Health Care Remarks 3

I had a conversation with my mother the other day and when the issue of health care came up, an otherwise intelligent and somewhat rational human being began spouting all kinds of propaganda propagated by the mouthpiece of the “corporate super citizen” from the media landscape that dominates her suburban Jacksonville Florida home.

I was distraught when every intelligent example I tried to interject into the conversation was immediately dragged down to the lowest common denominator; druggies who shoot each other and how she does not feel the need to cover “their” health care; the homeless or addicts who cost the health care system and emergency rooms time and money, obesity inflected illnesses robbing our system’s health care dollars and so on…

Never could I get her to focus on the 60% of Americans who may have some kind of health insurance but are also living a pay check or serious illness away from loosing both their jobs and insurance, and who live with constant stress of losing their insurance, esp. if they have or are expecting children. (I am not including the 30% of Americans who have access to higher education, health care and other semblances of a 1st world economy without worry nor the 10% of Americans who live in chronic poverty, drug addiction, diseases and other societal woes reminiscent of a third world nation.)

This 60% or so of Americans would experience an immediate improvement in their quality of life with just the Knowledge that they can live and not expect a life catastrophe due to a sudden illness or accident or whatever.

Heck, some of these 10s of millions of Americans may actually have the confidence to make the career changes that will get them a leg up. Perhaps many will start that new business they always wanted to have, move to that town they fell in love without risk of losing their health insurance keeping them from doing so. Perhaps parents could afford to allow their children to partake in more extra curricular activities, or save money for their child’s education…

Who knows the possibilities? The key is we need universal health insurance and we need it now.

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