Is it Time to Occupy Health Care ?

The occupy movement has become embedded in many protests. It culminated with Occupy Wall Street, followed by many others.

During the past four years we have witnessed an internal breakdown of the health care financing system. In spite of the affordable care act and perhaps because of it, many insurers are withdrawing from the Obamacare Exchanges. The  Walmart model for health care is failing. The reason it has not worked is the health system is on the verge of a meltdown.  Walmart meets the demand with adequate inventory. Health Care has no inventory. In spite of this some large insurance companies are recording large profit margins. This despite the ACA's rule regarding the percentage of the health care premium which must go to patient care.

At each step of increasing regulation designed to improve quality decrease cost the effects have been paradoxical. This is true for many reasons. Our market system adjusts rapidly to barriers for care and the results are often counter productive and counterintuitive.  As Nancy Pelosi said 'We won't know what the ACA is until it is passed.  That is like throwing the dice, or spinning a roulette wheel.  Chances are very good you will lose. That is what has happened.

While the roster of patients who carry an insurance card has grown by millions since 2012 many cannot access care due to high deductibles for outpatient services, high premiums, a lack of providers and overcrowded emergency rooms.  The ACA which was supposed to make health care affordable and accessible has caused many patients to go to emergency rooms where they cannot be refused examination.  The quality of care has decreased due to overcrowding, exhausted health care personell and has increase professional burnout and exits from the health system.

The insurance card patients carry may not be worth the ink and paper upon which it is printed. l The addition of EHR created enormous expense for providers. The incentives came out of  your pockets.

Occupy Health is a nationwide movement scheduled the last week of October 2016 just prior to the Election.  The goals are to bring attention about the sad state of health care in the U.S. The situation was made much worse by the Affordable Care Act.  Well intentioned or not, it has evolved into a disaster. The outcome has resulted in millions of Americans who now have a mostly meaningless card...doctors are not accessble, deductibles are very high, as well as premiums for many people. The people were promised  health care. This was a vacuous statement.  The bottom effect was to decrease losses for hospitals to ensure they were paid. The result is more crowded emergency rooms, dangerously overworked health personell  and a lowering of quality for the insured.  Please comment on the Occupy Health facebook page. Share widely in your social network. And most important plan or join a movement in  your city. This will be a national demonstration including Alaska, Hawaii, and the U.S. territories.

Occupy groups are no longer splinter groups.  It has become mainstream, because our system has not worked and our leaders are lame. Every increase in federal regulation has not decreased costs. The bureaucracy, inefficiency and mandates have the opposite effects.

Our goal is to have several million demonstrators across the country. Having a march on the national mall is meaningless. It is a useless protest for television and the media.

Occupy your city, town, village, or intersection. Take it to city hall, town center, hospital, pharmacies, and medical clinics.

Participants will include patients, providers, health insurance companies, hospitals, and congressional representatives as well as administrators of CMS, and HHS.

We are recruitng leaders in all 50 states, and many cities throughout our nation. The ACA has brought attention to the plight of our system. It is not yet completed and must be amended or repealed. It won't happen unless the people demand it with overwhelming demonstrations.

This effects every American and our Health Care Matters.