"Insurance is for catastrophic events that probably won't happen"

Words just spoken on the Ed Show by a insurance shill that pinpoint EXACTLY the problem with the health insurance industry.

"Insurance is for catastrophic events that probably won't happen".

Illness is DEFINITELY going to happen.

Routine physical exams NEED to happen at least annually.

Age-appropriate screening exams SHOULD be done regularly.


The more we learn about disease and its prevention, the more it becomes clear that health care is NOT just about catastrophic events. Thus the insurance industry can have no sustainable role in health care. Their business model will constantly push people to only seek medical treatment in "catastrophic" circumstances, and yet overwhelming evidence has demonstrated just how "catastrophic" lack of preventative care is for people's health and our entire health care system.

Diagnosis: Malignant industry presenting significant risk to patient welfare
Rx: Complete and thorough resection, ASAP

and life insurance is ridiculous.... In a car, you have a very good chance with safe driving skills and time of not having any accidents at all. And as you get older and have been driving long enough, your rates reflect you lessened chance of having an accident. Health is not like that. there are many things beyond your control. and you have to go to the doctor for check ups and screenings to catch things early enough to take care of them before they become a 'catastrophic event'. you don't put it on your insurance when you get your oil changed or your brakes fixed in your car. it is a completely different system... a completely different expectation. so health "insurance" is not what we need... we need healthcare. we all pay in to it... we use it when we need it... and instead of it being a big albatross around our necks, it becomes just something that we do... go for check ups.... and not have to worry that we can afford the copay just to get a damned pap smear that we don't want to have to get in the first place. uggh.

I was always leaning towards single payer, but hearing that statement just hammered it home for me why preventative medicine and health insurance are naturally at odds.

Knowing what we know about the importance of preventative medicine, health insurance just has to go.

The concept of insurance doesn't apply to 99% of what people are trying to apply it to in heath care.

however, I do feel that almost all Americans have the power to drastically improve their health through lifestyle changes.

Let's leave aside whether pure veganism is healthy or not. How about 80% of calories from directly grown, harvested and eaten (unprocessed) fruits and vegetables?

Maybe not everyone should run a marathon, and maybe that is not even healthy, but how about walking at least a half hour a day? Park further from work. Ride a bus that you have to walk to catch, etc.

Not everyone needs to be the Buddha, but how about taking a 5 minute break twice a day to calm the mind and relax the soul?

I mean, I've asked everyone I know, and none of them has ever had to use insurance. :wtf:

They take advance money from customers on the hope that they won't ever have to actually deliver on the product the customers ordered. That's what this douchebag is defending. We want to force EVERYONE to place and order for our product, we just don't want ANYONE to actually take delivery. When we can reach 0% delivery, we're fucking golden. What an insane scheme. It's amazing it's legal...or not administered through a gaming parlor at Foxwoods.

It's fucking madness.

.

Actually, for people who fear a loss and want to be protected should fate frown on them. Rich people have as much need for insurance as they do for Lotto tickets. If they suffer a loss or win the Lotto, they are going to do the same thing -- make an accounting entry on their portfolio. Of course, they will feel better if it is a big credit instead of a big debit, but their lifestyle won't change one bit due to the event.

when I heard Schiff make that comment. He's the type of person that needs a "catastrophic event" to happen in his life before he'll begin to understand
what uninsured people are going through. An absolutely outrageous statement.

This is his company:
http://www.europac.net/management.asp

A total tool.

I want health CARE!

Anything less than universal single payer is simply not worth discussing.

Of course in the good ol' USA maroons make millions, if they are unscrupulous enough.

When I get sick, I generally don't goto the doctor. To an extent, Doctor visits are not that expensive. You really don't need insurance coverage for a $150 doctor visit any more than you need insurance for a broken window in your house or car. Things will happen to your home too, but most of those fall in your deductible, which makes insurance more affordable for everybody and it covers the catastrophes that would otherwise wipe people out completely.

That $150 office visit is prohibitive for many people without insurance, especially when they know it's going to be followed by another $150 for medication.

Is that fair? Especially with insurance companies and big pharma driving the prices that high in the first place?

And, if I may ask, why don't you go to the doctor when you get sick?

for family insurance.

Why would I goto the doctor when I successfully treat colds myself?

Health care, not health insurance.

and not a random event any more when cancer rates are going up so much now, like many other diseases caused by their "crapping" in our environment without having to be controlled or asked to pay for it in some way.

Oh wait, Corporate Amerika does pay some in increased health insurance costs for our health, which might be a partial disincentive for them to pollute our lives too much. And of course, despite execs making their own castles, etc. they have to realize that at some point they're as exposed to all of these diseases as much as they try to push it into areas they don't live in. One more reason for them though to be a part of paying for the increasing costs of health care.

Now, if we do get it totally paid for by government funds, then we have to really ramp up regulation by the FDA, and many others that oversee what the corporate sector does to our environment, to prevent where possible, and to make them pay dearly when they do abuse our environment to find a way to extend preventative health care responsibility to them too where it also should be.

If they don't have the burden of paying insurance, nor do they have any more regulation than they have now (which has been so savaged by the last administration), the toxic wastes dumped into our environment might get worse instead of better.

Or he's just really bad at that whole "risk assessment" thing.

care. I think there should be a law against it. People dying because a middleman has come between them and their doctor siphoning off health care dollars should be illegal.

No prenatal care? No immunizations?

Do these idiots have any idea what it costs to have a baby in a hospital today?

I have it in case I end up having heart attacks or cancer or something else like that. Or if I have an accident where no one else is deemed at fault to pay to protect myself. That's what insurance does, it protects you against costs.

But is that how it should be?

Should kids only see a doctor when something catastrophic happens?

I ask these questions as a future doctor who stands to make a lot of money from the system as it is, but would rather have a system that actually makes people healthier.

When people don't have the money for health care, those decisions are made for them...and their kids.

I commented on my use of my current insurance. Something President Obama has repeatedly said is not going to change. Perhaps I will have to pay more in taxes to fund programs to help others, which I am fine with. If I am left with my insurance the way it is, that is what I will continue to use it for, protection against catastrophic costs, not for annual exams or running to give money to a doctor every time I hurt or feel bad.

And return the focus of their relationship to health care.

There simply is no need for "insurance" when you can bypass it to get to the actual CARE. Insurance provides NOTHING of value when you have the government pool of money.