60 Minutes: Charity Trying To Make Up For Failing U.S. Health Care System
By Logan Murphy Sunday Mar 02, 2008 11:01am
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If you're looking for a story that shows the abysmal state of health care in America, look no further. 60 Minutes traveled to Knoxville, TN to film a free clinic set up by a charity group called Remote Area Medical Volunteer Corps, or RAM. The charity was initially started in the 90's by it's founder, Stan Brock, former co-star of Wild Kingdom, to give health care relief to remote areas of Latin America, but after watching this segment it's clear that America's health care system doesn't look too much different than that of a third world country.
Brock has no family, takes no salary and has no home. He is completely dedicated to RAM, as are the doctors and nurses who volunteer their time and expertise. The local response to this RAM clinic in Knoxville was amazing, yet profoundly saddening. Hundreds of people showed up for the clinic, many drove hours to get there and waited up to seven hours just to get a spot in line to be seen -- and ultimately, hundreds had to be turned away. These were not Cadillac driving welfare queens, they were average, working Americans who are under insured or have no insurance at all. The most disheartening part of it all is to see how many of these people had avoided seeking medical treatment for years because they couldn't afford it and are now reduced to begging for help. It's a microcosm of our medical system and it's a damn ugly sight in the world's wealthiest nation.
The full video and transcripts available at CBSNews.com
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yeah that's friggin sad.
i also liked the segemtn where they shot the ray gun at peace activists.
kind of goes hand in hand.
We need to get the corporations out of Congress. Without Campaign Finance Reform, we'll never be able to do anything about problems like this one. The only way to do it is a grassroots effort to elect representatives ready to vote for CFR, and if it takes ten years to populate the Congress with such people so be it.
Without CFR - and without additional effort to limit the control of corporations over all our media - efforts to reform health care will be met with massive "socialized medicine" propaganda blitzes.
That is what the Republican party wants. If you can't afford it at the market price, piss off! Whether it is healthcare, housing or even food.
The US is first tier third world - face it.
Dugg it.
Stories like this can't get enough attention.
"it’s a damn ugly sight in the world’s wealthiest nation."
Remember seeing the convoy of 50 trucks coming to give aid to New Orleans? From MEXICO!?
This is how I felt then. That was a "damn ugly sight."
Are we still the world's richest nation?
It would be interesting to know who these poor folks voted for? Not that if Gore won TN in 2000, there wouldn't be the same problem, at least there would be someone listening to the problem. gw & gang won't even do that.
This is insanity. We live in the most wonderful country in the world, and we can't take care of our own countrymen. I fear for our future. What of our children? Our grandchildren? The fact Bush is still in office dismays me. Now we have talking heads blaming us, the middle class, for our failing economy. That's Republicans for you folks!
Dr. Acula @ 7:
We're morally bankrupt if that's what you mean.
Peoples Front of Judea @ 6:
I would second guess calling us the richest nation in the world. I prefer the largest debtor nation in the world. If our debts are called, we're screwed. If oil changes to euro's, we're screwed. Hence, war, and more of it.
To call any pol's healthcare ideas "universal coverage" is pure b.s. Both Obama's and Clinton's plans include the insurance companies that have f*cked up healthcare in this country.
That is heartbreaking. We are a proud people being taken down by filthy greedy pigs. Shame on Bush, McCain and the GOP.
Peoples Front of Judea @ 3:
I don't think so. Think about every insurance co. exec seeing that report and thinking about the hundreds of dollars they might have made from these poor people, then calling their personal congressperson to complain and demand this commie is shut down.
a brilliant bit of journalism. every republican should be forced to watch it. this and the don spiegalman expose last week.
i am sick of hearing about the welfare generation, and americans are lazy.
between our health care system, our economy, our voting systems(diebold) and the war, we look like a 3rd world country.
it doesn't resemble the country i grew up in.
how many more days till bush is out of office?
All big business should be strictly regulated. The so-called free market have destroyed the middle class. It has done nothing except help insurers, big oil and telecoms get filthy rich at our expense. Tax the ultra wealthy and big business, it is our only hope.
I'm sorry to burst EVERYONE'S bubble, but this story is a reflection of our nation. Of ALL of us....especially me.
I mean we have stories like this one posted all over the place. Websites like C&L will post stories about health care, about soldiers dying needlessly in Iraq, about Corporate greed and government fraud. Then hundreds of readers will post a message on the board and discuss and debate the issue among ourselves. Then what happens? What happens after every one of us logs off from the computer at work or from the computer at home?
Yeah, we whine and complain about the system and debate whether Clinton, Obama, or McCain will be the answer. But for the most part, we are ALL content with our lives. We may not be happy with the way things are, but when push comes to shove, we are happy enough to settle for it.
I'm not saying this as some Republican moron who's trying to make a "America: Love It or Leave It" argument. I'm trying to make the argument that for all of the bad stories, and for all of our complaining and debating, what are we as individuals doing about it? The average person in this country is not going to miss a day of work to protest or fight back against anything. Whatever the government or the corporations feed us, we're going to eat it whether we are hungry for it or not. Everyone on these boards talk big and bad, but when it comes to action, we are VERY LACKING. You have the motivation to organize around getting Obama elected, but we have ZERO organization when it comes to holding government and corporations accountable. 1 million people can support the Obama campaign, but 1 million people can't get together and use their collective voices and purchasing power to force corporations and government to give us the products and services we need and when we need them.
I mean I'd be more than happy to sacrifice my daily comfort and convenience to actually make this country live up to its rhetoric and hold those people accountable who do not. But I fear that I'm only preaching to the choir and a thousand voices is a million voices too few.
So keep posting. Keep talking. Keep debating. But when you log off this evening, what have you truly done? What have you truly accomplished? I'm ready to take action. How about you?
As a physician, I always wondered how long it would take for the shame that is the health care system of "the richest nation in the history of the world" to be exposed. I hope that 60 minute segment was an eye-opener to a lot of people!
I don't have to look any further than the free medical clinic for the uninsured in Camden NJ where I volunteer each week. The idea that growing numbers of our neighbors have to rely on the kindness of strangers for the basic human right of medical care makes me sick to my stomach. But without volunteers, what will happen to the ill and the frail while our inhumane and profit-driven system is being argued? It makes me ashamed of my country.
Dr. Acula @ 12:
Yep, every time I hear their plans referred to as 'healthcare plans' it makes me want to scream: They are NOT healthcare plans!! They are healthinsurance plans!!
The sad fact is a lot of people who HAVE healthinsurance are NOT getting the healthcare they need. Makes me sick! uh-oh
If there is ever a reason to vote for Hillary Clinton...this is it.
After Obama gets the nomination, you will see how polished and vetted Hillary Clinton was.
It is a shame we have let the mainstream media and blogosphere choose our candidate by very SELECTIVE JOURNALISM...
abiodun @ 18:
Hi :) I get this burning sensation when I'm peeing on republicans... What do you recommend?
Oh yeah, trolling the forums for free medical advice FTW!
Jack Jett @ 21:
How will we see that exactly?
TN ?? Aren't these are the very same public who will keep touting Bush, 4 more years for Bush, Bush, Bush !!!!
I remember watching the same thing in the 1960's about poverty in america. 40+ years later and very little has changed. If you vote for the GOP you are part of the problem.
don't worry! our current crop of corporatists will guarantee that money gets funneled through the insurance companies long before the concepts of care and coverage for americans are considered.
Jack Jett @ 21:
so hillary guaranteeing health insurance profits is a solution?
(Begin Snark)
Well, we didn't get to be the worlds richest nation by paying for everybody's damn healthcare!
(End Snark)
I have to tell the people that think this will change much to wise up. A little help here and there might come about, but the problems are systemic. Until you set incentive mechanisms for healthcare AND congress, this is way it's going to go.
Thanks for the post, I caught the end of this and had been looking for the story -- difficult, because I'm in canada and we can't watch your content.
Sad state of affairs, but at least you have people willing to step up and help out.
It is high time for more tax cuts for the wealthy!
I find it hard to believe this is the United States anymore. We will soon no longer need trash pickup as anything you set at the curb is picked up by the needy. I set an old, rusted, metal shelf at the curb for pickup and someone stopped to load it into their pickup truck for salvage. This is not my country.
May God help us, our government won't.
Peace!
PJ
Two thoughts...
One, was that ever a propaganda piece on their "ray-gun" in the same 60 Minutes installment. It seems the reporter (Pelley?) consistently believes whatever he's told by authority figures. Despite the way the test "crowd" was outfitted, he never once asked if it would be used on protesters in the States, or what controls would be in place to prevent that. Nor was the effect of the ray on contact lens wearers - potentially fusing the lens to the cornea - ever discussed that I recall. Meanwhile, the idea that that would "solved" Fallujah is questionable. A crowd control weapon's usefulness against IEDs, rockets, and in searching houses door to door ain't exactly clear.
Two, one of the recipients of that health care said it was "god-sent" and another woman said, "God will provide." Maybe they should start pressing their government to provide the same.
abiodun @ 18:
Oddly, I got my eye-opener last week. My wife's insurance is a little better than mine so she has herself and our two daughters on her insurance and I get my through my work.
The policy for her company was recently changed that it no longer offers full coverage for children's eyecare. I'm going to have to pay upwards of $500 to $600 for my daughters' appointments and glasses for one of them. That's stretching our budget quite a bit, but I can't imagine those families that need to do something to help their kids and have little or no options. If nothing else we need universal healthcare for our children.
I keep asking: in what way are we better off than we were before the Bush administration and Repub congress domination? They can only come up with "We haven't been attacked by terrorists." [plus the the rich are getting richer, and trickling (tinkling?) down to us I guess] In every possible area--education, the war's toll, national debt, National prestige/respect, manufacturing etc. etc. they have screwed it up and we have reason to worry about our and our children's future. Keep asking: what are you guys proud of?
A picture of the future of corporatized america....
I recomend watching the whole segment.
I made a donation.
http://www.ramusa.org
Mister Anderson @ 17:
I'm sorry, Mr. Anderson. After all the crap you gave Neo, I don't think I'll take your advice.
Pressure you elected representaives to support HR-676.
The U.S. is officially a 3rd world country in my eyes. The US gov't cares more about bombing 3rd world nations than the the health of its own citizens. Fucking disgusting.
The only health care plan that would have led to universal health care was Edwards'. Many of you chose Hillary or Obama over Edwards. The media in the debates ignored Edwards and Kucinich. Yes the media has chosen the candidates and we have to choose which one will be best. Either one will be better than McCain so choose carefully. Perhaps the health care plans they promote now will morph into true universal heath care.
The U.S. Government spends the fifth most money per capita on healthcare in the world, only behind Monaco, Norway, Luxembourg and San Marino.
Whereas government spending covers 80-90% of total healthcare expenditures in socialized systems throughout Europe and in Japan, our government expenditures only cover 45% of our total costs. Total U.S. expenditures are often more than double what these countries pay. The results of all that spending are not impressive.
Life expectancy of the U.S. is 45th in the World.
Infant mortality is roughly 30% higher than the Western European countries.
And for overall satisfaction? See this chart:
http://content.healthaffairs.org/content/vol20/issue3/images/large/010_T...
Something is terribly wrong with our healthcare system. It’s the same problem with the mortgage market. Corporate and individual greed and the delusion of economic rational behavior have supplanted good regulatory policy and the vigorous enforcement of those regulations.
In a related anecdote, a patient I saw today with (now) advanced lung cancer, had this gem in his history and physical:
"He developed severe, unremitting left sided chest pain beneath his clavicle and along his left anterior chest about 4 to 5 months ago. He did not seek medical attention due to lack of health insurance."
Cheers,
lj @ 34:
read the PNAC manifesto and look at Iraq and NOLa, then look into busch's eyes and see that it has all been planned: The retrograde. pre-NewDeal USA. Why Smedly butler retired rather than create nazi america via coup; why butler didn't want the serve the busch family plan for america and henry ford's plan the turn the us citizens into forced labor for his factories.
i wonder how BAD does it actually have to get before people wake up?
they should have done a show of hands in the crowd who were republicans and who voted for Bush in 2000/2004.
something tells me that it would have been the majority.
Is there nothing that 25+ years of "free market" "pro capitalism" "market driven" corporatist policies have not destroyed?
People need to do something that matters..easy things if you think about it....
Stay home on weekends and not buy their gas, don't go to Walmart and buy from China,
let these greedy corporate jerks know that we're not going to take it anymore. All they care about is their stock prices and their stockholders...Screw the people that made their companies.... Where did OUR AMERICA go?...OH YEAH America Incorporated!
2nd American Revolution is coming....and soon.....
By the skillful and sustained use of propaganda, one can make a people see even heaven as hell or an extremely wretched life as paradise.
-Adolf Hitler
zugzug @ 37:
Neo IS Mr. Anderson
silly woman crying and saying "the LORD will provide"!
I truly feel for her and I fear her mentality. It does not acknowledge where the help came from.
the real help came from people. she'll probably vote for McHageeLovingBigotedasshole.
Filthy Harry @ 23:
I assume that Jack is referring to HRC's tax returns and the Clinton WH documents that will be released "sometime soon".
My wife and I watched this last night. When they mentioned the part about "isn't this what happens in third world countries?" she got tears in her eye. It led to a long discussion of health care in our country and the possible solutions. We both agreed on three main points the Democratic president would need to push to change this scenario.
1. Nationwide effort to help educate and promote healthy living.
2. National consortium of the health care insurance industry bringing their suggestions to the table to provide input on how we can find a balance between coverage for more individuals and fair profits.
3. National consortium with health care providers bringing their suggestions to the table giving us their input on how we can find a balance between providing services for more individuals and fair profits.
What a PATHETIC, pathetic government we have. What in the hell is wrong with them? And what's wrong with us that we're so apathetic?
cmhmd @ 42:
It's a hell of a menu that many folks have:
1. Financial Ruin
2. Sickness and/or Death
Pick one!
this is horrible.. and people say "we shouldn't do anything"
Liberal AND Proud @ 44:
nope!
the fact is that corporatist is pathological, predatory and parasitic.
1) by design it must grow to consume all available materials
2) by design it must endlessly grow profits
3) by design it must dominate the consumers income
I am a well educated white male with arthritis, living in Sweden. I used to live in America for close to 10 years. Because I am an expert in my field I was offered the best health care in the world under my employers insurance policy. But I could also tell that America is not the place to be if you, for instance, happen to be a not so well educated single mother or something. Then the care you were offered didn't come anywhere close to what was thrown at me.
The political establishment (both Dems and Repubs, because this isn't anything that has happened over night) should be ashamed of themselves for having allowed this system to take hold.
That said, the fascists have definitely made things worse by burning up the money in Iraq instead of investing it in health care, education and infrastructure. I am sorry to tell you, but as a macro economist it is my expert opinion that America is going down the tubes. I have seen all the third-world signs grow in significance and quantity since the mid-90's when I worst moved there.
America was built on a dream, that dream is about to come to an end, thanks to the greed and selfishness of a few evil men...
Pawsie @ 52:
busch did something!
how about that children's healthcare veto?
Dr. Acula @ 7:
Nope!
Tim @ 45:
Stock up on ammo from your local gun shop, NOT Walmart.
CoIntelPro @ 47:
When I think of the damage these blindly following religious types have done to the country, I have trouble having much sympathy.
You know how many of these fuck ups voted for bush SOLELY on the basis of his lip service to jeebus, regardless of the evidence of his incompetence?
Health Care in America is the reason I'm living in Thailand, as I said before, my wife who is healthy couldnt get insured because of a (non-existent) pre-existing condition.
We're immersed in a bloody war no plan for leaving. We're running the biggest deficit
in the history of the country. We're losing the manufacturing edge to Asia, while our once-great companies are getting slaughtered by health care costs.
Gas prices are skyrocketing, and nobody in power has a coherent energy policy.
Our schools are in trouble. Our borders are like sieves.
You can't call yourself a patriot if you're not outraged, but every one of the GOP are flat out against Universal Healthcare but they all wear that fucking stickpin..
scott d @ 15:
Way too many!
carefulwiththatAXEeugene @ 1:
It may be a senior moment, but for the life of me, I am trying to remember what the third segment of 60 Minutes was. Was It the primary elections?
bill w @ 60:
322 and change. Countdown to ecstasy (OK, improvement...)
fastfeat @ 57:
Better Yet, do your own reloading and remember that one well placed shot works much better than a whole box of ammo.
WE SUCK.
I think the clip on C&L is shortened. The complete clip is on the CBS news site at http://www.cbsnews.com/sections/i_video/main500251.shtml?id=3898008n&channel=/sections/60minutes/videoplayer3415.shtml
Just thought I'd share this...
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/rankorder/21...
Thanks Bush...
wild_idea @ 24:
That's right FUCK'EM and all those other fucking southern states! Ignorant cocksuckers are still fighting the civil war in they're inbred minds and voted for that fucking retard sitting in the Oval Office. I'm soo FUCKING SICK of the southern states and the they're fucking bullshit that drags this country down. Racisim, homophobia, plantation capitalism, oil obsession, the Grand Old Party, creationism, illegal immigrants, Wal-mart, Britney Spears not to mention Evangelicals and Politicians that wrap themselves in the flag and wave a bible around yelling about morality when YOU ARE THE SCUM OF THE FUCKING PLANET!!!
Everything that is shit about the USA comes from the south.
And Obambam only wants to insure medical coverage for the children.
What about the adult parents of the children
Or the childish adult like me?
natisman @ 61:
Can anyone remember the last time Andy Rooney was actually funny?
I say replace him with Bill Maher.
No capital reserves left, the nation is $20 trillion in debt, $53 trillion in worthless IOU's, all of the capital marketplaces are teetering, and the nation is bleeding red ink at the rate of $1.43 billion per day.
And people still don't get it.
I bet most of these people, like the lady in need of new glasses, have voted republican their entire life. God didn't take care of her, it was a person who volunteered to work on their weekend off, that helped her. She should have spent more time and money throughout her life helping others, than giving to her selfish and useless church. And it was the people she probably voted for that put her in that f'ed up situation!!!
WAKE UP PEOPLE!!!
God bless him.
As a note, charity doesnt work. Churches have been exempted from tax and heavily funded for several centuries and have yet to 'solve' a single social issue from hunger to poverty from oppression to homelessness.
This is an important less.
L.A. Confidential @ 70:
I get it. Who wants to get on a crowded raft with me and flee? I hear Jamaica is considering legalizing pot.
72 should end - this is important - no idea where the less came from.
Hi All - I am as pissed off as anyone about this segment. It's an ugly reminder of what happens when we let corporations take control of our health care.
But perhaps more startling is 69 comments on this thread without a big "Thank You" to Stan Brock. Are we nothing more than a bunch of bitching whiners that we cannot recognize the greatness of this man? Let this be a reminder that stories like this are not all about rage against the machine. There are those among us who lead by example and Mr. Brock should be commended by all for his untiring work. Our country needs more people like him.
RE: The woman who kept on saying "the lord will provide".
She didn't notice that the lord didn't provide. Those caring other people did provide for her help. her lord must be busy elsewhere.
The reason there will never be universal health care in the U.S. is simple: Americans are only moved to action when they are directly effected. Unless the proportion of Americans without health insurance reaches well more than 50%, Americans will continue to blame the state of coverage on immigrants, lazy liberals and lawyers.
As one under-paid, under-insured person I know states it "at least we are not Canada where you have to wait forever to see a doctor". In other words, Fox News told me Canada sucks -- I'm sure France does as well -- so shut up about health care and put the brats on the grill.
Americans blame poverty on the poor, torture on the tortured, and Katrina on gays and African-Americans -- how do you expect them to rally around universal health care?
CoIntelPro @ 26:
You are so right. Obama and Clinton are already stating that their health care reforms will be through the insurance companies. That makes me want to puke in their corporate faces. The only way to change healthcare in the United States (by socializing it 100%) is from a grass roots angle. Protests out in front of hospitals. Protests out in front of insurance companies. Protests out in front of doctors' offices. A handful of people with signs and useful information would certainly get this nation to face its moral failures in health care.
One interesting fact is this: Hospitals and doctors usually charge the uninsured more than they do profit-making insurance companies. Further, you can't get a hospital to list their service costs out in the open ("How much for three stitches? How much for a CT Scan?") because of this disparity between what they charge the insurance companies and the uninsured. The entire system is designed so the patient has to take whatever the hospitals/insurance companies want to charge. And the charge is always set to make the greatest profit.
There should be a day throughout the nation when people flock to all health institutions for protest. Nothing less than 100% socialized health care (including psychological and dental care) should be accepted. The Dems are almost as bad as the Repigs on this issue.
"...while our once-great companies are getting slaughtered by health care costs..." - Bangkok Bob @59
Bob,
It's ironic that the corporations/great companies are getting slaughtered by insurance costs, because they are some of the most adamant opponents of universal healthcare. They favor the system we have, were you only get affordable insurance if you are an indentured servant or wage slave chattel to some big employer. That healthcare is unavailable to those without a choice job, is a matter of design. If you know that being self-employed, or employed in a "non-choice" job will meanthat you can't afford health insurance, you are more likely to fear for the job you have, be an obedient little worker and not even contemplate quitting. In this fashion, the "great companies" have turned access to healthcare into a heavy shackle that people gladly wear around their necks. Making sure that their are 45-50 million Americans who do not receive a healthcare ration serves as an additional example to keep the rest of us in our places.
You would think that corporations would be the single most voiciferous element of society agitating for universal, single payer healthcare, because by dropping their healthcare benefits, they would instantly become much more profitable and much more competitive. But they aren't. Keeping their work force dependent and fearful, is apparently of prime importance. If we had free universal healthcare - socialized medicine (oooh, that's scary) that is financed by a payroll tax (no need for employer matching tax) - it would inevitably mean that millions of workers could leave jobs and employers whom they hate, in order to go do work they found more satisfying.
In the end, the resistance isn't about providing "socialist" benefits. It's about ending slavery to the corporate world. Corporate America is going to do everything in its power to make sure that never happens. And
prostituteselected representatives on both sides of the isle are going to make sure that they get their wishes.Way to stereotype an entire section of America, sadsad. I live in Kentucky, I am a liberal, and I agree with you on a FEW points you make. Yes, there are many people in the South who hold these views. But, also, many do not. There are many good, decent people in the South land. There are good people all over this country, but there are also some not so good people. You can find rednecks and religious zealots in every state of the Union. Hate to burst your bubble. Peace.
Dicksknee @ 79:
What else does everyone DESERVE even if they can't afford it? A new car? Cable? Big screen T.V.?
Its all the corporations fault maaaan!
Big government will NOT fix all your problems. Hard work, personal responsibility and determination might, though. Try that instead of whining until someone comes along and pays your bills for you.
(P.S. I don't agree with Iraq / war spending)
Incoming "bushbot / neocon / repig" pathetic responses in 3...2...1...