NewRetirement Blog » healthcare reform

Has Our Healthcare Come to This?

Erin — Wed, 22 Jun 2011 22:00:30 +0000

What do you do when you have multiple medical problems and no insurance? One man in North Carolina decided the solution was to rob a bank.

Richard Verone had struggled with a ruptured disk, a growth on his chest and problem with his left foot. After being laid off from his job of 17 years and working part time jobs that did not offer health insurance, Verone felt he had run out of options. So he walked into a bank, told the teller he was robbing them for $1 and then waited in the corner until the police came to arrest him. His entire plan was built on the hope of being sent to prison for three years – enough time to get his needed surgery and a release date that will coincide with his ability to collect Social Security.

Is this absolutely insane or is this what America’s healthcare system is coming to? So broken, that a person has to break the law just to get the care they need?

Republican Medicare plan is off the table

Jason — Thu, 05 May 2011 18:40:36 +0000

It appears in recent days that the House republicans have been backing down on their proposed plan for replacing Medicare with a voucher-based system to control the spiraling costs of the federal program. While this is probably a move designed to enable a deal to be worked out over the impending debt ceiling increase, it still leaves Medicare’s ultimate future in flux.\

Whatever alterations are made to Medicare are unlikely to affect those currently receiving benefits, but those who are turning 65 in a few years would be well advised to consider their retirement plan in the light of possible changes to the program, and decide whether supplemental coverage is likely or not to assist them in their overall retirement strategy.

Congressional Report slams AARP for profiteering and conflict of interest

Jason — Sat, 23 Apr 2011 00:42:28 +0000

The House of Representative’s Ways & Means committee released a report today slamming AARP as an organization that manipulates seniors for their own personal benefit. In it, the authors discuss AARP’s status as one of the largest insurance companies in the country, and the fact that their for-profit activities dwarf all of their non-profit and charitable activities put together.

The report also claims that AARP’s support for the Health Care reform plan passed several years ago was motivated by profit considerations, and that the organization mis-advises Seniors to suit their own purposes.

NewRetirement is in no position to speak to the allegations in question, but the House’s objections are certainly creating a stir.

Read the House Report “The AARP America doesn’t know”

Healthcare Revolution

Julius — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 23:47:09 +0000

Europe is able to have successful and affordable Healthcare, so why can’t we. Well, the answer might be right on the tip of our tongues. We have an obesity rate of 64.5% vs. a 27% and 38% obesity rate for European females and males, respectively. (The European obesity rate is increasing at an alarming rate due to what I believe is due to poorer nutrition, the increase of fast food chains, and to many extents, the McDonaldization of Society, where quality is substituted for quantity). I found a brilliant analysis of the single problem we have with Healthcare and what must be done to change it in this Op-Ed piece in the New York Times. The author, Michael Pollan points out that the single biggest problem with Healthcare is not the system itself but America’s food industry, “a second even more powerful industry,” even more powerful than Insurance. The American diet most clearly leads to health problems in the future. Super size meals, dollar menus, pound burritos, pretty much everything the Fast Food Industry puts on the table is fodder for the Healthcare industry. Even the salads and healthier food they have put on the menu aren’t as healthy as they appear to be. A salad with heavy dressing is over 1000 calories (like a Chipotle Burrito), and most people, because they think salad is healthy will get fries to complement said salad. You can thank the drive thru for that Type 2 diabetes as well as the fact that you have no insurance. And sure, to an lower to average income American eating 3 burgers, fries and a soda for as much as you would pay for a cup of fruit and a bagel is very tempting. What must be done aside from fixing the Healthcare system of its flaws is to tackle the giant food system and the American way of eating. By providing Americans with cost-effective and healthy eating, we will decrease the burden we are putting on the Healthcare system. If we get the health insurance industry involved in the fight over the farm bill, which they certainly will because they see the profits in having a healthy population, then we can see a true step forward for Healthcare Reform and cutting Healthcare costs. While Pollan believes the fight should be between “Big Food and Big Insurance,” I also believe that the Healthcare Industry will side with Big Food since it throws money their way. It looks like a we have a battle of the bigs, I hope us little ones just don’t get lost in the fog.