Limbaugh told a caller that he envisions living in Costa Rica should the government, through a federal program costing upwards of $1 trillion, expand health care coverage to approximately 30 million Americans who are currently uninsured
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You must have missed the last two statements from the CBO. Here's the most recent:
http://www.cbo.gov/ftpdocs/113xx/doc11307/Reid_Letter_HR3590.pdf
Avoiding the Coming Collapse of the Health Care System
Despite all the advances in modern medicine, we seem powerless to turn back the epidemic of silent inflammation that threatens to destroy our current health care system. In essence, the wellness of Americans is rapidly eroding. Our diets have changed so rapidly that their hormonal consequences are now overwhelming our genes. Because we have ignored the hormonal consequences of our diet, the greatest threat to America is the potential collapse of our health care system?and it looms just ahead. The first signs of that collapse are now appearing, with the rapid increases in health care insurance and the growing number of people who can't pay for it.
The number-one chronic disease that will accelerate this collapse is the growing epidemic of type 2 diabetes. This is the most expensive of all diseases, because patients often become severely debilitated, though they can live for years with this debilitation. It is the number-one cause of blindness, the primary cause of amputation, a major trigger of heart disease, and a common cause of kidney failure. It costs more than $200,000 per year to keep a single kidney dialysis patient alive. Overall, this condition now costs our country $132 billion a year.
Currently, about 7 percent of adult Americans have type 2 diabetes, and I estimate once that figure reaches 10 percent of the adult population, we will be unable to pay for the resulting health care costs, regardless of our economic strength. The only question is how long it will be before we reach that magic 10 percent figure. It might be as early as five years from now, maybe fifteen years at the most. It doesn't matter if we have universal health insurance, private insurance, or no health insurance at all. The American health care system will simply go bankrupt. But whenever that time comes, everyone in America will be asking, What happened? By the time the epidemic of silent inflammation takes its full toll, it will be too late.
Type 2 diabetes will be only the first in a line of many other chronic diseases, such as heart disease, cancer, and Alzheimer's, that will begin to strike at an earlier age and affect an even greater percentage of our population. If type 2 diabetes is not the crushing blow to our health care system, then these other diseases fueled by silent inflammation will soon finish the job.
Paying for health insurance is the new major battleground for American workers and employers. We live in the richest country in the world, and yet more than 40 million people are not insured.
Why is health insurance so expensive? Simply ask the HMOs. Nearly 80 percent of the costs for an average HMO goes to pay for disease conditions strongly associated with silent inflammation. The longer silent inflammation is left untreated, the more damage accumulates. This is why health insurance costs are so rapidly rising, and we are increasingly unable to pay for them. The truth is, employers are already resisting the increased rates by reducing their hiring of new employees.
Although the future looks bleak, we can change it if we immediately begin to take the steps needed to reverse silent inflammation. This will require realistic approaches for individuals, not meaningless political slogans. The steps I discuss below will also address pediatric and adolescent obesity, the fastest-growing segment of our obesity epidemic. It is now estimated that one-third of the children born after 2000 will develop type 2 diabetes at some point in their lives. They will be more likely to develop heart disease, cancer and neurological disorders at a relatively early age. I fear that unless we take these steps, the next generation of Americans may be the first in recorded history whose actual life span is shorter than their parents.
That's the bad news. If we do nothing, the future is clear. It's bleak, very bleak. Therefore, we might ask: What are insurance companies, corporations, and the government doing about this impeding collapse of our health care system?
INSURANCE COMPANIES
Insurance companies should be at the forefront of the battle against silent inflammation, since they ultimately pay for its consequences. That makes sense until you realize that insurance companies are simply bookies. As long as they get their spread, they are willing to take your money. Here is where health insurance is really a sucker's bet. In essence, you give money to the insurance company fearing that you will get sick. They take your money betting that you won't get sick. Like any good bookie, they simply figure the odds so no matter what the outcome, they make a profit. They have no real interest in promoting the reduction of silent inflammation, since you will keep paying for the health insurance regardless of the cost. If the population gets sicker, they simply raise rates to cover the increased cost. If you can't pay for the increased premiums, it's your problem.
Another salient point regarding cost is outlined by Dr. Barry Sears in his book The Anti-Inflammation Zone, chapter titled Avoiding the Coming Collapse of the Health Care System - and that is the growing epidemic of people living for decades with chronic health conditions.
I still would like to see demographics and statistics on those with chronic illness who further abuse their bodies.
San Jos?, Costa Rica – Conservative talk-show host Rush Limbaugh said this week he’d go to Costa Rica for medical treatment if Congress passes proposed reforms to the US healthcare system.
That might sound like an unusual choice, since this is a country with one of the longest standing socialized healthcare systems on the planet. Everyone here (including resident foreigner), are required to pay into the government-run health system, whether they use it or not.
But Limbaugh’s choice may also serve to advertise what many Americans traveling here for medical treatment already know: Costa Rica is a fabulous place for medical tourism.
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I would love to see those numbers/demographics too - mainly to refute the "picture" many people have in their heads of what people who do not have or cannot get health insurance look like.
There seems to be a perception that the majority of Americans with health insurance issues are: illegal aliens, minorities, deadbeats, freeloaders, unhealthy, fat slobs, spending the money on other things, don't care about their health, want totally free medical care etc.
Someone posted a great analysis of the divide - those w/ jobs that provide insurance, are vets, or are on Medicare think there is nothing wrong with the current system - while those who are self employed, employed by small businesses, or unable to afford or get insurance have a VERY different view.
My concern is that between the aging population (driving up both health care costs AND the amount our government spends) , the rising cost of health insurance, and the economy, more and more people are going to find themselves in the second group, not the first....................as the problem gets worse and worse instead of better.
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Lets just scare the hell out of people by mentioning caps. It's either a limit or a painful dental procedure and people associate it with something they dislike.
The assumption that the health care bill will cap the cost on services and thus lower that quality is a pretty stupid assumption. Currently Medicare does have a cap on services and insurance companies mirror those caps. In many instances a doctor cannot charge a patient above that cap depending on their contract with the insurance company. In other cases they can attempt to collect the difference, but it's almost unmeasurable how a medical bill will not affect your credit.
If this occurs, the physicians lose their contracts with the carrier, thus losing a large patient base (in many cases). A dr. tried collecting the difference on one of my bills. The argument came to a screeching halt when I informed the billing clerk that I underwrite the plans and work closely with the managed care physician recruiters who approve their practice participation.
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