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Health Care

OK,I'll start by saying that I don't know much about this SCHIP bill that the president just vetoed. But I do know that I am tired of the Republicans and their stance on health care. They just don't seem to have any idea that there might be uninsured children out there. Maybe they're uninsured because of poor decisions of their parents, or because their parents are illegal immigrants. but they still have NO HEALTH CARE.

Most of my students had Medi-Cal but some had no insurance, either because they were not here legally, because they made barely too much to qualify for Medi-Cal but not enough for their own insurance, because of custody changing, or because of falling through the cracks as they live in shelters and try to find enough money for food. I don't know exactly what the answer is, but I am tired of politicians spouting off about how it's better to have patients make decisions with their doctors instead of having socialized medicine. Hello? Those who are uninsured DON'T HAVE DOCTORS WITH WHOM TO MAKE DECISIONS.

I am so ready to move to Mexico.

What does our president have to say about all this? With his usual eloquence, he states: "My job is a decision making job. And as a result, I make a lot of decisions."

Then he added: "The focus of the government ought to be to help poor children and to focus on poor children." (????)

As of right now, there is only 1 year 3 months 18 days 11 hours 34 minutes left of his term. I can only pray that the next person is better.

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Jon Stewart has a commentary about how we're getting back to Dickensian London in our treatment of children. It's pretty good.
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Comments

Erin said…
Health care != health insurance. Having insurance does not guarantee that anyone will go to the doctor, or get good care if they do! It makes more sense to change the system so that doctors and hospitals have lower barrier to entry, than to require everyone to pay for something they don't need to use.

I have lived without health insurance, and have a chronic condition (type 1 diabetes) over which I only have good control if I have access to very specific, very expensive products. Health insurance makes those things cheaper for me, but if everyone who was insured was like me, the insurance companies would go out of business.

If the government takes over this whole business, they are going to tell me what I can and cannot do manage my condition, and that is not a day I'm looking forward to, because they won't know what the hell they are talking about. 99% of people don't even know the difference between type 1 and type 2 diabetes, so it's pretty unlikely that some government agency is going to. And you can be sure that they are going to try to tell me what to do according to what's good for type 2s, because that's 95% of diabetics.

Whatever. Either way, I'm screwed.
2:07 PM
a sojourner said…
Hi B,
I totally agree with you on many things, and even when I don't I appreciate your passionate views of life. However, I think it bears noting that Mitt Romney, governor of Massachusetts, is the only gov. in the good ol' Union to provide healthcare for all his residents. ALL. Not just Medicare/Medical, but everybody. I'm not saying I support him, but I don't think it's fair to label him as you do without looking at his record on healthcare. FYI.

Coleen
10:30 AM
Bronwyn said…
Yes, although he didn't so much provide it for all his residents as force them to buy it... The problem for me is more his smarmy tone when he says "Hillary Care" or "socialized medicine" - SO condescending, as if people who actually think that socialized medicine can work (and the European countries that have it have the best medical care in the world) Maybe it's more just that I think he's smarmy and his tone of voice always seems to be condescending! But you do make a good point.
12:44 PM
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