Wednesday, August 26, 2009

National Healthcare Reform


I stand firmly on the side of reform. I believe we need to make sure everyone can have basic healthcare. In my past, I lived without insurance coverage during my twenties because my employer didn't offer it and I made so little money (I lived below the poverty line) that I couldn't afford insurance even if it was available. Most of the time during those years, I couldn't even afford to eat.

Years later I had a decent job and I had what I believed was good insurance coverage. I ended up in the hospital for a few days to the tune of $10,000.00. My insurance company refused to cover my stay or surgery. They said I had a pre-existing condition. According to the terms of my insurance policy, for it to have been a pre-existing condition, it would have had to have been diagnosed by a doctor previously. It was never diagnosed because it was not discovered until I ended up in the hospital. Sure, I could have gone to court to fight it, but I didn't have the money for a legal battle and the insurance companies count on that.

Now, the biggest expense I pay out every month is for insurance premiums for myself and my two kids, student loan payments run a close second. We in the U.S. pay more per capita for our health coverage than people do in other countries, yet we can't afford to get sick. We're at the mercy of insurance companies who can refuse to cover us for basically any reason and then we're liable for the medical bills. This has to change. Below is an interview with a woman who was insured, yet went into debt of over $100,000.00 because her insurance wouldn't cover her cancer treatments.

Maybe it's a simplistic solution, but if the poor, the elderly, military personnel, government workers, and members of Congress all have access to healthcare, and those programs seem to be working for them, why not open this coverage to the only people left, the middle class? What do you think?

5 comments:

tshsmom said...

The next person that tells me that "healthcare is a privilege, not a right", I'm gonna rip off their arm, beat them with it, and then see if their health insurance covers that damage...and this includes my own parents.

Then there's the socialism argument! Somehow highways, schools, parks and Medicare AREN'T socialism, but healthcare for everyone is? WTF?!

I've noticed that ALL the people who spew this crap have NEVER had to buy their own insurance or pay for their own medical bills.

VV said...

Yeah, there's some kind of cultural ignorance/arrogance virus going around. Somehow, being sick without insurance coverage could never happen to them because they're smarter or they work harder so it won't happen. If they'd just listen, they'd hear the countless stories of hard working people WITH insurance who are still getting screwed. The system we have does not benefit the consumer, it benefits the insurance companies and drug companies. This has to change.

tweetey30 said...

Yikes.. I know when I was at the Truck Stop this regular that came in every day I worked was talking about this and he asked me how much I was making and I told him I was making 4.00 dollars and hour because it was 3rd shift those two days and he started in on us waitresses being screwed because we didnt get any kind of healthy insurace from work. Thankfully Jeff has coverage but again you just never know when they are going to be asses and say I am not paying for that..

Off the topic we got the floor of the shed pulled up last night. We borrowed a jig saw from his boss and cut the piss out of the floor boards.. Then we had a nice big bon fire with the wood last night. Not all of it but a good chunk of what we cut up last night.

VV said...

Hi Tweets, glad you got the floor up. So was there glue in it? Oh, make sure you fish the nails out of the ashes. Maybe you can re-cycle the metal.

tweetey30 said...

We got the nails out before the fire for the most part. Maybe one piece had nails but we will fish them out before burning anymore. I will mention that to Jeff when he comes home about recycling the nails. We also found a painter but he wants 1,975 dollars. So I called my mom and my dad said he could do it for 800 dollars. Got to talk to the hubby first.. I dont think the boards were glued just very well nailed together. And HUGE NAILS....

CK, here’s the tattoo

  From sketch to transfer to tattoo