An estimated 109,000 Maine adults went without medical care in 2010 because they couldn’t afford it, according to a new study.
Hit hardest were the uninsured, who were far more likely to report having unmet health care needs because of the cost, according to the study released this week by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
Forty percent of adults lacking health coverage in Maine reported skipping medical care because of the expense, compared with 8.3 percent of insured adults.
Even those with insurance visited the doctor less often over the study’s 10-year period. The report shows that Maine’s uninsured are going without care despite free care offered at Maine hospitals, said Mitchell Stein, policy director for the progressive advocacy group Consumers for Affordable Health Care.
Meanwhile, residents with health insurance coverage are increasingly burdened with a higher share of health care costs, such as under high-deductible plans, he said.
“While I’m not surprised [by the report’s findings], I’m saddened,” Stein said. “It just highlights the real crisis that continues to face our health care system.”
Edmund Haislmaier, a senior research fellow in health policy at the Heritage Foundation, a conservative policy group in Washington, D.C, took issue with the researchers’ assumptions.
“This is significant only if you share the author’s premise, which is that everyone should have everything they need in health care totally free at the point they receive care, and that anything less than that is inadequate,” he said. “If you start from that premise, which most people don’t, then well it’s a terrible thing that some people don’t have everything handed to them free.”
Compared with other states, Maine performed fairly well on the number of adults reporting cost as a barrier to health care. The share of those ages 19 to 64 with unmet medical needs because of cost was 13.5 percent in Maine in 2010. The national average was nearly 19 percent.
That rate held steady in Maine over the previous decade, while it rose nationally by 6 percent to about one in five adults, the study found.
Stein theorized that an expansion of health coverage under the previous administration, including in Medicaid and the Dirigo Health program, as well as consumer protections related to private insurance, may have buoyed Maine’s performance in the study.
Haislmaier said the report fails to consider factors beyond insurance coverage that affect access to health care, such as geography and low reimbursement rates that discourage primary care doctors from taking Medicaid patients.
“This insurance-equals-access [argument], which I know is a big mantra on the left, it just doesn’t hold up,” he said.
The study was conducted by researchers at the Washington, D.C.-based Urban Institute and funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. It was based on federal government data compiled from state health department surveys.
On two other indicators of health care access, Maine followed worsening national trends. The study also looked at routine checkups and dental visits.
Nationwide, the number of adults who got a regular medical checkup dropped by 5.1 percent from 2000 to 2010. In Maine, the number dropped by more than 7 percent.
The share of adults who had an annual dental visit fell nearly 4 percent nationally between 2002 and 2010. The drop in Maine was almost 6 percent.
In all, 49 states showed a significant deterioration in at least one of the study’s three measures. West Virginia and the District of Columbia were the exceptions.
Over the past decade, rates of unmet medical needs climbed in 42 states, the share of adults getting routine checkups fell in 37 states, and the number of adults with dental visits dropped in 29 states.
“Our study shows that access to care deteriorated for adults in virtually every state in the country, and that the uninsured experience substantially worse access to care relative to the insured in all states,” Genevieve M. Kenney, the study’s lead author, said in a press release. “This indicates that the health care safety net is not acting as an effective substitute for health insurance coverage when it comes to providing basic health care to the uninsured.”
In Maine, census data show that about 14 percent of adults ages 19 to 64 lack health insurance. Data collected by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention peg the figure closer to 16 percent. The national average is roughly 21 percent.
The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation used the report to advocate for the landmark federal health reform law passed in 2010. Researchers predicted that if provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act are ruled unconstitutional this summer, the downward trends in access will continue.
The law would expand Medicaid coverage and provide subsidies to consumers to offset private insurance premiums and out-of-pocket costs.
Stein agreed that the findings highlighted the need for the Affordable Care Act, which he said would cover the uninsured and make private insurance more affordable.
Haislmaier countered that the reform law will do nothing to put a dent in the rising costs of health care and using new money to pay for subsidies only exacerbates the problem.
“If you already have the most expensive system in the world and you still have problems, why do you need more money to fix the problems? Why can’t you just reprogram the money you’ve got and spend it smarter?” he said.
Hogwash! They made a choice. Not saying it was right or wrong, but they had a choice to make and they made it. Why whine about it now.
Many people I know can’t afford company insurance and almost every independent contractor who does any type of construction work or works for themselves cannot afford a plan. It’s not political – it’s just cold reality for those living in the lower middle class.
Personally I think the numbers given in this story are not accurate, or even close. 13.5 % is laughable. My guess is that we’re talking around 45% or more.
Oh, Hogwash to you. Take a couple of APCs and call me in the morning.
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well try this for size there are people being fired from their providers for being on mainecare what is the difference. i am on mainecare i am not getting the care i really need. i was just fired from saint Joes internal medicine. i wasnt treated very well.
I’d be very interested to know the reason they fired you……legally speaking, they just cant “fire” you without just cause, and even if they decide to no longer see Mainecare patients, they have to give you 2 months notice.
In Maine one may be fired without cause. “at will.”
When one is on MaineCare, the providers can state that they can no longer see you because they are dropping the MaineCare coverage. NO two months about it….don’t know where you got your information. When MainCare drops a patient, they do, most of the time, give two months notice, if their isn’t any computer gliches.
“Fired.” Usually meaning that a person did something on his or her job that was intolerable. The other word to use is, “abandoned.” You were abondoned by your physician.
It would be good to know if that physician referred you to someone else for continuity of care. If you don’t mind posting your health problems, it might be helpful to people to know just in what state of health, or disease, you were abandoned for ‘failing’ to have money.
You pay a premium and then the insurance company slaps you with co=pays, deductables, co=insurance and more. Its almost like why bother. Unless its something real bad they are not going to cover anything and you still get stuck with the above. These rich insurance companies need to look out for their customers, not the CEO’s pay and bonus.
The company doesn’t ‘slap you’ with anything that’s not part of the policy. Next time you sign up for a health insurance policy, whether from an employer or an individual plan, try reading and understanding it before you sign on the dotted line. I just love how some folks hide behind broad generalities in order to be the poor victim.
You mean like you have hidden behind broad generalities? You mean like that?
Exactly.
What I was saying, is insurance doesnt cover crap, no matter who or what you sign up with. Insurance should cover 100% , if you pay a BIG premium every month, whatever it is 100% of the time. Thats what the insurance industry was created for. Not to pay premiums every month and you still have to pay for everything. Thats not right. Mr Co=pay and Mr Deductable and Mr. Co=Pay should be stung up the flagpole along with MR. billionare insurance CEO. Why doesnt the BIG insurance companies work to lower healthcare costs instead of making people go broke instead of them.Granted, some lucky ones have a “Cadillac Plan” that they dont have to worry about, like our elected ones in Washington. But most here in Maine do not have that luxury.
My spouse and I have insurance just like you describe inthestix. Even with this insurance we are ~$20,000 in debt to the hospitals and doctors. It’ only worth having if you experience a major medical emergency and even then you’ll be 10’s of thousands in debt. We need a national healthcare program where ALL are covered. If you remove the “for profit” part of healthcare the premiums we currently pay would cover the program, probably without any increase in taxes.
Yes we do need national health care. But those who already enjoy it, will block it and kill any attempt to ease the average American’s suffering. Think Bubble City where Congress has the best National Care Service in the world. Ask Susan Collins, Mc Connell, Boehner, and all, who labor to block any attempt to help us get medical help without going broke.
You can blame the Hospitals and the Medical profession for that. They already overcharge the Insurance companies, knowing full well what the Insurance will cover and then double-dipping to get even more out of the patient. I have so much distaste for the medical profession as a whole that it honestly makes you feel like you are much better off to go with faith and holistic treatments than try to see a doctor. Then when you actually do go see a doctor, you wait for hours to actually get in to see one so they can look you in the eye and tell ya to stop smoking, lose wieght, and oh yeah, you must be depressed, so here is some mood altering meds to keep you from bugging me. I wont even see my Personal Care Physician any longer because of his complete ignorance. I go to the PA if completely desperate. The Insurance companies are making out well too because they know that anything you go to the doctors for is just a reason for them to up your premiums the following year. And they wonder why they call the US Prozac Nation.
Just a little clarification if you’ll indulge me for a moment please.
“They already overcharge the insurance companies…”http://www.sjvalley-times.com/view/full_story/10892617/article-MaineCare-owes-NMMC-millions
That’s just NMMC. Every other hospital in this state is also owed beaucoup bucks and they still haven’t been paid completely back. The recent big controversy over hospital overpayment by the state left out a key piece of information: The state “overpaid” what it agreed to pay for that period of time only. It doesn’t mean that they didn’t still OWE millions to the the providers.
This all the while providing the top-notch care we all seem to demand but don’t want to pay for.
What exactly would happen to you or I if we told our creditors “Oh hey Bangor Hydro – I know I owe you $250, but I’m only willing to pay $50 because that’s what I feel is a reasonable fee for your electric, and I’ll pay you sometime in the next 4 or 5 years – be patient. My revenue didn’t meet my expectations this month.”
Given that practically everyone and their grandmothers are on MaineCare (and shhhh…don’t tell anyone, but many of them actually work for a living) how would you propose hospitals and healthcare providers pay for things such as the light bill and meet payroll?
Yup. You guessed it. By overcharging those of us left who are fortunate enough to work for an employer who can afford a healthcare plan. When you ask your insurance company why they paid 3 times more than they were billed for a service, you will be met with “I’m sorry, but that’s part of a confidential contract between your insurer and your provider.”
The tax breaks aren’t enough. They aren’t nearly enough. It’s a complicated stinking mess in general.
I totally agree with pushing drugs, but one has to realize that Big Pharma likes to keep it that way. They will pay big money to see that their drugs are shoved onto patients. Personally, I think they ought to ban drug advertisements. “Got this, got that? Ask your doctor if XYZ is right for you!” Some night while you’re watching the news, count the number of drug advertisements during it. It amazes me really that they’re allowed to get away with that.
Be that as it may, the one thing we here in Vacationland (and our intrepid Governor “Able bodied people need to work” needs to remember is that most of our vacationland jobs completely lack even an in on affordable healthcare coverage. When you have people who are covered not going in for care because of deductible and copay costs, you might as well be uninsured.
How about a true accounting of the number of part-time employees of Mardens who are on Mainecare? Ooooo can’t find any info on that actual number. Hey BDN – there’s a story for you to pursue. How many employers hire full-time with benefits employees?
By the way, Medicare is also known to short-change providers all of the time too, by refusing to pay beyond a certain block payment for a condition. Again, this must be covered somehow.
I honestly don’t know how a lot of providers even stay in business now. Most of the doctors have been smart enough to seek shelter under a healthcare foundation. I can’t think of a single “hang a shingle out” private practice doc anymore (although maybe there are still a couple – I don’t know).
Hmmm, my insurance covers plenty, but I do have copays, etc. I have an 80/20 plan with a $4000 max out of pocket. I pay through the nose for it, but one year I had over $100,000 in expenses covered for my family.
Sounds like your employer has a crummy offering.
Retirement opens the door to a whole new concept. No more employer co-pay, just you and your own AARP or Martin’s Point, and Medicare.
How Cancer patients and others with similar life-threatening sickness can survive defies explanation. The only consolation offered by the rabid GP-TP clan on this forum and other places is: You should get insurance. Or, the usual demeaning slur that democrats and left wingers just want hand outs. All I want is the Bubble City plan – National Health Insurance.
Insurance is a vehicle to minimize your personal risk. That’s all.
You, my friend, obviously have never had to undergo treatments for life threatening illnesses. I hope you never do.
Briney, My friend. I have cost my insurance company upwards of $400k over the last 10-12 years, including cancer treatments. I expect It will be much more in coming years. Never, not once, did my insurer challenge or question one of my charges. Not ever.
I purchased the insurance I needed.
Insurance is always about your own personal risk tolerance. Always.
You are fortunate. Very fortunate. Many of the people referred to in this story are those who are not so fortunate to be blessed with such insurance coverage. Not everyone can afford such plans.
Again, Insurance is about minimizing personal risk. That’s all. Healthcare is a different issue.
Insurance is about big greedy corporations maximizing their profit at our expense.
Betcha everyone reading your claims has some form of insurance. But the problem that you refuse to accept is that premiums exclude many from enjoying the same benefits.
The American Medical Profession and its pill industry wring the pockets of the working class and poor. I want to enroll in the Bubble City plan – the only National Care Provider in the USA. So, I’m running for Olympia Snowe’s seat as a left wing agitator.
As a the good ol’ Corpsman said: “Take two APCs, drink plenty of water, get some rest, and drop by in the morning.
Is that the treatment everyone should be relegated to? It was the service cure for just about everything. And, if you were a bit worse off, then a shot Penny in the rump would snap you to.
Not everyone – only a few – can enjoy the insurance benefits your Cadillac policy holds. Others inhabit this planet besides the GP-TP clan.
with you on this one stix
They should be strung up the tallest flagpole we can find. Perhaps we should erect one?
This co-pay -you pay- we pay – results in high BP., strokes and heart attacks.
Bubble City folk enjoy that “Cadillac Plan.” But best of all, it’s paid for by us – the taxpayers. Would our critics dare to refer to it as “National Health Care?” Because that’s what it is. And the people using it are the biggest foes of any plans seeking to straighten out the current medical disaster.
I’m all for stringing ’em up the flagpole. They’re robbers. Of course the Co-Pay should cover what Medicare doesn’t cover. Complain? They offer you a monthly payment with interest. Who can afford the shambles of the American Medical Health Care service?
We need the modified Obama Care plan.
Hard to believe that here in America costs for treatments are so high people are shunning them.
I wince when I read about some of the people struggling to stay alive – like the German who can’t get cancer treatment because of some bureaucratic form. Then, the pitiful cases of poor kids and adults pleading for state help and GP-TP’ers scoffing at them. Telling them to get a job. Or, in the words of Maine’s King – “get off the couch.”
Those who are so stingy, one day may have to face challenges, they seem to feel they are so far removed from.
Actually, Insurance companies hire thousands of “adjustors” whose job is to deny claims. They operate in bad faith and they gladly pay the minimal fines($millions$) when they caught because they they “earn” $billions$ by using these bad faith practices. Most of them, especially the largest ones, are evil. They create suffering in others for their own profit.
I’ve never had a problem with insurance and I use it a lot.
Tell us again.
You are fortunate and have a good plan as do I – through the military (good old socialized medicine). And, yes, insurance is supposed to minimize personal risk – but it does so for many at great cost still. What we need is a healthcare system that is about health care, not health insurance.
I worked for Blue Cross Blue Shield as a temp. Four two months, my job was to request medical records on clients so that insurance could be denied. It does happen and some people have that miserable job. I was fortunate to only be a temp and not need that job, but still it was a soul searing experience to know that when I requested those records from all medical providers ever visited by a person, I was part of the chain that could potentially mean someone might not receive treatment or payment of treatment for a serious illness. It is also how insurers delay payment – they look for every doctor’s visit you have ever had to see if there is something somewhere that they can pin a denial on – which can mean that doctors and hospitals are not paid for months. People do find their claims denied unjustly. For the sick person or family member of an ill person, it is practically a part-time job to try to get the insurance company to live up to its end of the agreement. Many people give up, which is exactly what they want.
My younger daughter has worked for the Idaho Insurance Department for
years, and she said that it is common practice amongst health insurance
companies to deny coverage on the first and second attempt at getting the insurance to cover treatment. She also says that there is a lot of fraud, perpetrated by insurers and providers; very little by patients.
Anecdotes of Insurance Company behavior amongst my family members:
1) My nephew had Bell’s palsy as well as incredible fatigue and severe muscular pain and was diagnosed with Lyme disease. His doctor recommended multiple daily IV antibiotic treatments, which is a standard treatment, but his insurer denied authorization for such treatments. My nephew went ahead with the treatments, which are expensive, since delay on treatment can be quite serious for your long-term health. The insurance company dragged its heels for close to four months before finally authorizing payment. This required, of course, repeated contacts from my nephew and his doctor.
2) I have personally had only a couple of experiences struggling to get payment for treatment. Sometimes it is all in the medical coding. If a treatment is coded improperly, you may find yourself footing the bill. Always contact your medical provider and insurer when you find you are expected to pay for something that your policy says should be covered.
3) My oldest daughter had a terrifically difficult time getting her insurer to cover her care during a miscarriage. It required months of repeated phone calls to both the medical provider and the insurer. In essence, it became a part-time job to try to get the insurance her husband paid for to cover a procedure and care that it was supposed to cover under the policy.
4) My oldest daughter now has coverage of her children through MassHealth (RomneyCare), and she says that it is the best insurance coverage she has experienced for them – more comprehensive than the insurance she and her ex-husband had paid for through an insurance company. Both her sons have asthma. Her oldest son also has asperger’s syndrome and receives more treatment options than under their former health insurance plan.
5) My younger daughter had a kidney infection. She was in very bad shape but her insurance company would not authorize hospitalization (which would have cost them more and her not at all). Despite a fever of 103-104 degrees and the inherent dangers of such a high fever, she was expected to drive or find someone to drive her to the outpatient at the hospital twice daily for a week of IV treatments. Her insurer paid $6,000 of the $9,000 tab. She earns $30,000 a year so her share for the cost of that one illness was more than one-tenth of her income, since she also has to pay for her insurance.
Also, many assume here that people have access to any plan they want through their employer, they do not. Most companies that provide insurance for employees have negotiated several plans to choose from. You have only the option of choosing between those plans. So, if the plans do not offer better than an 80% – 20 % policy, and they can be expensive, especially for those who are not paid a lot and have families and other financial commitments – car payments, college loans, rent, mortgage, and so on – then you are still left with having to pay a lot both on the front end for the plan and the other end when you have necessary medical procedures performed. As mentioned by another individual, 20% of any large medical bill can run into the 10’s of thousands of dollars – which is more than most people have savings for.
A socialized medical system is not free medical care – all of us are either taxed as with Medicare or pay in some other way to pay for it. Everyone benefits and no one is denied basic medical care. It is not free care as many like to assert. Free care is what you get when you do not have health insurance or the money to pay for treatment when you show up at the ER. Under a socialized system, we all pay for it, and such a system with good cost control measures is exactly what is needed in this country. Most such systems in the western world have better medical coverage, better cost controls, and better results than we do in this country.
All companies are bad, they never pay claims, blah blah blah. Read through the other posts and you’ll find that your generalizations are crap. Those that have needed to use their insurance have largely found that the policy paid exactly what they said they would pay. Unless you can prove otherwise with your particular carrier and experience, I’d advise you to keep your generalizations to yourself.
No generalizations – it’s the God’s honest truth.
Most of us are very literate and capable of math. We understand the pros and cons of each health plan. Paying $75-100 a week for an “acceptable plan” would jeopardize our ability to feed our family. And no – I’m not on food stamps.
I pay $128/week. I pay more for my car. Health insurance is more important than a car, in my book.
People don’t have any choice to sign up for health insurance. The company is like a porcupine quill, the more you need the services, more they “slap” you with extra expenses. It’s their way of saying “By the way”….individual plans are non-existent unless you do have a good paying job to meet your basic needs. Food, clothing, shelter. Never mind cell phones, cable and internet. In the past, when I had a full time job, I did read the policy and realized that it would have been MORE expensive not to have the insurance if I did have to go to a hospital for emergency treatment then if I didn’t. Needless to say, I couldn’t afford all of the co-pays that would have been required for regular Dr.s visits and regular health screenings. So, YES, some people do read the policies and have to make decisions based on financial needs. I’m not trying to portray a victim but a person trying to use common sense in an economic world where common sense is hard to come by.
No One wants to be a “poor victim.” The Medical Business has made us so.
You just don’t understand what you are doing…. is that anyone elses fault?
The entire Medical Industry and Insurance Industries. They’ve been diagnosed with Greed. Curable with a good shot of National Health Care.
All you have are campaign slogans.
And you? Nothing but the Le Page “Get of the Couch,” and Romney’s “I’ll kill the OBama Care.”
My favorite slogan: Obama 2012. I want to enjoy Bubble City Care, just like Snowe, Collins, and Mitch McConnell, do. One hundred percent coverage financed by taxpayers. Even the Supreme Court Justices have the same plan. But now they’re looking for a legal loop hole that would scuttle Obama Care.
They’re all rip-offs. Just as bad as the greatest pills ever developed and exploited on TV for billions of dollars. Each pill will cure something. However, read the fine print that scrolls up the screen after daddy racks his golf club, and junior puts away the mower. The “Don’t Take This Pill…if”
What kind of the greatest medication is that?
If it’s as bad as you think it would provide a great opportunity for other insurance companies to take their customers away. It’s open to competition. If we want individuals and corporations to do a particular type of business with us, we have to allow them to make more than they would by just banking(that would include the various US treasury securities offered) their money. If you’re going to listen to the wanabee socialists here, you need to understand true socialism. That’s when they kick the businesses out of a market and the government takes over.
Also – don’t forget that first the insurance corporations get taxed and then their stockholders get taxed on that profit. If you own stock you pay income tax on dividends and capital gains tax as it increases in value. The pay and bonus you refer to gets taxed. It’s safe to assume their usual salary already has them in the highest income tax brackets. Any raise or bonus is going to get taxed at that highest rate. Give an executive in Maine a $100,000 bonus and 41.5% of that is income tax ($33,000 federal and $8,500 state).
A series of false statements; do you fact check anything you write ?
I’m entirely satisfied with it. I’ll let the other readers fact check it for themselves. Why should they believe you instead of me? So one of us is either a liar or just plain stupid. I can agree with that.
“I’ll let the other readers fact check it for themselves.”
So the answer is no.
The real answer was too rude to post. My facts are correct but you will see a few people try to twist things around because they don’t like the point I was making.
Well we can start with the tax rates you cite. Your statement assumes the highest marginal rate and is simplistic at best … but hey, it supports your argument so why not present it as fact …. (Let’s just forget that Romney’s “marginal” rate is something on either side of 15% not 33%.)
You’re so wrong. I gave a basic explanation about stocks and I was showing what happens to salary raises and bonuses for people who have already reached the highest bracket. Romney is a one percenter with a silver spoon. Most of his income is the product of his wealth. The people getting huge salaries and bonuses might pay about the same rate on the income derived from wealth they previously accumulated. The issue here is the tax they pay on the current year’s compensation package.
Not true. If you give him a bonus of 100 grand, it will likely be as stock in the company. When he sells that stock, it will be taxed at only 1/2 the rate of my wages, about 15%. So all the crying you are doing for him is for naught. Here’s a tissue.
Absolutely wrong. It’s income when you get it. If it’s worth $100k at the time, it’s $100k for income tax purposes. The lower capital gains tax rate would be on the profit he makes if the stock increases in value. It’s really the same as getting a cash bonus and investing it in company stock. If you agreed, I could pay half your salary in donuts or gold. The IRS will just take the value of that and tax it as earned income.
No sir, you are wrong. Stock sales are almost always treated as capital gains. If he got the stock for nothing and sells it for 1 dollar, the tax due on that stock is called capital gains and is taxed at about 15%. It is not taxed as earned income. You need to read a little bit more. Here’s some help from one website:
Incentive stock options, or ISOs, are a special form of executive or employee stock option that can qualify for capital gains tax rates, provided that certain rules are followed. The executive must hold the options for at least 1 year after they are granted before exercising them. Once the options are exercised, the shares must be held for at least 1 additional year. At that point the shares may be sold, and all profits are eligible for long-term capital gains tax rates. This includes profits resulting from price increases that occurred between the time the options were granted and the date of exercise.
More help:http://www.salary.com/Articles/ArticleDetail.asp?part=par414
1) The option plan must conform to IRS rules. That’s a lot more reading you can do.
2) The options are purchased with taxable income. If the employer gives you the options the value of that is taxed as earned income.
3) They are not risk-free. It’s stock. If you think they can make it risk-free with a guaranteed return do the heavy reading I mentioned above.
Must conform with IRS. Duh! TheCongress set the rules up with help from industry lobbyists.
Options are NOT always purchased. Sometimes they are GIVEN as part of salary compensation.
Not risk free? How about you look into the option they also have of backdating the stock price.
Still think they are taxed as earned income?
Hate to tell you, but in the State of Maine, only those insurance companies have to be approved by the State before one can have a health insurance company. When Blue Cross and Blue Shield decided that they wouldn’t have anymore individual policies and pulled out of Dirigo, the State Commission opened up for out of State companies to come in and get approval. Only it didn’t work out that way. All of the insurance companies, in Maine, are tied with businesses and an individual can’t just buy health insurance alaCart. In other states one can, but not in Maine. See if that puts things in perspective for you. Too bad Blue Cross and Blue Shield isn’t as charitable as they use to be, before they got greedy and their mission was that everyone deserved to have health insurance….AHHH those were the days!!
Well, Dirigio is a good example of what I pointed out in the first place. If the “rich insurance companies” are the problem, the best recourse is to create a non-profit state insurance company. I’m more of a socialist than most of these people who think they are socialists. I don’t have this crazy notion that socialism means telling a business how they must operate but not allowing them to just flip us the bird and shut down in response. We offer a rather puny market size compared to most states. Add some over-regulation and overbearingness to that and see if they rush here to do business.
It used to be that you paid the premium and the insurance company took the risk. Now, you pay the premium and you take the risk. Insurance is only good in a major catastrophe. The insurance companies need to be regulated more, so that they don’t drive up medical costs to the point that middle class America can’t pay his doctor bill.
That’s why Bubble City doesn’t want any changes to the way things are with the Medical Business. The ridiculed and scorned “Obama Care” will bring about much needed changes. But you can kiss it goodbye. Bubble City has a good thing going with the pill makers and medical fraternity.
What’s a billion or two? Good Lord, the pill makers spend billions on TV gloating over their pills designed to cure everything, except the pain of paying for them.
I would like to sign up for Collins-Snowe Health Care plan. Perhaps one of these infuriated GP-TP “Get of the Couch” assailants could perhaps open the door? It’s an all-exclusive plan enjoyed by members of Congress. No waiting. Walk in. Or, we’ll come and airlift you.
Went to EMMC walk in care in Dec. finally got the bill, insurance paid $6 of the $214 bill. If I sat home on my @## and received Mainecare I would owe nothing, but instead I’m paying insurance premiums, taxes for Mainecare and owe EMMC $208. Next time I get sick on the weekend I’ll take my chance and stay home.
Exactly. Insurance is a cash cow for the companies who sell it while you and I, and millions of others, try our best to survive in a corrupt system. Meanwhile hospitals charge $30 for a freaking bandaid and lay off nursing staff!
I agree with you, and want to add. One reason hospitals charge 5 bucks for a band-aid (saw it on one of my bills) is to make up for people who have no insurance and no money or assets to pay for treatment. Regulations don’t allow them to be honest and put up a sign that says that part of the money they charge the rest of us is to pay for the uninsured.
In 2010, hospitals and the rest of us had to pay 46 billion to make up for the uninsured in this country. Yet, the Republicans have a good portion of the elcetorate believing that using Obamacare will add 1 billion dollars/yr to the healthcare budget. What they don’t want people to figure out is that this 1 billion added will virtually eliminate the costs for the uninsured.
Also, did you notice in the article that the Heritage Foundation doesn’t attack the facts, but attack the messanger? Their obvious point of reference is that if you are rich, then you deserve medical care. The rest of us need to just quietly slide into the shadows and quit thinking that we are as valuable as a rich person.
People are so busy worrying about unfertilized eggs while neighbors may indeed be suffering and dying for want of medical care. I want to hear those who oppose universal health care explain it to Jesus…I’ll bring a snack.
Yes, so much for the good Christians who don’t care a wit about their neighbors. The people who say “no public assistance to anyone for anything” have never watched someone suffer and die for lack of a simple medicine or a 20 minute doctor visit. Then they go to church on Sunday, or Saturday, and claim before God that they are following the principles of their religion. Hypocrites. They need to have someone they love suffer and die for lack of medical care, or heat, or food, or mere shelter. Perhaps that would bring them around.
Jesus never said: ‘Sorry, I cannot heal you. You have a preexisting condition.
LePage has an easy fix for this, get off the couch….and kiss his butt????
I’ve also skipped healthcare in northern Maine because the standard of care is so poor it’s safer to avoid the doctor for minor health problems. If I ever became seriously ill, the first thing I would do is MOVE TO ANOTHER STATE.
Folks in the insurance industry tell me that the insurance rates in Maine are high because too many people are sponging off Mainecare and the rates have to be high to compensate for the freeloaders, but I think that’s crap since I’ve spoken to reps from several out-of-state insurance companies that tell me they are not allowed to provide coverage in Maine. There’s apparently some sort of hidden arrangement between the state government and the insurance industry to maintain a monopoly on in-state care. Can you say kickbacks?
Any carrier is allowed to do business in Maine if they follow the state rules for those providing insurance. The older laws (pre P.L. 90) do make it hard(er) to make a profit here in Vacationland. So do very high-priced hospitals, yes in part due to the poor Medicare reimbursement rates. There is no kickback, there is no monopoly. (stop listening to Limbaugh…). You might ask instead why you have to go to the high priced hospital in Maine for testing, rather than a myriad of independent testing facilities available in other states like NH.
It would also help to know why the insurance companies in Maine will not allow referrals out of state.
Follow the money.
State Insurance rules though The Republican bill changed that I thought.
Only if it changed in 2012. Two of my friends died in mid and late 2011 and weren’t allowed to seek second opinions, referral or specialty care outside of Maine during their illnesses… unless they wanted to pay cash because Anthem Blue Cross wouldn’t cover anything if they left the state.
There was something about that problem in the story about the nurses union and EMMC. Something like 60% of the billing is mainecare and medicare. Neither pays enough to fully cover the costs. The providers charge insurance companies and cash patients more to make up that loss.
I have several cousins who go to Canada because the care is similar, but the cost in Canada is negligible. They married Canadian citizens, so they have that option.
I’ve not had Health Care for a long time..I always carried Blue Cross and Blue Shield, but when I turned 40, it went up $75, and kept going up.The only time I really used it was when I had my son, 24 years ago. Was never sick, lucky, I guess!! I dropped it about 15 years ago because I couldn’t afford it..I make about $1000 too much to qualify for any Free care!! but I work!!!
My sister moved back to Maine after 9 years gone, she’s gotten free medical and food stamps..Something is Just Wrong with this system!!! Too easy to get free care if you don’t work..
Edmund Haislmaier (He should change his name to Smith. I had to check three times to get the spelling right.) like many conservatives can’t get his facts straight. The discussion is not about free medical care. It’s about medical care with insurance. That isn’t the same as free medical care. Jeesh! Will you conservatives pay attention!
They’re blinded by their tea party ideology as enforced via way of the Monarch Le Page.
Just as we currently see with the federal government’s student loans feeding the rapidly escalating costs in higher education, increased federal government involvement in healthcare since 1965 has also driven the costs to levels now unattainable for many Americans.
Yeah, if there were no regulations, prices would just plummet, it would be just like magic.
Sucker.
No regulations = no coverage = worthless unaffordable health insurance.
Single Payer now.
Yessah
So true. Just look at any program controlled by the government, from the Dept. of Education to Medicare for other examples. It is sad to see how many people cannot understand basic economics and common sense.
A lot of ’em had to work for a living.
Give us a couple or specific examples of what you are saying. I could just as easily write that because of medicare and the Dept. of Education, things are better than ever. If you are just going to get up and scream Right On!, you’ll need a few facts to get me on board.
Without Medicare – goodbye.
Can you show one iota of truth behind your “facts”? That is, student loans= higher prices? Or medicare/medicaid driving up the price of health care?
What you are saying is the same as the Republican Party. Only the rich need college and health care, the rest of us should just shutup and toil to make them richer.
Shame on America.
Where is this free health care this person talks about? I must of missed this because I have no health insurance because I can not afford it but do not qualify for any help what so ever. I have been paying for 4 years on an operation I had to have.
It is for people that are disabled, have children or are retired. All income based. When I had “free” care, I was making under $500. a month. The non-category income requirement was $2000. Gross pay a month. When I got another part-time job, my income, gross, was $802. a month….then the non-category of MaineCare went to $800. a month, and I lost my health insurance. With two part-time jobs, I wasn’t qualified for any kind of health insurance so, went without. It is scary the older you get and no safety net or backup plan for any kind of health coverage. I’m to young to retire, to old to have kids and not disabled enough to receive any Social Security help. So, I don’t go to the Dr.s unless I can afford the $65.00 fee that they charge. Which, on a part time job pay, comes hard. So, what is one to do? Back up and punt.
I bet you 100% of those on Maincare who go to PCHC went to the Dr. Atleast 3 times per month! Why? Not because they wanted to but because PCHC will not take care of all problems/complaints a patient has in ONE visit! I know this because I’ve watched just this month alone them make one person return 3 times in 2 weeks to deal with 3 different issues that could have ALL been dealt with in ONE visit! What’s it cost to go to the Dr. these days???? Around $185.00 per visit!! All three problems could have been handled in 15 minutes total in one visit but this person was forced to make 3 appointments for 3 different things all minor!!!!!!!
Republicans are fighting AGAINST health care for Mainers, hoping to slash MaineCare. They apparently prefer that citizens be ill. They fight AGAINST single-payer, because they favor corporate profits over American’s health.
The GOP wants you to work for the man in virtual slavery until you get sick. Then hurry up and die.
Republican leaders hope voters will be happy to cut off their own noses to spite someone else’s face. They have to believe (delusionally) that bad things never happen to good people and, therefore, that anyone who has lost their job or is ill, disabled, or elderly, must deserve their fate–a fate that could never possibly happen to the Republican voter him/herself.
Thanks to Obama, I can now ride my unicorn over the rainbow to my health care. No worries! In a few years this poll will be talking about how many people with real health issues cannot get access to any care. It’s sad how stupid liberals are.
This story lays claim to the fact that thousands of Maine people and people across the country bypass regular doctor’s visits and even treatments, because of the costs.
However, I hope you are never faced with having to make that decision.
I don’t agree with your comment, but it did make me laugh out loud! Thanks for a funny image!
Thanks to Obama, my daughter who has a low wage job (just starting out) now can be on our policy until she is 26.
Thanks to Obamacare, insurance companies now have to use 80% of premiums providing healthcare to their clients instead of larding up the pay of the top dogs.
http://www.healthcare.gov/law/timeline/full.html
BTW
Since you can see into the future and predict it, are you sure the reason for nobody getting healthcare in the future is due to Obamacare and not the Republican attempts at overturning the law (will probably happen in July, my prediction.)
So, if there is no Obamacare in the future, but there is no healthcare either, does this mean that the current system is destined for the trash heap of history?
And then of course, you have hypocritical Republicans who vote against Obamacare and then sign up for its benefits.
http://maddowblog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/05/04/11537575-scott-brown-stumbles-on-obamacare-problem
It looks like the deep south has it worse than we do when it comes to people being uninsured. I never realized that “right to work” also meant right to die because of no health insurance too.
WE need National Free Health Care… We do not need the GOP….
If this Country had NFHC we would not have a Country because we would be broke. Please people use you brain.
You’ll be broke faster than you can say “broke,” if you ever have to face some of the sickness faced by your fellow Americans. Insurance co-pay is pure corn.
Yep Europe is doing sooooo well.
Oh my gosh, you’re right: the ONLY reason they’re having problems is because of nationalized healthcare. So silly!
That and a cradle to grave support system.
Wait until Greece sinks, prime example of a cradle to grave system….
Under the present system, the distance between points is getting shorter.
If you have never been sick in Europe, you can write what you do. My wife got really sick in France. 4 days in the hospital, and all we paid was snacks and parking. But then, they don’t have 15 top insurers who need 5 billion to pay the top 5 executives in their companies.
So, yes, treatment in Europe is comprable to here, but the cost is less. We pay the highest medical costs, and our life expectancy is lower than most European countries. We ain’t doing as well as you have been led to believe.
APCs cure everything. Even self satisfied republicans, who want it all for themselves. Two pills, a glass of water, and plenty of sleep. See ya in the a.m.
APC’s are the military cure-all for anything and everything. That’s why they are correctly labeled as All Purpose Capsules. These are the pills or treatment offered by rich republican tea party people.
You do not have a clue. In Canada people die all the time for things us Americans would go insane over. If we had universal health care you better have money if your elder parents get cancer, because in Canada they would DIE. I have family in Canada so don’t say I am making this up!!!
You are wrong MEplydog, wrong! I was born in Canada, I have many relatives in Canada and many have had to deal with cancer. They were ALL treated, the ALL got their medicine, and out of at least 5 individuals the only one to pass away was my 92 year old grandmother who didn’t smoke but got lung cancer (what irony!). So once again, you are wrong. All of my Canadian relatives are familiar with the American system and frankly every single one of them is happy to have the Canadian healthcare system that they enjoy. EVERY ONE OF THEM! I am so sick and tired of ignorant people making the oft repeated claim that the Canadian healthcare system does not work. It does work!
An American woman suffering from cancer married a Canadian. She was treated and is well. I thought it was a very warm, touching story. It also brought out the fact that Americans have to seek aid from our Canadian neighbors to get the medical help they cannot afford this side. Busloads of senior Americans are ferried across the borders into Canada to buy affordable prescriptions, I learned.
With my high deductible insurance, a doctor’s visit is 200-300 for routine walk in care. A nice company policy would be great until I lose the house because monthly insurance is more then a paycheck. And yes, my mortgage is very affordable. I go for emergencies only and I live within my means.
This does not happen in civilized industrial societies.
Single Payer now.
Yessah
The headline should be ” 50% of adults get unnecessary health treatment on the taxpayers dime” I worry more about abuse than people not a fording hospital care. I have paid hospital bills for years when I was young because I did not have insurance.
I paid for my sons birth and wife gall bladder without insurance, so I feel nothing for people who don’t work.
Bereft of feelings leaves one with nothing.
I have feeling, but people have a responsibility to take care of themselves.
Take two APCs, drink plenty of water, get some rest, and drop by in the morning.
—
My point is that even if you are working and poor you should pay your medical bills. If you really need help there are ways to get it without us taxpayers paying for it.
The issue is less insurance companies (I’m no fan), but the incredible cost of health care in the US. Not sure why it is so expensive, but we pay 2-3X more than other modern nations with the same or worse outcome.
Here is part of the reason.
http://www.healthreformwatch.com/2009/05/20/health-insurance-ceos-total-compensation-in-2008/
Thank you hh2… at least a few folks like you and cheescake ‘get it’. The cost of health CARE is the major portion of the cost of health INSURANCE. Yes, the U.S. charges more than many other countries for the same procedures, and in Maine we often pay more for than many other states.
I think it is time for single payer grocery care. The price of groceries goes up every year and it is a basic human need. Why can’t other people pay for my filet mignon and Pringles?
When you think about it, the average family spends less on groceries in a year than what the federal government wants to spend giving families health care.
I’ve got medical insurance, but have gone without care as the deductibles are so high that I knew I’d have a bill I could not afford. Having said that, I do not want any type of obummer care where my taxes will go higher still and I still won’t be able to afford health care at all. I keep myself healthy as I know I must due to high insurance costs. I see those with free medical care smoking, drinking diet soda, etc. Why? They get free healthcare, less reason to take care of themselves. I don’t profess to know what the answer is, but free (not) healthcare for all is not the answer. This article is shady. Any Mainers who qualify for Mainecare have coverage; it’s middle class Mainers who forego care while paying for ‘poor’ Mainers on Mainecare that are not getting all the care they need.
keep believing that fantasy. yeah, it’s not the thousands of people who will not work and feel ‘entitled’ to ‘their’ benefits that is the problem. no siree.
No, the real problem is the overabundence of greedy people who never got the propper training in civility from their parents! I sincerely hope there arn’t a majority of Mainers out there with your narrow sighted attitude.
The cycle of poverty extends beyond finances. Working people raised in poverty who have never experienced the security of a safety net, will hold down a full-time job for decades, with employers who never offer even partial health health insurance, nor any benefits, and their wages are so low that they receive MaineCare.
The reason these people stay on the job, is that they believe they must work, and are terrified of trying to find other employment, for fear of losing the one job they have been able to count on.
I’m writing this broadly but have specific examples. In these cases, the type of work done is also specialized. Without these people, the employers would have no business to operate, yet they are feeding on the fear of employees who dare not ask for a raise, nor for benefits, so secure are they in their hold on people.
And these are families where there is marriage, where there are one or two children. They are families where the children have chronic, long-term illness. They have MaineCare but can they find a physician who accepts it? And, is that physician someone who knows enough about the illness?
You will counter that you are writing about people who will not work. Tell me this: when it is ingrained in a person that they are forever caught in the cycle of being without the kinds of resources so many others have – – and I’m not talking about just money — there is the undeniable element of societal and class perception that can make or break a person – especially in these small towns — when the State government and HHS do not offer a chance to securely attempt to work – I mean really securely, and to help people change their ingrained fears – they are one interview, one report away from losing everything, but their shamefully-paid jobs, why would anyone who is securely receiving benefits take the risk?
Helping people to rise up and out of a cycle is not solely dependent on money. How many lottery winners, oftentimes people who have lived on the fringes one way or another – mispend the money, and find themselves without. The answer is in the head and in the heart.
How many people in Maine who believe in work, also believe that it is expected that they will have to hold down two, three, or four jobs at once in order to survive. How many of these people would take the risk of losing these jobs even if offered a solid concrete job? Why would they believe that it would last, and that their other jobs would no longer be available to them.
It’s just not as simple as you believe it to be.
But let the Governor assign a task force to look at the number of households receiving MaineCare where people are working steadily at long-term, full-time jobs, and ask just how it is that the employers can continue to get away with their shameful practices.
Excellent points to prick the hard skinned selfish TP-GP rogues.
SHAME ON THE DEMOCRATS for passing out all our hard earned tax money to those who don’t want to work, making them dependent on the democrats (can you say more votes, so I get ‘my’ check) in this country. No, it’s not a sense of entitlement that is the cause. Geez.
The trouble is many of these people do work, they have insurance that cover little. Also How many of the very rich, are self made, or truly hard working?
I agree with you. I work two part time jobs and barely have enough money to pay my rent. I have a College degree but it doesn’t do any good. The 1 % is getting more and the rest of us are paying THEIR bills….go figure.
Unless you have no deductable, I’m guessing that even you have forgone medical care because of cost. The conservative “welfare state” rant is way off base here and beyond tiresome in it’s use for every problem you see.
Maybe you are right. Us old folks should go back to work and put you right out on the street! Then you could call yourself “Lazy” and “Don’t want to work” Don’t forget…Most of the working people in this state are just 1 paycheck away from unemployment. You could end up 1 of them. It no longer counts if you are good at what you do.
Amazing how myopic this blessed right wing GOP-TP thing is. Like the flick: “I’m Alright Jack.”
Bubble City folk enjoy US National Health Service. They are provided with the best medical services the US can provide. That means the very best. Cheney just received a heart replacement without the usual debilitating wait afforded commoners, on The US National Health Service Plan. Not one member of Congress is ever refused service. It’s all part of the package of becoming a US Rep or Senator. That means $200,000 salary with all expenses paid, offices, huge retirement fund, food and living allowances.
Some do have a National Health Service Plan. But you have to be a member of Congress in order to receive all of the benefits. Oh, and another thing, don’t worry about that exclusionary pre-existing condition clause, that’s just for the peasants.
Romney says the first thing he’ll axe when he “becomes president” will be to get rid of “Obama Care.” Why? Because he doesn’t need it. Neither do McConnell, Boehner, Ryan, Cantor, Bachmann, Cain, and all the usual suspects. The medical profession and pill pushers funnel millions into Congress via lobbyists to save their multi-billion dollar industries.
1 John 3:17
Here is what conservatives, that’s right CONSERVATIVES, the world over say about government mandated universal healthcare:
Germany – run by conservatives – universal health care
Britain – run by conservatives – universal health care
http://www.conservatives.com/Policy/Where_we_stand/Health.aspx
“We are committed to an NHS that is free at the point of use and available to everyone based on need, not the ability to pay.”
France – up until this week, run by conservatives – universal health care
Canada – run by conservatives – universal health care
http://www.conservative.ca/media/ConservativePlatform2011_ENs.pdf
“Stephen Harper’s Government is committed to a universal public
health care system and the Canada Health Act,”
All Conservative Parties in the developed world support universal healthcare for their citizens, except one, the GOP.
You forgot to mention that all those countries cover their citizens’ medical needs for about half the per capita cost of the US AND have a better rated system than we do. Coincidence?
Collins should be “appalled” by this. So should the rest of her republican tea drinkers.
We are being screwed by the pill pushers. The big labs spend billions for a pill that ends up with more warnings on its label than cures. Then, they spend billions more on TV advertising. The “Don’t Take” warnings that scroll almost endlessly up the screen, are enough to make you sicker than you ever were. Pill makers spend billions on male enhancement pills, and ignore such crippling life threatening diseases as Parkinson’s and Cancer.
No wonder the refined “Romney Care” bill now called “Obama Care” is destined for the scrap heap. Who wants to stifle the profits of the major pharmaceutical companies who contribute millions to their colleagues in Congress.
Collins would be shocked if she had to try and pay the obscene charges Maine people have to pay for medical care. The co-pay people are just as bad with their feeble assistance.
But now, Collins’ republicans are trying to kill Medicare – the last hope of many between living and death.
But why should she worry? Why would McConnell, Ryan, Boehner, and the rest of those smug republicans worry? They are overpaid – $200,000 a year. Total coverage without worrying about Congress killing your Medicare. In Congress you don’t worry about things that upset the average American. You are assured of – like Cheney – the ultimate in health care. Your quarters are paid for and so are your offices and their staffs.
No wonder people are bypassing the pill counter, and not reporting for needed treatments. If Collins and her republican Bubble family had to stand in line for pills and pay the bills, they’d pass out.
We need all of the changes in the proposed health bill. The only opposition is from a rich Congress which never has to stand in line for a pill, or, worry about making a payment for needed medical attention.
Obama2012
9.5 million Americans in the Military Health System (that’s 1/30 Americans) receive full health and dental…..but we say public health doesn’t work or is unAmerican. Hmmmmm.
I blame the uninsured for having the dumb luck to be born in the wrong “civilized” country, bad Karma or something.
How’s life on the Democrat plantation? The Maine Dems along with the enviros have driven out jobs for 35 years and now you’re dependent on them for your healthcare in return for your vote.
For example, I see the Sierra club came out against the East West highway. Good thing they weren’t here when the interstate was built or we’d all be driving Route 1 between Kittery and Houtlon.
Hooray for the Sierra Club. The Route 1 drive wasn’t all that bad, either. In fact some of the older well traveled routes of yesteryear still provide a shorter and much more leisurely way of getting there.
As for the jobs. With 45 per cent of the state’s population in retired status, what will Le Page do with all those thousands and thousands of jobs when he gets them? We have less than 1.5 million people in Maine.
We’re a big state with a small population, but with a lot of hardworking and extremely talented people.
Spoken like someone who has no need to engage in commerce to put food on the table.
Have’nt had a problem over the past 70 years.
Here is something that is so needed – help for those who work and still can not afford healthcare -www.rxcut.com/RXA00065. Just print the card and It works. I have been using this for 3 months now. The savings are usually 10-20$ off one prescription but it could be more for you. You can ask your pharmacist to keep this card on your file so that way you dont have to carry it. That’s what I did. Good luck!
Free prescription discount cards are available through the National Association of Counties, in the following Maine counties: Cumberland, Kennebeck, Knox, Lincoln, Penobscot, Sagadhoc, Somerset, and Waldo.
These cards are free and available to every resident of the above Counties, regardless of income or insurance. There are a good number of pharmacies that accept these cards. There is no paperwork, you just present the card.
Here is the information as it pertains to Knox: http://www.knoxcountymaine.gov/index.asp?Type=B_BASIC&SEC={8879DF27-CB12-4492-A141-9B8619A82CE7}
People skip the care then when something catastrophic happens they run to the hospital for free care. This is why the USA needs a single payer Government Agency like all of the other Industrialized Nations have.
So true, I have insurance and I still can’t afford to get sick. Private insurance companies are making billions. On these billions of dollars on our money.. a lot is going to the lobbiest to hand over to the goverment to make sure no changes are made.
Lying cheating politicians…obviously the GOP has the corner on that market. It wasn’t bought-and-paid-for Rs who stopped universal health care when the Ds owned the White House and Congress.
You get your Ds to end pay-for-service medical care and get them out of the trial lawyers’ pockets, and I’ll get my guys to stop saying “death panels” and admit change is coming.
Speaking to people from different age groups and walks of life I have no doubt that number is low.
Where are the RIGHT TO LIFE/FAMILY VALUES people when it comes to this issue? Amazingly missing.
The sad fact is that, without treatment today, it is going to cost the taxpayer a lot more in the future once the disease or illness gets control. I can remember someone saying if the taxpayers want the same coverage as the White House gets, give it to them. What happen ?
It will not cost the almighty taxpayer anything if people are willing to forego medical treatment.
If we didn’t pay for health insurance we could probably afford our 5K per person deductible. To whomever we are supporting financially at Blue Cross, you are welcome.