Are you freaking kidding me!?!

[gateslacker]

So, I'm not one to wax all political because I have seen how folks become apoplectic during such debates, so much so that I have considered putting 911 on speed dial. Typically, I don't tend to veer radically toward one end or the other and can often see valid points on both sides, even if the debate is only within my own mind 

I'm a bit of a waffler like that.



However, as I was waiting for my D*C vid to upload to Youtube, I happened across this story that has made me feel a wee bit apoplectic, myself.

Maybe it's because I am on the front lines of this whole health care thing and see first hand every single day what it is like to be among the poor, the working poor, and the uninsured. Probably because I'm the one trying to figure out what to do when they cannot afford that expensive medication/specialist/test.

There are always going to be folks who know how to milk the system. There are always going to be those folks with altered priorities who come in sporting expensively manicured nails and/or who are texting on their expensive cell phones with a pack of cigarettes peeking out of their pocket and/or bag who tell me that they just don't have enough money for a $4 prescription. Then there's the previously healthy 30 year old male who works at Burger King or the 52 year old woman who works as a waitress 12-hrs a day/6 days a week. Neither have any health insurance because, what did they call it again? Personal choice? Freedom to take your own risks? Riiiiiigghhht. Let's see. What should I pay this month? The rent/mortgage, utility bills, groceries, or that fat health insurance premium?

And there are way more of the second example than "the haves" would ever allow themselves to believe. Yeah, I say "the haves" because health care coverage, or lack thereof, have become a class system.

Now, it seems, you don't even deserve to live should you "decide" to live so "recklessly".

Now, I firmly believe in taking personal responsibility but have any of these idiots ever priced health insurance? Have any of them ever been dropped or denied coverage? As long as you are healthy and young, the insurance companies will be more than willing to take your money. Try not to have any health problems, though, or you might just become "uninsurable"

Sure, the Emergency Room cannot turn emergent patients away, but I suspect he is a bit out of touch with regard to what the hospital is going to be able to "fix". They are only going to admit and fix urgent or emergent things when there's no insurance to pay for it. That crap gallbladder you've got. You're just gonna have to deal with it unless it becomes infected or gall stones block the common bile duct resulting in pancreatitis. You need to see an orthopedist/rheumatologist/gastroenterologist/oncologist/urologist? You better hope you have a few generous providers in your area and not those who "will not see uninsured or self pay patients".  Need imaging or preventative stuff not covered by a special program? Sorry about your luck. 

The mind. It boggles!!! Or, as someone at work said the other day. Whisky Tango Foxtrot!!!

Comments

[ninja-orange.livejournal.com]

The horrible policies and rhetoric surrounding these issues makes me so upset, and I feel so helpless to change it. *rage*

[gateslacker.livejournal.com]

The horrible policies and rhetoric surrounding these issues makes me so upset, and I feel so helpless to change it. *rage*

Yes, exactly!!

[archaeologist-d.livejournal.com]

These people really scare me. They seem to have no sense of empathy at all.

[gateslacker.livejournal.com]

They scare me, too. Complete nutters with a cause are always scary.

[de23.livejournal.com]

health care coverage, or lack thereof, have become a class system.

YES to that. What's really scary is my parents are die-hard tea party-ers now. And they've had gov't healthcare for 50+ years. I just want to say to them, "You have no authority to speak on this issue!" But I don't. I did try to make the point that the main reason I *have* to go back to work full time is because of insurance. But it doesn't seem to sink in.

[gateslacker.livejournal.com]

Oh, how frustrating that is! I have always had the utmost respect for your parents but it is really easy to weigh in when you've always had insurance and have never had to worry about it. I just see it as government insurance, rather than government healthcare. Obviously, it has worked well for them but they are opposed to the idea of everyone having it? I don't expect it to be free for all but it should not be tied to your employment status and it should be based on your income. As it stands now, and all things being equal, the person who makes minimum wage would have to pay the same thing as, say, a successful small business owner.

And that bit he says about churches helping. I have to LOL because a great many tea party-ers are conservative Christians. Yeah, after that crowd response to his comments, I don't feel the charity and love for your fellow man, there. Aside from that, it seems a bit willy nilly for that to be your backup plan since the ability of churches to bear that burden would vary widely, with differences depending on a multitude of factors.

[de23.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I can't imagine that churches would be able to take up the slack. We're talking a lot of money, and I know at my church at least there are many months we're in the red just trying to pay salaries and utilities for the building. There are a lot of bigger, richer churches out there that I know support clinics, etc., but unless the majority of the US population suddenly become tithing Christians I don't see the feasibility.

P.S. Love that icon!

[gateslacker.livejournal.com]

P.S. Love that icon!</>

Yeah, it's kindof appropriate, isn't it?

[ruralstar.livejournal.com]

Well said G and I totally agree. Your comments about well outfitted people looking for 'help' reminded me of how I felt as a kid when the only people I knew who had cable TV and VCRs were the welfare families. I repeat WTF????

[gateslacker.livejournal.com]

LOL, cable? What is that? I think I was an adult before cable ever ran out this way. Even when I was married and we bought our first house, there was no cable. No, if you wanted anything you had to buy one of those NRAO Array like satellite dishes that cost a fortune! Nope, I was still outside turning the antenna and hollering though an open window, "How about now?" well into my teens. (because one of the three channels we actually got wasn't coming in)

And I was way older when the VCR made it to my house. Before that, we had a used player that played these huge square cartridge/disc/thingies that I think my Mom found at a yard sale. What on earth were those players called?

Now, I get irritated when a favored channel doesn't come in HD and will actually *have* to do something when my last HDMI port plays out. How totally spoiled that is! I should really be ashamed of myself!

[ruralstar.livejournal.com]

Yeah cable wasn't available in my area of town until I was almost 20. I was long married and out of the house before mom got it. I'm still usinig rabbit ears and if the weather is wonky so is my reception.

The catridges were for a beta player and I knew someone who had one but it wasn't me LOL. We got a VCR when I was 14 and I remember my mom paid a fortune for it. $400! It was only her and I though.

I remember thinking we had finally made it when you could get dial up internet. DSL was a lot longer in coming. Yeah, we're all pretty spoiled now but getting back to your original post, I find it infuriatiing to see someone I know is capable of paying their share and yet persists in whining to the contrary.

[rosiewook.livejournal.com]

The fact that these people are so popular is what scares me. And what scares me more is a poll released today that shows that Tea Party is overwhelmingly college educated. If this is how college educated people think through an issue....

[gateslacker.livejournal.com]

I don't really get the thought process here either. And, yeah, it is pretty scary I think.