Just watched the McLaughlin Group special on health care and had to vent.

[calmblueocean]

Henry McKinnell, the CEO of Pfizer, was one of the panelists on the McLaughlin Group today, and he said something so out of touch that it literally made my jaw drop. It made me so angry I almost had to turn off the television.

The subject was the 45 million uninsured Americans in this country, and what to do about getting them healthcare. McKinnell actually said, "Look, the poor don't have any problem with health care. They have access to it. The problem is the taxes we all have to pay for their care."

Unbelievable.

Yes, the poor have "access" to health care -- when they're brought into the emergency room in an ambulance! But I'm completely at a loss how the CEO of the largest drug manufacturer in the world could be completely oblivious to the fact that the uninsured can't afford the very drugs his company sells! So they can't manage their high blood pressure, or diabetes, or any chronic health condition they have, until they finally have a stroke or heart attack or other health catastrophy.

If you're poor, you can't get drugs, tests, physical therapy, and sometimes you can't even get diagnosed or get the surgery that would prevent further medical problems down the road. To say that "the poor have access to health care" and "don't have any problem" with it is so unbelievably arrogant and out of touch that it deserves a slap in the face. Poor people *die* because of a lack of insurance. The health of the poor in this nation is destroyed because we have a system that refuses to value their well-being as a matter of national policy. And it's not just "the poor", it's millions of working class families in this country.

I'll never forget the day I heard the CEO of Pfizer say that these people have no problems with getting health care in this country.

It will go down in my mind with "Brownie, you're doing a heckuva job," as one of the most insultingly out of touch things I've ever heard anyone say in my life.

[proud2BlibKansan]

1. One of their more incorrect talking points

and I agree, this one makes me angrier than most of the bullshit coming from the right.

EMERGENCY health care is guaranteed, not routine or preventive care. You'd think these economic rocket scientists would see that preventive care saves money.

I believe they truly hate the poor.

[calmblueocean]

3. That's what boggles me -- how does a CEO of a drug company

not talk about how important it is to make health insurance a national priority, even if for the totally cynical reason that he wants to sell more drugs? It's as if he said, "We could try to make sure everyone in America can benefit from our drugs, but, y'know, I'd rather the poor ones just die."

[proud2BlibKansan]

6. He is drinking the koolaid

and I guess it has some pretty crazy drugs in it.

[calmblueocean]

10. lol! (n/t)

[1monster]

2. It's the Marie Antoinette Syndrome. "Let them eat cake."

Or, I've got mine and I'm gonna keep on getting mine. Who cares about you?

[proud2BlibKansan]

7. Reminds me of a Bill Maher joke

Right after Katrina -

The difference between Bush and Marie Antoinette is that her poor people HAD cake.

:rofl:

[frankenforpres]

4. he's never been poor

he doesnt understand. i know health economists that just dont get it. their context is all screwed up

[calmblueocean]

8. yup. being wealthy often makes you ignorant and oblvious

At one point, he said, "Why can't we call our doctors and ask them a question? Why can't we e-mail them?" and John McLaughlin said, "I called my doctor yesterday! Told him to bill me for the call!"

When you're Mr. Howell incarnate, you can do that, John. Regular folks have it different.

(Love your username, btw! I'm in MN and I'm voting for Al if/when he runs. Welcome to DU!)

[AndreaCG]

15. My doctor has called me back a couple of times

After hours like 7:30. As far as I know she is not billing for this.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

28. Come and visit the Minnesota forum, if you haven't already!

:hi:

[proud2BlibKansan]

9. Neither have I

and I get it.

[wryter2000]

12. Welcome to DU

:hi:

[madrchsod]

5. what i fail to understand about these guys is

would`t their company make boat loads more money if everyone could receive their product? i have really good insurance and was turned down for discount on fungal foot medicine-350 dollars per script. no wonder the insurer would pay..but what about my foot?
if i had universal health care i would be able to go back in business for myself and make a living at doing what i`m good at.no wonder america is becoming a second class nation

[fencesitter]

11. well, see what this other Pharma CEO just said this week...

....."Look no further than the Philadelphia-based Fortune 500 CEO now calling for a national health insurance system. GlaxoSmithKline's Jean-Pierre Garnier used a speech before other health industry executives to promote the many virtues of protecting every citizen against major medical needs.

Garnier makes a compelling case that universal coverage not only would promote better health outcomes but also produce cost savings by heading off health problems before they become dire.

The pharmaceutical giant's CEO doesn't envision a socialized medicine system, but, rather, one remaining in private hands. That's fine; it still would have the virtue of targeting tax dollars in a better way toward the overall goal.

And that goal is to ensure all citizens have access to medical care."

[justgamma]

16. As much as we need health care

for everyone, I'm scared to death of this bunch of crooks trying to fix the system. You know darn well that anything they do will screw the poor and give huge rewards to their rich buddies.

[Phoebe Loosinhouse]

13. Everyone has ACCESS to healthcare. It's PAYING for it that's the problem

Like he doesn't know that. And, if you have the misfortune to require healthcare and you don't have insurance, the hospitals will charge you about three times the going rate for someone with insurance. Literally adding insult to injury! Although I think there are a few lawsuits brewing out there about this practice of gouging the un-insured. We are the only industrialized country where approx 1/3 of all bankruptcies are the direct result of medical bills.

National single-payer healthcare now!!

[calmblueocean]

14. Access is just a weasel-word

I mean, if you need a prescription, you don't have "access" to it just because you can walk in a pharmacy and stare at the shelves. If you need physical therapy, you don't have "access" to it just because you live on the same block as a treatment center. And you're totally right about the gouging of those without insurance. I love this country, but they sure make it hard to get proper healthcare here.

[woo me with science]

24. You have access to EMERGENCY care.

Clinics CAN and DO refuse patients when they are uninsured. When you have no insurance you go to the public emergency room, often get treated like a second-class citizen, and get billed three times what you would have paid in a regular clinic.

[Vinca]

17. That entire show was so completely out of touch -

I was truly astounded. Except for the one woman, whose name I've forgotten, these people gave the impression those of us without health insurance choose to spend our money on a lavish lifestyle instead of on insurance. And I can't tell you how pissed I was at that Pfizer guy. Yeah, we can get emergency health care because it's the law, but can we get cancer treatment or a kidney transplant or elective surgery without insurance? No. We die. Assholes.

[CBHagman]

20. Vinca, you should hear Bush admin. talking points.

I didn't watch the McLaughlin panel, though reading this thread gives me a pretty solid idea of how it went.

But even if most of the panelists were out-of-touch, got-mine greedheads, you should still check out the Bush administration and its allies who support health savings accounts. I'm speaking of not only Bush and his truly vile economic adviser Allan Hubbard, but also the likes of Senator George Allen (R-VA).

In a nutshell, Bush and his allies are trying to sell health savings accounts to the American people as a way out of unaffordable insurance and rising medical costs. The idea is that you buy health insurance with a high deductible and then can set up a tax-free savings account to cover out-of-pocket expenses.

Yes, this in a country where the saving rate must be about 1 percent or less of income, or negative for many of us.

Yeah, it's another tax shelter.

The talking points they use are:

*It's not fair to provide tax incentives for employers to provide health coverage to employees when HSAs aren't given the same advantages.
*Considering cost of treatment will cause patients to shop around for the best deal and drive the cost down. :eyes:
*People who have HMOs or PPOs through their employers think their care is free. :eyes:
*Junk lawsuits are driving up the cost of care. :eyes:

And similar idiotic pronouncements.

Hubbard, who is, to paraphrase the words of the late Mickey Leland, an evil violator of mothers, actually compared health care coverage to getting free groceries and implied that patients were overusing it in a lavish way. Oh, silly me! I thought that biopsy or bypass was because YOU WERE DIAGNOSED WITH A BLEEDIN' ILLNESS!!! :mad:

Some believe that pushing health savings accounts will cause employers to drop traditional (and more expensive and comprehensive) coverage, causing regular health insurance policies to go the way of pensions (i.e. 401(k)s, which rely on income and savings, have replaced pensions for many).

So be on the lookout for this crap. They're already talking it up, and I expect the rotters on the right to follow suit.

[Vinca]

21. HSA's are a load of crap meant only to benefit Wall Street.

We checked them out and there was - I swear - no significant difference in the cost of a policy with an HSA or without. The bottom line is, I'm happy to pay for insurance and foot the bill for my health care, but when partial coverage is a quarter to a third of my net income it's impossible to pay for insurance. Too poor for insurance, too rich for Medicaid. Once you get in the never never land of being a little older or a little sicker you're screwed in this country. I know a man who worked for 1 employer for about 30 years. He got a particularly nasty form of cancer that required horrible surgery (removal of most of his esophagus) that resulted in his premature retirement. The health insurance lasted for about a year, then he was on his own. The first year he ponied up the $13,000 for partial coverage, but fearing things would go to hell in a hand basket, he sold everything and moved to Florida to be able to protect more property when the inevitable bankruptcy occurred. It pisses me off. In other countries you concentrate on getting well. In this country you concentrate on how not to end up living in a box on the street.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

30. Same here,

I checked out the HSA option from my insurance company and one other. The one from the other insurance company had a more expensive monthly premium and a higher deductible. The one from my own insurance company had a higher deductible and only $20 less per month in premiums.

It was such a good deal that I grabbed it up. :sarcasm:

[Lydia Leftcoast]

29. That's a right-wing talking point

My talk radio fan brother is convinced that the only uninsured people are young people who prefer to spend their money on playing and buying Stuff.

[CBHagman]

32. And even if you're insured, you can still go bankrupt.

A friend of mine with a full-time job and health insurance had to pay $24,000 up front before beginning a particular course of treatment for a life-threatening condition.

I have found that both serious illness and just doing basic tests (for example, biopsies that come back with a diagnosis of a benign condition) can result open-ended bills, co-pays, and follow-up costs that last for months on end. And I'm one of the lucky ones.

[StrongbadTehAwesome]

18. @#%#$%^@#*&! - MAN, this makes me angry!

My uncle DIED last month from the collective effects of years without health insurance and therefore without access to care. You can't get any prescriptions or hospitalization without money up front if you're uninsured.

This is their e-mail contact page if anyone wants to respond to them, though their lovely 500 character limit means you can't say much.

http://pfizer.com/pfizer/contact/mail_confirm.jsp?returnName=Corporate%20Citizenship&returnUrl=faq_citizenship.jsp&mailFormId=1

[OzarkDem]

19. Country club advocacy

from people who don't know shit about the real world.

[CBHagman]

22. That pretty much sums it up.

It's not as though George W. Bush or his crowd of hangers-on will ever have to apply for a job and/or worry about health care coverage.

Also, don't forget that this crowd "reformed" bankruptcy laws to make it harder for average Joes and Janes to wipe away debt. And guess what expense often puts people in the red? You got it!

[Bridget Burke]

23. Some of the poor CAN get excellent care

For example, cancer care. I'm talking about the indigent here, not the employed but uninsured, or the underinsured. However, regular MD visits are usually not paid for by "our tax dollars." Which often means that these people only get treated with fairly advanced disease.

I'm pretty well insured, but my choices have been reduced & co-pays increased in recent years. We would ALL benefit from a better health care system.

Except for the drug millionaires. Why do they need even MORE millions?

[foreverdem]

27. Very true

A man in my building developed cancer and did not have insurance through this employer (restaurant worker). He was able to go to a city hospital and received treatment and his girlfriend applied for some kind of emergency care that he qualified for and he did not pay a dime. Now two years later he is cancer free and doing fine.

[AbbyR]

25. This whole thing disgusts me beyond belief

My husband is dying. We are holding our breath until Medicare kicks in on his birthday in May. He couldn't get disability because he worked (sitting in a wheel chair, just about dying each day) until the last possible minute. I had to force him to stop work by refusing to help him to the car one day.

Medicare will be $88 a month plus $30-some for prescription drug "benefit" and about $150 for a Medigap policy. I'm not sure we will be able to keep the house, as deductibles are still very high.

Yesterday I paid $90 for his breathing medication, which was prescribed but which insurance won't cover. Breathing is now optional?

I'm hoping he makes it until we can get home health under Medicare, because I hate to leave him at home alone, and bathing him is next to impossible.

I know I'm practically incoherent, but I am beyond going crazy over this. You shouldn't have to die while waiting for help, and we make too much (rather, I make too much) to qualify for Medicaid.

I will spend the rest of my life working for health care for all in this country - I just wish I knew where to start.

Abby in Arkansas

[Phoebe Loosinhouse]

26. I am so sorry. I admire so much that the inhumanity and injustice

that you are faced with has not defeated you, but inspired you to help save others. This truly honors your husbands life.
This thread has some helpful suggestions on it.

http://www.healthcare-now.org/takeaction.php?sid=3

[McCamy Taylor]

31. HEALTH CARE should be one of DEMS main issues. I keep saying this

but even here at DU people keep letting the GOP dictate what gets discussed.

One more time, Dems should build an identity based on 1. Health Care, 2. Jobs 3. Deficit 4. War (Ending it in a responsible manner). In that order.

GOP is happy. happy. happy when Dems do not discuss health care, so if you want the Freepers to stay happy, let's not talk about the subject.

[Bridget Burke]

33. You've got some fine issues...

But I would remind people FIRST that we'd save lots of money by ending the War. And lots of lives, too.

[trackfan]

34. I have a similar reaction when I hear them say the poor pay no taxes.

I made $7-8,000/yr. a few times, and always had to pay $1-2,000 in taxes.