Anyway, the American health "industry" is a well-oiled lobbying machine; the American Association of Health Plans (AAHP), the main healthcare lobbying group, has a $10 million operating budget, and 100 staffers on hand, all devoted to keeping the existing for-profit system up and running, no matter how many people suffer from non-care or undercare.
When you realize the profits being made in this big business, you see why these vested interests work so hard to keep everything the way it is (or, in the case of this "Bill of Rights", to try to repackage the same thing so you'll think things are better, when really they're the same!)
The HMO industry is a huge cash cow for the CEOs and shareholders of these for-profit firms -- Former Columbia/HCA CEO Rick Scott got a $12.4 million severance pay, including $33,000 in health benefits for the next five years (Code Columbia, SEIU, 2/2/98). That's chump change compared to what some of the execs make -- what you find, on looking into it, is that while HMOs consistently deny care to those who need it most, they take those medical savings (in the form of what they call "deferred care" -- aka, no care at all!) and put them in the pockets of those who own the HMOs!
So, while you and I are getting roundly reamed by this mismanaged care system, those on top are making bundles, and are throwing some of their bundles at Congress, to ensure adequate representation -- some HOM PACs (particularly Columbia/HCA's) gave hundreds of thousands of dollars to both parties (big shock!) to ensure a favorable audience in the hallowed halls of Congress. Just check out the FEC Info. page, and look it up for yourself! They hedge their bets by paying out on both sides of the aisle.
But this consistent pattern of denial of care means that everyday people are simply not being treated, and that (rightly) ticks them off -- so, we see an interesting dynamic at work here:
The result: The Patients' Bill of Rights!
In other words, "reform" that isn't -- see, the core issue regarding the American health care system is that it is a for-profit system, designed to make investors money; the way to lose money in such a system is to provide care to those who need it, because providing care is expensive! The for-profit system itself is what is creating the health care crisis in this country!
Given that, this is why the government will do anything except eliminate the for-profit system in favor of single-payer health insurance -- this is what the rest of the industrialized world has. The US, uniquely, paradoxically, doesn't have this type of health care system, which may account for our dismal health record when compared to these other nations (see the quote at the top of the page for one of many examples).
Interestingly, around 24% of health care costs in our country are administrative in nature! That is, while the mythmakers portray national health insurance as the model of bureaucracy and inefficiency, what you find is that in countries with national health insurance spend more money and time treating those who need care and less time shuffling papers and processing records and determining coverage.
Anyway, this Patients' Bill of Rights is a snowjob perpetuated by the government on its own people, on behalf of corporate shareholder profits (not the first time, won't be the last).
You can check out the wording of the PBOR at the Department of Health and Human Services Web page and decide for yourself.
It amounts to damage control by the government, seeking to forestall social spending in the form of a national health program by giving Americans the right to everything except free health care! We still have to pay for the privilege of medical treatment in this country! That's progress? Dream on!
Why is it the American government is considers spending over $300 billion for the military (e.g., keeping us on a permanent wartime footing) a necessary social expenditure, and denies the right to free health care for its own people? It's all tied to money, folks -- military pork keeps money flowing from taxpayers to high tech industry; that's why you won't see any reduction in the budget carried out by those in power (that's up to us!) And it's also why you won't see those in power support a national health insurance program; the system as is keeps money flowing from you and me into the insurance industry's deep pockets.
The question isn't whether those in power will grant us a national health insurance system (or a slashing of our perma-wartime budget); it's a question of whether you, as everyday people, will make this an issue and raise a lot of hell until it's done! That's the only language those in power understand, frankly!
You want real health care reform? Seek out a single payer health insurance program and inform people about it; organize and educate. You want bogus health care reform? Then enjoy this Patients' Bill of Rights PR sop and watch your medical costs continue to rocket upward!
a4a
6/29/98
Return to Anarchy for Anybody