Healthcare System

James Green 04/27/09 English III Honors U.S. Healthcare Companies Research Paper U.S. Healthcare Companies: Corrupt and Expensive Have you seen the movie Sicko? Sicko is about the United States Healthcare System, the insurance companies and our country’s leaders. The movie describes the horrible antics of the corrupt and expensive system that the two-hundred and fifty million of us have. With such expensive healthcare, one would think people would be treated like royalty. According to the World Health Organization, the U.S. Healthcare System ranked 37th in the world, only two places ahead of Cuba. (par 37) In order to understand how the healthcare system arrived in it’s current state, one needs to understand the corrupt nature of healthcare providers and insurers, the everrising expense to the public, and the government’s inadequacy in dealing with the matter. The healthcare providers and insurers use their persuasion in the government to keep their companies from being raped for a universal system. In an article on the Michael Moore website, insurance providers paid over $100-$300 million to stop Hilary Clinton’s universal healthcare plan in the 90’s. (par 8) Hilary Clinton remains one of the top recipients for donations in the U.S. Senate, by the healthcare groups. (par 22) Many healthcare providers like Cigna, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Aetna and HCA Inc. have paid over one billion dollars to the United States government for civilian penalties and damages from false claims to Medicare and Medicaid. (par 13-17) Cigna, a healthcare company, has paid the least amount for lawsuits with a total around $85 million, followed by Blue Cross Blue Shield at $117 million. Aetna paid $120 million,

placing it the second most lawfully wrong company, which leaves HCA Inc. at $1.7 billion in false claims, penalties and criminal fines. These companies have taken money from the government programs designed to help citizens who cannot afford healthcare and have significant medical needs. In an article by Ali Frick, insurance companies have denied healthcare coverage to one to eighteen percent of Americans. A person in the United States can be denied healthcare for pre-existing medical conditions such as asthma, heart disease, high cholesterol, epilepsy, or even yeast infections. (par 4) Furthermore, Michael Moore states, “Every resident of the United States must have free, universal healthcare for life.” (cite) Insurance companies pick and choose the citizens they want to insure; the healthy-none risk patients. The providers and insurers in the United States do not wish for “healthy citizens,” just the pay check at the end of the month. Minimum coverage for maximum profit is a strategy of healthcare providers like Cigna, HCA and Blue Cross Blue Shield use. Healthcare costs today range from hundreds of dollars to thousands, depending on what coverage one has and what pre-existing conditions affect that person’s life. The United States Healthcare costs are the greatest in the world. In an article on the Voice of America website, Professor Grogan said, “You would think we would be perhaps closest to the prices in Canada. We are three times higher. The fees that are paid, the actual prices for procedures and what we pay to providers, are three times as high as in Canada.” (par 5) According to the Kaiser Education website, 30% of the costs of Healthcare were spent on hospital care; while 21% of the premiums paid consist of Physician and Clinical visits. (par 4) Insurance companies have many reasons for the ever-rising cost of healthcare. One may consider the intensity of the services provided, including but not constrained to; longer life spans, preventive care, potential at risk patients for diseases and chronic illnesses. (par 6) Prescription

drugs and technology are other facts that play apart in the expensiveness of healthcare. Prescription drug costs have increased tremendously in 2006. Costs have increased because of the Medicare Part D benefit, which is a system used to help pay for prescription drugs for the elderly, and the cost of the state of art technology used during procedures preformed by doctors and surgeons on a regular basis according to the Medicare Advocacy website. Insurance will only cover to a certain amount then afterwards it’s up to that person to pay the amount left. Citizens shouldn’t have to rely on there income to pay their entire healthcare costs. (par 1) The government could have tremendous influence on the healthcare system, but instead, politicians are paid off by healthcare providers to stop any universal healthcare system from rising. One would think the government could control all healthcare plans and insurance companies, but, in fact, the insurance companies control the government. The United States government have tried many times to introduce a universal healthcare system to the public but failed. The government has failed because the corrupt healthcare providers have paid politicians to veto the bill. On the Michael Moore website, there are, as of 2005, 2084 lobbyists registered in the federal government. That is about three lobbyists per politician in congress. (par 22) The government has also denied healthcare to the 9/11 rescue workers and have refused to pay them for the duties contributed to the country. Over fifty-two million dollars of tax payers money have gone to the 9/11 volunteer’s fund, which in fact, is also corrupt. The Department of Defense Emergency Supplement Appropriations for Recovery has provided a total of $175 million to the volunteer compensation plan. The thousands of volunteers cannot access the funds which they deserve. The government thinks the volunteer’s are not part of the federal system and are not their responsibility. (par 52-55) People are dying everyday and the government can stop this by introducing a universal healthcare system.

On May 30th, 1996, Linda Peeno confessed to congress her wrong doings in her medical career. She denied healthcare to many patients simply because they could not make payments. She saved insurance companies millions of dollars during her time period as a Medical Director in Louisville, Kentucky. In Linda Peeno’s speech, she states, “In all my work, I had one primary duty and that was to use my medical expertise for the financial benefit of the organization for which I worked and according to the managed care industry . . . And I was repeatedly told that I was not denying care. I was simply denying payment.” (par 3) The United States Healthcare Providers continue to be corrupt and expensive, making insurance impossible to receive. Insurance rates are outrageously expensive and unaffordable to many Americans. The government is still reexamining and proposing a new healthcare system. The current insurance provider’s continue to pay-off politicians, and the CEO’s of those companies continue to receive their annual million dollar bonuses. To fix this problem, the United States should eliminate the lobbyist controlling the government officials, close multimillion dollar insurance companies and provide a National Healthcare System. This would greatly improve the health and well being of the country. Countries like England and France, who have already introduced a national healthcare plan, are rated higher in a longer life span of its citizens than the United States.