Bill Sykes' Newsletter
from America.
(October 2004)
An ex-Brit gives his views-(without fear
or favor)---of the American Scene
The inadequacy of America’s health care
system:
Before I get into describing the hardships experienced
by many of America’s
elderly citizens living on fixed incomes in obtaining medical care and prescription
drugs at reasonable costs, please allow me to provide some details as to how
the United States "Medicare" Program is established.
The Medicare system has two parts which become applicable if one opts to choose
Medicare health coverage upon reaching retirement age of 65 years
Part A: Hospitalisation benefits.
Part B: Doctors visits and other non-hospital expenses.
Part B of the Medicare program requires that a current monthly premium of $66.66
per person/per month be deducted from the individuals Social Security  benefits,
It was announced recently that this premium would be increased in the year
2005 by 17% to $78.20 per person/per month, which if my math is correct amounts
to an increase of $11.54 per person/per month.
This
may sound to be a relatively small amount to the more affluent in our society
but it is an additional burden to some of the elderly who are on a poverty
line existence where every penny counts.
I have heard it said many times by
people who have good jobs and are reasonably well off, "If the government reduces my taxes I will readily pay for
my families health care needs, but I refuse to pay for the medical needs of
the less fortunate in our society".
I would suggest that these more fortunate
people should not count their chickens before they hatch, as perhaps sometime
in their lives they may find themselves unfortunate enough to end up in a
similar situation as the people that they criticise. The American Public
in general can be very generous people but there is a tendency at times for
many of them to adopt very self-cantered attitudes.
They bring up examples of what they
call the failings of socialist medicine in Great Britain and other European
countries, without really understanding how these health
care systems work.
I have refrained from going into the intricacies and
the complexities of the American Social Security system,
as obviously the Medicare example will suffice for now
- but I will give you an example of the, "I’m
all right Jack" mentality, that I have mentioned
in previous editions of View from America.
If one has
been fortunate enough to work at a well paying job for
a good company for a number of years, (before out-sourcing
of jobs became the fashion and layoffs loomed), you may be
rewarded by the provision of excellent benefits such
as a company retirement pension plan and health care
benefits. A company medical benefit program, which may
require a monthly premium, will supplement Medicare.
Of course a majority of people are now captives of Health
Maintenance Organizations, (HMO’s), as the monthly
premiums for alternative superior medical programs are
prohibitive.
Our Senators and Congressmen, (and of course Congresswomen),
have the answer. They do not pay into the Social Security
or Medicare systems, (and of course they do not collect
from them), but some time ago they decided that Social
Security benefits were not suitable for persons of their
elevated status and opted out of Social Security and
set up a special plan which is much more beneficial to
their stature.
The rewards, which I will not go into
at this juncture, from this plan are so exceedingly beneficial
that no member of the Senate has ever felt the need to
make any changes, now there is an indication as to how
good their plan is, as politicians are always wont to
make changes when those changes are beneficial to themselves.
Just one instance, their plan works like this: When they
retire from Congress they continue to draw the same pay
until they die - and believe it or not, I’m
told that a large part of this benefit then passes on
to their legal spouse.
The time is long overdue for the
registered voters to demand that the Golden Fleece Social
Security programs, currently enjoyed by members of Congress,
be jerked out from under them and that they join the
millions of their constituents in paying into and receiving
the same entitlement benefits that the general public
at large receive.
 Congress has said that there is no answer to the future
demise of the Social Security benefits plan over the
next 20/30 years or so - I would like to bet that if
they were forced back into the same programs that their
constituents, (we the proletariat), have to depend upon
and receive the same miniscule benefits then the program
would be financed very differently.
My comment: The United States can spend over $200B
on conducting a war in Iraq and yet cannot find enough
funds to support a reasonably priced health care and
prescription drug benefit program for some of their old
and infirm senior citizens and those with disabilities
who for many may be living in a state of poverty on the
income produced from their meagre Social Security pensions.
In a country so affluent as the United States it is
a national disgrace that 45 million impoverished, (by
American standards), people do not have any Health Care
Insurance. Not a country for the old and impoverished
senior citizens, (if they get really sick and need specialized
health care), to live out their so-called golden years
in.
The people of Britain should consider themselves very
lucky that they have the good ol' National Health Care
system, even with its problems, and even though on occasion
you may have to resort to going "private" (BUPA),
and pay some exorbitant sum of money in order to get
priority hospital care. I’m told that BUPA is an
American financed privatised health insurance program
- is that correct?
We welcome feedback about any of the contents of these
newsletters. Please send all correspondence to bill_sykes@huddersfield1.co.uk
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