Ok.
So, i'm not a very opinionated soul, but the resent and increasing noise and trouble over health-care reform has bugged me to the point of blogging about it.
Lemme throw my hat into the ring:
It's very easy to sit (or stand) and complain about the principles -the concepts- of programs when you live a secured life. When i witness the grass roots "town-hall" meetings there people express there discontent with this healthcare reform somehow being the end of capitalism and their fears of an "America lost." i am appalled. not one. not a single person in the presses' coverage has been a person who looks to be without insurance. I don't mean to stereotype, but these folks tend to be white collar or union workers (or above); people who are guaranteed to have coverage. This reform is not about destroying an industry. Rather it is about making an industry more accessible. the fact is that the cost of healthcare is increasing three times faster then the cost of inflation. That means that for each dollar more my wage is increased the cost of a doctor visit increases by three (dollars). Now, when a company bares the boon and burdens for that cost, who cares but the CEOs?
Well, many Americans aren't protected by companies' tax credits. I, like many, are not covered by any healthcare or insurance plan. I don't have 600$ a year to spend on my health. an as long as companies and unions are willing to pay 600$ a person for healthcare, insurance companies will charge 600$ a year for a health plan.
Believe it or not, that's the way capitalism works, babe. Sure, there's that Hippocratic oath that HMO personnel *should* take. but that's less for their benefit and more for your own. It's just like that "employees must wash hands" sign at McDonalds. I have worked as a cook. I have seen people treat those signs as a suggestion.
In my opinion it come down to this: We, as a people, need either healthcare reform of a cultural reform.
I know it sounds awkward, but take a step back and imagine a society where every other individual can diagnose the systems of a stroke, set a broken bone, intervene a heart attack, or even perform basic 1st aid. Now imagine a world where people don't hide their prejudice behind a facade of "fear of socialism."
That was too far.
At any rate, i never felt the need for a universal healthcare. I've lived a good life. a fat and privileged life. Yet, at every turned I've sought to escape my heritage. Last year of high school i spent in Mexico and southwest USA. After college, I took a low paying job in a slum part of Iowa City. I've seem people picking strawberries with gnarled broken fingers, I've hiked 20 miles across arid deserts in northern Mexico that were once irrigatable farmland, before the Colorado ceased to flow into the sea of Cortez, I've met people who can't afford their bi-polar drugs nor can they afford the cost of giving birth in a hospital, I've seen folk who must choose between eating or sanity.
American society is a joke. When the an expectant mother musty choose between the drugs that keep her from slitting her wrists or hiring a natal physician, then something is wrong. When I as working for Monica's, a restaurant in Iowa city, I meet a man named Paulie. Paulie wasn't the easiest guy to get along with, but he was no monster. He was gruff and bitter and reacted like a man who spent his entire life fighting the world. He was a prep-chef. He had a medical problem that he had no money for: a pain in the foot. it took a month for him to save enough money for an operation to remove an inflamed nerve (which was thought to be the problem). the cheap surgery resulted in circulation lost in two of his toes. they were removed. two toes became five. Five toes became a foot. The hospital was able to save his leg. Another co-worker, Richard was baking bread one evening. He set a 500 degree pan on a shelf above him. José, a Spanish speaking member of our team, was lost in language as he stumbled to warn Richard of the falling pan and heavy boxes (¡cuidado!). I fear to imagine what might've happened if I was not around to shout in English. Richard did not have health insurance through Monica'
What i don't understand: the arguments against helping folks like Richard. When the US government decided to demonopolize the steel (steal) industry Rockefeller certainly wasn't complaining about socialism. When the US government decided the that 2nd amendment was great, but, perhaps some folks (those not fit to be tried in court) shouldn't own guns, no one shouted about their fears about "losing the America they know." If anything, healthcare reform would force competition for existing HMOs. which would force them to effect ways to lower their prices. Toothcare, for instance, is not life threatening. insurance companies would surely dominate by providing discounts with dental insurance. or they could encourage development of cheaper treatment and NOT tell the gubernatorial health insurers about it.
Let us just assume for a moment that healthcare reform won't cause the end of a free United States of America. Let's just pretend that President Obama passes this reform bill. Now, if governmental programs illustrate anything it is this: the majority of them fail to accomplish what they were intended for or do so poorly that the people seek help from the private sector anyway. ex: the Army Corp of Engineers, the CCC, prohibition, no child left behind, homeland security, the UBATF and countless others decrees.
So, seriously, just stop worrying about it all. If this healthcare thing does go arye, then take it up with the supreme court. that IS our(the people's) check on the gubernatorial process.
fuck!
