My stupid meaningless thoughts on Health Reform.
Others have tried, from JFK to Nixon (yes Nixon, and his plan was more liberal than Obama’s.) Everyone has bitched and moaned about it at one time or another, even those of us who are insured by our employers. You don’t realize how broke it really is until you or a loved one receives that bill. Because sure, you have insurance, but the hospitals go ahead and charge that $50 for each aspirin, or charge you for a shower (i have seen this,) or soap, or whatever it may be to get as much possible money as they can. This system has spawned Doctors that are nothing but pill pushers. Prescribing synthetic highly addictive, government made pain medications to hordes of people. Turning them into the same Zombies who become addicted to the illegal narcotics of the world. Such a huge debate, lasting for decades, over something like the simple want to get medical care when we are sick.
Don’t fool yourselves. This has always been about the almighty dollar. Ambulance chasing lawyers got the ball rolling with ridiculous malpractice lawsuits. Forcing honest Doctors to obtain millions of dollars of malpractice insurance to battle these claims. Everyone claims the greatness of the American healthcare system until they get tangled up in it. You go to your primary care physician, he/she tells you, you need surgery, they send you to a specialist, who may agree or disagree, who may send to to someone else, etc. My mother has been in and out of the hospitals for a long time. High Blood Pressure issues. One doctor will tell her she needs a pace maker, her cardiologist will tell her she doesn’t, they schedule her for some strange procedure to be done the next morning.. a week or more will go by, all the while this mounting medical bill is about to be laid down. I can not imagine the cost for someone who desperately needs medical attention but does not have insurance, or has been denied insurance because of a pre-existing condition. For those of us who have, really do not have a clue of the nightmare of the have nots. And not all of them are lazy welfare people who refuse to get a job.
So is heathcare a right or a privilege? I do know, for me, it is a privilege to be lucky enough to have it. I would never be pompous enough to lobby for the denial. I would never want to be in the position of not having insurance. I do know that even the out of pocket expenses would hurt, and I have insurance.
Change is always scary, especially on this scale. But i want to make my own decision. We have never had the opportunity at a universal healthcare system, yet we have been told of the horrors of one. Until i live under one, i will refrain from believing the words of politicians who’s opinions and/or votes are there own, or those of the multi-million dollar lobbyists, who are waiting in the dark, like spiders. I will respect anyone who votes there conscious whether i believe in them or not. I will not respect anyone who constantly goes the party line, or can be swayed by a large contribution check.
History was made last night. Whether you agree or disagree. Perhaps it is time to try something new. History is not made up of people who constantly went with the status quo. It is made of people willing to stand up and question the establishment. The establishment has had their time in the sun for many many years. Its good to stir the pot on occasion. We must stir the pot, or we will become stagnant and unchanging. This country was built on change… so let it happen.
