THIS PAGE AND OPPOSITE: ERIN FITZGERALD
���Medicare is far more effective than the broken private system in controlling costs and
the waste that goes to insurance paperwork and profits, and it is universally popular,
even among those who bitterly opposed the Obama law. Let���s open it up to everyone.
NO ONE SHOULD HAVE TO WAIT TO BE 65 TO BE GUARANTEED HEALTHCARE.���
the cost of premiums for offering
health insurance to their workers, a
provision already in effect.
But on many fundamental levels, the law falls woefully short and
fails to rein in health insurers.
Insurance companies, drug
companies, and hospitals will still
largely be able to charge what they
want. Restrictions on premium rate
increases and out-of-pocket costs
are limited and will likely be ineffective. The probable result: a continuation of bankruptcies linked to
high medical bills and many people, including those forced to buy
insurance, skipping needed care because of high out-of-pocket costs.
Furthermore, insurance companies will still be able to deny medical treatment, diagnostic procedures, and referrals, making excuses
by citing such care as ���experimental,��� or ���not medically justified.���
They will be able to dictate the order of tests and course of treatment. Recourses for patients will remain weak. And you can bet
insurance companies will spend a lot of money on lawyers and
claims adjustors who will be experts at finding loopholes in the new
Opposite page clockwise from
top left: RN volunteers gave free
screenings in Santa Cruz; LA
County-USC Medical Center RNs
in Glendale; a father and daughter stop in at the Santa Cruz
screening; RNs chat with a participant in San Bernardino. This
page from left: An RN in Santa
Monica listens during a blood
pressure check; Diane Pittsley,
like so many others RNs met, is
uninsured.
JUNE 2012
W W W. N AT I O N A L N U R S E S U N I T E D . O R G
N AT I O N A L N U R S E
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