“It’s hard to exaggerate the magnitude of the disaster. We followed the most radical voices in the party, and they led us to abject and irreversible defeat. ”
~David Frum (President Bush’s speech writer)
This past weekend was one that goes down in the history books as one to remember. Not only was it David’s birthday (the 23rd one we celebrated together) and we celebrated with friends over German food (yes, I actually slaved over the stove and made Gulasch with Spaetzle, Sauerkraut and Red Cabbage) but something happened on Sunday evening that many believed could never happen in this great nation of ours:
the House of Representatives passed the Health Insurance Reform Bill!
And this morning at approximately 11:30am Eastern Standard Time, President Barack Obama signed it into law!
Now, I understand that many citizens do not want to reform our health “care” system at all and many disagree with this specific piece of legislation. Everyone has the right to their opinion, I only ever ask anyone who disagrees with me to base their arguments on sound facts, not opinion based talking points. And quite honestly, so far I have heard very few arguments that tell me that an overhaul of our flawed health insurance system is not desperately needed. Instead I have heard repeated talking points form right wing pundits and talk show hosts, whose main goal in life is to get their audience riled up and angry to assure high ratings for their program for maximum profitability. Profitability that continues to afford them the best health insurance money can buy you in this country! If you belong to the top 1% of money earners! When Rush Limbaugh (I cannot even believe I am typing his name…) was hospitalized in Hawaii over the Christmas Holiday he so famously stated that “there is nothing wrong with the American health care system. I received no special treatment.” He forgot to mention that Hawaii is one of the few states in the union that has had nearly-universal employer-mandated health insurance since 1974. So, no, he did not get special treatment, even if he earns 33 Million a year and can afford the best health insurance which is unaffordable to most. And therein lies the clincher. Yes, American medicine is superb, no question! For those who can get it! But as Mr. Limbaugh so pointedly stated, even in a place with universal coverage you can still get excellent care and clearly no death panelist paid him a visit!
But enough of this guy, who also wants to make out that it is those who exercise and enjoy sports who drive the cost of health care up in this country…
So despite all the outrageous scare tactics and disturbingly foul language from the right, who I am guessing, bet their farm mansions that they could block health insurance reform with their appalling rhetoric thus diminishing the presidency of Obama (does “Waterloo” ring a bell?), the bill passed. And now the GOP once again finds itself on the wrong side of history. They failed and are now scrambling with even more disturbing rhetoric, fear tactics and lies in order to continue the confusion and to find a way to regain some power. It will be an even bigger circus than the one we have been living with until now. Bring popcorn!
Is this bill perfect? No! Is it a good start? “You bet ya!” Will we now live in a land where we have to address each other as “Comrades”? Of course not! Will the sun still continue to rise in the East every morning and set in the West every night? Of course it will!
To think that making access to affordable health insurance to every citizen of this country is going to throw us all into a tail spin towards socialism, communism and naziism even is absurd at best and highly disturbing at worst! That we now have to live in a country that is run by a Bolshevik Muslim who wants destroy this nation would be laughable if it wasn’t so very troubling that there is a large percentage of population who believe this to be true. Of course if they only took a few moments out of their day to actually look up and try to understand (I know it can be hard, but…) the phrases they so freely throw around, instead of watching the likes of Glenn Beck (wow, typing “Rush Limbaugh” and “Glenn Beck” in one post, my head might explode) all day long, they might actually find out that they would have to choose one over the other. Because unlike what they like to believe “socialism” does not equal “communism” does not equal “naziism”. And I have yet to come across a Bolshevik Muslim, although they might be on to something. So which is it? Maybe we should pass a law while we have momentum. A law that makes it illegal to use words you cannot spell let alone not know the definition of.
These days I often have to remind myself that those who are shouting the loudest and most profane insults are the desperate fringe and that there are many more rational thinking beings amongst us. Fellow citizens who see the value in this health reform bill, as flawed as it is. People who want our Representatives to build upon this legislation and make it better. Heck, there are even countless Americans out there who want universal health care, the same you can find in the rest of civilized societies (“civilized” is key here!). I am one of them!
I had the privilege of growing up in a country that offered universal health care: Germany! And it does so without the public option that has been talked about as a possibility for us here. In fact health care is provided solely through private insurance in the Fatherland. The big difference being that in Germans do not see any value in making profits off of the sick. It would be too tedious to get into all the details of the German health care system but if you want to get a better idea you can read about it here. I brought up Germany as the sole example as it is the system I have first hand experience with although I have relatives in the UK who are quite happy with their health care as well. And my part time neighbors from Canada tend to wait until they get back to their home to get medical attention as they like it much better than they do ours.
What is it like to live under universal health care? Well, let me just state for the record that Germans, British, French, Canadians,… don’t just all die in DMV like waiting rooms. And lets not forget the long life citizens of Mediterranean countries enjoy. I remember all throughout my childhood and young adult life that there was never once a hesitation to go to the doctor when you needed to do so. When you got sick or injured you called up your health care provider, made an appointment and were usually seen within a week, unless it was an emergency in which case you were seen immediately. You could choose any doctor you wanted and also any specialist you wanted or needed to see. He or she treated you and that was the end of the hassle. There was no nerve wrecking anticipation of a bill for out of pocket expenses and deductibles, no Explanation of Benefits to decipher, no countless phone calls to your insurance over declined claims and questionable bills. It was and still is exactly what health care should be like. My dad had triple bypass surgery two years ago. Since he lives in a small town with a small hospital he was flown to a major cardiac center in the nearest city. After successful surgery he was placed in a cardiac rehabilitation facility for five weeks. The total out of pocket expense: 200 Euros (for the rehabilitation facility).
You can imagine my amazement when I first came to this country of how health insurance works here. And back in the early 90s it was not even as bad as it is now. At least you could still get insurance if you were willing to pay! These days it is more a matter of luck and over the past 1 1/2 years I have joined the ranks of the millions of uninsured in this country due to a “pre existing condition”. My condition: a bout of severe bronchitis when I was a kid. Yes, that’s right. Let me explain: in October of 2007 I was in a major car accident when a utility truck driver who happened to be on his cell phone made an illegal left turn into oncoming traffic on a road with a speed limit of 55 mph. “Lucky” for me I was in a big car and escaped with only minor injuries, mostly soft tissue damage to my cervical spine. But since the air bag deployed and gave me a bloody nose the doctor in the Emergency Room wanted to be on the save side did a CT scan of my head, neck and upper chest. Instead of skeletal damage the CT scan showed a 3mm node in my upper right lung. Not overly concerned because of its extremely small size the doctor did not ring alarm bells but since he had found it he suggested I’d get a follow up CT scan in three months. I should have known better, although since one node had already been noted in my medical record it probably would not have made a big difference. At the time of the accident I was still insured through my employer but David, who is self employed, and I were about to move to our house in the desert permanently and I knew I was going to leave Fielding within a few months and have to apply for individual insurance. In preparation for this I went to my primary care physician for a full check up which I passed with flying colors and we started our application process to ensure that we would not lapse coverage. All was well, we thought but then the insurance companies we applied to all threw a wrench into the equation because I had noted that I was receiving Chiropractic care for the cervical strain caused by the car accident. Apparently no insurance will take someone on for a year after Chiropractic care for a cervical strain has ended. So we applied for temporary high risk insurance to hold us over for a year. In the mean time I was due for my follow up CT scan… This time a full chest CT with contrast which revealed 7 pulmonary nodes total, all under 7 mm. And with that my health insurance fate had been sealed. I had switched doctors by then as I had moved and the new internist did another full physical which again came back with excellent results. Since I had no symptoms of pulmonary distress the doctor did not feel that the nodes were any cause for concern but just to be sure he wanted me to have another chest CT in six months. I did have it, paid out of pocket thanks to the high deductible on my temporary catastrophic insurance only to have revealed that all nodes remained stable. And since no new physical symptoms had appeared my doctor felt that this was the end of the follow up and wrote me a nice letter stating that these nodes were completely benign and the result of a childhood infection. But when we applied for regular insurance they wanted no part of me. I was labeled “uninsurable” by all companies I applied to. It did not even matter how much I was able or willing to pay, with seven small stable pulmonary nodes I was never going to get health insurance again in this country. Until today!
So, yes, excuse me while I rejoice!
Today’s Running Tip: Finish strong!
A strong finish is always a great way to finish a race. A few weeks before your race practice running hard towards the end of your training runs. Come race day you will feel confident that you can finish strong thanks to your practice runs!
