At House Party on Health Care, the Diagnosis Is: It’s Broken
When a dozen consumers gathered over the weekend to discuss health care at the behest of President-elect Barack Obama, they quickly agreed on one point: they despise health insurance companies.
They also agreed that health care was a right; that insurance should cover “everything,” not just some services; and that coverage should be readily available from the government, as well as from employers. […]
“I don’t believe health care should depend on people making money,” Mr. Chatman said. “The profit motive has to be tempered, especially on the administrative side of the health care business.”
Shiva S. Makki, an economist, complained that in many cases, insurers did not cover the costs of screening procedures and preventive care.
Dr. Lawrence M. Nelson, a scientist at the National Institutes of Health who emphasized that he was speaking as a private citizen, said: “The incentives in the current health insurance system are upside down. The less care you provide, the bigger your profits.” […]
I couldn’t agree more. We’re staring down the barrel of a health care induced bankruptcy, just from lasarina‘s most recent hospitalization. That’s just wrong. And what’s even more wrong? She’ll hit “lifetime maximum benefit” in a few years. Then what? We’re still young people, with long lives ahead of us yet.
An Aging Trans Woman 
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