I want to shed some "lyte" on health insurance today. My family and I have been on COBRA for almost a year. We spent over $8,000.00 to keep our insurance last year. We can't get private insurance because one of my kids gets allergy shots and no one will insure them. We can't just have them on the COBRA coverage because the coverage is through my husband. I could split us up, my husband and one kid on COBRA, myself and our other child on private insurance. But it would only save us a little money and I would still need to keep myself and our other kid on COBRA for our dental insurance.
I never thought about insurance much until my husband experienced his layoff last year. Until then, insurance was pretty much a given. We had it and we used it. Now I am scrapping up the cash to make our $600 plus payment each month. It is scary. And we don't qualify for the COBRA reduction because our coverage is from 5/08 and the start date for the reductions is 9/08.
I want universal healthcare. I am sick of this crap. It slays me that Republican congressmen and women have the balls to say that we don't want government run healthcare, when they are on f*@#ing government run healthcare. They'll give you the argument that private businesses are more cost efficient. Bull. Medicare's administrative costs are about 3%, the most efficient private healthcare provider is around 15%. They'll tell you that if we have "socialized" medicine, you'll have to wait for care. Bull. If you want elective surgery, sure. But if you need treatment, you get it. Period.
We are the only industrialized nation to not have universal coverage. How can we compete with Japan, Germany, China, India, etc., when our companies have to shoulder the increasing crippling costs of their employees healthcare? And if our free market system is so great, why are our infant mortality rates higher and life expectancies lower?
And President Obama isn't trying to take away your healthcare. If you like your coverage, fine, stay with it. What he wants is for the government to provide an alternative to private insurers. And free market advocates are afraid to have private insurers compete with the government. Why? Because there is a good chance more of us will opt for that nasty government run insurance. Apparently competition is only good when it benefits business, not individuals.
What we have in this country is a for-profit medical complex. It isn't healthcare, because there is no profit in health, only in sickness. If you're healthy, you don't see your doctor that often, and you don't take any pharmaceuticals. Doctors and drug companies make money off of treating symptoms of chronic conditions. Now, don't get me wrong, if your appendix is infected, you need a doctor. But if you have, say, high cholesterol, you need to first change your diet, exercise, and check out natural remedies. If you go to your doctor, you are put on a statin. FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIFE. You become a virtual ATM for the doctor and the drug company, needing regular check-ups, lab tests for liver enzymes, and paying for the statin itself. This is just one example. Doctors have no incentive to cure you, but they huge monetary incentive to treat your symptoms with prescribed medicines.
So we need healthcare reform. The quicker, the better. It will stimulate our economy, lowering operating costs for businesses. More importantly, it will encourage us to take care of ourselves better. And that's medicine anyone can swallow.
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