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Authors, sign in!Forgive me for not being too sympathetic. But, I find the barrage of TV ads concerning the evil health threat posed by the Obama health care reform plan laughable.
For the past 15 years I've been surrounded by countless friends who have had to wait and wait to receive the health care they needed to stay alive. Due to delayed treatment and diagnosis, many of my friends died.
Why?
Simply because they were poor, uninsured and unable to pay for the care their conditions demanded. Too young for Medicaid, too poor for private insurance and too sick to be effectively treated by the MASH approach of the Emergency Departments of local hospitals, my friends had to wait.
They waited on charity -- on folks like me to beg for free treatment.
They waited on disease severity to reach a point where the ER might lead to hospitalization.
They waited for admission to Parkland (county hospital) where everything is over crowded beyond belief.
So, you'll understand if I'm not moved by the concerns of the well off, like myself, who get the best of care because we can pay to buy private health insurance. I'm certainly not concerned with the pain of the insurance lobbyists.
I say provide coverage for everyone. Let all of us pay something based on ability. Let everyone receive the care needed.
Frankly, if I have to wait on my brother or sister to go first, I'm ready to do so.
In every other developed nation on the planet this willingness to share and to wait, just a bit, results in far better national, public health outcomes than are realized in the USA at a fraction of the per capita cost.
We need to read the Golden Rule as we consider what is needed in health care reform. And, even more, we need to remember one another.
Published July 27, 2009 by Larry James |
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| Tags:
Corporate Power
Economy
Health Care Reform
Health Insurance
Health Policy
Single Payer
Uninsured
Universal Health Care
