Doctor Doctor, Can You Help Me Out

I’ve been watching the so-called “Health Care” summit for the last seven hours; I do this so you won’t have to. Unfortunately I am as uninformed now as when it started; I take that back, I think I actually know less than when it first started.

This is what I know to be true; there are too many people who face very difficult decisions about their health care; I count myself among the many that have made Hobson’s choices when it comes to allocating resources to medical and prescription expenses. I have a child who may have to face a future without proper health care because he has a pre-existing condition; I fully expect him to have a family and he’ll have to provide health care for his family, but may find himself placed in a position where the choice is no choice at all.

I have another who went many years without insurance for his family because it was prohibitively expensive; it was not until the company he worked for were finally able to offer health insurance that they were able to receive coverage, although I shuddered when I saw how high his premiums were; they will soon add another child to an already lovely family and their out of pocket expenses are sure to be through the roof.

I have a daughter with three beautiful children who, only by the grace of G-D, has not encountered any serious health problems, but I also know that she is hampered by her inability to provide preventive care for herself or her children.

I had the misfortune some years back to come down with a debilitating chronic illness, coupled with two spinal operations. The care I received was excellent…the chronic disease is under control thanks to a great immunologist and his ability to properly diagnose the condition. To clarify a point, the disease was discovered during an annual “let’s make sure you’re ok” exam, serendipity reared her lovely face.

I had pretty good insurance and my out of pocket expense were, let’s just say that the poor house was definitely on the horizon.

I’ve had two spinal operations two years apart and the prognosis is that I may need another one; and while the skill and care of the medical professionals were without par, I doubt that I will undergo another; the damn recovery is too painful. The fact that I had insurance did not eliminate out of pocket expenses, they were substantial and we’re still paying four years later.

One example, I get two injections every two weeks, my deductible…One hundred dollars a month, now I could stop the injections, but then I’d be in the emergency room and ICU every couple of months. That is just one example

I live in a household with my wife and her eighty-one year old mother. She has the Medicare Part D prescription plan, which she pays for, and for the first six or seven months, her out of pocket expenses average about one hundred-fifty dollars a month. However, when she hits the ‘donut’ hole; she has to pay full boat, and that figures jumps to about five hundred dollars a month.

We cheat…those medications that she and I have in common, I will share mine with her so that she does not have to pay the inflated price…that is not always possible, but we do what we can. My wife and I do the same thing, when we can.

There are too many people that are not as fortunate as I am, which brings me to the so-called Health Care Summit. Disclosure: I voted for President Obama and still see this presidency as a last roadblock to the laizes-faire approach to governing of the past twenty years.

Seven plus hours of back and forth bickering exposed what we have known for many years; the overriding concern of the Republican Party is to mimic the post-industrial society of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, or to paraphrase Dickens…are there no poor houses…?

I kept hearing that those who are very poor receive care because Medicaid will take care of them; I have a friend in Georgia whose spouse is slowly fading that would take issue with that statement.

Strawmen arguments put forth by the republicans were tort reforms, junk lawsuits, reconciliation, blah blah blah.

I firmly believe that this is a crucial time ranking with the Civil Rights Bill of 1964, and will dictate what direction this country will take.

Best line of the day: You are entitled to your own opinions; you are not entitled your own set of facts.

There ya go…