I don't want to die.
I don't want my family and friends to die.
I don't want my future children to die.
Just because I might not be able to afford healthcare.
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I'm taking this wonderful class, Medical Sociology. In class, we discuss all the aspects of the healthcare system in the US and abroad. I've always felt personally attached to the subject because I eventually want to get involved with healthcare and public health, and my mom has been an insurance biller for 16 years.
My mom hates insurance because she sees how corrupt it is and how it can make doctors corrupt. I hate insurance because not everybody has the health insurance I'm able to have through my dad's company.
Of course I am grateful that my family is part of the working middle class and I'm able to have adequate healthcare. Although, the true is, if something serious were to happen to one of my family members, we'd go into debt - probably till I'm old.
But what makes my livid and what confuses me to no end is how people cannot care about people who are worse off then them. I could go around, living in my college-bubble, pretending nobody in the world has problems or taking the stance that I shouldn't care if people don't have healthcare because I'm comfortable where I am.
It's just wrong. It angers me, living in an individualistic society, where we seem to have forgotten not just to look out for our next door neighbors, but our neighbors in the next town over. We live in the most advanced nation in the world, but somehow we've failed at empathy and relationships with others.
47 million. 47 million. 47 million Americans have no healthcare. That's roughly 1 in 15 people who don't have healthcare and even more have barely adequate healthcare.
On July 10, 2007, President Bush visited Cleveland, OH and he had a brilliant answer to how people can have access to healthcare:
"After all, you just go to an emergency room."
And then there are fatally long waits and their visit has to be paid for anyway. And by who? Us. The US. Us. We all eventually have to pay for everyone else, no matter what. Why not institute a system where everyone has access to healthcare, with a choice of more comprehensive, supplemental insurance and pay a little more in taxes every year? Yes, universal healthcare. The prince increase would surely outweigh all the doctors visits, especially when we're older.
There will definitely be more healthcare-related blogs to come.
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In the 2008 election, health care has been brought up a lot. I know that this may be getting on another topic, but there has been much debate as to whether a universal health care plan would include illegal immigrants. I share your upset at the fact that so many people fail to care about those less fortunate than themselves. But it bothers me even more when people don't consider illegal immigrants to be people at all and to have the same needs as the rest of us. I think that even they should have some sort of access to health care, especially their children. While we may not consider them to be here for the right reasons, they are still people and deserve to receive medical attention when they need it!
I completely and utterly agree with you. The government should not let somebody suffer and die just because they don't have privatized health insurance. The US needs to change its culturally outlook - changing from individualism to a more collective outlook.
Health care clinics and emergency rooms will not, can not turn anyone away, If they have health insurance or not.
People bog up the system when they report to the ER with flu like symptoms for the last 3 days. Yeah your going to wait for care until all the critically ill patients have been seen first. If the illegal immigrant walked in to the ER with symptoms of a heart attack then I will guarantee you that they will be seen ahead of John Wayne with a bullet wound to the foot.
Health care workers are blind to race, sex, and economic state of an individual.
Be aware that illegal immigrants are afraid to enter any institution, why? Because they are illegal and don't want to go home. I am not against immigrants, come, live and learn the language be apart of this great country and enjoy our freedoms and pay our taxes, just do it legally like my grandparents did. This topic sticks to Dem's and Rep alike, liberal views them as humans who deserve to come and go as they please the conservatives want cheap labor. But the independents want them to do it right, not running away from responsibilities that we hold all citizens too.
You wouldn't forge documents, steal, cheat on you taxes and then hold the rest of society at fault for not accepting you? These individuals drain the money from communities, they may do the hard labor that most Americans disdain now but they drive with out insurance, use the health care system, and take jobs away. They are here illegally and the root of that is illegal meaning against the law. It is an endearing notion to feel empathy for all human beings, but realize that there are greater factors playing in the foreground. Look at the business of human trafficking into the US. What is the cost to patrol the boarders. The boarder has become a war zone between the traffickers and the local police and boarder patrol. So please read and follow the current events to provide a deeper picture of the world around you....
Health care clinics and emergency rooms will not, can not turn anyone away, If they have health insurance or not.
People bog up the system when they report to the ER with flu like symptoms for the last 3 days. Yeah your going to wait for care until all the critically ill patients have been seen first. If the illegal immigrant walked in to the ER with symptoms of a heart attack then I will guarantee you that they will be seen ahead of John Wayne with a bullet wound to the foot.
Health care workers are blind to race, sex, and economic state of an individual.
Be aware that illegal immigrants are afraid to enter any institution, why? Because they are illegal and don't want to go home. I am not against immigrants, come, live and learn the language be apart of this great country and enjoy our freedoms and pay our taxes, just do it legally like my grandparents did. This topic sticks to Dem's and Rep alike, liberal views them as humans who deserve to come and go as they please the conservatives want cheap labor. But the independents want them to do it right, not running away from responsibilities that we hold all citizens too.
You wouldn't forge documents, steal, cheat on you taxes and then hold the rest of society at fault for not accepting you? These individuals drain the money from communities, they may do the hard labor that most Americans disdain now but they drive with out insurance, use the health care system, and take jobs away. They are here illegally and the root of that is illegal meaning against the law. It is an endearing notion to feel empathy for all human beings, but realize that there are greater factors playing in the foreground. Look at the business of human trafficking into the US. What is the cost to patrol the boarders. The boarder has become a war zone between the traffickers and the local police and boarder patrol. So please read and follow the current events to provide a deeper picture of the world around you....
Maddie
(it's uncle Dave)
Your so right, the problem in health care is not the services provided by nurses and doc's but how the institution of insurance has become so corrupt. It is a simple premise where the many healthy pay for the few sick. The nation is in a delicate balance because the Baby Boomers are now retiring, and will rely on the younger generations to flip the bill. The problem with that is that currently population is not keeping up and the many sick will out way the few able bodies.
Don't think that I want to socialize medicine. The institution to replace is what needs to be replaced. It is the insurance companies who profit and gamble on our health. If a private company offered insurance for students, new grads, self employed, and employees of companies of less then 100 souls in a non-profit tone then you would be able to lower the cost of insurance to the 47million who can't afford it. The government's involvement will cause headaches and cripple the economy. Whenever the government gets involved in business they find a way to screw it into the ground.
Being a nurse for more then 10 years now I have seen where money is spent. Medicaid pays for a majority of health bills and relieves the burden, however all the money comes with a lot of baggage. You have to prove your illness, document every pill and procedure. Your family income must be under 30k a year, That is your entire family, mom, dad , sisters, and brothers. I've seen parents divorce to qualify for medicaid for there child. I've seen illegal immigrants given the exact same care as citizens who paid with or with out insurance, not paying a dime, why because of medicaid, paid by you and me.
The problem is not from the care providers but from ourselves. Look to what you can do. We need people to look at the problem with fresh eyes and see that the money we spend on health insurance is going into the pockets of the executives, and not into prevention of disease. Because they pay the bills they can dictate what procedures can and will be used. Take away their business by offering a community health coverage from a business that does not make a profit. Simple, the plan works as it was designed.
I want to say to you Happy Easter
Dying is a part of life, so don't be scared because it's a door that closes to allow you in....