649 Health Care and Medicare Update

My comment is this: I truly believe if Medicare would include a health club membership as part of their coverage, it would be very beneficial for people, and I believe it could improve health to the point where fewer expensive medications would be necessary, and fewer visits to the doctor.

In 1962, I took a newborn baby to Italy to stay for a year. My and my baby's care for that year for all checkups, etc., was exemplary. It cost me $.50 for smallpox vaccine at the farmacia. In 1974, our family spent a year in England with the same results. For the past 45 years, I have gnashed my teeth in frustration and rage that the American people are such saps to fall for the propaganda of the medical and pharmaceutical industries screaming "Socialized Medicine!" that prevented us from joining the rest of the civilized world in the first place and keep us in thrall to them still. I have heard for many years that we can't have universal coverage here. I don't get it--why not? No one ever gives a coherent answer to that question. I have gold-standard medical coverage, so have no axe to grind for myself, but it pains me to think of the millions of people who have died for the profit motive. Health care should not be a privilege, but a right. For many years, I have written to many, many media outlets to do an in-depth study. As usual, you two are in the vanguard. Please keep up the drumbeat.

My brother had a heart transplant this summer. He is doing fine now, but the medicine is so expensive. He was in the doughnut hole and had it not been for the family helping him he would have not had the money to pay for his medicines. I heard you say some in the doughnut hole stopped taking their medicines because it was so expensive. Something needs to be done. That doughnut hole is awful and it worried my brother at the time. I am going to write our representatives and urge them to fix the doughnut hole. Again, I enjoyed your program.

We moved from England in the '50s, and my mother moved back in the '70s. In July 2007, it was found she had a heart tumor--she's 83. Within a few days she was operated on in Papworth Hospital, one of the best heart hospitals in Europe. The surgery was successful; however, a few days after the insertion of a pacemaker, she had a stroke. I flew over at that point. She was in critical care for two weeks. The care my mother received from the doctors and nurses--a nurse assigned to her 24/7--was outstanding; the doctor would make certain I understood what was happening with every major step.

After three weeks, she was transferred to a stroke hospital where she made more progress. The doctor at this hospital emailed me every week with an update, and, again, always welcomed my phone calls. My mother has now been transferred to a stroke rehabilitation center, four miles from her village, where she will remain until it's determined she's ready to move to an assisted living center. She has not paid a cent for this excellent, compassionate care.

On the other hand, my dad, who remained in America and had the best insurance policy available, had a stroke during an angioplasty procedure. It was a Friday afternoon and even though calls went out, no specialists were available. He was sedated for the weekend and was a vegetable Monday morning when the brain surgeon came back on duty. There was no expert available to educate the family as to the best care options. He ended up in a nursing home, paid for by his insurance. Even with family members and hired assistants with him 24/7, his care didn't come close to the care my mother is receiving.

I have known people who work for insurance companies. The representatives are told to deny a certain percent of claims with no regard to the claim's legitimacy. If the patient is able to deal with the long hold times and the repeated requests for copies of paperwork, there's the possibility these denied claims will get paid. The individuals in management I've known have received huge bonuses and won wonderful trips based on their division's profits, profits partly earned from denying legitimate claims.

Excellent education and health care should be a right provided to everyone. Society will prosper and flourish with a healthy, well-educated base.