tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1556371561007953336.post2098927435632598032..comments2024-03-16T16:44:18.220-07:00Comments on Bad Cripple: Ian Pearl: The Dog that Bit Backwilliam Peacehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00223601480542461802noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1556371561007953336.post-54416286470968338572009-12-30T20:55:39.679-08:002009-12-30T20:55:39.679-08:00Webhead
It is true that disabled people add cost ...Webhead<br /><br />It is true that disabled people add cost to the system, which is currently either company or government run insurance. But this is exactly WHY there is insurance. The reason we pay every month for insurance is to rely on a pool of money in case we have a need which is greater than our ability to pay. <br /><br />Insurance actuaries are aware that there is a bell-shaped curve of people who will pay and never need insurance and others will need a great deal of coverage. <br /><br />We can always just lop off the people at the one end of the bell shaped curve, in order to make it less expensive for everyone? But where does that game end? Do we only cover people in the middle and low end of the curve?<br /><br />It is amazing to me that a company offered a policy, had people benefiting from it and then decided to cancel it because it proved to be too expensive, without some kind of compensation for those being covered. The system as it is, just is not working.RehaDesignhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14795560785114983510noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1556371561007953336.post-41367648042099565172009-12-03T08:05:22.880-08:002009-12-03T08:05:22.880-08:00WebHead, So what do you suggest Mr. Pearl and othe...WebHead, So what do you suggest Mr. Pearl and other people whose health care costs are significant do? Should they be encouraged to die so health insurance remains affordable? Force them into nursing homes to save money? Have doctors refuse to treat people deemed too costly? More generally, do we place a dollar amount on human life and health care costs? <br />Health insurance companies are highly skilled at ridding themselves of people like Mr. Pearl. In fact I don't know a single paralyzed person with adequate health insurance (myself included). This may be profitable (though ethically questionable) and people like Mr. Pearl suffer and some even die. I for one cannot accept this. You worry about the existing system collapsing because of people like Mr. Pearl. I would suggest the system is collapsing because it is corrupt and morally bankrupt. Perhaps health insurance premiums would be more reasonable if the CEOs that run these multi billion dollar corporations did not earn tens of millions a year. Indeed, I wonder what the CEO of Mr. Pearl's health insurance company earned last year.william Peacehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00223601480542461802noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1556371561007953336.post-74619831599247285402009-12-02T14:09:03.418-08:002009-12-02T14:09:03.418-08:00The issue with Ian Pearl and those who consume vas...The issue with Ian Pearl and those who consume vast amounts of healthcare resources is that the cost shifts are threatening to collapse the system. If 1 in 1000 persons are like Ian, who may have lifetime benefits in excess of $40 million, then for his healthcare alone, the other 999 policyholders would pay $120 a month more in premiums. As there are more and more advances in healthcare to treat more and more people for more and more ailments, the system, insurance based or single payer, begins to collapse upon itself. Imagine 10 years from now we get some sort of stem cell therapy for those with autism (1 of 100 persons), and the treatment is perhaps $100,000 per year, per person, you again run into this $120 additional premiums a month for one policyholder's one disease, not even factoring any other ailments the one person has. Cancer advancements, Alzheimers, MD, MS, autoimmune, you name it, if you improve quality of life with a lifetime treatment regimine, you add unsustainable costs to the system as premium increases and increases to U.S. debt (already in a danger zone - see plummeting dollar) are the only pressure release valves if you continue treating everyone for everything no matter what the cost.OffTheLowshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11313053006831578240noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1556371561007953336.post-69156540332327003962009-11-25T17:53:31.542-08:002009-11-25T17:53:31.542-08:00I come from a country that provides universal heal...I come from a country that provides universal health coverage and I will never ever grasp how health care can be a privilege and not a right. How come that people can't be denied emergency care and you can get in trouble if you don't help someone in a life or death situation, yet it's okay to withhold treatment to conditions that kill you just a little bit slower? And this "hit list" and calling people "dogs" and "trainwrecks" is just so abominable that I don't have the words to express my revulsion.erikahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03048369118376287016noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1556371561007953336.post-27675216551500419712009-11-24T11:31:29.368-08:002009-11-24T11:31:29.368-08:00Emma, People with a disability are no longer sent ...Emma, People with a disability are no longer sent to institutions or house bound as they once were. So yes we are more visible but that institutional bias or legacy remains. The unemployment rate is astronomical and bias faced daily overwhelming. No one I know with a disability has adequate health insurance. As for our health care system, it worked in the immediate aftermath of WWII when one and all had jobs and health insurance through that employment. This created a cultural myth that the American health care system is the best in the world. Anyone with an ounce of common sense knows this is not true. We have a two class system today--those with insurance and those without. This dichotomy has split the nation and will continue to do so. I have no ready answers to this problem. Perhaps a hybrid system of some sort combining the positive aspects of the British and American systems.william Peacehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00223601480542461802noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1556371561007953336.post-13243873260307314942009-11-24T11:19:27.249-08:002009-11-24T11:19:27.249-08:00sorry, I meant - it does NOT quite go with the ima...sorry, I meant - it does NOT quite go with the image the US tends to present itself with.emmahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04195918097785592926noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1556371561007953336.post-89523186729650783542009-11-24T11:17:24.420-08:002009-11-24T11:17:24.420-08:00"A variable surely is simple numbers, there a..."A variable surely is simple numbers, there are more people with a disability living a rich and full life. But that life takes money and support in the form of adequate health care"<br /><br />You've hit the nail on the head there. I think attitudes towards disability have changed over the years, although there is still a long, long road to go. At the same time many people note how there are more people with disabilies now, due to improved healthcare, and then immediatley afterwards ask who is going to pay for continued care - the usual lines about "contribution to society" etc etc come up, but no one mentions how a large percentage of people with disabilites are out of work due to dicrimination and lack of accomodations, not to mention the percentage of people with disabilites living below the poverty line. <br /><br />Coming from the UK I have never understood how healthcare works in the US, it's inhumane, as is institutionalisation, does quite go with the image that the US tends to present it self with.emmahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04195918097785592926noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1556371561007953336.post-64617960167162090042009-11-24T08:25:32.591-08:002009-11-24T08:25:32.591-08:00Stephanie. NOWAIT is a great idea--I like the focu...Stephanie. NOWAIT is a great idea--I like the focus on a particular issue and from what I understand have made a difference. Unlike you, my disability is obvious and cannot be hidden. In addition, society generally frowns upon prejudice against people with a physical disability (unless access is deemed too costly). None of these restraints are present when it comes to developmental and cognitive deficits or disorders. In my estimation, the bigotry you encounter is far more pronounced than what I deal with.william Peacehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00223601480542461802noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1556371561007953336.post-71414086416621844582009-11-24T08:02:02.554-08:002009-11-24T08:02:02.554-08:00I'm involved in an advocacy group called "...I'm involved in an advocacy group called "NOEWAIT," aka: National Organization to End the Waiting Lists (I'm the sate coordinator for South Carolina). There are often very long waiting lists for people with developmental disorders and severe, chronic disorders to get any kind of help if they have Medicaid (like I do) and thus they end up in an institution. NOEWAIT is working on ending the waiting list so that instead of being shoved into an institution all of the thousands of people on waiting list (I am one of them) can live at home and in the community. I suppose it is similar to ADAPT except NOEWAIT is specifically targeting waiting lists.<br /><br />Many think autism (my diagnosis is Autistic Disorder without mental retardation aka "High-Functioning Autism") is a fate worse than death. Heck, many still think that bipolar disorder (another diagnosis I have) is a horrible life.<br /><br />We have a way to go before people realize that the paralyzed and severely mentally disabled can also have good lives.Stephaniehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12540927559726674184noreply@blogger.com