Comments on: U.S. Health Care Gets Boost From Charity
"60 Minutes": Remote Area Medical Finds It's Needed In America To Plug Health Insurance Gap
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- If it makes your cold selfish heart feel better by saying things about universal health care or a pack of cigs on the dash, then good for you. But to the super rich in this country, how many houses, how many cars, how many boats do you need. You better enjoy your life now because there is a special place in hell waiting for you. Please don"t call this country great, because it is not.
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- Call it de law''a de monkey.
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- Excellent point ikeman111. That is EXACTLY what some people dont realize
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- I just saw a sad story on the state of our medical coverage in this country. I was happy to hear that $2.5 mill was donated. One issue though. I also saw a story where a former Air Force officer admitted to defrauding the government for $2 mill. Does anyone else see the disparity here? You can''t knowingly break the rules to get what you want (in this case, expensive military training) and then leave. She should have to pay back every penny with her nearly 6 figure income as an airline captain.
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- Is Remote Area Medical covered by Medical Liability Insurance?
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- I just saw a sad story on the state of our medical coverage in this country. I was happy to hear that $2.5 mill was donated. One issue though. I also saw a story where a former Air Force officer admitted to defrauding the government for $2 mill. Does anyone else see the disparity here? You can''t knowingly break the rules to get what you want (in this case, expensive military training) and then leave. She should have to pay back every penny with her nearly 6 figure income as an airline captain.
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- I was left speechless by the story of the RAM..... the truck driver who couldnt afford the $500 deductible but can drive for 2 hrs and wait for healthcare? I am a single mother of a 10 yr old girl and a registered nurse....I have a $1000 deductible for my health insurance!! This also highlights one of the most overlooked issues in healthcare-while toothaches & poor vision are troublesome-they are not medical emergencies. Visit your local ER-you will see people there for scraps, ear aches, toothaches, and those with "abdominal pain" for several weeks. I also find it incredibly ignorant that you would have major heart surgery or surgery for cervical cancer and just not follow up for those serious issues. I was in nursing school for LVN & RN (3 years plus some), still worked, and still kept my daughter & my checkups, for health & dental. For those of us who have been there, you do what you have to do to. Others choose to have it handed to them.
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- After seeing the story on RAM, I wonder why in this election year that no one has ask the candidates why the government is all to willing to spend our hard earned tax dollars on businesses like Mobil/Exxon and call people whinners when someone suggests that tax money be spend on necessities for those who pay taxes. We should be ashamed of our selves (as a nation and as Christians) the way we treat our own.
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- I think that it is so wonderful what they are doing to help those who do not have insurance, and those who do not have enough insurance. My heart aches when I see people in such pain and when they work everyday and they are unable to afford insurance for themselves or their families. But we send so much money out of the country to help others but we will turn our backs on our own, this makes me so sad. We need to step back and take and look at ourselves, we need to take care of our own. What these people do is wonderful!
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- I am on permenant disability for a back issue. I was diagnosed last February with MS(Multiple Sclerosis). I pay $100 per moth for Medicare part B and $212 per month for a private and Medicare approved suplemental PPO totaling over $300 per month for healthcare. The treatment for MS is $2,600 per month or $31,000 per year. The health plan I have has what''s called a donut-hole which means after they spend over a certain amount to medicene the patient is responsible. If I was to start treatment I would fall into the donut-hole the first month. I have tried for state and federal assistance plans and they tell me that I make well over ther poverty line of $10,000 per year. I make $21,000 on disability whgich is $10,000 less than the one medication I need to treat MS. Also by law in Massachusetts if I donot pay for health insurance I will be fined.
Go figure.. - Reply to this comment
- It''s about time...I''m so sick of hearing how much money and aid we send to other countries when we have millions here at home barely getting by. Kuddos!!!
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- The truck driver from Dalton, GA can''t afford the $500 deductible, yet he can afford to smoke cigarettes (pack on the dash of his car in the interview). I wonder how much he spends on cigs in a year.
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- The truck driver from Dalton, GA can''t afford the $500 deductible, yet he can afford to smoke cigarettes (pack on the dash of his car in the interview). I wonder how much he spends on cigs in a year.
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- I too will donate to Remote Area Medical, what ever it takes to care for Americans.
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- Sorry to be such a frequent poster, but dental care is sorely unappreciated as a necessary part of health care. As we learn about the links between dental caries, gum disease, and cardiovascular disease, we will begin to appreciate its importance. However, since it is not considered an emergency, is is a cash or insurance plus cash practice and therefore dentists are not mandated to provide care through emergencies. But ask a diabetic who is hospitalized in the ICU for a blood sugar of 800 related to an abscessed tooth how important dental care is. I hope I''m not ranting, but I am so tired of seeing hard working people choose between medication, Pap smears and rent or food. All of these relief efforts are great, but band-aids that can never provide for everyone in need.
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- According to a Time magazine article,we have 40-60% of foreign medical students taking US Ob-Gyn residency spots. Anyone think this trend is "insourcing" of our healthcare professionals? OB''s pay exorbitant malpractice fees and live with the stress of caring for women who receive little or no prenatal care, then can sue their provider for a poor outcome for 18 years? Who wants that....see above.
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- America has a love/hate relationship with their doctors. We want them to be the best in the world, available 24/7,care for everyone regardless of ability to pay (do lawyers, insurance executives EXPECTED to work for free)and then do it for less than dentists,many businessmen, politicians, and yes, insurance executives get paid (reference the United Healthcare compensation). Our physicians study for 12-17 years--on minimum salaries--to practice their profession. Do other skilled professions study this long, often without sleep or food on a daily basis up into their 60''s? In case you may think I don''t appreciate this situation, I have worked with a clinic for the uninsured for 12 years, working for free, and my husband is a surgeon who makes a fair living, but often operates on the uninsured for free or little compensation. He may see his patients all day, operate, then do 2-3 operations during the night-often uncompensated care for the undocumented residents or uninsured, then see his patients & operate the next day as well. Sure this is what he "signed up" for, but how long can our doctors do this? Our daughter is in medical school now and says that most of the top students are looking at "non-emergent specialties such as dermatology, plastics,opthamology & urology (some emergencies)ENT.This has to be fixed, and if a few nurses in a small community can start a clinic for the uninsured that now sees over 26,000 visits a year, then certainly our government can do better.
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- The insurance companies are the center of this debacle. For instance,if you have cancer or diabetes & apply for insurance, you are declared "uninsurable". When this patient becomes ill, the local ER is the only available option for care, and the hospitals and providers shoulder this burden--not the heath insurance companies. They pay nothing for failing to cover the ill, and cherry-picking their clients. Wrong, wrong, wrong.
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- I have a question for Knoxville? What happened to Knoxville Interfaith Clinic? They provided health & dental care to the working poor, while the Health Dept provided care for those residents at or below 100% of the Federal Poverty Guidelines. They had a good program at one time, but may be sadly overwhelmed with the need. I helped to start a clinic for the uninsured in our county, and while we provide over 26,000 visits per year, it is unfortunate that we are needed and the request for visits are steadily increasing.Thanks to 60 Minutes for focusing on a problem that those in healthcare deal with every day.
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- THE ISSUES THAT FACE OUR MODERATELY SMALL WESTERN MARYLAND COMMUNITY, NOT ONLY IN TRADITIONAL HEALTH CARE BUT ALSO IN ADDICTIONS MATTERS IS BUT A SMALL REFLECTION OF THE HEALTH ISSUES THAT PLAGUE THE USA. THE COMMUNITIES AT LARGE CANNOT DO IT ALONE,DESPITE ALL GOOD WILL. EFFORTS LIKE RAM, WELL INTENTIONED, ARE ALSO STILL INADEQUATE...THOSE THEY HAD TO TURN AWAY, THOSE WHO COULD NOT GET THERE. THE BEST WE CAN HOPE IS, WITH A STIFF UPPER LIP, THAT IF WE ARE ABLE TO REDUCE, BY HOWEVER SMALL A DEGREE, THE TOTAL BURDEN OF HUMAN SUFFERING IN THIS WORLD, THEN OUR LIVES WILL HAVE BEEN ENRICHED AND GIVEN PURPOSE
MARTY GALLAGHER MD - Reply to this comment
