iamhealed.net

I’m opposed to any sort of national health care system. Yes, our system of insurance and managed care is flawed. However, it’s not AS flawed as other systems.

I have friends in the UK and Canada. They all rave that they’ve got the best healthcare in the world - yet I’ve talked to them while they’re waiting for an appointment for the most basic of care.

Two things brought this back up for me today: Montel Williams was on Cavuto this morning, talking about how he’s been to a variety of countries and experienced their health care (he’s a major advocate for MS research and free/low cost prescriptions; while I can’t agree w/Montel in many areas, he’s doing a lot of good there!)

While visiting abroad, Montel said that he witnessed people waiting 16 hours to see a doctor and three days for x-rays. While our system’s not great, at least most people can see a doctor quickly for an emergency.

Then I read on FoxNews.com this morning about a grandfather who was killed by the UK health system. The man bought a pair of shoes that were too tight. Said shoes caused an awful blister. He went through the healthcare system and they gave him bandaids. Less than a month later he was dead - septicemia and massive organ failure. His youngest daughter is quoted as saying, “There was a hole in his foot. I told him he had to go to the doctor but he said: ‘They have discharged me.’”

I’m sorry, but if I had a HOLE IN MY FOOT and a doctor tried to discharge me - I’d be calling a malpractice attorney and the state licensing boards. But that’s apparently how national healthcare works!

Poor people and those with truly catastrophic medical expenses should have access to quality medical care regardless of the ability to pay. The medicaid system isn’t perfect; and many people do not qualify because their incomes are “too high” (often even when they’re deciding “the food, the rent, the light bill OR the medicine”). However, putting everyone on the equivilent of Medicaid is not the answer - our healthcare system will break down and people will suffer; and the care will STILL go to those who can afford private insurance. (My UK friend with private insurance was able to get in/out of a must-have surgery within a few weeks - pretty much like here! She told me if she was waiting on NHS it would have been months before she’d even had the pre-op work done.)

The government, private corporations, charities and churches must find a way to enable people at all income and health levels to get quality care. This should be a priority for us; a healthy nation is a productive nation - it makes sense economically.

More thoughts on this later… it’s my day off. However, I’m going to work all day. I’ve got to clean this house, start packing, take Bobby to the bank and the car insurance place, go and register Kayti’s car, start something yummy for supper, and maybe-just-maybe get back to this blog and start catching up. I know that I owe Xai both a reply and an apology… I kinda left you hanging out there because I went back to work. Sorry! I’ll catch you this afternoon I hope!

This entry was posted on Wednesday, August 8th, 2007 at 11:13 am and is filed under News & Politics, rants. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.