Mendolonium

I have employer provided health insurance.  It is, by American standards, “excellent” health insurance.  The plan covers me, my spouse, and my children.  I can choose any doctor I want.  I don’t need a referral to see a specialist.  My insurance carrier covered, a midwife, an OB, and on the order of a dozen ultrasounds during my last pregnancy.  My company pays approximately 80% of our premiums leaving us with a manageable premium to pay every month.  You might think that I would be opposed to a “government-run” health care system that “threatens to drive private insurers out of business”.  You would be wrong.

Why?  That excellent insurance is more than just a benefit, it’s a chain tethering me to a job that is sucking the soul out of me.  I’ve considered taking some drastic action for a career change, including quitting work and going back to school.  While we might be able to concoct a scenario in which we can still pay the mortgage and put food on the table there is no way we could afford, nor qualify for private health insurance on our own.  Going without insurance is an even more implausible option:  one of my medications alone runs over $17,000 a year.  Add in the other medications, the doctor’s visits, the MRIs, and the labs and my regular health care bill amounts to around $25,000 a year without insurance.  The only way I will be pursuing my dreams is if those dreams come with health insurance.  How many of you have taken or stayed at a job “for the benefits”?  A job that might take you away from your family or squash your spirit, but a job with health insurance?  How many of you have wondered about your job security in the current economy and thought anxiously of what might happen if your income and benefits vanish?

Someday I do hope to have a satisfying career but even then I won’t be happy with our current health care system.  It is absurdly expensive for both the insured and uninsured.  Even with insurance I expect our medical bills to top $10,000 this year.  When Thomas or Henry is sick or injured I can’t help but think, “”How much is this going to cost us?” as I soothe my baby.  And for the price, we Americans have the privilege of higher infant mortality and lower life expectancy than almost any other developed nation.

Health care reform is the critical issue on the national agenda.  There can be no economic stability for “main street” under the current paradigm.  There can be no equality when those of lower socioeconomic status have vastly more dire health outcomes than those with private insurance.  We must give all Americans access to affordable, high quality health care.  Just as in education there can be no “separate but equal”.  The health care industry cannot be expected to ofter what we need.  It is absurd as expecting people to drive 55 miles per hour because it is the most efficient speed to travel.  The fundamental purpose of government is to serve the interests of the people.  Large government programs are viewed with suspicion, and rightly so.  Yet, I would laugh at the hypocritical nature of America if it wasn’t so important:  the response to the big government “Cash for Clunkers” programs has been nothing short of euphoria, yet the response to health care reform proposals has been shaped by fear mongers into a state of hysteria.  Every person that I know would benefit under the current legislative proposals…every single person.  A government run health care program will not be perfect, but it can strive to achieve affordability and good health of for all Americans; a goal which the current system neither attempts to achieve or is even possible.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, August 18th, 2009 at 12:12 am and is filed under A Piece of My Mind, Rheumatoid Arthritis. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.