Keep it Simple Today: After decades of blaming your neighbor who has diabetes or your neighbor who has complications from smoking or your neighbor who inherited poor health, today begin to consider that the number of perfectly healthy people who are willing to pay premiums for inadequate coverage will not protect them when they go the way of all flesh and become ill. Now that you know that someone's HEALTH status is NOT the problem but that the cost of treating illness is the problem, you can advocate that health insurance MUST provide adequate coverage for the cost of treating illness instead of excluding yourself from the challenges facing people who have paid into health insurance, social security and medicare and are still going bankrupt when they actually need help in paying for medical services. As part of this group, you can advocate that our current system cannot solve the health services crisis as long as we avoid all control on costs of medical services and premiums for inadequate coverage.
With your renewed membership in the citizenry of the US, the good, the bad, the well and the sick, examine news such as yesterday's article from Massachusetts announcing the impact of the newly effective cut in STATE funding for the PRESCRIPTION ADVANTAGE PROGRAM. (Reference citation: "Cut in state funding boosts copayments" By Kay Lazar
Globe Staff / January 14, 2009)
Kay Lazar reports that "More than 44,000 senior citizens are affected by the cuts in the Prescription Advantage program, with many seeing their copayments double or triple, officials said."
Read on and find out that the program was a supplemental program that kicked in after Medicare paid a portion of prescription drug expenses, then Massachusetts seniors could get the balance picked up by the Prescription Advantage Program. NOW the state has created another notorious DOUGHNUT HOLE: After Medicare, Massachusetts residents must pay up to $2700 before the state will pick up the balance of expenses for their medicines.
You formerly might have ignored this article because you are not a senior but as a citizen you now recognize that MOVING MONEY AROUND to different areas or providing better coverage in some areas by TAKING A LITTLE BIT OF MONEY FROM THIS HEALTH PROGRAM OR THAT is not progress but is simply robbing Peter to Pay Paul.
Keep it Simple today and ask where the adjustments are being made in the BUSINESS of health insurance in terms of mandates requiring that every premium dollar paid must be used by health insurers to obtain health services for insureds which today stands at less than $.50 on every dollar. Then ask how much money Massachusetts government could generate by discontinuing governmental health insurance programs that provide superior care to government employees as they slash benefits for seniors. Suspension of these governmental perk packages that include superior benefits could save the State MORE THAN ENOUGH to cover the cost of maintaining health insurance coverage under the State Prescription Advantage Program. Finally, consider that moving money around creates a lottery of health insurance coverage instead of addressing the core problems of government over-spending on itself with the aid of tax dollars and health insurer greed by covering less for more. Further, costs of medical services and supplies (including pharmaceuticals) MUST be subject to laws that provide for LIMITS on cost instead of LAWS that enable further gouging of American citizens.
Keep it Simple Today: Do not be naive enough to spend your time criticizing your sick neighbor as the "cause" of our crisis while government employees, insurers and medical services providers get rich.
