Tuesday, January 4, 2011

Here's Your New Health Care Plan in Action


I gave birth naturally. Not a single drug, at all.  I felt the pain. I remember the pain. It hurt like hell, but I had my reasons for wanting to go that route back then and I'm glad that I did.

Tooth pain, however, is probably the worse pain that there is. It hurts from your jaw, up through your eyeballs and into your brain. Yes, I say the pain is worse than even childbirth and considering I have experienced both, I would say that is a qualified statement. 

How would you like to live with excruciating tooth pain, while you wait nearly two months, to have a tooth requiring a root canal, worked on? 

First, let me back up and say that I do believe that everybody is entitled to receive care when they are ill, and clearly there needs to be a program in place that is better than the current one to help the uninsured and under-insured, and to provide preventative care. I have had periods of my life where I was uninsured, and certainly periods where I was under-insured, and there's always a possibility that I will find myself in that position again in my life. That possibility exists for all of us really.

My mother, who died from lung cancer was uninsured. My father who died from another rare form of cancer, was uninsured. In both cases their illnesses, once diagnosed, were terminal. Would it have made a difference if they had been able to have preventative care through a national health care program? Maybe. But, in both cases they received treatment under Medicaid, and in my mother's case, she was able to receive benefits for hospice care under Medicaid. 

The far left liberals in this country who like to label more conservative people as evil because they oppose this Obama health care bill, have it all wrong... as they usually do. The opposition doesn't come because conservatives don't want all people to have health care. Nobody should be denied health care because they are poor. Nobody should be denied health care because they are young college students. Or single parents who can't afford private health care. Nobody.

But completely turning the current private health care system - the best health care system in the world - upside down to achieve that seems excessively costly, and unnecessary in my opinion.

The things that are most disturbing to me about the politics of today - and I don't care whether you are left, right, somewhere in the middle, Republican, Democrat, Independent, whatever - is that the people who are sent to Washington to act as our representatives, ignore We The People and push through their own agenda that The People clearly do not want. As was the case with this nationalized insurance plan, our representatives forgot that they were our representatives, but acted in their own political interests. The other thing that disturbs me about this is that we already have a health care plan in place for uninsured and under-insured people that could clearly have been improved and expanded upon to cover the poor, without affecting the entire private insurance industry for those who work full time and have a private health care plan.

And, if you've ever read any of my Katrina rants, you already know that I am not a fan of the insurance industry as a whole. But that's a whole 'nother story.

My husband is a veteran. He served in the military and he gets his health care through the VA.  Fortunately, he and I are healthy people overall, with no health issues to speak of. But... nearly two months ago, he went to the dental clinic at the VA with tooth pain. Tooth pain that was likely created by the very VA dentist he visited when that tooth was drilled for other dental work. My husband was told that he needed a root canal. He was also told that he would have to get on the "waiting list" at the local military base, since the VA is not equipped to perform root canals.

That was almost 2 months ago.  Imagine, living with that kind of pain for 2 months.  Oh wait. I almost forgot. The VA dentist did offer to pull the tooth. You know... to provide immediate relief. But that was all he could offer. Wait two months. Or pull out the tooth.

This, my friends, is what your health care is going to look like when the government takes over.

Oh yes, they did pump my husband up with antibiotics, so that the infection would be kept under control in the meantime, because in case you don't know... you can DIE from a tooth infection.  And they also prescribed him some heavy duty narcotics for the pain. So he could spend the next two months in a fog while he waited for an appointment.

Despite that, he still went through horrible pain the past two months - pain that interfered with him being able to enjoy both Thanksgiving and Christmas - because for one, it was difficult for him to eat with the tooth, and also, because he had to rush home to take the pain medication.

I am not saying it is because the VA or the military base are negligent in caring for our military or our veterans. It is because they are a government run health care that is overtaxed.

I tried my best to convince my husband to go to a private dentist to have this taken care of. If it had been me, I certainly would have. But my husband is stubborn, and a very proud military veteran who feels that he has paid his dues to the military and should be cared for thorough the health care he earned from his service. He is sadly misguided, but stubborn.

This, my friends, is your new health care plan in action. And YOUR health care hasn't even kicked in yet. Your wait will likely be even longer.

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10 comments:

  1. Thank you for sharing your very reasonable perspective!

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  2. Interesting post, Mary.

    For many of us, any insurance would allow us to sleep better at night. Several of my co-workers with children don't make enough money to afford our premiums (and we work in health care).

    In October 2010, Reuters released a report saying that the U.S. is 49th in life expectancy. So, our current system isn't all that great.:(
    http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSN0622294120101007

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  3. Hi Judi. I certainly relate to those mothers. I was one of them unable to afford health care and it was scary. Thank God we made it through that time with no major issues. I agree we need something done to address those in the cracks, and I'm sure our system could use improvements, but I disagree with Ms. Fox's position on the quality of our health care in the U.S. versus other countries with a universal health care program - I have heard different from people who actually use those systems. Plus she provides nothing but her opinion to back up factual statements in her article.

    Ms. Fox is a left leaning progressive, who is a champion for the health care bill, among other liberal issues, so I am not surprised to see her pen an article that would lean in support her cause. She speaks for her agenda. I speak from experience.

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  4. Firstly, I hope your hubby feels better soon. 2 months is way to long to wait for a root canal, no matter who's providing your care (IMHO) I have to say I agree with your point of view. I'm not too interested in having anything crammed down my throat because it's "in my best interest", not to mention to be fined if I choose not to. If I can't afford insurance you think I can afford a fine?? Makes me wanna run screaming.

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  5. Nice one Mary and spot on! I agree no one should be refused care. However EVERYONE should be willing to pay the bill whether it be via insurance or direct payments to the facility. I had to make payments with my second son.

    They will ruin our health care system if this goes on. Just yesterday dad and I went to pick up prescriptions for he and hubby. All of them went up. Dads doubled. And then I think of that commercial where they say it will be BETTER for seniors, and how costs will be less. Oh what liars they are!

    And I had to cancel my health insurance, just couldn't afford it. And, if the fines are still in there, I can't pa that either. Maybe they can just add the fine onto my existing debts!

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  6. Mary, I absolutely agree with your views. And your husband, while a brave and stubborn man should not have had to wait to be cared for but having been a military wife, I understand the socialized medicine bit. It sucks. I had my daugher alone, no drugs in the hallway at a military hospital because they hadn't seen me before in the pregnant lady cattle call at that location. And when I decided to breast feed (in the 70's), no one was available to help except to offer me the shot to dry me up.
    No, I am not looking forward to being retired and getting to play the medicare stupidity.
    Good for you girl. All my best, Linda

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  7. I believe part of the problem lies with the belief that people should receive "free" health care. Somewhere someone is going to pay for it. Nothing is free. Why people think that they are entitled to something free while others pay for it via taxes or their own higher fees is beyond me. I do remember, as a child about 50 years ago, my mother making the comment that she was finally paying off the hospital for the birth of my younger brother. I'm sure they did not have insurance then. At least your husband had a choice with waiting or going to a private dentist and paying for it himself. With a national health system we will have no choice.

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  8. Thank you for sharing this. I do understand...even if you do have dental or medical insurance many times the co-payment is so high that it's like not having any insurance at all. That's where I am presently. Try to encourage him to go to a private dentist, because waiting could present further problems. good luck.

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  9. Mary & all,
    This was a beautifully honest and well written post. I appreciate your willingness to share. It is very insightful from your personal level. We all must be highly discerning with the political pundits and most importantly, pray for our country's leaders for guidance & wisdom.

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  10. I was a Navy wife for 17 years. I have many, many stories of the various Navy hospitals at different bases where we were stationed. Nothing is quite like waiting 6 or 7 hours with a baby with a raging fever and vomiting to see a very young Dr. who specializes in Podiatry. It was "free" but the "price" we paid was enormous.

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