Alex Chilton (Big Star) Died Because we don't have Universal Health Care
Very interesting analysis of the situation.
Some of the comments are insightful as well.
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UPDATE: In fact, here's a good comment for you:
| The other day, an older gent came to our door. |
 | He was trying to raise money to pay for the heart surgery his baby granddaughter needs (hole in her heart). Apparently the parents are stuck in the 'make too much for government programs (SCHIP, etc) but not enough to afford insurance' category. Every time I go into a store I see another jar, collecting for yet another sick individual who can't afford health care. The number of interschool email messages asking for donations for similar is rising every day. A nation should define its success by how well it cares for its most vulnerable citizens. We fail. |
I know exactly what you're saying. My husband is totally disabled and I've only been able to get a part-time job. We're very poor but not enough to get Medicare in this state. So I have no health insurance. I can't afford the $60.00 the private doctor charges so i go to the clinic when I can manage it. They don't ever do tests because they know I can't pay for them. I'm 52 but I've never had a mammogram. The last time I had a pap smear was when I was pregnant with our son and Medicare paid for it - eleven years ago. And that's not likely to change.
ReplyDeleteNot that it matters much. The nearest free cancer clinic, which I hear may or may not see you even if you have an appointment, is over 50 miles away. With gas prices what they are and no one to drive me it might as well be on the moon.
Happily cancer doesn't run in my family so I have genetics in my favor. If I do contract it I figure suicide is my best option. I have a low pain threshold and I don't want my kids hearing me slowly scream myself to death.
Of course accidents are always a possibility and heart attacks do gallop in my family. And I have been having some chest pains. So I've decided that should I be in a car wreck or have an attack, and be conscious, I'm absolutely forbidding anyone to call an ambulance or take me to a hospital. I don't want the ambulance service or the hospital calling me or (much worse!) my family every day to hound us for money we'll never have. A funeral would be so much cheaper.
I live in a small southern town so I'm constantly hearing about our wonderful, patriotic veterans who sacrificed so much. For what? So we can have a country with about the same freedoms as Cuba, but that only cares for its wealthiest citizens? Sounds like a criminal waste to me.
This is horrible, Bluebird. Just horrible. I wish I had some ideas here for you, but I don't.
ReplyDeletePersonally, I think it's immoral for health care ever to be on a for-profit basis.
I've lived overseas where people don't have to worry about this kind of thing. How it is that "conservatives" in this country think we have a better system is beyond me.