Public Confession
Your doctor thinks that you need an operation, but can’t order the operation or send you to a specialist. Your doctor must call someone sitting in a cubicle a thousand miles away, to get permission. The doctors who work at the insurance companies, get bonuses for denying the most number of claims.
There are people in the health care industry who have a conscience, and Dr. Linda Peeno, a former medical reviewer at Humana is one of them. She was let go because she wasn’t denying enough claims.
On May 30, 1996, Linda Peeno testified before Congress. She stated: “I am here primarily today to make a public confession. In the spring of 1987, as a physician, I denied a man a necessary operation that would have saved his life and thus caused his death. No person and no group has held me accountable for this because, in fact, what I did was I saved a company a half a million dollars.”
This lucrative system began back in the early '70s with Richard Nixon. Secret Nixon tapes, which are played in Michael Moore’s documentary “Sicko”, confirm that John Ehrlichman, Nixon's assistant for domestic affairs, spoke to him about the idea of HMOs. Nixon didn’t want to hear anything about medical stuff, but Ehrlichman insists it’s private enterprise. Insurance companies had come up with an idea of providing less care, which allowed them to make more money. Nixon liked the idea and that is how modern day HMOs began.
Nine million of the 43.6 million Americans that are uninsured are children. You would think that in America no child should have to worry about not being able to see a doctor simply because their parents can’t afford it. We should at least be able to find common ground on this issue.
There are people in the health care industry who have a conscience, and Dr. Linda Peeno, a former medical reviewer at Humana is one of them. She was let go because she wasn’t denying enough claims.
On May 30, 1996, Linda Peeno testified before Congress. She stated: “I am here primarily today to make a public confession. In the spring of 1987, as a physician, I denied a man a necessary operation that would have saved his life and thus caused his death. No person and no group has held me accountable for this because, in fact, what I did was I saved a company a half a million dollars.”
This lucrative system began back in the early '70s with Richard Nixon. Secret Nixon tapes, which are played in Michael Moore’s documentary “Sicko”, confirm that John Ehrlichman, Nixon's assistant for domestic affairs, spoke to him about the idea of HMOs. Nixon didn’t want to hear anything about medical stuff, but Ehrlichman insists it’s private enterprise. Insurance companies had come up with an idea of providing less care, which allowed them to make more money. Nixon liked the idea and that is how modern day HMOs began.
Nine million of the 43.6 million Americans that are uninsured are children. You would think that in America no child should have to worry about not being able to see a doctor simply because their parents can’t afford it. We should at least be able to find common ground on this issue.
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