Thursday, May 26, 2005

Are Americans entitled to healthcare insurance?

Apparently, the State of Tennessee doesn't think so. Some may wonder why I even care about this issue, considering I no longer live in Tennessee and no longer rely on TennCare. I care about it because I know how grateful I was to have TennCare when I needed it. And now 323,000 Tennesseans are about to lose TennCare. They won't have it when they need it.

On the Tennessee Guerrilla Women blog, there are several good posts about TennCare and why Tennessee needs to reconsider what they are doing. One post, displaying the haughty opinion of one of Tennessee's fine politicians, made me think about this question. Are Americans entitled to state or national healthcare insurance?

Well, most European countries seem to think that national healthcare is a necessity for the wellbeing of citizens. In Title IV - Solidarity, Article II 94-95, the European Constitution states:

"Everyone has the right of access to preventive health care and the right to benefit from medical treatment under the conditions established by national laws and practices. A high level of human health protection shall be ensured in the definition and implementation of all Union policies and activities."

While the constitution hasn't yet been adopted in its entirety, the language is based on measures already in place in most EU countries. Obviously, access to appropriate healthcare is a right for EU citizens. The easiest thing for me to obtain when I first moved here was my healthcare insurance. Imagine that.

Ok, so I know America does have a form of national healthcare, but only if you fall under certain criteria. There are still millions of people in America who desperately need state or national healthcare who do not qualify. They don't have the right to it, apparently.

This is why TennCare was such an amazing thing. It provided insurance to hundreds of thousands of Tennesseans who couldn't obtain it otherwise, on a sliding scale of payment plans based on income and ability to pay. Where did it go wrong? Well, I don't know the political reasons for it. But I do know there was a lot of abuse, a lot of mismanagement, and other things that really should have been corrected by the people in charge.

The entire healthcare system in America needs a HUGE overhaul. If healthcare costs in America were regulated, it would be much easier to provide state or national healthcare programs. Healthcare charges in America range up to 900-1000% profit. A quick example:
One of the medications I take on a daily basis was not available in a generic brand when it was first prescribed to me. My insurance at the time paid 80% of prescriptions, but I had to pay up front and send in the receipts. This medication (Plaquenil) cost me just over $100 for 60 pills. A few years later a generic form was available, and it cost me around $50 for 60 pills. Here in Greece, generic forms are not available, everything is "name brand" when it comes to medication. Plaquenil here costs me 5 euros for 30 pills, or 10 euros for 60 pills. (And that isn't even counting the break I'd get for insurance). That is NINE TIMES less than the cost for the same medication in the U.S.. Most other medications I've encountered are the same. The irony is all the pharmaceutical company names are exactly the same here as they are in the U.S. Gee, I wonder how that is possible? The answer is simple: Greece regulates the amount of profit pharmaceutical companies can make. Why doesn't the U.S.? While I'm not naive enough to not know the answer to that question, it still pisses me off. American people are essentially getting conned out of money every day for healthcare expenses.

No wonder they don't have the right to insurance. The government doesn't want to get conned either.

If you want to read about the plight of TennCare, this site is very informative. I really, really hope those 323,000 people don't lose their TennCare. They need it too badly.

1 comment:

miss tango said...

Well I am sure the government knows exactly what they are doing, since they have friends and family that sit on those pharmaceutical boards.
Infuriating isn't it?
In Canada we are lucky, each province has it's own healthcare plan, and it is a sliding cost scale, according to your income. (In BC, anyways). And then through your work you can also get extended coverage.