Healthcare reform, politics, your health, etc.
I’m venturing out of my comfort zone on this one!
So I’m watching CNN last night and everyone is talking about tonite’s State of the Union speech and what Obama is going to say. As usual, they had a panel of people…a few from each side discussing what needs to happen, what Obama needs to do, say, his mistakes, etc. It raised a few thoughts. Before going any further, let me say I do not pretend to know much about politics, the political process, the new health care reform bill, etc. I think I’m in the majority with regards to that. Unfortunately, many people in the same category as me don’t realize it. I may be totally off base (and let me know if I am) but this is how I see it.
First, the panel was discussing the election of Mr. Brown in Massachusetts and why he was elected. Some on the panel were saying polls indicate it was because the people didn’t want the new health care reform to pass, some were saying it was basically because Mrs. Coakley ran a bad campaign (which is true), some were saying it was a message to Washington saying that the people do not like what the Democrats have done to our country (as if the previous 8 years were just peachy!). News flash, the deficit didn’t just start 1 year ago! Anyway….
I tend to think the majority of people don’t really know why they really vote the way they do. I believe most people make their decision based on initial reaction to a candidates presence (their appearance, how they present themselves), or who their friends told them to vote for, and less on what they actually stand for, or can accomplish. I think that played a large role in Obama’s election even though I voted for him. As a friend of mine said, “the majority of the electorate in this country is very ignorant of the facts”, and I think that is the way the politicians like it. I believe most of the people against this health care bill don’t even know what they are complaining about, or what they are against. Honestly, do you really think you know all the ins and outs of this new health care bill and how it is ultimately going to affect you? Have you read it? The politicians are always quibbling on TV about what’s in the bill, how it’s going to affect people, the economy, or even what the bill actually is! How are we supposed to even to have a clue? I tend to think that it’s this way for a reason. Nothing is made clear, these things are written to be confusing so the average person needs an interpreter to understand it. Most people don’t have the time or patience. I don’t pretend to know everything about this bill, and if it’s going to work or not. How can anyone really know?
With that said, this IS what I do know. The past 8 years have been atrocious as far as my health care experiences are concerned. My daughter is now 7 ½. When she was born we had top tier coverage. It cost a fair amount, but I was fine w/paying it because procedures, tests, and visits were covered. Each subsequent year our premium increased 20-25% AND along with each increase came a drop to a lower level of coverage. How is that a reasonable rate of increase? That happened for about 3 years in a row until we were at the bottom of the barrel as far as coverage, and paying out the nose for premiums. It forced us to look for different health insurance. We found a new provider, gave them a shot and that was still horrible. We knew what kind of coverage we had, but unfortunately that doesn’t always help when you don’t really know what the hospitals are now charging for certain things. For example, I needed to get an MRI for my low back to check on some back pain I was having. The bill came in at $7100 for an MRI!!! I had a heart attack when I saw that. First of all, it’s ridiculous that the hospital would even think of charging that much. The insurance provider assured me it was not $7100 and not to worry. The next I heard was that the insurance agreed to pay $2,000 and hospital sent me a bill for $5,000, and that was it! Done! “Oh Mr. Yuhas, you owe us $5000, how would you like to pay?” Does that sound like a system that is working? I would have been better off going in and telling them I had no insurance and they most likely would have billed me for $1500-$2,000. So not only did I end up paying my insurance premiums but I ended up with an even higher bill because of it. I’m getting the shaft because the private insurance companies are greedy, and the hospital and doctors are afraid of not getting paid for their services. Who ends up getting the shaft? Me, the patient, me the customer. I don’t know if the new health care reform bill will be any better, but I know the current situation isn’t working. The fact of the matter is, the private insurance companies have no reason to make their rates affordable, or their coverage adequate. Will competition help? Who knows, but it’s not working the way things are now.
Secondly, I can remember hearing from the conservatives during the last year of Bush’s presidency (when shit really started to hit the fan with the economy). The republicans were saying “oh all of this is a result of the Clinton Administration; it has just taken this long to work through the system and show up. This is all a result of Clinton’s policies”. Interesting! Now that Obama has been in office an entire year, they expect everything to be fixed up quickly. On one side, they say “these things take time (8 yrs) to run through the system before we can really see the effect they are going to have” which is a very convenient way of taking the blame off themselves. On the other side, Obama inherits a mess like we’ve never seen before, and he is supposed to get everything fixed within a year? How convenient! It’s usually much easier to fuck things up, than it is to fix them. In the fitness world, there is a saying regarding exercise technique. It goes something like “it takes 100 reps to create a bad habit, and a 1,000 reps to fix it.” I’m so tired of every Tom, Dick, and Harry spouting all their great ideas about what needs to be done. Do these people really think they know everything that is involved in all of this? Many things can appears simple on the surface. Do they really think they are smarter than someone like….. Ben Bernanke for instance. I don’t have a clue about what is involved in managing the country’s economy, but I’m pretty sure it’s a bit more complicated than the average “expert” on the street could handle. These are probably the same people who find it challenging to balance out their checkbook,
Now the actual “health” part. Honestly, we need to find a new word, something to replace the “health” in Healthcare reform. The panel on TV was discussing aspects of the new reform and how it was going to affect treatment, prescriptions, etc. Those things do not involve health, they involve sickness. People are standing around abusing themselves and then sticking their hands out saying “What about me?” “I can’t afford my meds”, “Who’s going to help me?” We are a sick, unhealthy nation, and we will never get this healthcare issue under control if we don’t get our health under control. A main reason why the costs are so high (besides greed) is because we have so many sick people overwhelming the entire system. Do you know how many billions of dollars are spent every year on drugs for high cholesterol, diabetes, high blood pressure, blood thinners, skin conditions, allergies, inflammation, etc. Let me tell you…..alot! A majority of all these issues are firstly, preventable, and secondly, fixable often times without drugs. Sure, we all get sick sometime regardless of how healthy we are, genetics do play a role in our health, accidents will happen. But those instances make up a small part of the entire number of health cases seen in this country. Many…way too many, are caused by decisions we make. We need to be more responsible for our own health. We can’t leave something like that up to big business or the government. It’s not that hard, take control of your and your family’s health!