The Sadism of American Health Care

Let's Review

• Insurance is not healthcare.
• Insurance is premiums and co-pays
• Insurance companies are known to deny claims for expensive catastrophic conditions, such as cancer treatment.
• 61% of bankruptcies are due to medical debt.
• Many people in debt had insurance when they first got sick, but claims were denied.
• There are no regulations to require insurance companies to honor claims, or to regulate premiums.
• Cancer is a multi-trillion dollar annual industry
• Most all processed foods and chain restaurants sell carcinogenic foods.
• Good food, such as organic food, is more expensive than bad food.
• Health care costs are multiple times higher for the insured than the uninsured. 

 

Ask Your Doctor

Just check with your doctor on what the charges are for you when you are insured versus when you are uninsured.  The same goes for your pharmacist.  I have heard reports (and have personally experienced) pharmaceutical costs at three to ten times higher when you are insured than when you are not insured.  Why should I pay $600 per month to get "free" medications (plus a small co-pay) that cost $500 when I'm insured?  But if I am uninsured, I pay for the same medications outright for $100 and I save $500 monthly, because I pay no premiums.  I can use that money to buy high quality foods that prevent health problems.

Insurance is the Catastrophe

If I should face a catastrophic health care claim, I would have no insurance and therefore be billed at the uninsured rates of one-third to one-tenth the rates I would be billed if insured.  Suddenly catastrophic costs are not as high and are somewhat affordable.  If I go to the right hospital, they will provide a social worker to help me work out payments or get alternative insurance.  I don't need to have catastrophic insurance in advance.  I can live without insurance and get it when I actually need it. If unemployed, there are state programs (like Medi-cal in California) that will cover everything. So it becomes very clear that having insurance is more expensive, more risky, and downright life threatening, compared to not having it. With no health insurance I can afford a better healthier life with better foods, and prevent the need for insurance.

Insurance companies may or may not deny coverage. So you are gambling that your exorbitant premiums might cover you and your family when you need it the most.  But there is no guarantee.   Insurance companies do not guarantee they will cover you for anything.  We know that many people die for lack of coverage even when they have insurance. Why buy it? What we really need is insurance for insurance companies that will cover you when they don't.

Is your life and your family's lives worth the risk of insurance that is worse that not having any?  At least without insurance, you qualify for care under numerous social service programs. But with insurance you run the risk of being denied care and left to suffer and die. The cost of care when you are insured is also many times higher, making it more unlikely for you to get care.  Just tell your doctor, hospital ad pharmacist that you have no coverage and your bills will be cut down drastically.

 

Obamacare

The ACA (Obamacare) is supposed to make insurance affordable for people who previously could not afford it. In fact Obamacare insurance is hardly less expensive. Poor people who can't afford even low cost insurance are left out in the cold, having to buy cheap foods that are actually a health risk.  California's Prop 65 lists over 900 carcinogenic chemicals that may be found in our food, air, and environment.  The law merely requires establishments to post a notice that these chemicals exist in their products. Most every food chain, including McDonald's, Burger King, Taco Bell,  Carl's Junior, Starbucks, Wendy's, Chili's, Applebees and many more, sell food with carcinogens.  Some of them post the required notice. Most do not. Any processed and prepackage food is a likely candidate for carcinogenic chemicals or malnutrition.

Even with Obamacare, children over 26 do not qualify to be on their parents plan. In our lousy economy, it is most likely these kids are unemployed, grossly underemployed, or faced with extravagant college loan payments, and cannot afford insurance on their own, no matter how cheap it is.  This is a blessing in disguise as insurance is more of a liability than a protection.

We choose our own fate. We can choose to deny insurance companies our money and support, instead of paying for them to deny us coverage and charge us both exorbitant premiums and exorbitant health care costs.

Insurance is not what we should be discussing. As activist Dr. Margaret Flowers says, we need to change the discussion to be about health care, not insurance.  Care for your health.  Eat nutritious, organic, non-carcinogenic foods.  Your food is your medicine. Your medicine is your food. Insurance is just a sadistic business based on keeping people sick. Don't buy it.

The Making of a Political Documentary

Directors Statement: got healthcare?

Background

In 2008, thinking people were very tired of George W. Bush, and especially the wars that waged on endlessly. There was a lot of political issues debate between McCain and Obama supporters during the presidential campaigns. I had done some pro-Obama political blogging with the Huffiington Post. I bought his hype and lies. In September with the market crash and subsequent bailouts, McCain as a Republican, became the underdog in the presidential race. This was all a function of what happened on Wall Street. In a way, it was Wall Street that elected Obama, including through direct financial contributions. Earlier, in March of 2008, there were some big anti-war protests marking the anniversary of the war and occupation of Iraq. I decided to do an anti-war documentary. I filmed local protests. I did research and built a website. I read The Three Trillion Dollar War (2008, Nobel Prize winner Joseph E. Stiglitz and Harvard professor Linda J. Bilmes). I found RSS feeds to veterans anti-war groups, like the IVAW (Iraq Veterans Against the War), and the West Point Graduates Against the War. Then this activism was subverted by health care reform.

 

After Obama's election, activism quelled. Had McCain won, more activists would have been galvanized to greater action. The pressure on Congress would have been overwhelming and we might have seen an end to the wars. Although it would have taken another cycle to get a receptive regime into the White House. As it is, Obama persisted Bush's programs and policies, and escalated war, with little pressure from the public to do otherwise.

The war protests were subverted by Congressional interests in health care reform. Senator Max Baucus (D - Montana) held hearings (excluding 'single payer/medicare for all' advocates), and then hired Liz Fowler (former Wellpoint Insurance PR exec) to write a bill. This launched street protests by activists around the country. These were activists often subverted from war protests. Obama successfully got the attention away from the wars and onto health care reform. But the media had virtually no coverage of the street protests nor the ones inside the Baucus hearings. Since I was on activist email lists, I got wind of these protests and decided to go out to film the coverage the media ignored.

Protests

I was surprised and even amazed to find very intelligent activists including doctors and nurses out in the streets at these protests. I asked them what their concerns were, as much for myself as for a potential film. I interviewed over 65 people. I got answers to what it was all about. There were alarming statistics. 45,000 Americans died annually due to lack of health care. 48 million Americans had no health care insurance. Most people with insurance were denied coverage. The insurance industry overhead costs 30% of the money spent on health care compared to 4% in other countries. America ranks 37th among all countries for health care performance and 51st in fairness. 61% of bankruptcies and foreclosures are due to health care debt. Over half of all doctors are in favor of a single payer system. All these statistics remain true or are worse in 2014. The opposition to these protests were conservative organizations or paid protesters known as Astro Turf (fake grass roots). I filmed them as well and got their sides of the story. They said the health care industry needed more competition, and that we had a problem with tort. They said they didn't want the government making health care decisions for us. One woman didn't want "those people" in her hospital. Another said health care would be diluted and that we have to pay for care, that there is no free lunch.

I used this to go back and forth between one side and the other to get responses to the opposition. The activists laughed at the competition argument, saying that what we already have and that's what's caused the problem. They said tort amounts to only one percent of costs compared to the 30% insurance companies spend on administration and advertizing. They said we pay taxes and deserve care and that health care is a right and should be handled by government, just like fire and police protections to life. They said lobbyists spent millions daily to buy Congress. Senator Baucus received hundreds of millions from health care industries. In this way I constructed a stream of conversation film with one side making a point and the other side making a counter point.

 

Going it Alone

Maureen Cruise RN

I filmed these protests with no screenplay, no written plan, and no crew. It was just me with a camera and mikes. I edited it myself using the material to define the structure. One of the nurses, Maureen Cruise, was extremely knowledgeable and spoke so eloquently that I considered her as a sort of narrator. I used pieces of her 28 minute interview throughout the film. Later on, after I had a cut ready, she offered to distribute DVDs. So I credited her as an executive producer, whether she wanted to be one or not. Another great thing was that activist organizations like MoveOn, and health care reform groups, staged protests, rallies, and sit-in, complete with arrests and other entertainment. this all help ed to make for some dramatic footage along with the very passionate activists. It was all there for me to simply show up and point my camera at. Many of the doctors and nurses were and are members of PNHP (Physicians for a National Health Program), the Mad as Hell Doctors, HCA (Healthcare for All) and what is now the LA Healthcare Coalition. The issues persist along with the activists.

Editing and Distribution

I had a cut ready at the end of 2009. It was two hours. I got some feedback that it had to be cut to at least 90 minutes. I did that about five more times with improvements in each version. Maureen became involved in 2011. She even attended the AFM with me. She found AFM somewhat disgusting with all the posters for blood and gore horrors and thrillers. She later wrote that she thought Hollywood would never give issues like this a forum. But the experience gave her an education and helped me a lot. I got a good handle on what it takes to market and distribute a film. I did connect with sales agents interested in the film. But they were relatively unknown and didn't have any kind of track record I could have any faith in. You have to research these companies. They also wanted all-rights deals for outrageous time ranges (up to 20 years) and percentages (up to 40%). I could have negotiated better deals. But I had no faith in any of them and turned them down.

The latest major cut was in March 2013. I added footage of the Baucus hearings protests and coverage of the ACA (Obamacare) passage and reaction from 2010. I was able to sell a few hundred dollars worth of DVDs on my website and through Amazon. A few activist organizations have had screenings. Lately I've had renewed interest in the film.

More about got healthcare? (a political documentary) here.

SUPPORT SB 810 California Universal Healthcare Act of 2011

The following is an email from Maureen Cruise RN (retired) 


SB 810  "The California Universal Healthcare Act of 2011 has been reintroduced in the California legislature.  Healthcare is a human rights issue.  People are really suffering with premium hikes, increased copays, and denials of payment.  These problems will not change with the recently enacted ACA federal reform.  SB810 is advancing to the next logical step.

The State Senate Health Committee  will consider SB810  on April 27th, 2011

Important and crucial measures to support SB 810 RIGHT NOW:

#1.  Send letters from yourself,  a business, any group/organization     http://www.healthcareforall.org/action-center/organizing  has sample letters for individuals , businesses organizations and lots of information to educate oneself.
     1. Sign on as an individual supporter of SB810 and send letter to your legislators.
     2. Any group can send a letter from the organization or  any business.
     3. Encouraging your legislators to co-endorse.

Identify your own State Senator and Assemblymember online by visiting http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/yourleg.html

Also send any copies of support /endorsement letters to:

Senator Mark Leno
c/o Sara Rogers
State Capitol, Room 5100
Sacramento, CA  95814
(916) 445-4722 FAX

And to the State Senate Health Committee before April 27th
The Honorable Ed Hernandez
Chair, Senate Health Committee
State Capitol, Room 2191
Sacramento, CA 95814
Fax: (916) 319-2197

#2 SIGN the online PETITION http://CaliforniaOneCare.org

#3 Download information/ fliers and educate the public.  Set up a table at any public site. In front of a bank or post office or any public corner or sidewalk .  Educate people.  http://www.singlepayernow.net
http://www.healthcareforall.org/
http://CaliforniaOneCare.org

Additional info on federal and state universal healthcare:
www.pnhp.org  Physicians for National Health Program
http://www.nationalnursesunited.org
http://www.laborforsinglepayer.org
www.PDAmerica.org

Be well,
Maureen    
Despair is a greater deceiver than hope.

Sample Letter of Support for SB 810
The California Universal Healthcare Act

Please send letters of support by fax or mail to your State Senator and State Assemblymember and cc Senator Leno’s capitol office.

Identify your own State Senator and Assemblymember online by visiting http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/yourleg.html

Please cc:
Senator Mark Leno
c/o Sara Rogers
State Capitol, Room 5100
Sacramento, CA  95814
(916) 445-4722 FAX


(Date), 2011

The Honorable ___________
State Capitol, Room ____
Sacramento, CA  95814

Re: Support for SB 810 (Leno)

Dear Senator/Assemblymember _____________:

I am a voter in your district and I am writing in support of SB 810 (Leno) the California Universal Healthcare Act.  It’s time for universal healthcare in California!
The single greatest problem facing California’s healthcare system and California’s economy is the growing cost of health insurance.  The number of uninsured Californians has now reached 20%, and most of the newly uninsured are from middle-class families.  It’s easy to see why.
Health insurance premiums have increased over 90% since 2000, with the average employee contributing 143% more to their company-sponsored health insurance. Meanwhile wages have only increased 20% over this time period.  Health care costs have outpaced increases in wages by a ratio of 4:1 since 2000.
Under the single payer finance system in SB 810, the money spent now on health care is enough to provide every resident of the state with excellent healthcare, ensure fair and reliable reimbursements to doctors, nurses and other providers, and guarantee a high quality of care for all.
SB 810 (Leno), the California Universal Healthcare Act would provide fiscally sound, affordable healthcare to all Californians, provide every Californian the right to choose his or her own physician and control health cost inflation.
This plan does five things:

1. It covers everyone.
2. It’s affordable.
3. It guarantees our money goes to care not administration.
4. It provides real choice.
5. It improves quality.

Californians want access to this kind of high-quality, affordable health care.  Please take a stand in support of truly universal health care.

I strongly support SB 810.

(your legal name)
(any organizational affiliations you wish to include)
(your address)

Wolfowitz Sees Corporate Health Mogul as Egyptian Transition Leader

Hossam Badrawi

Today President Obama released a statement to the press that the U.S. will do all it can to support the orderly transition of Egypt to a [corporate oligarchy]. In a recent article in The American, Paul Wolfowitz states he sees a new transition figure emerging in Egypt; Dr. Hossam Badrawi, "a board member and strategic shareholder in Nile Badrawi Hospital, one of the largest hospitals in Cairo." Dr. Badrawi also "started the first healthcare management organizations (HMO) company in Egypt which is currently one of the largest HMOs in the private sector." And we all know how well HMOs work in America.

So it would appear that Egypt's current government run healthcare system, in which "nearly all Egyptians have access to healthcare," is a prime candidate for American style corporate wealthcare. America must stop that healthcare for all nonsense and get Egypt back to American values where we make sure at least 15% of the citizens of the country have no healthcare insurance, because they can't afford to pay for it. After all, how can we expect American based corporate healthcare industry to take a foothold in Egypt if they can't see at least 30% profit margins like they do in the US.

Medical Students to Senate Republicans: Repeal Is Not the Solution to Our Health Care Crisis

While I agree with the students here, I question what part of the PPACA (Affordabl­e Care Act) will actually survive to do any good. We've already seen the provision that blocks rates to increase repealed. With rate increases already in effect (or taking effect 1/1/2011) insurance companies now have raised rates by as much as 39% to make up for having to put 26 year olds back on their parents plans (among other things).

Plus they have now made new restrictio­ns on what meds and services are covered. It's business as usual in the suck Americans' health dry for profit game.

The cumulative effect is that PPACA has decreased health care and made things much worse. By 2014 it will require all Americans to buy insurance and submit to this mandated corporate oligarchy, giving Americans less coverage, with continued denial of care and pre-existi­ng condition exclusions at higher costs, guaranteei­ng the corporate oligarchy a steady stream of government mandated corporate welfare to the insurance industry.

Repealed or not, that is exactly what will happen. The difference is that with repeal, people just might get pissed off enough to take to the streets and refuse to pay for health care insurance (and you can bet repeal will not reduce any rates), which amounts to corporate graft. It is naive to think that PPACA will have any positive effect. It is a 2000+ page monster health care legislatio­n written by and for the corporate health insurance oligarchy that runs America.
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

IMDb Video: Got Healthcare?

Protesters on various sides of the recent health care insurance reform issues, actively debated around the U.S. in the summer of 2009, are depicted as people at street rallies, protests, and town hall meetings give their views to filmmaker Jon Raymond. The film is not formally narrated but instead uses the interviews as a sort of narration and ongoing dialog that explains various aspects of the issues involved, from the question of socialism, to reports of people dying for lack of health insurance, to arrests of protesters at sit-ins.

A new 90 minute (festival cut) DVD is now available.

Watch the trailer: