Give Me A Break!

I very rarely ever do two posts in one day, but I just can not stand it. I was just watching a program, where they were discussing whether Jesus would think there should be a public option for health care reform. The guest was a nun, and said basically yes she believed Jesus would think the public option was the correct Christian thing to do. So the host says, oh come on anyone without health care most definitely can get health care by walking into any emergency room in the country. Bull S*** Bull S***

If you have never experienced the indecency of not having health care, then you should have no opinion on the matter period. I would like to know how many of these people who are opposing the health care reform, really just want egg on Obama's face, are just plain cruel, or are completely ignorant. It is awful to have no health insurance, to wonder how you will cover an illness or accident. It is awful to be afraid to let your kids play sports, or climb the monkey bars, because they might break something. Let me tell you what it really means to be uninsured in this country.

1- You go to the ER because you have no insurance, and you know technically they can not refuse you . Technically that may be true but they will make you wait for hours, and hours on end. They call it triage, and it is great, especially if you are the ER, and you hope they just get tired of waiting, and leave. I have personally seen ER's do this to people, who come in for non emergency care. The very first thing they do is ask you for your insurance. If you are uninsured, and can not pay, you will wait forever. If they deem that you do have a job, and can pay, some will request a minimum 250 dollars to just be seen, and that will not include the bill you will get for any treatment they give you. Did you know that the uninsured get charged 2-3 times as much as those who have insurance. It is a nice little racket that goes on. Then if you don't pay they will take you to court, get a judgement against you, ruin your credit, and clean out your bank accounts, and any other assets you may be fortunate to have. That is if you are the working poor, who can not afford insurance. Tell me how can someone who makes 7 dollars an hour afford 400-500 dollars a month for health insurance. I didn't even mention that for profit hospitals can refuse to treat you, unless it is an emergency. They can say if you don't pay, you have to go somewhere else. This is shameful, plain, and simple. So please lets not make the claim that all Americans have access to health care, because it is a flat out lie.

2- So you got to be seen in the ER, if you are uninsured they will do the very bare minimum of testing, if any. They might give you a prescription, and tell you to follow up with your primary care doctor, if you even have one. If you have no money to buy the medicine you will not be able to fill the prescription, to fix the problem you went for in the first place. I guarantee 95% of the time, you will never get a real solution to fix your problem that you visited the ER for. It is a vicious cycle, with no help to anyone at all.

3- So then lets get to the many clinics all over the place. Again the very majority of these are for profit, and the not for profits, are usually under staffed, and care is questionable. I guess it is OK if you are poor, that getting subpar care is better than no care. Again this is the rich trying to keep the poor in their place. That is absolutely what I think. They don't want to go to their pristine doctors, and sit in the same office with those poor people, who can not afford to be here, and I am paying for them. Why don't they just say what they really mean?

The wealthiest country in the world, kind, caring, charitable, giving, religious, yet as a country as a whole we can not even decide that making sure everyone has affordable health care should be a goal to obtain. I think it is shameful, sad, elitist, and even disgraceful.

Are all you Democrats, really gonna let the Republicans throw egg in Obama's face? This is all this is to them, a way to make Obama fail, to retake control. I didn't even vote for Obama, but I agree so much with everyone having affordable, good health insurance.

Summer Education and Tutoring Options, Health Care Cont

Well since it is summer vacation, and I can only rant about health care reform so much, I thought I would show some love for our local businesses. With all of Levy County schools doing away with summer school, this year, a lot of parents are wondering how their kids will meet their goals. Suwannee Valley Educational Options is offer summer education, and tutoring options. It does not list prices in the little pamphlet they sent me but they can be contacted at sveotutoring.att.net for info, or 352-490-0700 You can also stop by their office at 6830 NW 140th St, Chiefland, FL I hope kids will not suffer from the inability to access summer school programs. I think there is also the option to use the virtual online classes, but many kids of course do not have a computer, with long waits at the library. I had made a previous post about Currclick having live Algebra, summer classes if anyone needs to look there, their prices are reasonable.

Now to my recent irritation about the health care reform debate. Fox News, who I normally enjoy watching, is really making health care reform, their political talking points. I am actually quite tired, of how ignorant, and crass they are about the whole thing. Their recent irritation to me, was this poll they supposedly did asking people who were already insured if they were happy with their current insurance. I forgot the exact percentage, it was high, of those happy. Well duh, number one they usually only poll 1,000 people give or take a few, and why would you not be happy if you already have coverage. Some said it was too expensive, and sometimes coverage is not so great, but over all happy. Would anyone expect that to be any different? If you have insurance you do not have to worry about an accident, major illness, surgery, or injury to make your life a catastrophic event. They will pay the copay, and deductible, but it surely will not cost them thousands of dollars, lose their home, car, credit, credibility, possibly job, etc. Come on Fox, get with the program. We need universal health care for everyone, plain and simple. Stop with your increased tax BS, and have a little compassion for your fellow American.

Should Health Care Be A Single Payer?

So on to the next part of our health care discussion. Everyone should be able to have access to affordable, good health care. I think that can be safely said. Why anyone could justify otherwise is absurd.

So should it be a single paying source, ie the government? For me the easy answer is yes. Because, if the system is left the way it is, those who can afford the higher priced insurance will always get the better doctors, and better care. Please do not deny this is true. It most certainly is. Doctors can refuse any patient they want, out of the hospital setting, if they do not want to be paid what a particular insurance wants to pay them. So if you do not want a single paying source, and want to keep private insurance, than the only other option I can see is that there is a flat standard fees charged, and paid, for all services, no matter what insurance you have. This will eliminate the doctors refusing certain insurances, and will also cut back the increasing cost of health care over all. Believe me when I say, and if you have ever had medicaid, or been uninsured you know this is true, there are doctors that take the uninsured, and or medicaid and are not so energetic doctors. Sorry, but it is true. Not all of them obviously, but it is a sad state of health care in this country. This is unfair, not only to taxpayers, but to the uninsured or underinsured. If you think people with medicaid get only the best treatment, and all treatment they need, you do not know the truth. I have no problem with private insurance, but it should be fair, and balanced to everyone.

It will be interesting to me, to see what happens with all of this. Obama is determined to have health care for all by October. With no real plan yet put forward, it is kind of a scarey time right now, for everyone involved in health care.

What do you think about keeping private insurance, having a single paying source, or having both in some fashion? How do you think it could, or should work, so it is fair to everyone, both in cost, and coverage?

Local Hospital Shands AGH To Close 2009

A local Gainesville Hospital, Shands AGH, will be closing their doors in November 2009. You can see the video, with explanation here


Shands AGH, is one of 3 Hospitals in the Gainesville area. They very often are the hospital of choice, for the uninsured, or poor people to go. With the closing of this hospital, patients will now have to go to the big Shands at UF, or North Florida Regional, both of which have not been favorable to the uninsured, or poor. Shands AGH, gave the reason of loosing too much money for closing. However, they are opening a brand new Cancer Hospital, right next to Shands UF, and of course they need to staff it. Most of the workers, at Shands AGH, will be transferred to the Cancer Hospital, which is opening November 09, the same time AGH is closing. I do not see how this will be a good thing, for the uninsured, or the poor, to find care. It will be interesting, that is for sure.