Bill eliminates Medicare co-pays for preventative care

[Robb]

Seniors’ colonoscopies and mammograms will be free. So says the latest email from my Senator.

This is something that will save a lot of lives. Early diagnosis is so important. However it's not much under the current discussion, is it?

Imagine if there had been no hoopla over the possibility of a complete overhaul of our healthcare system. Imagine if all this time we'd been arguing over Afghanistan, and suddenly we get the press release that says hey, colonoscopies and mammograms are going to become free for Medicare recipients.

We'd be thrilled.


...Wouldn't we? :shrug:

Just a thought on the problems we face with lofty rhetoric and high expectations. Especially when we're encouraged to have them.

[Tippy]

1. This is good news......n/t

[NJmaverick]

2. This is certainly a worth while part of the bill

like you said it will save lives and potentially money (as the old saying about an ounce of prevention being worth a pound of cure is never truer than for health care).

[Nikki Stone1]

3. Your point is poorly taken. Your senator is trying to make lemonade out of nuclear lemons.

Little things here and there that benefit specific populations, like seniors, are nice little things, but they don't BEGIN to even address the problem of the wreck of a healthcare system we have in this country. Obama promised CHANGE. Health care was part of that change. If he had promised the status quo plus a goodie or two for a specific age group, then we might be disappointed, but we wouldn't be so personally betrayed.

[T Wolf]

4. As someone who works in cancer research, this is a mixed message. The age group

(currently) eligible for Medicare will certainly benefit from this piece, if it passes.

But this group is also at the high (age) end of those who need these screening tests most. The prime age for cancer screening is 50 and over - the ACS and NIH guidelines say that. But those of us in this "doughnut" are not allowed into Medicare and must rely on the "generosity" of the insurance corps to cover these procedures. If they don't, we are screwed.

So, the bill is making a wrong-headed medical decision. Just another example of why this bill is not worth much, and actually harmful because it solidifies the corporate control over our healthcare for the foreseeable future.