Comments on: I like this ad … http://shrimpandgrits.rickandpatty.com/2007/12/11/i-like-this-ad/ Science, science education, and other things ... with a distinctly Southern drawl Mon, 01 Dec 2008 22:18:50 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.5 By: Rick http://shrimpandgrits.rickandpatty.com/2007/12/11/i-like-this-ad/#comment-20922 Rick Thu, 13 Dec 2007 03:45:19 +0000 http://shrimpandgrits.rickandpatty.com/2007/12/11/i-like-this-ad/#comment-20922 You're right. We do a lousy job especially with preventative care. I have what most would say is "decent" insurance coverage through my job, but it pays for practically no preventative care. Getting it to pay for other care and prescription drugs is sometimes an adventure as well, but that's another rant ... You’re right. We do a lousy job especially with preventative care. I have what most would say is “decent” insurance coverage through my job, but it pays for practically no preventative care.

Getting it to pay for other care and prescription drugs is sometimes an adventure as well, but that’s another rant …

]]> By: Billy (A Liberal Disabled Vet) http://shrimpandgrits.rickandpatty.com/2007/12/11/i-like-this-ad/#comment-20918 Billy (A Liberal Disabled Vet) Wed, 12 Dec 2007 16:54:19 +0000 http://shrimpandgrits.rickandpatty.com/2007/12/11/i-like-this-ad/#comment-20918 A couple my sister knows worked at a high-end hotel and restaurant in DC. Together, they pulled in around $120k a year. They had almost $200k in the bank and decided to have a baby. They did not have insurance (both had minor pre-existing conditions (minor skin cancer (in full remission) and a removed spleen due to a blood infection) which disqualified them from the company's plan, much less getting a plan outside the group. When their daughter was born, she had a disconnected esophogus. Three years and about a half a million dollars later, she was 'corrected'. The couples savings? gone. Hope of buying a house? gone. Credit rating? gone. Jobs? gone (too much time off to deal with the surgeries). They are still in debt to the tune of about $300,000 with little hope of ever paying it off. With their credit rating, they can't get good paying jobs. Just one more family sacrificed on the altar of the 'free market.' I have often wondered why, if tax-payer funded federal insurance is good enough for America's lawmakers (and law-breakers), why is it not good enough for Americans? I have heard the arguments: National health insurance would be too complicated (um, has anyone else out there tried to wade through what is covered, what is not covered, and what the standard co-pay (under my FEHB plan, the co-pay is $20 (unless it is $8, or $30, or $40))); National health insurance would mean rationing of health care (it is already rationed, based on who can pay, and who has insurance (yes, hospitals are required to treat any who need it, but what about preventive care, which would eliminate up to one third of emergency room visits)); National health insurance would be too expensive (take a look at what a useful family health insurance plan costs if you are not in a group). We read about kids dying because of an absessed tooth, about babies born with disabilities because of vitamin deficiencies, about people visiting an emergency room three days late and thousands more expensive. The problem in Washington, in my useless opinion, is that the current ruling clique really doesn't give a tinker's damn whether or not their policies work. They only care if the policies are 'politically correct.' Sorry for the rant. Today is my Monday. 'Nough said. A couple my sister knows worked at a high-end hotel and restaurant in DC. Together, they pulled in around $120k a year. They had almost $200k in the bank and decided to have a baby. They did not have insurance (both had minor pre-existing conditions (minor skin cancer (in full remission) and a removed spleen due to a blood infection) which disqualified them from the company’s plan, much less getting a plan outside the group. When their daughter was born, she had a disconnected esophogus. Three years and about a half a million dollars later, she was ‘corrected’. The couples savings? gone. Hope of buying a house? gone. Credit rating? gone. Jobs? gone (too much time off to deal with the surgeries). They are still in debt to the tune of about $300,000 with little hope of ever paying it off. With their credit rating, they can’t get good paying jobs. Just one more family sacrificed on the altar of the ‘free market.’

I have often wondered why, if tax-payer funded federal insurance is good enough for America’s lawmakers (and law-breakers), why is it not good enough for Americans?

I have heard the arguments:

National health insurance would be too complicated (um, has anyone else out there tried to wade through what is covered, what is not covered, and what the standard co-pay (under my FEHB plan, the co-pay is $20 (unless it is $8, or $30, or $40)));

National health insurance would mean rationing of health care (it is already rationed, based on who can pay, and who has insurance (yes, hospitals are required to treat any who need it, but what about preventive care, which would eliminate up to one third of emergency room visits));

National health insurance would be too expensive (take a look at what a useful family health insurance plan costs if you are not in a group).

We read about kids dying because of an absessed tooth, about babies born with disabilities because of vitamin deficiencies, about people visiting an emergency room three days late and thousands more expensive.

The problem in Washington, in my useless opinion, is that the current ruling clique really doesn’t give a tinker’s damn whether or not their policies work. They only care if the policies are ‘politically correct.’

Sorry for the rant. Today is my Monday. ‘Nough said.

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