The obvious question
To the editor:
As I sit and watch these political debates I can’t help but wonder why the obvious question is never asked.
Let me explain. I became an insurance agent before Medicare. The major company I worked for sold every form of insurance, auto, homeowners, commercial, life and unfortunately healthcare. I always wanted my policyholders to be treated the same way as I would want to be. I sold healthcare, even won some awards.
Then one day a policyholder came to me with a denied serious healthcare problem, why? Because he neglected to list some pre-cancerous mole on his application and now anything connected to it was a pre-existing condition. I couldn’t believe it and advised him to file an appeal. His appeal was denied, why? It was reviewed by people working for the same company that denied it in the first place.
I stopped selling healthcare, fortunately soon after that the company no longer sold it either, otherwise I probably would not have spent 35 years working for them. I felt sorry for senior citizens, the majority of which all had some pre-existing condition not to mention the astronomical rates connected to their age brackets.
Then Medicare entered the picture, fantastic, finally seniors were able to afford healthcare and pre-existing conditions were no longer denied simply to increase the profitability of the insurance company. Not being so politically involved at that stage of my life I couldn’t believe why Republicans would fight against something like this, hell they still do. Unfortunately, this was a great help for seniors but the rest of the country had to live with a Profit over People healthcare system ranked 38th in the world, with the highest GDP healthcare cost of any nation.
We also have the highest medication costs of any other nation on this planet. (Facts look them up)
Not until 30 years later, Hilary Clinton tries to propose a new different healthcare plan immediately criticized, demonized and shot down by the GOP. Then 45 years later people in this country now finally have the ability to obtain healthcare with a pre-existing condition. NOW, all we hear is repeal, repeal, repeal.
Some say repeal every word of Obamacare, so now pre-existing conditions are to be excluded again? Would seniors who already saved over $20 billion on drug costs be expected to go back to paying 100 percent of astronomical drug costs in the donut hole? Are children supposed to get off their parents policies at age 18 and stop saving money? Will insurance companies be back to using 60 percent of your premium to pay medical costs and the other 40 percent will flow into some CEO’s pocket? Oh wait! We also hear the word REPLACE, so now after 45 years some Republicans actually took a little time to work on a healthcare plan. Really?
THE OBVIOUS QUESTION: Ranking 38th in the world with one of the most expensive, Profit over People, related healthcare systems in the world, did we ever see a Republican effort to change, improve or even make any kind of better plan? Only now after Obamacare do they claim they have better ideas.
The only effort ever seen by this party was Romneycare which is supposed to be great in his state but after Obamacare was fashioned from the same thing somehow it’s terrible. If just one candidate had the courage to say Obamacare is here to stay, we must work to improve it and not continue to obstruct everything and anything to do with it, it would not only show courage it would show intelligence and care for those in need. Emotional hatred should not override common sense when it comes to elections.
Ted Spiewak
Fort Myers