What is so confusing to me is how ANYONE thinks it's okay for 1 person to be without health insurance in this country. We are the richest country. The billions of dollars we've spent in Iraq could have been used to fund a healthcare system over ride that would have gotten everyone health insurance several times over.
I've been working in the health care field for some time. Since a lot of my patients are older, I have a first hand view of what lack of insurance can do to people. It's not a matter of them choosing to "opt" out of the system. My patients all have Medicare as a matter of a mandate, with kidney disease it's a given. However, what you don't know, is that Medicare only covers the costs of their treatments. In order to get medications, which they all need several, they have to purchase a secondary insurance. Kidney disease is debilitating to some extent. Getting dialysis wipes you out. So many of my patients are unable to work. Add on top of that a family to care for. They receive a small amount of Disability or SSI (if old enough). This $$ barely pays their bills, let alone allow them to purchase an expensive secondary insurance plan. But, what is the alternative? If they don't, they will get socked for 100% of the bill.
I've seen patients have to give up their homes, in order to qualify for Medicaid to get some help. Why do they have to make that decision? Why are we SO concerned about the people that are losing their homes because they took out a mortgage they couldn't afford, yet people that are ill have to give up their homes to avoid large medical bills? This makes NO sense to me. And quite frankly it makes me angry.
Our system is broken. You want to solve the economic crisis! Then let's get some healthcare for everyone, so they don't have to spend every penny to extend their lives and they can use that money to put back into the economy. Everyone deserves to live. Everyone deserves to feel good. To, me that's absolutely a right!
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Isn't it absurd? I watched a PBS special earlier this year that evaluated health systems in countries that have universal healthcare, UK, Germany, France, Taiwan, Japan, etc... and discussed how it was possible for the US to have universal healthcare. We just have to convince people that it's a right, not a privilege to have 100% coverage. When the health ministers of these other countries were asked if anyone in their country ever had to declare bankruptcy because they couldn't pay their medical bills...they ALL laughed. They all said that that would be absurd AND SAD and could NEVER happen in their countries because their citizens would riot. We need to change people attitudes and fast.
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