Back in 2004 I took the initiative and signed up for my own health care insurance. It was a 'Tonic' plan by Blue Cross geared to hip cool funcky young adults and cost me about $70 a month. About a year ago I received an addendum to my insurance, it now did not cover ANY emergency care: ambulance, emergency room, emergency care, ect. In addition, although the rate had slowly gone up over the years, my rate was to be raised to $125 a month, that's $1500 a year. Now as a healthy young adult with no record of hospital stays, no allergies, no regularly taken prescriptions, no chronic diseases, and no need for optical care, what am I paying $125 for if it doesn't even include emergency medical coverage? The twice a year doctors visit, which cost me $20 anyhow, for a simple prescription and a pat of the back?!?!
This is just one of the many problems with health care in the US. During my summer travels I went to Norway where they have universal health care coverage, i.e. even if you are homeless you can go to the doctor- for free. In order for this to happen, the citizens are taxed about 30% of their income- the flip side- the average income is about $60,000 and the girl who served me a hot dog got paid $20 an hour. The down side- a beer cost around $12, not so good for tourist. Socialism works for Norway, their life expectancy is 4 years longer than the US and is increasing. Why not try some of the European tactics the US has tried to stay away from for so long??
So what is Obama to do? We've elected him to solve EVERY problem in the US, even the ones that haven't occurred yet. Just today he had a news conference with the Prime Minister of the newly stable independent democratic Iraq (Bush's fault or Obama's fault?) AND a news conference about his plans for health care. With a rate of about 3.8 million obese people, 45 million uninsured, 14.7 million people unemployed, and 37 million Americans living below the poverty line- What are Americans really expecting Obama to do? The Republicans are screaming let the weak die and the Democrats are convincing everyone that the government knows how to spend their money better than they do (may I refer to my previous blog about how well the defence Department spends Americans money).
In less than a year Obama can't fix all our problems- what can President Barack Obama do? Laugh, joke, keep his pose, and move forward. The stimulus slowed the recession and kept a lot of jobs from being lost- maybe the health care plan will work, maybe it wont, but as long as he smiles and makes a witty comment people seem content to give 30% of their hard earned money to the over bearing government- in the land of the free- for people who get diabetes because they eat 3 Carls Jr. meals everyday and somehow can't afford to pay for medication...
I suppose this is one time I should be happy to be unemployed :)
**All info was found online through the wonderful, ominous, all knowing Google
I am not sure this whole obesity problem is the issue to be honest...there are too many uneducated people who have little to no impulse control. I can tell you that I am a large man overall but I workout 3-5 times a week between cardio and weights and my regular diet is a mixed bag never going over 2,500 calories (not many sweets in there either). The only difference between you and I is that I have glasses...otherwise we spend about the same amount at the Dr. office.
ReplyDeleteI think free healthcare would be great if there was certain criteria met such as milestones setup by the Dr. being met on a regular basis. So if an obese person comes in they cannot use the government program unless they show that they are trying to better themselves.
I was making a joke when referring to having to pay for people's health mistakes. There are far more people who need health care because of illnesses completely out of their control than the ones who brought it upon themselves.
ReplyDeleteI agree that prevention and education are the best tools in battling the poor health problem that the US faces. However it is just disconserting to think about those who don't care at all about their health and as a result money comes out of my pocket
Oh I understand that it is a joke but it does certainly suck that it is a topic that has enough room to joke about these days. There are always people who try to "beat the system", I know a few people who are are on welfare AND section 8 yet drive an 80,000 dollar Mercedes paid for by the citizens.
ReplyDeleteThere are too many loopholes to be exploited and sadly most of us are paying for the rest.