Last Friday, 5/29, I had the good fortune to have a personal chat with Senator Patty Murray. The occasion was a ground-breaking ceremony for a veteran's living facility in Renton, WA. I knew that the Senator would be the featured guest, so I had written and printed a letter explaining my feelings about a National Single-Payer Health Care System. I was just hoping I would have the opportunity to personally hand it to her.
When we arrived at the ceremony location, I noticed the parking spot reserved for Senator Murray. Now I knew where to position myself to intercept her if given the chance. When she did arrive, she was greeted by one of the other dignitaries, then she and her NW WA Director Shawn Bills (great name for a legislative aide, eh?) were just standing there alone. Wow - here's my big opening! Yeah! So, my wife and I marched right up to her.
For an ice-breaker, I said, "Say, I've had you on my airplane. I'm a retired XXX Airlines captain. I'm xxx, and this is my wife xxx." She smiled and said "Nice to meet you". Getting right to the point, as I knew my time was limited, I announced that our 30 year old daughter had just been diagnosed with cancer. Murray's smile vanished, and she asked, "What kind?", to which I responded "Early-stage cervical". The Senator seemed genuinely concerned, and we chatted a bit about it.
At this point, I said that our daughter's insurance was really a problem, and that I had written a letter about the situation and my thoughts on Single-Payer. I said that I had already sent her an email, but was concerned about it getting lost in the various filters. She admitted that emails do arrive by the thousands and accepted my hard-copy, which she handed to Shawn. I did not use an envelope, to allay any security fears.
By fortunate coincidence, the following day Sen. Murray was scheduled to be the main speaker at a large Single-Payer rally and march in Seattle. I'm hoping that this would have given her the incentive to look over our letter, as it had a direct correlation.
Here's the text of our letter, which also included a photo of our daughter:
I am writing in support of a Single Payer National Health Care system. It is the only way to get costs under control, and provide affordable care to all Americans.
Our 30 year old daughter, who is a hair stylist at one of the most highly-rated salons in Seattle, was just diagnosed with cervical cancer. She has a health insurance plan that she obtained through her employer. To call it affordable, though, is a joke.
Her premiums are $160/month, but they are only that low because she chose the high-deductible option. After she pays the first $1500 in medical expenses, she still pays 30% of charges, up to a maximum annual out-of-pocket of $8500. So she's potentially paying $10,420 ($8500 plus $1920 in premiums) for her medical care this year. Last year her full-time pre-tax earnings were $24,000.
$10,420 is just barely below the HHS Poverty Guideline for a single person of $10,830. Would you call that affordable? It's approximately half of our daughter's take-home pay. You'd be hard-pressed to call that affordable.
Canadians, with their Single-Payer system, spent ~10.6% of GDP on health care in 2008, compared with 17% for the US. A major portion of that difference is wasteful, non-care overhead. Canadian hospitals and clinics don't have huge finance departments to contend with patient billing and all of the complex insurance plans that their American counterparts must deal with. The insurance companies themselves are nothing but overhead - they provide zero care, and are often an impediment to care.
Here's an example of the cost difference overhead can cause: a few years ago, my wife sprained her ankle in Canada. She always seems to have her medical issues on the weekend, and this was no exception. We took her to the local ER, where the receptionist, when advised of the complaint, said 'that will be $110 (Canadian)". No need to fill out forms, or provide proof of insurance. After a short wait, she was seen by the doctor, x-rayed, treated, and given crutches. When we arrived home, I submitted the paid bill to our insurance, who reimbursed us for the covered portion.
A year later, my wife sprained the same ankle, on a weekend naturally, so we went to the Valley Medical Center ER in Renton, WA. After all of the check-in rigamarole (fill out forms, copy insurance card, etc.), she received the exact same medical treatment as she had in Canada. The bill, however, with all its lines of different codes for everything, was $540 (USD). Our 20% copay was about equal to the entire charge in Canada!
18 months ago, my wife had to see a doctor in France. She was able to go to his office, as he had Saturday hours. There was no receptionist, no nurse, just the doctor. The patients themselves kept track of who was to be seen next. The doctor examined her, then provided some prescriptions and a bill, and charged 40 Euros (about $60 USD).
Not dealing with the insurance companies is what enables care-givers in other countries to keep their costs low. Not worrying about health care for their workers will significantly reduce management costs for employers. That is why a Single-Payer system is essential for our citizens' pocketbooks, our companies' bottom lines and our nation's fiscal future. We simply cannot afford the expense of private insurance. Providing quality medical, dental, vision and mental care to all citizens will enable students to perform better in school and our workforce to be more productive.
Do what is best for America, not what lines the pockets of the big insurance and drug corporations. Please help make National Single-Payer a reality. Oh, and let our government negotiate lower drug prices. No more Big Pharma giveaways.
Thank you.
It was great that our personal meeting was followed immediately by the big rally. The fact that the participants represented all demographics had to help. There were young and old, firm and infirm, a beautiful color blend, doctors, nurses, union members and retirees. I hope to see a groundswell of public support build in the ocming days and weeks.
Update: I mentioned this Diary to my wife, and being the practical person that she is, said "So how is this going to get us anywhere?". I told her that this site is read by thousands, and she suggested that everyone send postcards to Washington. Postcards probably don't require the same level of security scanning as letters, and have the side benefit of being read in transit by the postal workers (she heard that posties do read our postcards).