Great contributions everybody!

Here is a link to the film Sicko, it's still the best way to wake people up about this issue in my opinion.

http://www.livevideo.com/video/ConspiracyCentral/932D93DB715F4D2AADC516727DEC6756/michael-moore-s-sicko-pt-1-6.aspx

"Thank you for signing the "Healthcare NOT Warfare" petition. Please ask five of your friends to sign it, too."

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Here is Bill Moyers with an Health Care Executive who says the health care people were going to demonize Moore's Sicko



I'm sick of hearing the same old cry that the right uses on about every issue which will help people here: you know the socialism cry.  Too many people confuse compassion by calling things communism.

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  (tags: abuse, americans, bush, bushadministration, candidates, cheney, clinton, congress, constitution, corruption, cover-up, crime, democrats, dishonesty, economy, elections, ethics, freedoms, government, Govtfearmongering, healthcare, HillaryClinton, iraq, lie )

Michael
- 1 hour ago - thedatabank.com

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You have given your time, labor, money and life to this country... the least they can now do is to keep your body patched up.

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Regarding my previous post:

Thank you for the welcome, Michael.

Patients cannot be refused access to their medical records, no.  However, the medical establishment is set up in such a way that, though the doctors can request each individual record free of charge, the patients are required to pay for them.  Generally, each page of the record costs aproximately $.50.  Each record, however, consists of several pages.  The American people are already struggling due to the high costs and strict stipulations of the insurance companies.  There are, in fact, several medical establishments that have the right to refuse various types of insurance.  This leaves patients in a financial quagmire and also means that they are generally not able to receive the healthcare that so many of them desperately need.  The additional costs required, should a patient request their personal medical records, proves to be an additional and unnessecary strain.

If doctors communicated with one another, instead of competing, then the cost would not make much of a difference.  However, doctors do not make a habit of forwarding ALL records, if any, to one another (especially from another state).  The patient, therefore, incrues more costs.  Furthermore, the patient is literally forced to begin any treatment entirely anew.  This is not, obviously, conducive to a healthy existence. 

If a patient, however, were able to access their individual records with little to no complication, they would have a voice that they typically do not have at the moment.  They would be able to ensure that whomever they saw truly reviewed all of their medical history, which would force those who work within the medical establishment to consider both the patient's point-of-view and the views of other physicians, psychiatrists, etc. regarding said patient's health.

Thus, in my opinion, every patients rights are being violated.  Healthcare should not be based on finances.  We are a wealthy country and should easily be able to ensure affordable, quality healthcare for all.

It is important to note that there are several other establishments that require revenue before they will release personal records.  CPS and Social Services are two such examples.  Like the medical establishment, clients are generally unable to afford this cost.  If a client, or patient, is dissatisfied with the service and wishes to either file a complaint or negotiate, they are told that they must have these records.  Needless to say, a welfare recipient is not going to be able to afford this.  The end result is that those in good financial standing are making all of the decisions and those who are struggling discover that their hands are tied, that there is nothing that they can do but accept their lot in life - accept the lousy healthcare that they may be receiving (especially if they have an ongoing medical condition) - and accept that if they piss off a doctor or social worker that they will slip further through the cracks of the system, as it is soley at the doctor's or social worker's discretion as to whether or not they choose to share vital information with the next doctor or social worker.  Though files are, of course, typically shared to some extent, the law does not require ALL available information to be forwarded and/or shared.

I think that this is because, ultimately, every American wants to ensure that this country remains free.  Requiring all available information and documentation to be shared borders on 'big brother,' on one-world-government.  I am of the opinion, however, that if an individual is an upstanding citizen who is truly trying to do the best that they can do in any given situation, that this required sharing of all files will assist them.  It will also, obviously, cut down on those within our society who currently abuse the system.   

Note:  Many patients who have been diagnosed with various mental illnesses do not agree with their diagnosis.  There are still many unanswered questions pertaining to mental disorders.  For example, in North Carolina many individuals are being diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder.  In the state of Texas, however, the same condition is diagnosed as being a schizoid-affective disorder.  Each condition requires very different treatment.  Many individuals who have Bipolar Disorder are intially misdiagnosed with ADHD.  The medication presribed for ADHD causes Bipolar patients to remain excessively manic and does not, at all, cure the depression associated with this illness.  Doctors typically do not like to share all information with another physician and/or psychologist because they firmly believe in their own diagnosis and do not like it when they are questioned.  It is our right, however, to question anyone who requires us to take medication that we may not actually need.  It is our right to remain informed regarding our own personal health and state of mind.  

Please review my next post.  The above requirements violate several portions of the Constitution and, furthermore, our elected officials are required by the Constitution to uphold this suggestion and possibly supply the revenue these institutions require.

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Question:  What part of our constitution decrees that American citizens are entitled to proper healthcare, to a medical establishment that communicates with one another, and the rights to their personal medical records FREE OF CHARGE?

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