COVERITLIVE.COM

12:02

DeanCalbreath - Hi! This is Dean Calbreath at the Union-Tribune.

12:02

DeanCalbreath - I'm here today to talk about health care, since I just wrote a health care column in Sunday's paper.

12:03

DeanCalbreath - It's not the first column I've written about the topic, but this one covered a study showing that in 2007, 62 percent of bankruptcy filings listed health care bills or other medical reasons as a factor in the filing.

12:04

DeanCalbreath -

Health care, of course, was one of the hot topics in last year's election, and it remains a hot topic today, although it has been superceded by concern for the economy as a whole.

12:07

DeanCalbreath -

We've got a poll asking whether you know of anyone who's filed for bankruptcy for health care.

12:08

DeanCalbreath -

In my personal life, I've never encountered that, although I'm fortunate enough to only know one person who's filed for bankruptcy (over credit cards).

12:09

DeanCalbreath - But as a reporter, I do hear of cases. And, like most Americans, I suspect, I have known of plenty of people who have faced severe financial hardship paying down their healthcare bills.

12:11

[Comment From Sick of it all]
Dean, about the obligatory coverage discussed by the administration: First, will this force insurers to accept the "uninsurable"? And second, what if you still can't afford coverage?

12:11

DeanCalbreath -

Right now, the administration's plans are pretty amorphous.

12:12

DeanCalbreath -

There's a lot of debate over what the plan will and won't ask insurers.

12:13

DeanCalbreath - One of the plans under discussion would have a so-called "public option" that would provide government insurance for people who would otherwise find it too hard or too expensive to get private insurance.

12:14

DeanCalbreath - The "public option" plan would be structured to be affordable enough to fill in the gap between plans like Medicare/MediCal and private insurance.

12:15

DeanCalbreath - But that's only one plan. Another would be the so-called Massachusetts plan, which would essentially force people to buy insurance.

12:16

DeanCalbreath - From what I've heard, that plan can be prohibitively expensive for some people and also entails high deductibles, which could put you at risk if you don't have the money to pay.

12:16

[Comment From Sick of it all]
What's your take on Canadian and British style coverage? (I've had bad experiences with both, by the way.)

12:17

DeanCalbreath -

No system's perfect.

12:17

DeanCalbreath - I've had very good experiences in the US system and very bad experiences, especially when it comes to the elderly.

12:18

DeanCalbreath - I've seen both my parents die in the US system under questionable circumstances, even though they were fully insured.

12:18

SignOnSanDiego - If you'd like to read Dean's Sunday column, the one he mentioned earlier, here it is: Are you one big illness away from bankruptcy? http://tinyurl.com/lwedt5

12:19

DeanCalbreath - I've seen my wife's grandmother waiting for care for 11 hours in an "emergency room" - imagine if it wasn't an emergency.

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