Bob’s Story

I was born and raised in Missouri and earned a degree in chemical engineering there prior to moving to Michigan. My wife and I have two sons, one a scientist and one an elementary school teacher. My career was in engineering (research, then manufacturing) and then computer applications. I am accustomed to operating based as firmly as possible on facts. I maintain this website based on a “continuous improvement” process, which many manufacturing companies use for their operations.

As a retiree, I currently devote my life to the single-payer (health care) movement to achieve and maintain an improved Medicare for All. I am a member of the Healthcare-Now national organization and the Physicians for a National Health Program (PNHP). PNHP started about 21 years ago and has over 15,000 physicians who support an improved Medicare for All. I am in regular contact with people across the country, including many fellow activists, and am a long-term member of SPAN Ohio.

My support for a United States improved Medicare for All is based on multiple life experiences and from knowledge obtained by researching, reading and studying.

Experience with other countries:
living, traveling, working, using health care systems

Our family’s most significant experience among European and North American countries was living in the Canadian province of Ontario for 4.5 years. Our health care was good.

Personal Experiences and Experience of Relatives

• My major surgery in the United States in mid-2006 resulted in the insurance company and me paying only about 25% of what was billed! There are plenty of price negotiations occurring in the current complex system that hold down income of health care professionals and their facilities.
• The surgeon for my surgery in 2006 agreed to accept the “reasonable and customary charges” that are appaarently already set between the estimated 1500 health insurance company payers and the medical professionals. That is setting prices.
• A close relative now has a whopping $4,000 deductible before the health insurance company pays anything … and they don’t pay for everything after that.
• Another close relative has a low $3,000 per year for outpatient services that he have used up already due to the need for important doctor visits and surgery.
• My retiree health insurance premiums increased significantly. The total rise has been over 700%! I don’t know how long I can afford that situation.
• I have experienced numerous challenges with the administration of the billing process by the health care providers and the insurance company. Not everyone has the combination of awareness, interest, ability, knowledge and time to track down mistakes by insurance companies and the providers.
• I worked for a year registering patients for hospital services. That front-line job makes up just a very tiny part of the complex administrative excess.
• During the last several years I been paying attention to the many spaghetti dinners, raffles, auctions and other benefits for families who are in massive amounts of debt due to medical expenses for a specific person, who may still be living or is now deceased. During one week in my community there were two front-page articles in my local newspaper. It’s sad to think of the unnecessary physical, emotional and financial pain that people experience.
• In February 2007 the elected officials for my county in Michigan established that an additional group of county employees, at the time of their retirement, will no longer be provided with health insurance. That’s exactly what my company did years ago, effective 1/1/1993.

My Conclusions

We must:

• do what all other industrialized nations do: provide Health Care for All, which according to the book Health Care Meltdown¹, means implement a national health program with everyone having health insurance via a simplified system: improved Medicare for All via single-payer health care;
• elect supportive candidates, especially in U.S. elections;
• give strong support for officials and candidates who support single-payer; include the topic of Improved Medicare for All as a factor in our decision-making for voting and get people to vote;
• participate in the Million Letters for Health Care Campaign
• take care of ourselves to help ourselves feel good, have energy, avoid pain, have a long and productive life, … and make a contribution to the control of the nation’s health care costs.

Let’s Follow the Plan
to Help Get Health Care