John McCain and Heath Care - Giving Us All The Lie

The whole speech is too much to address - and people other than myself will do a much better job of dissecting it.

I'll speak only of the small part I understand in both my heart and my head to be a bold faced lie.

Somewhere in the middle of his acceptance speech John McCain said this:

My health care plan will make it easier for more Americans to find and keep good health care insurance. His plan will force small businesses to cut jobs, reduce wages, and force families into a government-run health care system where a bureaucrat... where a bureaucrat stands between you and your doctor.


1) John McCain's so-called "Health Care Plan" is not a plan it is a ramble which does everything but address the issue, filled with wishes and wants and words of no consequence which then trails off into a stance on autism and no other specific disease. Speaking as someone who's spent over 15 years working in the medical field, as someone who, over the years, has been insured, under-insured and totally uninsured, and as the parent of two children with special health needs, even the ramble stinks.

2) I am, currently, a medical secretary. I work with health insurance companies and policy holders all day long - 8 hour a day, 6 days a week. I know the good ones, I know the bad ones, I know what works and what doesn't and why.

3) Nowhere do I recall Obama's plan including a "government run health care system" but

4) Even if it did it would not be the worst thing to happen to health care. The government-run plans such as Medicare and many of the state run programs, such as Medicaid, are NOT filled with bureaucrats - nor does anyone or anything stand between you and your doctor. Medicare allows it's members to seek treatment or advice from any doctor of their choice. They do not interfer, they seldom question and they always pay a fair amount and they always pay quickly and on time. Medicare is NOT an HMO where care is dictated by the insurance company, Medicare is a PPO which allows patients to seek treatment from any primary care physician or specialist who is a member of the Medicare network - and because Medicare is such a huge provider virtually ALL physicians participate in the network.

5) In summary, a PPO type program such as the government-run Medicare is one of the best health insurance policies a person can have. With a PPO a policy holder can seek and receive treatment from any approved primary care physician or specialist without first seeking approval from either the health insurance carrier or anyone else. Because doctors tend to actually get paid by PPO's without too much hassle, most doctors are enrolled in the plans and are known as "preferred providers" which means the insurance company will cover at 100% the approved charges and the patient will pay either nothing at all or a pre-agreed co-pay and nothing else. An HMO is second best. In an HMO the policy holder can seek treatment from a plan-approved primary care physicians and they can see a specialist only if referred to the specialist by the primary care doctor. Not all physicians belong to all HMO plans, they tend to pay less and they almost always require much more paperwork on the part of the physician's office. They tend to deny charges, which PPOs do not often do, and they don't always pay even the approved charges in a timely fashion.

6) Be that as it may, ANY insurance is better than NO insurance, which is what many Americans have now and what they will continue to have if John McCain and Sarah Palin are elected.