 19, 2009 16:54:52 PM
Reform?
Why not simply call what Congress has crafted HEALTH INSURANCE EXPANSION AND INDUSTRY PROTECTION ACT. It does not fix the problem of government and insurance meddling and getting in between doctors and patients.
It does not fix the problem of medicine being run like a business, which if truly run like a business only profitable prodcedures would gain the most widespread access and easy and dare I say it, best price - does that sound familar?
The ACT as I shall call it simply expands government and creates a mandate that we shall all now and forevermore support Blue Cross Blue Shield... and others.
True reform would remove insurance, make medicine not for profit, pay doctors HANDSOME salaries (but salaries not pay for procedure), as well as educate nurses and doctors gratis in return for duty served, and protect them from the civil juries and unscrupluous lawyers by mandating all malpractice be arbitrated by non involved third parties (professional, not common man).
Insurance BTW - would be replaced with a money pool type of insurance purchased for medical needs which you might encounter in the future, with a withdrawl schedule and crisis clauses - the only decisions the insurance company could make would be what new rate to assign you when the pool was drained and you needed a new policy. So that would mean the patient withdrawls to pay the doctor/office - the doctor has NO insurance contact... pretty awsome, very troubling to a politician who wants to hand out tongue depressors for votes...
So basically medical insurance would become like life insurance - if you don't buy it, you don't buy it.
We can't bubblewrap every citizen to protect them from their own stupidity people!
Would such a reform take thousands of pages - nope. Should reaL reform make any lobbyiest "happy" - nope.
Insurance is like a car reservation - ANYONE can get one, but that does not mean you will end up driving anything...
And for those who say we NEED to do something NOW and this would not work, would take to long, would ruin those is need now...
I am truly sorry your situtation has left you or a loved one needing high priced care to survive. Its high priced because of the system - making it bigger MIGHT get you your care and satitisfy the only thing on your mind -- but then again its more likely to raise the price after a while and leave you in the same place, probably in a worse place.
You can't fix a leak by offloading some of the water into a bigger bucket... the leak is still filling the bucket.
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Liberty Goodwin of RI @ Dec 13, 2009 11:27:36 AM
farleigheh of DC @ Nov 23, 2009 02:54:55 AM
evalynwind of GA @ Nov 23, 2009 02:54:48 AM
renfogle of @ Nov 23, 2009 02:54:37 AM
faravicke of AL @ Nov 22, 2009 22:38:22 PM
gerrymo of TX @ Nov 22, 2009 12:33:30 PM
claytonper of AZ @ Nov 22, 2009 11:49:23 AM
christabel of ID @ Nov 22, 2009 11:49:15 AM
Julie Madison of CA @ Nov 19, 2009 16:54:52 PM
Chris of GA @ Nov 11, 2009 09:02:25 AM
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