as one of the many "downwinders" from hanford i would like to see the gov't open it's files, admit how much radiiation we were exposed too and not keep fighting this in court till were all dead and no one to make any further claims.... for myself i have had thyroid medication all my adult life, survived both ovarion cancer and breast cancer... is it handford's fault??? let's just say a huge amount of my classmated are already dead from various cancers... i think the radiation that was allowed to leak out and fell on pastures and fileds that we all ate from or drank milk from the cows........ i just want some transparency instead of the same ol run around we have been getting for years.... and i would like to be assured that the columbia river is not being poisoned further by continuing leakage.... thank yo...

Something needs to be done, but I'm not sure what the answer is.  Providing healthcare for children is important, but what about those of us who work 40 hrs per week, don't have any children and our health coverage is horrible?  I have worse health benefits than if I were to be unemployed and on state healthcare coverage...that just seems wrong.  My insurance doesn't cover wellness or preventative (i.e. blood tests for cholesterol, mammograms, pap tests, etc.), yet a women who is on state funded healthcare and doesn't work can get all these things done for free or a small co-pay.  There is something terribly wrong with this picture.

And all those kids we want to give free health coverage to are going to be paying for those of us who have less than desireable coverage now because we'll end up with health issues later in life, due to having minimal coverage and not being able to treat our illnesses due to high out-of-pocket costs.

The insurance industry and the pharmaceutical industry need to be removed from making the decisions.  As a physician I support a single payer system; re-train all the insurance employees and pharmaceutical reps for healthcare jobs.  Invest the savings in community outreach healthworkers, visiting murses, midlevel providers, etc. Our rural area is desparate for affordable dental and mental health care.  Don't let the AMA have any input either as it is run by the the overpaid specialties.  Focus on the things that truly improve and provide health care for all.

What ever happened to the "economy of scale" model in the free market? When the prescription drug benefit was added to Medicare, we saw a surge in the number of insurance companies who are happy to take the money from the premiums, and hire a full staff of people with no medical training whose job it is to deny coverage for prescription care, or limit the quantity they will pay for. 

Having 100+ companies to choose from helps no one but those companies, and their duplicated employees. Seniors, pharmacists and doctors can barely understand what they are getting for their premium. If the medical industry doesn't understand the various plan options, how is a senior with little or no medical training supposed to understand it?

Yes, there are advantages to options. Some who are covered by Medicare do not require large outlays for medications, while others have their own little pharmacy in their homes to treat their medical needs. Yes, there should be different levels of coverage, so that those that don't spend a fortune on medication don't have to pay high premiums they don't use. But the preponderence of companies, and their employees and management who are part of the equation that needs to be considered when premiums are set is wasteful.

Medical decisions should be between a doctor and the patient. We are supposed to be assisted in privacy in our medical needs by HIPPA, yet we are constantly signing away those rights because of the many layers of personnel involved in each claim for benefits.

Presciption insurance wasn't a common thing when I was a child. But then, at that time, there were 4 people involved in providing a prescription: the doctor, the patient, the pharmacist and the manufacterer. This is no longer the case. By the time your prescription is filled, we have involved an IT level, a clerk that approves or denies, a supervisor to oversee the clerk, and an entire department that deals with appeals to denials. Mutiply that by the number of companies making money on this benefit, and 90% of the cost of the medication and premium is for red tape.

There was a time when your doctor prescribed, and your pharmacy dispensed what was ordered, worrying only about interactions that the prescribing doctor may not be aware of. That was it. We didn't need to support multiple companies, all of which got in to the business to make money for themselves by denying as much as possible.

In the meantime, many go without their medications because they can not afford out of pocket expenses for their drugs when they are denied.

Pharma companies come up with new medications which prevent rapid progression of disease, and if used properly, prevent expensive sugery or hospitalization by treating with available medications. The cost savings alone from keeping insured out of the hospital should cover the expense of simply covering the medications that doctors order. Get rid of the multitute of companies in the "make money off the sick, while hoping they die before we have to spend" mentality.

Keep medical decisions between the doctor and the patient, and the cost savings alone will cover the expense of the prescriptions.

Flowers4change is absolutely right!!!