Article Source: msnbc.com
from:msnbc.comMillions of cancer survivors have put off getting medical care because they couldn't afford it, according to a new study.
You're in Easy Mode. If you prefer, you can use XHTML Mode instead. |
UN says Fukushima radiation doses below norms"Pre-diabetes," diabetes rising among U.S. teensScientists turn skin cells into beating heart muscle1 in 3 developmentally delayed babies untreatedFake drugs impede progress made in war on malariaAbstinence-only sex ed defies common senseSigmoidoscopy an option for colon cancer screeningDunkin Donuts going zero grams trans fat Bagged lettuce recall expands across nationBorn to run barefoot? Some end up getting injured
Leave a Comment:
All those who think there is not rationing of health care in this country should just read it....we just can't afford it. We have no system and it is out of control....if you base health care on profit, you get profits. What was called reform was no reform for the biggest miscreants, the insurance companies, were included in the discussions. Insurance is not a solution....it is the problem.
How about the fat wallets of the drug companies??
They make a HUGE profit from cancer patients! There are cures for cancer 'out there' but the drug companies cannot make a tenfold profit from those cures!
WHO will put a boot to their necks and put a STOP to the drug companies ruling and ruining the lives of so many affected cancer patients????
oh quit your whining. those drug companies save lives. its not their fault if people wont pay for the treatment they spent billions researching.
ps the new system will not make it more affordable it will just force all of us to pay into the system.
Since you used that article as proof, could you cite what the untreated cancer rate is in the country whose health care system you admire (your call on which)...if you think it is not present world wide you are fooling yourself...the article itself said it was not soley insurance related. Just google it and see for yourself.
You can also google up the profits from both pharma, and health insurance and see that it is a relatively small number compared to total US health care spending. Then you can struggle with who will pay the taxes lost if you take that evil profit out of those companies (also you should propose doctors work for nothing also, and hospitals, and lawyers, and nurses, and technicians)
This does not surprise me. This film really explains the whole picture. Michael Moore made a two hour movie about it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a7pCaK0aASE
This is part one. The other parts are there also. I got the DVD.
I agree Kirk we did not have reform. All we're seeing is the greed in the insurance industry, no different then the greed in banking, oil etc. Same story different industry. The problem is greed, I wish the people really did have the power to fix it, stop it, etc. I fear short of a colapse/revolution nothing will change. Even then the healing process of the system will take a long time.
greed, like greedy doctors, malpractice lawyers, nurses, tech's, ? I looked up the profit of the top insurance companies....35 billion (which they pay tax on), plus we could add to the loss of tax revenue, the lost retirements and pensions of those invested in those companies.
And we could celebrate the great impact taking 1 % out of the cost of health care in the US...wow !! got it liked. Did you know it was that small....who told you it was great ?? Look yourself, it is all available on the internet.
How come you didn't mention the impact of lawsuits...I think it is put at over 10 % of the total (for direct, and defensive medicine).
I'm obviously dissappointed in our fix on health care....tax people more for the same care....tell them they are actually going to get more for less, and don't address the real costs of high healthcare.
John,
It may not be a 'significant' percentage point to you but ....
the numbers are: 2 MILLION cancer patients are not able to pay for the treatment they need!
I believe that is the point of this article. It is not about how lucky we all should feel that the insurance companies, making their 35 BILLION dollar profit, have to (awwww) pay taxes on it! Shame on you!
I am currently undergoing chemo for my colon cancer and my oncologist told me if I didn't have cancer they woudn't treat me. Each dose of chemo-therapy costs over $12K and I need 13. I have about $6,000 in medical bills after my inurance has paid their part. That is a SUBSTANTIAL portion of my income. I am very lucky I'm able to afford the care needed to extend my life past 26. Without the chemo, the cancer would have likely moved on to my liver by now and I'd be in bad shape.
This is not news, just go to a cancer board and it heartbreaking to read just how many people can't afford the co-pays, deductibles, etc. Like one member said, he just can't pull $$ out of his a$$. My hubby has colorectal cancer, age 60, and before this is all over we may be bankrupt, absolutely nothing left for retirement and we have saved have 401K's, IRA's, etc. Co-pays for 1 1/2 years is about $15,000 before insurance kicks in and treatments for colorectal are about $30,000 per month, for 2 treatments. I told him if we had just sat back, not worked, lived off the system, we would be farther ahead with no co-pays. So many lose homes, everything. Our Canadians on the board say it does not happen there, they are very well taken care of and all their care is covered. America has a lousy system, just get sick and you will find out very quickly. I am so tired of working, I'm 60, but with hubby's medical bills retirement, well that is nothing but a dream now. If I was a welfare person, I would be much farther ahead of the game with everything being taken care of, medical, dental, rent, gas bill, food bill, transportation, well you get the idea. They just get everything for nothing. Oh well, end of rant, Good Health to you all.
well more canadians die of colorectal cancer as a percentage than US citizens so really the utopia isn't there. yes healthcare is expensive and it would be nice if someone else would foot the bill for you but its your life and your responsibility. just be glad you guys have the resources to fight this thing. Real reform would start with medical lawsuits they are the reason that healthcare is so expensive. if we can get mal practice insurance reduced we can lower the costs of medicine. if we can stop people from suing drug companies over unforseeable events we can get medical costs down.
Have to agree with Brad. Investigate further into the Canadian "utopia" and for every 10 cancer patients, 3 get treated and are happy and healthy and didn't have to pay a dime. 7 were "wait-listed". 4 of those 7 came here and lived, - the cash. The other 3 died on the wait list. Harrah Obamacare. Roll those dice... let me be one of the three..............
Most people new this info , before a very extensive study. Our health care system is broken and Obamas health care only put a small band aid on the horrible situation. Even if you have insurance, it generally does not mean that the insurance will pay for majority of medical bills. All we can hope for, is for GOD to give us good genes, so we can make it to an old age. I would not put my life in the hands of healthcare system or the insurance companies. They are incompetent at every level. I have a very close friend who had a stroke and made it, but he got infection at the hospital and now i think he is in serious trouble with his survival in limbo.
I had cancer 3 years ago at age 25. The costs of care really can be tough. I don't care how expensive the follow ups are, I'm going to them. For instance, I really don't want to spend the $ right now, but on Monday I have to have a biopsy done because of a suspicious spot that has popped up. Better to have it looked at now than to wait and potentially have it turn into something worse.
We pay almost 600 a month for insurance and it sucks. Everything goes under "toward deductible" for the year and we end up paying much of the time. For one small bout each of our twins had with pneumonia last year it was almost 100 WITH insurance. Add that to the 4000 we owe from a couple of years back and a time to the ER and it is ridiculous how much goes out each month to medical costs. The insurance company basically gets out of most claims and we get stuck with the rest. What a racket and we even pay a fortune a month for the privilege of paying the doctors anyway...and we are pretty healthy. I feel for all of you with cancer or other serious diseases and know we could be there any day.
Yes, I need some things taken care of and won't because of costs, and my spouse needs dental work we can't afford and is in pain. It is a racket run by the criminals.
You are so right about the cost of insurance!
I had a small mole removed in 2000 and it was malignant melanoma. The surgeon removed all cancer cells (tiny mole the size of a pinhead). Now I am applying for new insurance (lost my job and insurance) and now the insurance companies will NEVER insure me for any kind of cancer as it is a .....PRE EXISTING CONDITION!!!
How is it better to pay outrageous premiums for very little coverage?
No one is listening to the PEOPLE paying their way in America!
Paying with their LIVES!!!!
This problem, needs to be fixed. I have stage 4 esophogial cancer with good insurance now. But when I have to go on disability I will choose to stop my cancer care because i do not wish to bankrupt my estate/savings/retirement just to have adequate care. I must leave something for my heirs/survivors and i'm not going to let the insurance companies/medicare take every last dime from me. my care would jusmp to $4000 per month or higher out of pocket.
Not even 20%? 8? 1.5 to 2x...these stats are horrible. Statistically there is no story here. Why don't you say, over 80% of people can pay for their care? Or 92% do not put off care? I'm sorry for your personal stories. I really am. I have had family members battle cancer and we've all stepped up to the plate to get them through the pain.
However, treatment for cancer is expensive. The drugs themselves are extremely expensive to make as well as all of the research/trials that go into them. As is having a baby, or heart surgery, or brain surgery. Health care has to cost something, it can't be free.
it is interesting how the death rate of the uninsured is the same as the insured. doesn't this mean that people are in fact getting care??? despite the fact that they cant afford it.
Re-read the article, Brad.
People are NOT GETTING THE TREATMENT THEY NEED BECAUSE THEY ... CANNOT AFFORD IT!
Who do you work for, Brad? Insurance company or pharmaceutical company???
sleepless2 - Please tell us who should pay if people can't afford it?
Tom ... could it be that doctors, medical malpractice lawyers, private hospitals and pharmaceutical companies DRIVE UP THE COSTS? Is that concept difficult to believe?
Believe it!
I have worked in the hospital and dr office billing and insurance departments and it is shockingto see the OVER charges made by all of the above mentioned! They know how to "work the system" ! WHO pays for all of the over-the-top charges made by all of the above? Yes! THE WORKING POOR! When will it end?
So lets say currently a procedure cost 10 grand, and we they magically figure out away to cut 80% of the cost. Isn't 2 grand more than most could afford?
To answer your question - it will end when people get fed up with the current system and start paying for minor things out of there pocket, then only buy insurance for major things. Until then we are SOL.
So what should be done? Nurse's want to get paid, Doctor's want to get paid, the companies that make drugs want to get paid, the people that clean up want to get paid? So what do we do? Should we just make the people that have money pay for us that don't have enough? How long will that last?
Why should a pharmacutical company throw a soundbite at the end of their commercials offering finacial aid for their drugs? Maybe because they are asking too much?
I don't really like paying extorsion level prices so I can have a shot at staying alive.
Tom, I think they need to reduce the cost of healtcare, not have others foot the bill. For having the most expensive healthcare on the planet, we can't even rank the best at providing it.
It's always about who has the most money when they die.
Such a surprise. Yet another article with a barely disguised plea for socialized health care. When we get it, then we'll get to read new articles about people entitled to free health care who can't get it because there is no one to deliver it all. Yawn. My only hope is that the socialists are at the end of the long waiting line.
We have the best of lots of things. Sad however that so many Americans can not afford health care. They work for companies who dont have medical--a bigger percentile as each month passes, can not afford $700 to $1400 a month for a mediocar health ins. plan, and can not walk in and get treatment without cash if you have no insurance. So sure, many many of us go without medical care and or regular checkups. A roof over head and some food for the kids-leabves lots we wish we could do but can not finaicially get it done.
Socialized medicine is not the answer. Ask someone in the UK about that. Lets figure out how to reign in the stagering costs. I never have seen why a 3 cent asprin costs you $5.00 in the hospital. Nor so I see why 7 minutes with your doctor costs you $95.00-he asks you "how are you doing--any trouble?" That is $814.15 an hour-damn good wages !
I don't know about statistics but I can site my own personal example. I survived carcinosarcoma in 2008. Fortunately, I am still cancer free (I hope) but my oncologist told me that I am considered an extremely high risk for reoccurrance. In April I lost my job and my medical insurance due to ongoing health issues. Because of this I am no longer able to get the regular cancer screenings that my doctor indicated was an absolute must. Now I am applying for disability, an option that I refused to even consider in the past. It is my only hope for getting medical help in the future. I just pray that I remain cancer free long enough to get that help. In the mean time I just live one day at a time and hope for the best.
Maybe if we only paid healthcare costs when we were healthy and didn't pay when we were sick, we would have a few more cures by now. At the very least, much better treatment.
Yeah, because they can't @!$%#ing afford to go to the Doctor, we are the greatest nation!!! Ye-per.... to everyone but us!
thanx BO, business as usual.
NOTHINGS CHANGED!!!!!!!
I'm going to start my own healthcare company, you pay, if you get sick, we cut you off, and you die, wait, healtcare insurance all ready do that, oh well, back to the drawing board.
Your worries are over. If you need cancer treatment, come to me and I'll write you a check. After all, isn't that what ObamaCare does, take from the working people and give it to the bums?