Health Care/Insurance

[Linkster]

OK - so Im sitting around thinking about some recent surgery and the bills that accompanied it - and realized what a total mess we as a country have made of our medical/health systems

First off I have to preface for those that dont remember this long ago - but I grew up in an age when there was no such thing as health insurance - and you didnt have medical plans or prescription coverage and doctors actually took care of you personally

I remember when lawyers starting sueing doctors for malpractice (which for those that dont have the past - is the reason health insurance was born) and people started being able to get compensation (again at the prodding of lawyers) for simple mistakes that human beings made.

It has led to a cost of doing business so high for the medical field that made insurance companies open their eyes and see a great money filled future - as well as lawyers, lobbyists and anyone else who could get their finger into the pie

And there really is a simple solution to high medical costs, ridiculous $150 bills for an aspirin, and at the same time bring back the real practice of medicine

I propose that all health insurance and lawsuites against doctors, drug companies etc be abolished completely - sure it would be a big hit to those cottage industries that live off governments medicaid and other government taxpayer supported programs - but then - wouldnt that in the long run allow us to drop taxes?

Think about being able to go to your doctors office and never wait - never fill out insurance forms again - and end up paying less than that 20% deductible that you have to pay now

Just think - no more ads on tv for group lawsuits against anyone - just take the harsh reality of human life and the mistakes that sometimes go with it

Give up trying to place blame on everyone else in the event of an accident, mistake or anything else that makes you feel bad - sure there will always be a few bad apples but back then we took care of that with criminal charges against real bad doctors

[Mr. Blue]

Please stop with your commonsense...it may just be contagious.

The interesting thing to me is how America is becoming prescription drug dependent. I've often lamented to my friends that I feel left out because I'm perfectly healthy and need no drugs whatsoever.

Isn't it peculiar though when you watch an ad on tv for someone with herpes and they look like they're having a better life than you, lol, oh well :(

Nothing will change though, as money is being made, and you'll never see lawyers, lobbyists, drug companies, and the politicians they pay off ever take a step to change things. It just won't happen.

[juggernaut]

I love when I see a tv ad for drugs. The side effects alone are enough to make me not bother. How about the new scam over the last few years. Restless leg. LOL. Heck one day I thought I had it but then realized I was standing up all day that when I started to sit and rest my legs shook for a couple of hours. I would rahter lose sleep for a few days, then take something that give me the shits, vomitting, fuzzy eye sight, etc.

[Linkster]

Im sure youve seen the commercials for "head on" - which makes no claims whatsoever in their ads - and even on the box itself has no claims of what it does - because it doesnt do anything other than look good on a shelf - and I suppose if you hold it against your forehead it might remind you of how stupid you were to buy something that never tells you what its supposed to cure :) - but 25 million sales later they are still selling the "stick of wax based nothing" :) - just goes to show you how gullible people can be

[Mr. Blue]

lol, the placebo effect is amazing.

What disturbs me is how early they're starting kids on drugs now. A slightly hyperactive kid is now deemed worthy of an anti-depressant. How twisted is that?

My brother recently called me, said that one of his kids were really hyperactive and he was worried about it...thought of taking him to a doctor and we all know the doctor would prescribe some pills because he's getting a kickback from the drug companies.

So I reminded my brother of the time him and I climbed up a tree, waited for the ice cream man to come, and we jumped on top of his truck without him realizing it and drove around for 30 minutes on top of the truck.

My brother was silent for a bit and then said, "I guess he isn't that hyperactive" lol, yeah well...in todays drug culture if a kid is a little loud he needs to be medicated, spoiled rotten, have a psychiatrist, and the end result is an adult that can't function or think on his own.

[Linkster]

My favorite is "allergies and asthma" - something unheard of 50 years ago except in very rare cases - but because the human body reacts by doing things like runny noses, scratchy eyes and sneezing (all normal responses to irratations) - the drug companies have been able to come up with fake illness classifications and get doctors to prescribe billions of dollars worth of unneeded drugs

Another is this rather newer fad of "sanitizing" everything in the house - the pharmaceutical companies own most of the cleaning product companies - and know that the cleaner - germ free you can get someone to get their house the easier it is for them to lose their bodies natural anti-bodies to these germs - thereby creating a huge windfall for them in the future in virus and cold medications - and BTW - if you ever really follow the corporate trails you will find that the insurance companies and health corporations that own all the hospitals these days are owned by a core group of these same pharm companies