First before we start talking Stats and Facts and Studies....or the Odious Repeal Vote, Do look at this photo. This Photo was take at a RAM event, where people lined up over night for Medical Care. They waited in long lines, not knowing if they would get in for care. For some it was their first and ONLY Medical Care in many years.....I can't help but wonder why the Repubs would abandon these people and deny them any hope of Medical Care....So I guess if it was up to Repubs ALL of us would be waiting in this Parking Lot...hoping and praying for any kind of care....
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Here is the Link to the Actual Press Release from the DHHS on their Website on "Pre-Existing Conditions. The information from this study was released BEFORE the Repeal Vote. That the Repubs went ahead with their vote in light of this information is disturbing and worrisome. The Repeal passed in the House, and won't pass in the Senate. But a concern that no one has voiced or raised is that the Repeal could be tagged onto another Bill in the Senate....This is in not way an issue that is now dead in the water.
This " Study " Should have been released and studied and shared and definitely been a part of the Dialogue regarding ANY changes or talk of Repeal. Here is the LINK to the Actual Study, I do encourage that people read it, and I will post important Snippets from it here over the next few days, as it has some information about Employer Covered Care and Older Americans that is new. Insurance Companies did contribute to this study, sharing what they use as criteria, "Conditions" to Charge more,or to cancel or deny coverage. Which means that Insurance Companies are determining Care. Ironically at this point who is the Bigger Death Panel ? The Repealing Republicans or the actual Insurance Companies ?
Many of the Chronic Conditions /Diseases listed below are very treatable, normal Human Conditions where people with adequate Healthcare can go on to lead long healthy productive lives.
The analysis found that:
Anywhere from 50 to 129 million (19 to 50 percent) of Americans under age 65 have some type of pre-existing condition. Examples of what may be considered a pre-existing condition include:
Heart disease
Cancer
Asthma
High blood pressure
Arthritis
Older Americans between ages 55 and 64 are at particular risk; 48 to 86 percent of people in that age bracket live with a pre-existing condition.
15 to 30 percent of people under age 65 in perfectly good health today are likely to develop a pre-existing condition over the next eight years.
Up to one in five Americans under age 65 with a pre-existing condition – 25 million individuals – is uninsured.
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Profits Over People
The bottem line is that we still have 45,000 Americans dying each year with No Medical Care and with No Health Insurance, you need to start asking how many died with disease or Illness that was treatable ? And why are we allowing Insurance Companies to dictate Care for Millions of People ? And why are we Allowing the Government to Enable this Process Further ? Ultimately The Insurance Companies are not just deciding who and how people are treated , they are in essence deciding who will not be treated and who will die....
But the Republicans have now even further empowered this situation, causing more confusion and fear and angst among people who are already suffering....They basically have now sent the message to Millions that they don't deserve Health care. They have Dehumanized a Basic Human Right.
Medical Debt is Being Created by Who is Being Denied Care or Overcharged
Many of these people that have been refused care or canceled in the past 10 years have had to resort to drastic measures to obtain Health Care. They have had to use credit cards or be excessively billed for minimal care. It has been found that Many have suffered huge Medical Debt, up to 62 % of ALL Bankruptcies is from Medical Debt in the U.S. ( Other studies found that more than half of people losing their homes is due or tied to Medical Debt.)
Medical Debt: Only in America from Jon Raymond on Vimeo.
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More on Medical Debt ( And bear in mind these Stats are BEFORE the Economic Meltdown) :
Majority of personal bankruptcies tied to medical bills, study says
by Bobby Caina Calvan, Sacramento Bee
June 5th, 2009
"The cost of health care continues to burden Americans in alarming numbers, with 62 percent of all personal bankruptcies in 2007 blamed on unaffordable medical bills, according to Harvard and Ohio University researchers.What's more, three-fourths of those debtors had health insurance, according to a study to be published in August in the American Journal of Medicine. The study notes that more people are mortgaging their homes in a failed attempt to pay their medical bills.
The report could further underscore the urgency behind policymakers' efforts to overhaul the country's health care system. Congress has begun drafting what health care advocates hope will be comprehensive legislation that addresses the high cost of medicine and diminishing access to quality health care, particularly among the poor and uninsured.
"In 2007, before the current economic downturn, an American family filed for bankruptcy in the aftermath of illness every 90 seconds; three-quarters of them were insured," the study said. The study was conducted by researchers from Harvard medical and law schools, Cambridge Hospital and the Department of Sociology at Ohio University."
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Related Articles and Data :
(1) Wapo article stating that 62% of Bankruptcies tied to medical debt is actually based on 2007 stats.
(2) Even more concerning many of those with Medical Debt have or had Insurance.... LINK for the Sacramento Bee information of above.
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