There is a real chance that after decades of talking about the need to do something about the absurd cost of health care in America, something good might finally happen. We now spend over 18 percent of our entire gross national product on health care. This is double what any other nation pays, yet our average lifespan, infant mortality, cancer and heart disease rates place us squarely in the bottom half of civilized nations. We are also the only developed nation that does not have nationalized health care.
Our president campaigned on reforming health care. Over 70 percent of Americans want a public option to force down costs. Our manufacturing base has been destroyed because our corporations are forced to provide health care while their foreign competitors do not. School systems are going bankrupt due to the costs. Yet, sensing that Obama”s poll numbers are weaker due to high unemployment, the opposition is calling for a defeat of health care for Americans. William Krystol, the conservative writer, famously wrong about everything for the last 10 years, says “This is the week we go for the kill!” Their Senate leader even trotted out the old “We have the best health care system in the world!” line again!
The truth is there is no “system” in America and anyone who has needed health care here knows it. I have Blue Cross insurance that”s very expensive. After a simple operation I came home with a staph infection; the hospital and surgeon had no liability for the damage done. I required a total of four operations to, I hope, finally cure me of their infection. My out-of-pocket costs totaled over $22,000. The last surgeon had my insurance information, as did the hospital, yet the infectious disease doctor assigned to me didn”t take Blue Cross and I had to pay 100 percent of her bill out of pocket. The drug she prescribed wasn”t covered by Blue Cross. It was over $1,000 per day! Of course, I didn”t know any of this till much later when the bills came. It turned out that no infectious disease doctors in the area still participate in Blue Cross and that the drug prescribed was the only one effective against the staph they infected me with, but due to the cost, Blue Cross refused to pay for it! What a great “system!”
I”ve heard about drug addicts who chose to fry their brains on meth getting disability and health care paid for by the taxpayers, who are rightfully outraged. I”ve heard that illegal aliens get benefits too. The wealthy are covered because unlimited money does buy you the best care here. When Glenn Beck says “the wealthy come here from all around the world, which proves we have the best” his half truth fails to acknowledge that it is only available to those who can afford it. Why is the United States the only nation in the world that sees nothing wrong with profiting from illness or accidents, while the average working family has to give up everything they”ve ever earned if someone in the family gets seriously ill?
A Harvard study recently showed that 62 percent of all bankruptcies filed in 2007 were due to medical bills and 78 percent of those folks had insurance that they thought covered them! It”s time for this to end. Only a public option will force costs down. I hope you keep this in mind while the attempts to mislead you continue! When you hear someone say “We have the best health care system in the world” I hope you realize that person has either just landed here from another planet or is in the pocket of the health care industry and is certainly not representing your best interests!
It”s time we do more than talk about it. The time has come to finally correct a serious mistake in our society. Want to pay for it? Close down any 10 of the 180-plus useless foreign military bases! We can afford health care, but we can no longer afford to be the world”s police. Please call your representatives today.
Lowell Grant
