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AFL-CIO Health Care for America Survey Closed |
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More than 25,000 people took the AFL-CIO 2009 Health Care for America Survey and more than 6,000 told us their personal stories of struggles with the nation’s broken health care system.
The survey is now closed and the results are being analyzed. A full report on how respondents are coping with their own health care costs and how they believe health care reform should be shaped will be released later this month.
Many of those who took the time to share their stories told us how they have lost their jobs and their health coverage in the economic downturn and now are struggling to foot the bill for their health care—or are going without coverage. Others told of paying more and more in premiums and co-payments, yet finding fewer and fewer health care costs covered.
Duncan from Oregon sums up the nation’s health care crisis facing millions of Americans:
If I lose my job, I lose my health coverage. My health is good for my age. My wife’s health is not good.
If I lose my job, I lose my house—we become street people, no health care. This sort of thing has happened, is happening, and will continue to happen until citizens regain control of their government and the concept of private insurance is relegated to history.
As part of the union movement’s effort to shape health care reform, we will share the results of the survey with national and state leaders and the media. Congress, the Obama administration and the media are hearing about health care reform from drug companies and insurance companies. We want to make sure they hear from working families as well.
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Tell the President, Congress and most Importantly Labor’s Leadership to put their weight behind HR-676 and demand Single Payer Health Care for all. Take Health Care “OFF THE NEGOTIATING TABLE,” and we won’t have to worry about any “backsliding” into the profit before people cycle.
Sen. Baucus has agreed to meet with single payer advocates, but those paychecks by the health care industry to Baucus will be on his mind as he talks to them. Now the HC industry wants a govt. option off the table, Obama is now talking about taxing our benefit, although he said during his campaign, he opposed taxing it. So flip flop flip flop, labor needs to call their Reps. and Senators and ask them again and again to co-sponsor HR 676 & SB703.
We cannot live without our doctors, but we can live without insurance companies. Being in the life, health and P&C insurance business for over 20 years, I would estimate that 50% of premiums, and a substantial portion of human resource expenses, go to waste on other than healthcare, such as—wining, dining, lobbying, contests to attend resorts and unreasonable executive bonuses (the latter 2 going to the most effective liars, cheats and thieves). I support a public plan or single payor system of which most of the premiums paid would go towards healthcare. Even in property and casualty insurance, and similar with health insurance, I can give examples of where, system wide, as much as 150% of premiums acquired go into client acquisition expenses in the name of competition and efficiency (Not).
I have three health insurance companies engaging in lying, cheating and stealing, deceptive trade practices and fraud. One is using the excuse of the employer’s lack of paying the premium. The employer uses the excuse of election problems , which is due to their highly secure and complex online systems that do not work and take an act of congress to correct. The other insurance companies use the excuse that they sent a survey form inquiring about other coverage. Even when you finally get it and swear you do not have coverage, they misinterpret that you do have other converge. All of the parties use highly-secure corporate websites to communicate messages that are erased after a few weeks. However, they never fail to collect the premiums.
Between Banks, credit card companies and health insurance companies, insurance companies are tied for first in the example of lying, cheating and stealing, which is the order of the day for big business (Republicans). This is not godly, not even free enterprise, and will lead to the destruction of this country and the world. We are all consumers. This has to stop.