Good Morning and welcome to a brand-new week!
After monitoring online comments for a couple of years now, I am able to just shrug off most (even those that are posted just to spew hate). Sunday morning, I stumbled upon the following: "Let's stop the hyperbole! People die from illness, injury or age. They do NOT die from lack of health insurance. While the news media calls the current debate a debate over "health care", it's really about determining who should bear the cost of health care. Our current system would work fine with some changes - tort reform, increased funding for Medicaid, and funding for basic-care clinics that would prevent people with minor ailments from tying up expensive hospital emergency rooms. Instead, President Obama and the leaders in Congress want to remake one-sixth of our economy and pile more burden onto the taxpayers while cutting back-room deals that corrupt the whole process."
Right, let's stop the hyperbole. Yes, people die from illness, injury or age. That's about the only thing correct about this post.
They do in fact die from lack of health insurance. Let's just say you were working for a business owner who, because there wasn't a union there to fight it, didn't take the asbestos out of the office ceiling. Suddenly, you are fired and can't afford health insurance.
The doctors tell you have cancer (thanks for all that good air, boss), it is treatable, but the treatments will cost $1,000 each. Without insurance, you are expected to pay that out of pocket. When you can't pay that, you don't get the treatments. The cancer grows.
Now, lack of affordable insurance just killed you.
That's right, let's cut through the hyperbole.
The only 'backroom deals' being cut are by the insurance companies, funneling money into the likes of Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity and Glenn Beck and, yes, your favorite Congressman, to kill any kind of affordability.
Get the facts, then think about health care.
1 comment:
Here is an article I wrote to the Times. Please take note of the comments I rcvd.
Letter to the Editor: As debate drags on, lack of health care hurting many
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
To the Times:
My 47-year-old husband woke up Jan. 5 unable to talk or move his right side. He was diagnosed in the emergency room of our local hospital with an ischemic stroke to the entire left side of his brain. This was more than likely the result of missing his follow-up doctors’ visits and not taking his prescription meds for high blood pressure and cholesterol following a heart attack he suffered in April 2009.
Both of these decisions were directly influenced by the lack of health-care coverage (we couldn’t afford COBRA once he was laid off in April) and high out-of-pocket expenses for meds and doctor visits.
Now it will cost Medicaid so much more because all of his stroke treatment and recovery costs are being billed to Medicaid and charitable organizations because at the time of the stroke, he was uninsured. If he had more options for health care, the stroke could have been prevented.
By the way, he was scheduled for an appointment with the local clinic, but it was for Jan. 26, more than likely due to the increased use because of the economy and lack of health care in our community.
How many more people are getting sicker, and even dying, while we debate the details?
COMMENT: " While your situation is unfortunate, what was your plan "B" ? What arrangements had you made after your husband was put out of work ? Whom did you contact for assistance, what did you do except give up ? Why does your personal situation dictate the wholesale destruction of the current healthcare system ? How much of your current circumstance is due to insufficient planning on your part ? "
COMMENT 2:" EdwdLny I am so shocked with your hostility toward this couple. For many in middle America there is no plan B. We are mostly living paycheck to paycheck and when that paycheck isn't there we don't have many other plans and our government doesn't offer many options. So many Americans choose to go without life saving medications and instead choose to feed their kids. Have you seen the cost of COBRA lately? $500 per month isn't possible for many in middle America that are on unemployment and have families. We aren't talking about irresponsible people. This person is your neighbor.
It must be nice since it seems like you have a "Plan B" in place. In the meantime your fellow American is dying. "
COMMENT 3: " " I am so shocked with your hostility toward this couple"...What hostility, I have valid questions ?
" and our government doesn't offer many options."...Why is it the governments', more correctly the taxpayers, responsibilty to offer options ?
" We aren't talking about irresponsible people." Actually ,yes we are, no plan B, no plan for the inevitable "rainy day". The irresponsible outnumber the unfortunate by a huge margin. Too frequently the unfortunate are victimised by their own choices.
" many in middle America that are on unemployment and have families " these people are not those whom the "healthcare reform" was designed to help nor are they the people that would be helped by these programs. There are far more efficient and effective ways to assist the unemployed with their healthcare needs. The propaganda attempting to corral sympathy for these folks in an effort to pass the boodoggle of "healthcare reform" is dispicable and disgusting. "
MY RESPONSE: " @ EdwdLny
I am the one who wrote this letter.
I would love to know the other options you are talking about. As of today, my husband's care is being covered by Medicaid, but your wisdom might be invaluable to others in similar situations. "
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