September 8, 2009
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Health care reform…my opinion
Most people who know me are aware that I don’t really follow politics very closely. I honestly don’t believe that any level of government cares what I think or how I vote and it’s been proven to be true more times than I like to even think about. So my attitude is that the less I know, the less angry and helpless I feel, so the happier I am. Naive maybe, but it works for me. Besides, I have a brilliant husband who will let me know if there is something that I really need to pay attention to.
Now comes all the talk about health care reform and the possibility of our great nation joining in with the rest of the civilized world and getting national health care. Oh my….the things people are saying and the fears they are expressing are just about mind numbing. They are selfishly declaring things like “I pay for my own health care and you can pay for yours” and “If you can’t afford health care, you are a deadbeat”. I hope I don’t find out that I actually know any of those selfish and self-centered people.
What so many don’t realize is that there are real live people out there that can’t get or can’t afford coverage. And even if you can get it through your job, what’s going to happen when you don’t have that job anymore? Not an unrealistic question these days. And we won’t even talk about the elderly or disabled trying to live on a limited income with outrageous medication bills.
So here’s my story…..my husband and I had pretty good health care that we got on our own. His company doesn’t offer insurance, but will pay part of the premium we get on our own.
About 7 years ago I got a job working for a company that offered group rates and pretty decent insurance for less than we were paying. Greg wasn’t so sure about it (one day I’ll learn to listen to him!), but finally agreed that it would be cheaper for us to go with the group insurance. And all was well for a long time.
Until the day I went the the urologist and they discovered a problem. From there I ended up with a Nephrologist (a kidney specialist) and through a biopsy they discovered that I had a kidney disease! Well, as kidney diseases go, at least I got one that isn’t reputed to cause many problems for women. I have to see the doc once a year and take blood pressure meds, but hopefully this is all the trouble this thing will cause me, right? No big deal.
Except, now I no longer have that job. I am on COBRA (really expensive insurance you get for 18 months after leaving a job, and there is a $5000.00 deductible), there are no jobs in sight and I now have a major pre-existing condition. Can’t even get insurance on my own. I’ve been turned down by several companies. I can’t even get life insurance without lying about it! (I sure hope I don’t die of this disease, because then hubby will be screwed!)
And there’s my friend, Carol. An RN, working hard until she was assigned to a “sick building”. She now has severe lung disease, is disabled, divorced and living with her sister. She has to take a butt load of meds every month, which keeps her pretty much broke, but she doesn’t qualify for any assistance because she isn’t poor enough. (She should have sued her employer, but she didn’t.)
Or my friend Nancy, who I took today to apply for food stamps. She is 72 years old and because of her medication costs, is facing some hard choices. Medicare just isn’t enough these days.
There are probably millions of stories like these.
National health care is something that would be a life saver. But some people are so afraid of change (and anything our black president is in favor of) that they can’t even see all the need around them.
So let’s just stop all the bs and be kinder and more considerate of each other. The world would be a better place for us all.
Comments (12)
You read my mind. My next blog was going to be about how I haven’t seen a doctor in years. That it cost my aunt $30,000 to have an ovary removed. That all I’m covered up to is $15,000. What if more than one half of one ovary is diseased? Or worse? And yes! What if I’m so sick I can’t afford to work to keep the insurance? The guy who’s job I’m doing came to work every day and sat on a donut because his colon and liver cancer hurt him. He’d puke in the garbage bin under his desk. We saw this 6’2″ man waste away to what was probably 120 pounds. He died two days after taking two days off to rest. So, what’s it about paying this money for worthless insurance because it’s the best an employer has in order that I or anyone else reach the highest level of responsibility possible? Money comes out of my paycheck every week for insurance that gives probably only huge hassles if I even try to use any “benefits”.
I’d rather pay higher taxes and get full coverage/care and not worry if I lose my job. I’d rather everyone have this benefit. We really ought to look at the UK’s NHS.
I have friends in the UK and they are mostly happy with their coverage. There are problems, but nothing is perfect. She just had a couple of kids and found out with the first one that they don’t really give pain meds to new mothers. So that episiotomy she has, in their minds, should be fine with just asprin. That wasn’t so good. But for the most part everything else is easy breezy over there. Go to the dr…..no pay. Pharmacy? no problem…it’s all free. Yep…there has to be a better way to do things than what we are used to!
People ask me how I got to be such a good writer, now I finally have an answer.
“I inherited it from my wife.”
Well said. National health care works well in most of the remainder of the world. We’re putting too much politics and too much irrational fear into the whole debate.
“But some people are so afraid of change (and anything our black
president is in favor of) that they can’t even see all the need around
them.”
You said it.
I’m Canadian. I had a blood clot go to my lung.I called an ambulance, spent three days in hospital, had six tests done on my lungs and all kinds of blood thinner meds.
Cost to me…nothing.ZERO.
Friend of mine in Wisconsin, her mother had the same thing…ambulance, 3 days in hospital, same 6 tests on her lungs, same meds.
Cost to them….$250,000. They lost their home, and my friends college money.A quarter of a MILLION dollars!!
I simply don’t understand you Yanks. Our system isn’t perfect, no system is.But the way you allow yourselves to be screwed by insurance companies makes no sense.And you are the only industrialized country in the world that is that way.
Rent the movie Sicko. And wake up!
@Bricker59 - We didn’t wait to rent the movie…we saw it in the theatre. I agree 100% with everything you say. We pay out the butt for insurance and then when we dare to use it, they cancel us and mark us as “undesirables” the rest of our lives. It’s truly awful. I wish the rest of our country would wake up.
@SerenaDante - Thanks!
@AprilsPlace - Exactly!
@MelFamy - Awww….I like your sweet lies, honey! Can’t wait to see you tomorrow!!!!
There are talk show hosts who seem to think that if you cannot afford health insurance, you just breeze down to the local medicaid office and get what you need for free. Firstly, they are so totally out of touch with reality, it would be laughable if not so serious. You have to be without a roof, without an income, and pretty much unable to work at all before they accept you….and THEN the paltry services they offer are all determined by an outside agent-contractor. This medical decision-maker is, of course, working for a company that is for-proft, so their primary goal is NOT your well-being but their bottom line. (This is also true for the Social Security disability system.)
Diana has an urgent need for a neurosurgeon, but there is only ONE neurosurgeon in the entire state that does Medicaid work and that is only neo-natal surgery. So, Medicaid just keeps filling her with heavy prescription drugs that are probably damaging her kidneys by now. Oh, and since we got married, they decided that my paltry $300.00 a week takehome is enough that we can afford a $750.00 deductable!
Nationalized healthcare would take the profit motive out of the decision-making process, and it is possible that Diana could then get the surgery she needs, and a good chance she could return to the working world, which is what she so wants.
The naysayers either are being selfish and self-centered, or have put capitalism on too high a pedestal.
@rondido - yeah, most politicians don’t really seem to know first hand what is going on with health care. They are spoiled by the benefits they have and probably think all those horror stories they are hearing are exaggerations.
I wish I only had a $750.00 deductible….mine is $5000.00! Of course, mine is COBRA, so I don’t have any input or choices at all. And once that runs out, I don’t know if I’ll be able to get insurance. Before I accepted the COBRA, I tried to get insurance on my own through a broker, and was rejected by everyone. I hope Obama’s plans will at least make these companies think twice about rejecting everyone, but I don’t really think it will.
Sorry to hear Diana isn’t better.