man & nature # 44 ~ 2 questions in need of answers
Monday, September 29, 2008 at 09:01AM 
The top of the heap • click to embiggenOnce again, we have set new benchmarks for comments here on The Landscapist and, once again, it is in response to things political. The fact that this happened over the weekend, a time when page views, visits, and comments are normally quite low, is also worth noting.
That said, I guess it's not surprising that, here in the US of A, interest in our own peculiar Quadrennial Bacchanal of the Cult of Personality is running high. And, that said, I am especially appreciative of the fact that so many of you picked up the anti-demagoguery and paranoia banner and ran with it. It appears that at least one person who was inclined to engage in that kind of behavior has been goaded or convinced to engage in dialogue about issues rather than rant about personal vilification. How about that?
All of that said, let me reiterate my desire for The Landscapist to carry on as a photography blog, not a political one, but, today's entry, on 2 counts, will still be slanted towards the political although not entirely so.
count # 1 - Healthcare. Ron raised the issue of government managed universal healthcare "bankrupting" the country. IMO, opinion, and that of many others, the current system of privately provided healthcare is / has already accomplishing that objective quite well.
The cost of healthcare is, if not bankrupting, at the very least stretching, to near the breaking point, the budgets of most municipalities (large and small) and school districts. American corporations are staggering and falling into a status of uncompetitiveness under the costs of employee healthcare. Retirees and workers are asked to shoulder more and more of the cost of healthcare as their pension benefits are being reduced.
And, guess who's paying for it all? You and me. If not directly, then every time you buy an American-made product or service. Every time you pay local school or property taxes. Every time you pay federal taxes. The enormous cost of healthcare in this country is "hidden" in virtually every monetary transaction you make.
And, have no doubt about it, our costs are the highest on the planet - current best-estimates put our cost at $7,000 per person. Compare that to England and France, where the costs are $1,700 and $2,200, respectively. Canada spends $3,300 per person. And, the US of A stands alone in this group - it is the only country without universal healthcare.
Obviously, something is out of whack. Now, I am not a healthcare policy wonk but let me mention one obvious factor. In France, England, and Canada, corporate profits are not a very big part of the picture. Not so in the US of A. So, for me, the questions we need to ask and address are simply these:
1.) Is healthcare just another market sector, like selling cars as an example, that should be nothing more than an unregulated money-making machine? (FYI, I am not talking about doctors or any other individual healthcare providers making a living).
2.) Should access to healthcare be a universal "right" or should it be limited to a class and/or income based privilege?
Find a consensus on those notions and we are capable of working out the details needed to make it work.
Reader Comments (7)
when I was younger I vividly remember you (blovius) and jimmi nuffin (if he is who I think he is...?) being quite popular, depending on definition of that word, and regular callers/guests on the Pittsburgh talk radio circuit.
I'm not surprised by this response at all. If I remember correctly you and Mr. Nuffin would cause quite a stir and the responses for almost the rest of the program would mainly be directed at you two.
3.) Should healthcare be meted out on a value for money basis rather than do it because we can? This, then, reducing the overall cost of healthcare or working to maximise benefit for money expended. Is, really, the extra spend going to profit or needless testing and "treatment"?
Without wanting to get into political argument, you raised the right point in suggesting that an individuals politics can be a complex mix of influences. Likewise, debates on healthcare, taxation, art, you name it, are a complex mix of intersts, motives, objectives.
I see you are listening to some of the things I talk about when I talk about work, based on your comments. Employer provided health care is in trouble, as costs explode and employers look for ways to improve the bottom line. Something needs to change, or health care will become even more of a have & have not issue. Some public programs are working well - what Howard Dean (an MD) put in place while governor of Vermont was affordable, and got quality health care for kids, and then by extension, some of their family. The republican governor of VT has been working to dismantle this for 4 years.
My personal biggest health care shock came when a family member spent a week in a Philadelphia hospital, including 3 days in the ICU. Fortuantely, because I pay about $900.00 per month, we have good health insurance.
We received stacks of statments, payment for tests, doctors, etc. There was also the HUGE, multipage hospital bill - $107,000, give or take...When I looked at that bill, which was "satisfied" by out insurance company, I saw that the insurer was only required to pay about $23,000 to settle that bill. How does that work?
The corporate element in our health system is creating a system so out of whack that we don't know what we pay, or what we are buying.
And prescriptions- the usage rates on purchased medications are so low, big Pharma is laughing all the way to the bank, so we can have extra meds sitting in out medicine cabinets to be sold in middle schools for a dollar a piece. Good system.
The health care issue is very complex and won't be easily solved, if ever. Some PhD candidate needs to perform an in-depth analysis of every industrialized nation's system and find what works and what doesn't in each. My guess would be that a mix of public and private is optimum. Make sure everyone has access to it, but allow those who are willing and able to pay more to get the care of their choice. If you are over 65 in America this is what you already have.
The single fact that stands out to me is the US is the only industrialized nation where an individual is allowed to go bankrupt to pay for health care.
Anecdotal Evidence.
Saturday morning, as I scribbled away doing what I do, the phone rings.
It's Big Scott, a childhood friend.
"Whatya think of the debates? I know your political ass watched them"
"I don't think either one won" I said. then we proceeded to discuss what we saw the previous night. In the middle of one of my brilliant observations, Big Scott interrupts me. "Man, you know we're getting older. Have you ever had any problems?"
"No. Why?"
"Remember how I'd get out and jog every morning back in the day, I never really stopped doing that, except now I do it in the gym on a treadmill."
Big Scott owns a small business in the DC area. He has a collections firm. I thought his business would be booming, with all of the foreclosures and stuff, so I had asked him about that. He said "Naw, Man, I make money when I get money and there ain't no money to got. We're strugglin'. I had to let 3 people go. I'm putting in 12 to 14 hour days to stay afloat."
"Damn."
"Last week" Scott says to me " I was on the treadmill and I felt this sharp pain in my chest. I stop, took a shower, and went home. Later that night, the pain came back, man, I'm serious I-WAS-IN-PAIN! I thought maybe I was having a heart attack. You wanna hear something that's fucked up?"
"Go ahead, brother…"
"The first thing going through my head is shit like;
I'm a big dude, should I call an ambulance and be all embarrassed as they struggle with my fat ass through the hallways of this condo? Can I even afford to go to the Hospital? Shit like that."
"I understand, I think a lot of people think like that in these situations. What did you do?"
"There's a hospital about 4 or 5 miles from where I live, so I got out bed and drove."
"Pride Goethe Before the fall, bro. obviously you made it."
"Word. I got there." than he continues. "I go to check in and the lady behind the desk ask me to have a seat. I said if I sit down I feel like my chest is gonna burst. Long story short, man, they took some CAT scans and shit. The dude giving me the scans says to me, he's not doctor, but he can tell me that if I would have waited another hour I wouldn't be with us."
"WHAT!"
"Yeah, man I almost died."
"damn."
"That's not the end. They said I had a blood clot that migrated from an old knee surgery up to my lungs and that I probably had Pneumonia at some point. I thought I had the flu a little while back. You remember how our moms were, a little sickness don't mean shit, you gotsta pay the bills."
"Word."
"Anyway, I gotta take these pills and give myself a shot through my fat ass gut once a day to thin my blood and shit. It cost me $900 a week, man, $900!"
"You know I can live on that a month, right?"
"Shut the fuck up."
"Alright, man go ahead"
"I got insurance through this thing where a group of small businesses get together and purchase it. It ain't Blue Cross. My co-pay is huge, but I had to have something."
"What!? don't tell me your going to be one of those statistics where you had to declare bankruptcy to pay your medical costs?"
"Naw, man. Thank goodness for rich nephews, Kevin is helping me out."
I think we're all going to need a Kevin in the days to come. Better learn to grow some corn and beans and patch your own self up.
All I can say is that it may not be the best, but with no health insurance myself, at least I have the VA. I know, everybody is paying for it out of their pocket, me included, but I wouldn't be able to afford any insurance. I have no choice but to pay taxes. I'd rather the money I HAVE to pay in taxes went to health insurance directly from my pocket.