“… with liberty and justice (and affordable health care) for all.”
July 23, 2009
Finally in America, the decades-long debate over health care is coming to a head. Last night, President Barack Obama hosted a prime-time news conference at the White House, where he delivered his vision on health care and answered reporters’ questions about it.
As someone who’s extensively traveled abroad and marveled at the United States’ apparent unwillingness to make affordable access to medical care available to ALL its people, I’m amazed that so many politicians—and regular citizens—think that providing such care is somehow socialist. Subversive. And against the “American way of life.” Well, if having to choose between buying groceries and paying for prescribed medicine is capitalism at its best, perhaps we need to re-examine our priorities.
Although nearly 46 million of us Americans are uninsured, the hardly subversive National Coalition on Health Care reports the United States spends more on health care than other industrialized nations—yet those countries manage to provide health insurance to ALL their citizens.
I half-facetiously joke with friends that I’ll probably meet my end after being hit by a bus (as a downtown Chicago dweller, I’ve been car-free for six years and rely on public transportation to get around). But here’s the irony: if I didn’t have health insurance and wanted immediate medical care that wasn’t based on my ability to pay, I’d better hope that bus mows me down somewhere outside the United States. And THIS is the country where as a gainfully employed professional for 20 years, I’ve put hundreds of thousands of dollars (if not more) into the American tax system. And also where during several months in 2005 when I didn’t have either company- or university-provided health care, I ALSO was in a situation where I had to forgo prescription drugs for chronic ulcerative colitis since I couldn’t afford the hundreds of out-of-pocket dollars they cost me every 30 days.
Of course, as President Obama said last night, the health care debate goes FAR beyond just providing folks with access to a hospital. We need to delve into the larger realm of overall WELLNESS, of getting enough exercise and eating properly, rather than stuffing our bodies with products made from high-fructose corn syrup and Lord-only-knows what other additives are making and KEEPING us chronically sick.
Maybe it’s coincidental, but despite frequent ulcerative colitis flare-ups here in the States, I have never suffered a SINGLE ONE when traveling or eating outside America. And that includes nearly one year of life (which was anything BUT stress-free) in Florence, Italy. I’m not a scientist or food supply expert, but I’m convinced that eating fresh fruits and vegetables grown and sold without artificial pesticides and meat grown without odd hormones helps eliminate a host of physical ailments we regularly suffer when purchasing and eating food in the States. And we shouldn’t have to shop at pricey Whole Foods to keep ourselves well.
But back to the health care issue. We Americans need to demand that our inalienable rights include affordable access to medical care REGARDLESS of our ability to pay. Until then, from this writer’s humble perch, all our bluster about "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness" is just talk.
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5 Comments Leave a Comment
1.
planetnomad | July 25, 2009 at 11:57 am
It is always a mystery to me why Americans so proudly and hotly defend what is actually the worst and most expensive health care in the developed world. How is good heath care socialist? Even if it is, why is that so terrible? Makes me really really impatient!!
However, from the little I’ve read of Obama’s current plan, I don’t think it actually solves the whole thing. I think we should copy France’s system. I found it really impressive. So did NPR, in their excellent study of different nation’s health care plans.
2.
urbantravelgirl | July 25, 2009 at 2:15 pm
Beth,
You and I are BOTH in the dark on this one, why Americans think our health care system (which does sometimes work in our favor) is the best in the world when most of us know VERY little about how the rest of the world’s systems work! I must admit I’m not an expert on other countries’ health care, but I DO know that of industrialized nations we pay the most and probably are among the most chronically ill. Thank you SO much for turning me onto the NPR series about health care in countries like Germany, France and the UK! I just searched NPR’s Web and here’s the page that’s got a collection of audio stories (http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=91972152&ps=bb4) folks might want to check out to better educate themselves on the topic.
And after I’ve finished sitting at my computer, I’m going to see that “Food, Inc.” film before it leaves Chicago to learn more about that OTHER important link in our food chain.
3.
kellyecarter | August 7, 2009 at 9:02 pm
One of the reasons health care is so high in this country is because the malpractice insurance is so outrageous in this litigious country we love so much. Other countries don’t allow their residents to sue doctors (and other people) like we do. That’s not to say we could get an operation for $1,000 but maybe it would help bring the costs down somewhat. But insurance is such big business here, I wonder what can be done.
4.
urbantravelgirl | August 8, 2009 at 10:04 am
Kelly, SUCH a good point about the malpractice insurance industry, which helps keep its foot on doctors’ necks. Everything that touches health care is so insaturated with special interests that I don’t know if ANYONE knows where to begin unraveling this mess. And with all these staged “Town Hall” brawls happening at politician-held meetings across the country, it just proves how “everyday people” yet again are finding themselves used and manipulated in protesting against positive change to a system that also has its foot on THEIR working- and middle-class necks. The whole thing is a mess.
5.
Jerry Jong | January 20, 2010 at 5:25 pm
Nice site – Here’s wishing you and yours a very happy and prosperous new year !
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