health care: curing the boil on my big brother's butt for free
Current hysterics about stuff made up by the health care industry and the Republicans bring to mind three personal experiences that I want to share (oh yeah, and the actual debate over the actual bill being proposed too):
- One year I made the mistake of playing rugby without health insurance. DUMB. Don't do it. Today the team does not recommend playing without health insurance, as we don't want to keep doing endless fundraisers for your reckless ass when it gets slung up in the hospital for six months. Plus, there are potential accidents in rugby that no fundraiser could cover. Just do your team a favor and don't do it. When I had to visit the hospital after a strike to my temple made me bleed all over creation, the final bill came to about $100 per stitch - somewhere around $900 out of my pocket just for a deep cut. It wasn't very easy to pay out of pocket at the time. (P.S. - practice has started, and where are you? Your only excuse for not playing should be lack of health insurance.)
- Another time when I was unemployed I opted for the sucky half-assed insurance-lite available as a post-employment option. Such plans are not worth the trouble or the money, believe me. About all they covered was radiological fallout accidents, alien experimentation, or your heart spontaneously exploding. Everything else was pre-existing and they wouldn't cover it. Even if providing coverage for allergy medicine that would ultimately reduce the chance of sinus infection which could lead to a bad lung infection. They made me fight for every inch of coverage otherwise, and when you're unemployed, you don't have the time or the energy to fight, and such companies know that. The unemployed don't have the time or resources to wrestle with policy or to speak with the manager. Good coverage does not take much of your time, but bad coverage does. But good coverage is expensive for your employer and bad coverage is cheap. You do the math.
- Finally, when my oldest brother came to visit last year he brought with him a giant pustular boil on his ass. Aside from the inconvenience of having my brother soaking his ass in epsom salts all day in my house, we had to go find a public medical clinic up in Columbia heights. He had the convenience of being able to visit the place for treatment during the day, but what if he had to work all day, had no leave time, and had to get to a night job? His lifestyle in the Portland, Oregon area allowed for flexible visitation to public clinics, but not everyone has that flexibility.
And all I have to say about this fabricated "rage" at town hall meetings is: 1.) I'm in public affairs and communications, and I know a poorly-delivered talking point when I hear one; 2.) Nearly everyone I see who is "enraged" is an old white man who is probably just pissed off that a black man is making decisions for a change; 3.) In the rare instance a reporter actually scratches the surface of the situation a little and questions one of these "Patriots," inevitably it's found that he's currently or was formerly tied to the health insurance industry; 4.) If you're feeling guilty because you spent our future away in the glory of "The Greatest Generation," just STFU and let us make some financial decisions for a change. You've had more than enough opportunity and you fucked it up and spent our future on your vacation home. The people we voted for are now in charge and they are finally trying to make some good changes to a very flawed system.
So sit down and shut up, and let us fix this mess you made. We'll be changing your diapers some day soon anyway. And thanks for the multiple crises - we hope you had a good time on our dime.
I particularly love the "Keep the government off my Medicare!" people. WTF?
Actually my diaper is kinda full now so if you wouldn't mind sending someone over now...
4.) If you're feeling guilty because you spent our future away in the glory of "The Greatest Generation," just STFU and let us make some financial decisions for a change.
Thank you for that comment... and it applies to so many area's that they are just flat out wrong, not just health care. The world is moving on and they are not able to handle the changes. Adapt, die, or just get out of the way... straight white men holding all the power is a dead paradigm.
For my four years of self-employement I had a policy that I found and paid for myself. The worst thing about it was not the relatively low coverage compared to a group plan, but the knowledge that if I had actually had the bad judgment to get an expensive condition, there was a reasonable chance that the insurers death panel, I mean, review team, would promptly comb through my medical records to find a reason to cancel my policy. Oh my goodness! You didn't tell us about that bout with acne in high school on the policy application! You liar, how can you expect us to cover your cancer treatments!
People who have not had to take care of their own insurance have no idea what a bad joke the whole concept of individuals in our fabulous free market going out and buying insurance actually is.
I had a friend who'd had cancer - a relatively minor one, treated successfully and completely more than a decade earlier - and she was able to get insurance, but it would not cover any kind of cancer whatsoever. Helpful, isn't it!
I am waiting for those who are convinced that reform is a big socialist plot to turn their attention to other socialist government meddling, like roads, and the public water supply.
What is is about the U.S. with the refusal of a significant portion of our population to accept the idea that the American way may not always be the best way? That just maybe, we can learn some things from what other countries have done in solving some of the problems that we have not solved here?
Americans, get your heads out of your backsides. I lived under Britain's NHS (National Health Service# for nine years and let me tell you, it's not perfect, but it's vastly better than what we have here. When I went to the doctor #who I chose, the government does NOT assign you a doctor) I could easily get an appointment - easier than here, I have to say - and when I went to the doctor's office there was no paperwork, no fiddling about with insurance cards. I once had to go to the emergency room, and all they did was to ask me who my doctor was. No form filling out, and they treated me right away, and did not make me sit for hours.
Death panels? We already have them, courtesy of the private insurance industry, always searching for some loophole to wiggle through, to avoid paying for necessary procedures. It's not just because the insurance companies are assholes. It's because any shareholder owned company's responsibility is to maximizing shareholder value, and it's not in the interests of an insurance company's shareholders to pay claims.
I started a business over there and let me tell you, health insurance for my business partner and our employees was not even something we had to think about, because it was already provided through the taxes that we all paid. There are many companies who provide health plans, but it's supplemental to the NHS - like being able to get a private hospital room, rather than sharing with other patients - rather than a replacement for the public system which everybody uses, is covered by, and pays for.
Sorry if this has gone on long, but I really believe that Americans need to hear about these things.
I really hope Obama can win this tough fight. Runaway healthcare costs need to come down. We have to take the insane profit and greed out of healthcare.
Where do you play Rugby? Where should I send the RuckingInsurance.com Tshirt?
BMK
Yes- health insurance is totally necessary for everyone in this day and age.
Oh, and Brett Favre is a Viking, beyotch!
If Brett Favre is a Viking, then Brett Favre is dead to me.
I am removing all mention of him from this blog immediately.
Brett Favre = football's Cher
Hee hee...
http://notthatkindagay.com/post/165857960/source-says-brett-favre-will-sign-with-minnesota
I've long thought that the issue is the insurance companies and the attitude that they create, that all health options should be able to be categorized in an easy form that lets them calculate their chances of turning a profit by offering to pay for your treatments. If we're going to reform anything, lets get rid of that. But so far I've been less than impressed by any of the five proposals that are floating around congress and I think that Obama did a disservice to the process by using fear tactics to try and create to momentum to drive thru any bill before they were written and even marked up. By having so many options and possibilities on the table he gave lead to the rumor mills that fed off the fact that anything the president said could be twisted by mixing the facts of the multiple bills. I also think his negotiations with big Pharma ended up giving away the one avenue that citizens had for recouping some savings by adjusting the plan. If i trusted that they had the political will to make the changes to medi-care that would keep the system solvent than I would believe that they had the will and the brains to create yet another program that wasn't going to grow into another entitlement monster that would continue to grow budget wise forever.