HEALTH CARE REFORM...IS IT GOOD FOR AMERICA???? written by Antonio Mckoy

So now we have Healthcare Reform and there are strong feelings on both sides of the political spectrum. First off, let’s get beyond the political speak of “States’ Rights”, “Big Government”, “Death Panels” (which is just ludicrous, the term Death Panels itself sounds like something straight out of “Star Wars”) and all the other rhetoric that has been thrown around with this current debate over healthcare and let’s get back to what really matters and should have mattered all along, people.

Having worked in the Health Insurance Industry for a number of years (for one of the industry leaders who shall remain nameless for obvious reasons) I remember initially entering the industry with the desire of not only learning how insurance worked for myself, but also I wanted to be able to help my family and friends not only understand how their health insurance worked but also the importance of having it. As I moved up in the company I became the quintessential “Company Man”. Whenever I would hear people talk about either having bad coverage or not liking their health insurance company my first response would always be, “Blame your company, they’re the ones’ who set up your plans, we just administer them.” The more I advanced and became known as a rising star within the company I became privy to more and more information as to how the health insurance industry REALLY worked and that the people I sought to help actually were taking a backseat to PROFITS.

I can attest to the horror stories which have been talked about on television during the healthcare debate, the denying of insurance claims for any reason whatsoever from late filings to not receiving information from patient that was “supposedly” requested, but often times wasn’t. I have seen people denied coverage for pre-existing conditions as common as migraines, menstrual cramps, and back pain. I have seen life saving surgeries denied authorization because we didn’t have medical records on file to determine “Medical Necessity”. I’m not going to even get into the issues with the actually paying of claims which were many times held up with delay tactics or short payments in order to teach medical providers a lesson or the number of refund checks to members that would just end up sitting on someone’s desk because they’re on vacation.

I’ve said all that to say that my opinions on Health Care Reform aren’t simply made just because I may or may not have voted for President Obama, or because I’m looking for a hand out as was suggested by one “brilliant” interviewee I saw on the morning segment on one of the cable news networks. The truth of the matter is my family and I have always had our own health insurance, but as I stated in the beginning this isn’t about me, this is about the people. There are millions of people who for whatever reason do not have coverage either because they feel they can pay out of pocket or they can’t afford it. I would venture to say that the majority fall in the latter category. Either way when those without insurance seek care, either at the doctor’s office, hospital or in most cases the emergency room, the costs that they either don’t pay or can’t pay are passed along to those of us who do have insurance, either through increased premiums or cost of care at the place of service.

I can remember being taught the concept that government was suppose to protect its citizens. That’s exactly what this Healthcare Reform aims to do. I could completely understand the opposition’s point of view if we were a country largely composed of Mr. and Ms. Olympias who exercised and ate healthy regularly. Realistically that is not the case. We are a country composed largely of out of shape, unhealthy eating people, suffering from a plethora of medical conditions ranging from asthma to diabetes to hypertension. Without Healthcare Reform there would continue to be millions of uninsured who utilize emergency rooms as their Primary Care or worse yet go without seeking medical help due to a lack of money. I can only imagine the number of people who suffer in silence or who ultimately die all because they cannot afford to seek the medical help they so desperately need and quite honestly is so readily available.