Uninsured & Overcrowded: America's Health Care Problem

Believe it or not, it is this exact crisis in healthcare that has led to the advent of a new phenomenon in medical treatment that I have found very useful. I call them "Quick-E-Clinics"; full service medical clinics in drugstores across the country that offer care for acute conditions such as Erin's. Think "fast food drive through" meets "Primary Care Physician". These clinics will take anyone who walks up, you get a full exam from a nurse practitioner, and get the necessary prescriptions for your condition. About a week ago, I gained a hacking cough that just wouldn't go away. Lacking an insurance policy, I heard about the clinic at CVS and decided to give it a try. The process was very easy and helpful. After completing a medical survey, the NP examined me and diagnosed me with bronchitis. He wrote me a prescription for some medication and sent me on my way. Needless to say, I'm feeing much better. The total bill for the visit and meds was about $200, which isnt cheap I admit, but is a heck of a lot less than $1500. These places only treat acute conditions like colds, flu, etc....but I found it very convenient

Great pod. Most young people won't vote on health care or vote at all for that matter but they have to start at least getting to know the issue. I like

Don't know what to think of this. It seems like it's trying to seem compassionate, yet at the same time sort of glosses over some harsh realities as if they do not exist. Some hospitals definitely do treat uninsured people like untouchable beggars, and most take them right to court when they don't pay their bills. Would you be willing to tell them (if you're ever in the E.R. for an emergency) that you personally don't have health insurance just to test this hypothesis? There is a new loophole now so E.R.'s can (not all of them do) send uninsured people's emergencies packing down the road to the next E.R. Bills are not simply forgiven and passed on to anyone else until the provider makes certain the patient has nothing else left to take. Bills are sued for all of the time, and millions of American households, even those with insurance, have been forced into bankruptcy due to medical bills. Plus $1500 sounds like an incredible deal compared to the figures I've heard cited for uninsured charges for emergency or even regular care. Everyone is paying different prices for precisely the same things, so prices are extremely relative. The uninsured get charged the highest, special prices reserved only for those with absolutely no protection. Under our current system no one knows who is paying how much for what. I agree no one should need to go to the E.R. for a simple chest cold, and that we're paying more for our uninsured than it would cost us to provide preventative care in the first place. Is that what you're trying to say?

Spoon,

The story you see here is just the tip of the iceberg. Think of it as a tease. If all goes according to plan, we will delve into all of the issues that you mentioned in the coming months, with other pods. As for the little trick you were talking about - "sending people down the road." That very thing was mentioned in our piece. It is called "diversion," and the Ph D. we interviewed talked specifically about that as a way to get around taking patients who can't afford care. That in itself would be a whole other story.

And to answer your question, yes, we are trying to convey the idea that our system is too cost-ineffective, and that something needs to change with regards to the way people are covered. Healthcare needs to be accessible for everyone.

this was right on the money,i live in florida and i have MENNY storys about the crumbleing helth care system and the none acountability..all these other points about insurence are not relavint.the bottom line is, un like bush said, no you cant just go to an emergency room and exspect to get proper care.and theres no boddy who you can complane to who cares and if you die ,still no one cares.un less your the son or daughter of a congressmen or actor or something. insurence is part of the problem,not part of the saloution .its verry hard to articulate the menny points becaus there are way too menny to articulate.the system is broken and how anyone can defend the actions of a hospital that did what we just watched is shame full and that boils down to how were all condisioned to think.and what were used to excepting be caus were so used to it.good pod

I would not have started with a film about a person with a chest cold who goes to an ER where there is a list of clinics available. I would have started with a real emergency that could have been easily prevented, and shown the dispicable way the emergency (aka "human being") is treated in most E.R.'s (the one in this film appears particularly compassionate and exceptionally good) when they find out (first thing) "it" doesn't have health inxurance. Next I would produce a series of "Harriett and Lou" commercials to counter the old "Harry and Louise" ones. I could think of a million, but here's one sketch. After Harriett in her bathrobe reads a letter with consternation and worry growing on her face, she collapses. Lou and the kids rush to pick her up off the floor, wondering what's wrong. Lou picks up the letter and reads it. He looks to the kids and says, "Kids, it looks like the insurance company is denying coverage for your mother's heart attack". The youngest child says, "But the doctor told us to reduce all her stress!" Lou's head sinks, "I know, but I don't know if there's anything we can do to fix this". Based on a true story.

Spoon,

The whole point of this story is that someone with a condition that is "non-emergent" had no other choice than the ER. That is the story. Plain and simple. Yes, there is a way bigger story here... So many bigger stories in fact. But the point is that people like Erin are crowding our ERs because they have no where else to go. They can't pay for private practice care or afford the health insurance it takes to be properly covered.

I do not disagree with you on any of your points. I understand your concern and outrage with the system. Just hang in there, we will get to your beef.

I should have said at the beginning that this was a very well crafted film. But I guess I am very critical. I had to listen again to hear the part about diversionary tactics, and you seemed to want to emphasize the point that the patient received "the same" care (which I believe is more the exception than the rule). Then at the end you seemed to imply that all she lacked was the list of clinics she could have gone to instead, and that she wouldn't need to worry about the bill because someone else would pay for it, which also confused me. Personally I think, "It's the profit-driven health insurers, Stupid" (not care providers) who are the problem. I think providers are at the mecry of a merciless system just like most patients these days. Get rid of health insurers, put everyone into one large protective pool and watch what the simple act of shedding light onto a situation does to clear up the slime. If you will get to my (technically our) beefs I (we) will be extremely grateful!

We strongly believe another key issue concerning health care is tort reform. Until frivolous lawsuits are stopped, the system's hands are tied. You saw that they ran a lot of tests on our patient. That is normal, if you go in with a cold. They are afraid to miss something, even if it is fairly obvious that the condition is just a severe cold. If they didn't test, and did miss something, they would be left open to lawsuits. We could say it is sort of a fear-based medical system. This is messed up. The system is covering its own ass, and in the process the cost of insuring itself against frivolous law suits makes it impossible to keep things cost effective.

This is yet another part of the story. And there are so many more.

Here is the Vlog that goes with this story:

http://current.com/items/88792488_video_journal_what_s_...

If all the bills were paid because we all chipped in together and made sure they were paid (like the Amish do here), then sueing over who has to pay medical bills would become a moot point. That plus creating the transparency we need by banding together into one united protective pool with one set of reliably consistent rules would do a lot to solve the litigation problem. At 1-2% of what we spend I'm not sure I'm willing to give it the weight you do, but it would be solved never-the-less. Maybe providers could quite fearing patients would sue while patients could stop fearing providers will bankrupt them in return. Now the profit-driven health insurers are laughing all the way to the bank while they pit providers and patients against each other. Their success depends upon keeping us divided and conquered.

The issue that is painfully overlooked in this discussion is that the leadership in government does not recognize that the system is broken. Listen to the opening remarks from Bush. It's not only broken, but it can't be fixed under the existing model of private insurance. The president and Congress have health care provided by the government. If it's good enough for them, it ought to be good enough for the rest of us. The Veterans Administration is one of the most powerful HMOs on the planet, managing to care for clients with budgets set by Congress three years in advance. There has never been a private insurance company that can set a rate and hold it for three years. Success with a public health care system has already been demonstrated in this country. While this video only looks at one instance of inappropriate resource use, it gets to the heart of the political will or lack there of when it comes to providing solutions to this crisis. It's not a sob story, not particularly dramatic, but it clearly identifies one more straw that will take the health care camel down. We now need the leadership to implement a solution to cover the 47 million folks without insurance so we stop the hand wringing and finger pointing and all sleep a little better at night...

hang in there erin.we can only hope that the next adminastration will adress this. we could all have helth care if there were good jobs to go to were they had afordable plans but this is nation wide and the problems in this country are so deep that it needs majior over haul.

My story

I'm a 40 y'o mother of three, I'm also a nurse, I worked in labor and delivery, and nursery. I also covered med-surg and ICU. I loved the work, caring for patients and patient education, (a big part of sending home new parents). In 2000 I was diagnosed with Crohn's Disease, but treatment for the pain and other symptoms was a long and unsucessful journey. I was put on medications that are the standard treatment for CD.. As most people with health issues I sought help from my doctor, who then send me to a GI, where I was given more medications. Progesterone was a medication that I was given both in the hospital and after I was discharged. I was on medications for diarrhea, nausea, and the pain. I had a strong reaction to the steroids, but it didn't change any of the symptoms. Both my husband and children agreed that I should never take steroids again. I took many different medication, and I took them as directed, with no change in symptoms.. I continued to work as well as I could, dealing with the symptoms and pain, it became harder as the illness progressed. I spent alot of time in the bathroom, and hiding my pain from family, friends and co-workers. Even though I work in the health care field, it is still hard to have conversations about bathroom habits,( of course that is the main problem with Crohn's Disease). . I now had more medical bill and prescriptions to pay for, and continued to have pain, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea. This has gone on for more than eight years now, and the things I have been through are just unbelievable in this country at this time. Because of the poor health care I recieved when I had health insurance and worked in the health field, I am now without my family, home, job and health care. I am having a very difficult time getting health care now that I now longer have a job or insurance. I now have to be on public health care, what I can get. I was in the hospital for a prolonged time in late 2006, with abdominal pain. While a patient I became infected with MRSA, ( the same infection in the news because of the increase in cases in our area). The only way I could have become infected was through cross contamination, from hospital staff. I was given treatment for the infection and discharged home without a diagnosis for the abdominal pain. I followed up with a hospital clinic, there the doctor there ordered more tests and medications, which I took,(again with little change in symptoms and strong side effects). I had a really bad doctors visit, and lets say I will NEVER GO BACK. So I decided to change clinics, I made an appointment and when I saw the new doctor he told me that he wouldn't be able to see me as a patient. I have been admited to the same hospital again, and the treatment hadn't improved, I was so scared to be there again as a patient, but I need medical care. Now I have to go and have a test at the same hospital and I don't want to take a chance on another infection, so I wanted to get information about infection control policies and procedures. To see if changes had been made, to prevent others from being infected. I have found this to be harder than I ever imagined. I was told by the Infection Control nurse at the hospital, "I can't release that information to you". I also tryed to reach the Patient Relations personal and was unable to reach anyone. I have found that being the patient is much harder than being the nurse. Who is watching out for the rights of the patients?