Because in spite of the fact that I shell out monthly for a kinda crappy plan, it STILL ends up costing me a packet. I spend HUNDREDS of dollars on standard tune up stuff last year, just having the routine tests for a physical. I asked myself why I bothered.

Insurance is totally broken. A friend of mine in the same sector, with a day job, just had major surgery and she got six weeks PAID disability and all expenses paid. If I had to have that done, I'd be screwed. She's insured, I'm insured. WTF? We're both middle class, household breadwinners. Difference? She has an employer, I don't. Why am I being punished?

Broken, broken, broken.

Nerd's Eye View

It seems that this post raises issues involving both the availability and quality of healthcare in the US as well as the likelihood of surviing life threatening illness.

If you are wealthy, or one of the very lucky ones who has comprehensive health coverage, then you are more likely to take a "preventive" approach to healthcare. You will probably get a full annual physical with tests and not the 10 min. in and out interview that most doctors call an "annual physical".

However, if you are like the majority of working class Americans you have coverage that allows you one "wellness visit" to your primary care physician, if you are a woman, one visit to your gyn per year and a minimum of tests. Even if ar primary care doctor recommends that a patient takes a variety of diagnostic tests that could be life-saving, if the tests aren't covered by their insurer or someone in the HMO's office decides that they know more than the primary care physician, the patient never gets the test.

I also believe that another key in healthcare is the ability to maintain a long term relationship with a doctor. Sadly, most worker healthplans have in-network versus out-of-network rules that force people to change doctors virtually every time that they change jobs.

While, I am not totally familiar with Medicaid, I believe that I can safely say that many Medicaid patients do not truly have long-term relationships with a primary care physician. And the physician that they do have is not likely to refer them to the best specialists for follow-up diagnoses and treatment.

Obviously, if you are totally uninsured you are not getting preventive care at all.

I'm not sure how you fix this system but it HAS to be fixed and soon. Americans are living longer but getting sicker and sicker while healthcare costs are going through the roof.

Hi Pam. Thanks for your comment, I totally agree with you. I wish there was some easy fix, but like you've pointed out, there are just so many broken pieces. Even though I can't imagine how this system can ever be fixed...I just pray that somehow it will be.

Contributing Editor Catherine Morgan
CatherineBlogs, The Political Voices of Women, Care2 Election Blog

In 20001, I was working at a good job for the first time in 4 years, and had great insurance benefits through that employer. As soon as we were covered, my husband and I both went to the doctor for checkups. I was diagnosed with type II diabetes, he was diagnosed with squamous cell carcinoma of the tongue, on the same day. He went through months of treatments including having all of his teeth extracted, surgery and radiation treatments. I was laid off from that job in April of that year. His last radiation treatment was on May 30, my insurance expired on May 31. We could have continued coverage through COBRA, except that the premium payments were more than we could afford to pay at that time with neither one of us working, and our savings being exhausted by paying the co-pays for his treatments.

We looked for other coverage options, but the premiums for coverage because of our health histories is $1200 per month. He had some health problems in 2005, was admitted to the hospital for 4 days. We worked out a payment plan with the hospital and doctors, so we are now paying $90 per month for services we actually used, instead of $1200 per month for services we MIGHT use someday. While this is not an ideal solution to the insurance-no insurance problem lots of us face, at least we we able to get the medical care he needed at the time.

I would like to see if not Universal Health Care in this country, at least some affordable options for people like us who are uninsurable in the system as it is today.

Read the latest at http://fabgrandma.blogspot.com/

I know exactly what you mean, some people (because of the way the industry is set up today) are better off not having insurance. Not only because of the cost - the truth is, not all insurance is created equal. In fact...depending on the type of insurance you have...you may actually get better and more thorough care in hospitals, when you don't have insurance at all. I know that sounds crazy but it's true. So many insurance plans (especially HMOs) have specific "can do" and "can't do" requirements for doctors and hospitals. If something is done that is not on the "can do" list - then the insurance company will not pay. This puts doctors and hospitals in very sticky situations...ultimately, the losers are the patients.

Contributing Editor Catherine Morgan
CatherineBlogs, The Political Voices of Women, Care2 Election Blog

I agree with everything being said here. The system is a mess. I am a health care provider and I can tell you that it can be very difficult to get paid. The only thing certain about our current system is that the insurance companies will make sure that they are paid (and paid well!) and then all bets are off. I have seen too many people have to fight to get claims paid.

Medicaid is not a bad system. Most providers will treat Medicaid patients. The poor have a far better deal as far as health care access than the working poor and lower middle-class. Many people do not realize that a serious illness in an insured patient can still leave thousands in bills.

We really need a single-payer system. Incorporating the greedy insurance companies simply reeks of pandering to the interests of big business with powerful lobbies. It is time that someone listens to what the American people want.

I am happy to see that so many bloggers are taking the time to talk about these important issues. It's our only hope for change.