| Lately, health care has been a hot topic of conversation with many of the people I meet. Some of these disagree with my view of health care. I find that these are people who have overly simplistic reasoning (which is what happens when you try to mix reality with hopey/changey wishes). When I have had the time to talk and explain my concerns, some will agree with me while others end the conversation with a statement that I don't care about other people (averting the issue with a personal attack). Oh please! While I let it slide when people nauseated me with the praises of Obama, I can't let this one slide. Everything in me rebels at this attempt to hand our free choice over to the government. And did the president inspire confidence when, in his town hall meeting, he said that his government plan versus private insurance would be the equivalent of the post office against Fedex or UPS? Uh...last I checked, the post office was not doing well and the government has not risen to the challenge of competing with these two companies. Instead, the government is discussing closing offices around the country, putting more people out of work. So, when the government-run health care plan runs out of funding, we can assume that it will be forced to either close offices or eliminate services or deny care or, as Obama has stated, create a single payer system, eliminating private insurance. I am sure of this: Unless they tax the crap out us, it will run out of money. It's being founded and funded on borrowed money as it is! To those who label someone like me "unamerican," or a "political terrorist" or the latest from Arlen Specter, state that I am "not representative of America," let me say that I am sooo American. I am an informed American, one who, had I lived during the time of the American Revolution, would have disrupted a shipment of tea. For now, I will continue to wish that Red Bluff would have a town hall meeting about health care, because I would show up and disrupt it. How dare the House Speaker say that I am unamerican! Doesn't she remember what Obama said in his speech after winning the presidency? Didn't he address those of us who did not vote for him, saying, "I will be your president, too." Maybe he didn't mean this? He asks us to trust that an expanded government won't create more waste, inefficiency, and bureaucracy. That's simply not good enough. Remember, we didn't vote for him. From my latest conversations, here are the tales of 3 uninsured Americans... One of my friends goes to a health clinic. The program's dental plan doesn't cover crowns. Instead, teeth that have passed the point of being fixed with a filling are pulled. This particular program makes people wait for several months before getting them in. Then, any further necessary dental work is done over the course of the next few months. The friend I spoke to who uses this program was dismayed because there were four teeth that would need to be pulled. This person made the tough decision to have false teeth, opting to have all teeth pulled. The place that is making the false teeth is contracted, and without any competition to keep them on the ball, the company seems to be in no particular hurry to get the teeth finished. My friend has been waiting for teeth for six weeks. Yes, six weeks with no teeth. This is the nature of dental care without options. Do you want the government making decisions about your teeth? Another friend has no health care at all, but that doesn't mean she wants government health care. When she was pregnant, a government plan covered her root canal. She drove out of town to see an approved dentist (that means he was cheapest one they could get). This guy spoke rapidly, and as he jumped from topic to topic, he kept telling her of the rapid weight loss he was experiencing. He broke a drill bit in her gums and told her that he did so. "What are you going to do?" She asked. "Nothing. I've been digging but I can't get it out," he said. Why didn't you leave his office?? I wondered. Because the tooth had been hurting and it had taken so long to get into this dentist that she could wait no longer. She had no other options. Thoroughly disgusted with the poor care she received, she wants private insurance. For now, she pays cash when she needs dental work as this allows her to choose any dentist she wishes...and it ensures that she will never again be trapped in a chair, hurting, and without any options. Additionally, she finds that some dentists will give a discount to those who do not have private insurance. Two months ago, another friend found that she had a black spot on the bottom of her foot. She doesn't have any insurance, but when she called and made an appointment with a doctor, she was told to come in the same day. Privately, the doctor told her, "I realize you don't have any health insurance. I'm not charging you for this visit." My friend was told that she would only have a bill for the lab that did the biopsy work. When it was time to pay the $70 lab bill, she asked the lab if they could give a discount for someone who was uninsured. Her bill was reduced to $40. Having had children, having dealt with surgeries, having had medical tests, etc. I have never had a hospital, doctor, or dentist refuse to allow me to make reasonable payments, even though they have signs in their waiting rooms claiming that all fees are due at the time of service. Many times, these places will reduce costs for the uninsured. I am telling you, there are indeed safety nets in health care, but these nets are held by people, not the government. So many accusations vilifying private insurance companies! But do you think that a government employee will have more compassion for your needs? When was the last time an IRS agent showed some leniency with your taxes? You are simply a number to the IRS. Do you honestly think it will be any different with health care, # 34,972,193? Do you really think that you are special to the government, that they might give you some special treatment if its you who gets sick? They are unlike a doctor, who takes the Hippocratic oath and pledges to first do no harm. Oh, that congress had to promise the same!!! None of them have even read this entire health care bill they are trying to pass for your own good. If they haven't even read it, if even the president can't explain how he will fund it, why on earth are we in such a hurry to pass it? If it goes through, it will be the government, not doctors, who will make decisions about your health. Democrat leaders say that private insurance companies deny life-saving procedures and tests, and that this is why you are better off letting the government decide whether you need procedures and tests... I guess the reasoning is that the government will never say "no." Yeah...good luck with that. Remember that this is the same president who wanted to have private insurance companies pay for veteran's war related issues. This president tried to weasel out of paying for veteran care that stemmed from military service and now he has the audacity to speak to the nation about how insurance companies are evil because they deny treatment for preexisting conditions! You want the government to care for you? Be careful of what you wish for... |
