( m from Canada rather than paying full ...)US Confronted by a Major Healthcare Crisis, Say Critics,Health

m from Canada, rather than paying full price on the open U.S. market.

Congress has not budged on this or other healthcare reform issues.

Behind the scenes, drug companies, hospitals, insurance companies and doctor organizations spent 400 million in 2005 and 2006 lobbying Congress and federal candidates to enact policies the companies favor.

"Our government, instead of helping people, is being held hostage by these profit-making companies," Lui says.

People who have an existing illness, like asthma, are charged double the price for insurance or may be refused altogether, said Woolhandler, who founded Physicians for a National Health Program, which wants the United States to switch to a government-run healthcare system, as in Canada.

"Our healthcare is in a car that is accelerating toward a cliff," Alan Sager, co-director of the Health Reform Project at Boston University, remarks caustically.

The government does provide subsidized healthcare for the elderly and some of the poor and disabled. But the procedures involved are quite complicated.

Talking about the problems in negotiating one's way through the maze of the government-assisted Medicaid, a woman broke out bitterly: Without a health care advocate, I can't imagine how a weak, frail, nearly bed-ridden individual can navigate this new territory.

Our "wonderful" system is baffling and daunting when one is young, vibrant, and basically healthy. With the challenges of age, terminal illness, and isolation, I imagine a lot of the elderly might die prematurely or suffer unnecessarily.

Witnessing this from the vantage point of middle age is frightening. Everyone should be covered, automatically, period.

Let the wealthy buy more insurance for the spa-experience in medical care. The basics should be available seamlessly for everyone, she said.
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