Health Care

Our health care system is broken and I can’t imagine anyone denying that. How to fix it is debatable. I think those that flat out say it should be “every man for themselves” has never experienced health care costs without being nearly fully supported by insurance. nor do they understand the plight of 47 million people in the US without health care (as of 2006 [pdf]). This certainly isn’t to imply that if these people had health insurance that would be the answer but it is to say that our current system and its basis on private insurance is indeed broken.

This will quickly become a noticeable theme of mine here on PeopleHavePower but the only fix I see is for the government to revisit its spending. How much do we spend on democratizing other countries when our own lies in disrepair?

This year the 2008 budget [pdf] was approved for $481.4 billion in discretionary authority for the Department of Defense base budget (an 11.3 percent increase over the projected enacted level for fiscal 2007) and $141.7 billion to continue the fight in the Global War on Terror (GWOT) in fiscal 2008 bringing the total to $623.1 billion. The Department of Health and Human services 2008 budget [pdf] (office of budget page) speaks of “both new mandatory savings proposals and a fiscally responsible discretionary requests” for a total of $698 billion.

How is it possible that the spending budgets for both those departments are even remotely close? The military budget doesn’t even include the discretionary budgets of many of it’s outlying arms. A sad time when the “needs” of other countries outweighs our own.

Yeah, when I had to have my appendix out one week after I finally had health care coverage again, I realized the full importance of being insured. It was dodging a bullet big time. Had I not been insured, it would have been an out of pocket expense of over $16,000 dollars, and that was almost eight years ago. But something needs to be done. The idea that a simple and routine surgery could cost that much is ridiculous, (and it’s one of those things where if you see the itemized bill you find out you were charged 18 dollars for every dose of Tylenol).

One of the problems is obviously the high cost of malpractice insurance, but I think there’s another issue that people don’t like to talk about. There are a lot of unhealthy people out there, and to some extent, everyone who pays for health insurance carries that load. As a generation, we (Xers) are fewer in number than the baby boomers, but they are all at the age where they need more and more medical care, it’s just another example of us bearing the brunt of their load (like social security, and even environmental issues—oh, don’t get me started). But there are also people who just don’t take care of themselves. I don’t smoke or do drugs, I barely drink (I might have one glass of wine per month), I’m not overweight, I don’t eat junk food, I exercise, and yet, I pay as much for my insurance as someone who smokes two packs a day, gets every meal at McDonalds and chases it with a vat of high fructose corn syrup. People get sick, and accidents happen, but I feel that people who work hard to stay healthy shouldn’t be penalized for all the people who don’t. Of course, the problem is where and how do you draw that line? What rights to you infringe on when you charge people more money for having health issues?

And I really don’t think it’s ridiculous to at least have a solid system for government subsidized health care, since there are issues with universal health care also. And like Christian said, if we minded our own business a little more we could probably find some money for that. Because how do you say every man for himself, when some of those “men” are children?

I just wrote a huge post, and hit the wrong “submit” button. Now it’s all gone, and I don’t want to type it all over again. Damn.

If we lived in Bangladesh health care would still be a human right we would just be unfortunate enough to have been born in a state that is too poor to take care of its citizens. Fortunately (ra, ra!) we live in the United States, a country that Can afford to take care of its citizens. And fortunately human rights are universal and transcend borders, from Bangladesh to the U.S.!

Xian, si, we should spend less on bombs. It will sting so badly when they all go off at the same time.

Let’s try this again:

There’s no doubt that the health care situation needs to be fixed, and I’m in favor of universal health care, although funding such a venture is tough with $9 trillion deficit which grows by $1.5 billion every day. However, I don’t agree that health insurance premiums ought to be determined on some sort of sliding scale. Who makes the decisions about who is doing the “right” thing and who isn’t? Living a clean, healthy life is a choice, just as living an unhealthy life is a choice, and it isn’t fair for anyone to say that they should pay less for health insurance because they happen to think that their choices are better than those made by anyone else who has to fork over tons of cash for health insurance. For the record, I smoke, drink, enjoy a greasy cheeseburger from time to time, and am overweight. However, I don’t take any psychotropic medication, I’ve never had surgery or any major injury, I don’t wear glasses, I don’t need substance abuse treatment, etc. So is it fair for me to say that I want to pay less for health insurance because I don’t happen to fall into the same category as other people who do things that I don’t? It’s a slippery slope – imagine the potential debate regarding abortion, substance abuse treatment, and AIDS…

Part of the glory of living in a socialized democracy is that everyone fronts the bill for things that you may need at some point in your life, even if you don’t happen to need them now.

I also don’t think it’s fair to pick and choose election results. If we all actually had a say in our democracy, I wouldn’t have a problem with it. But we don’t really have a democracy at the moment, and I think we’re kidding ourselves if we think we do. What I’m tired of is having to bear the responsibility of a democracy when my vote may or may count depending on who’s brother is messing with the voting booths. That’s not the agreement we are supposed to have in this society. You could go so far as to call it taxation without proper representation.

I’m not talking about paying for a screwdriver. I’m talking about paying for a war.

And, yes, I recognize that this is no longer just about health care at this point.

And a lot of the programs we’re paying for now will be (or already have been) mismanaged to the point where we will never see the benefit of them, even if we need them later on in life. It’s hard to gleefully support systems like Social Security knowing they won’t be there for us when we hit our 60’s. If you can, you are a far more patient and understanding person than I am.

But I do agree with you that Ron Paul’s system is possibly just a way to help the rich stay rich and the poor languish. I’m not saying that’s the answer. And I’m not saying I have a solution. I just wish that finding middle ground could be the new American way. And I do think we need to make it a priority as a country to protect our elections, so no matter what is decided for our society’s future, it is a decision that is actually made by the majority of people in this country, not just a privileged few with questionable morals.

Where do you find your ability to continue to believe in the system? I’m not being facetious, I am honestly asking. Because, like you said—the alternative is grim. I have a hard time trusting that what was broken will be fixed. It’s not that I don’t believe it CAN be, it’s that I’m not sure it WILL be. After so many people bought what the snake oil salesmen were selling in the last two elections, I am terrified that they will again. It sucks to not believe in the system. It’s the grown up version of discovering there is no Santa Claus. I really would like to believe again.

The lack of health care for all citizens in this country is a deplorable stain on us. We desperately need to overcome our fear of labels such as socialized medicine so that we can borrow ideas from countries around the world that are able to successfully provide health care for their citizens. We will need to unclench the grip of the pharmaceutical companies so that the cost of medicines normalize. Sadly, it seems this is where we get stuck. I hear the frustration with the cost of insurance being disproportionate to your needs. Many insurance companies have begun to offer discounts or will pay for healthy choice costs, such as gym memberships. Many have a policy of denying coverage for pre-existing health conditions as a way of keeping premium costs down. However, this further serves to under insure more citizens. All of our insurance based programs and most of our services are funded by contributors who may never need those services. It is a part of our common good. Which is not to say that the systems that provide the services don’t need reform or monitoring. But, as a concept, it seems to serve us all well. I am also frustrated with the current political climate and the snail paced response to what first seemed to be a burst of energy for change in our last elections. Evidently, the coups that took place in our last two presidential elections has seriously disabled the other branches. But even more reason to stay engaged and help restore the democratic process.

A British woman has been banned from entering New Zealand because she’s overweight. They won’t allow people who may be a drain on the health care system to emigrate to New Zealand. You can read the article here

I’m not for this, I just think it’s interesting.

whoa – danger danger will robinson. exclusion (or inclusion) on the basis of physical characteristics is very scary. seems to me somebody tried that in germany during the 1930s-40s… seque to an article I read last week, not on the issue of health care, so maybe this should be another discussion topic…but there is a movement in switzerland that is sparking interest in the rest of europe. evidently, swiss politicos would like to ban all future immigration into switzerland and consider evicting some current residents who do not meet the swiss profile. they feel they are losing the essence of what it means to be swiss and that their culture is at risk.