The Sorry State of Healthcare in the Twenty-First Century
In an attempt to gather information and understand what the "public option" really is, I did a search, hoping to find an explanation that cleared up the confusion I felt about the health care debate. I can‘t say I found a good explanation, but I have given it a lot of thought. Something has to be done about the cost of medical care. Costs are spiraling and people are being eliminated from the system. The problem, it seems to me, is that people are drawn into one of two sides: FOR the existing system (something I find very hard to comprehend) and FOR reform, albeit what kind or type of reform is very nebulous, and subject to the whims of political gamesmanship and the usual governmental nonsense that seems to cripple even the best-intentioned crusades. Both sides are similarly against different elements; it's as if they are different sides of coins of indeterminate values. The debate keeps us from ever arriving at a solution for the problem, wasting our time in needless emotional displays and name calling.
On one side are the HMO’s, universally seen as money-grubbing and painfully necessary. The other side, leaving out the professional partisans, is primarily made up of the members of Congress, many of whom were elected on promises of “doing something” about the crisis, and those who have similarly been sent with instructions to never let anything escape those halls that even remotely resembles a workable solution. Personally, I’ve always wondered what happens to people when they ascend the Mt Olympus of modern Washington, when the enormity of their (self-ascribed) power overcomes their common sense and native intelligence, resulting in posturing and profligacy on a scale that eclipses the very worst history has to offer in comparison. They produce bills that throw money away with the doggedness of the embodiment of the prodigal son, in the very manner they had decried before being elected by the folks at home who desperately hoped this clown would do better than the last one. No matter who we send, though, each is infected with a disease that cripples them as surely as polio did a few generations ago.
There has always been waste in government, and the history books are studded with characters, over the years, who were as self-serving as any today, but it never before seemed there were so many of them all there at once! These days, we have politicians who prey on pages of the same sex, who indulge in bathroom trysts worthy of a NYC bus station, but certainly not the halls of Congress! We have politicians who openly accept money from lobbyists and special interest groups, as if they were entitled to it, and who behave worse than the attendees at a bachelor party. None seem capable of displaying the moral backbone necessary to be either embarrassed or ashamed of their actions. Often, it seems as if the last thing on their minds, in Congress, is anything that we at home might actually want to have done on our behalf. They never cease to tell us of the wonderful things they are sure we were breathlessly waiting for them to perform, but the feedback never seems to make an impression on them, sufficient to cause them any second thoughts.
In the process, the deficit rises as if it were an Agena rocket on lift-off for the moon, health-care costs rise at a related rate, and the economy is in the toilet, despite our (taxpayers) giving Wall Street and the bankers a bailout that staggers the imagination. What did they do with it, you ask? Well, first they handed out bonus checks of up $1 million each to the very clowns who brought the whole mess down around their ears! This was not the actions of "tax-and-spend" democrats, despite what some spin doctors would have us believe. No, this was done by "fiscally conservative" republikans! The price of homes went through the roof, and the best that could be said, by those criminally complicit in the debacle, was that "because" the democrats had done something to the rules for Freddie Mac or Ginnie Mae, or the SEC, or some such, the keys to the henhouse were handed to the foxes! Really? In other words, somehow, if they had been caught with a handgun in their possession, it would have been the fault of the licensing board for letting them have it, I suppose.
What happened to personal accountability? The economic collapse happened, mostly because people were STUPID enough to offer a half million dollars for 20 to 30 year old houses that weren't worth a tenth of that--when they were brand new! Some bought and sold houses, and/or property they never even took possession of, in days, weeks, sometimes in only a few hours. Some of these “sharp” business people thought highly of themselves, investing in even riskier ventures, as if they couldn’t ever fail! Then, when it became apparent there was trouble brewing, some bright lad, no doubt the recipient of several of those $1 million bonuses, came up with the idea of getting around the principal requirement of insurance (that is, to have a specific amount in reserve to pay for all "insured" policies), and invented SWAPS! Swaps are another name for the very same lunacy that brought down Barings Bank, those "derivatives" that proved so pesky one trader lost the whole ball of wax for them ($1.3 BILLION). Swaps are merely derivatives in sheep's clothing, and they did the same thing to the US economy that Nick Leeson did to Barings Bank!
In the late-summer of 2008, suddenly things weren’t selling, people were losing their jobs, or worse. A lot of this happened because for 30 years, Wall Street has indulged itself in essentially looting companies that "under-performed" (meaning they “only“ made enough money to pay their employees and costs, and maybe 10--15% profit), selling junk bonds to bozos who looted the pension funds and sold off the assets of these companies, to pay the horrendous rates on the junk bonds--in the process eliminating hundreds of thousands of jobs, directly, and millions indirectly. The Reagan to bush Era (he doesn't deserve a capital) has been marked by the transition from people working to earn money to people making money by doing nothing productive. After the “junk bond” era, we had the Savings & Loan scandals, where similarly “smart” people thought it OK to not do any pesky “work”, but instead, just loot the Savings Industry by sending crews around to stay ahead of the institution’s inspector, going from job to job, posing as painters, or carpenters, or dry wallers. This was good for stealing $300 BILLION from the Savings & Loans, or so we were told, when the Keating 5 were chastised in Congress. This necessitated a tax cut for these individuals, and those who helped them, because hey, they should get to keep every nickel they “earned“!
The long-term impact of this “policy”, and the other shell games the republikan “conservatives” have pulled on us, has been to make everything chancy, make everyone nervous, and eliminate any sense of security we, the common people ever had. One of the consequences has been the huge increase in the cost of medical care--NOT that doctors are making so much more money, no, but the MIDDLEMAN certainly is! This is hurting us all, from those who have lost their jobs and are worried about keeping their health care, to those who still have jobs, but now must pay ever higher rates to keep their health care. Of course, the health care they have is less valuable now, also, because the HMO's are doing everything in their power to eliminate from their rolls all those who might actually need health care the most. They squeeze ever more patients onto a doctor, while still paying him/her the same amount, or only a little more. All this while the upper management at the HMO's rake in ever higher salaries and "bonuses". Reminds you of the John Grisham thriller "The Rainmaker", doesn't it? That, for those who don’t recall, was a story about an insurance company that sold insurance in poor neighborhoods--with no intention of ever paying on a claim! It's just fiction, right? Keep thinking that, and wait until you need the health care you thought you were promised!
The saddest spectacle of all has been the people who show up at Town Hall meetings, and elsewhere, insisting they are “not being paid” by the Health Care interests, decrying the attempt to make health care affordable, and accessible to all those without it. If they truly are doing this out of the “kindness” of their hearts, and NOT at the behest (or on the payroll of) the HMO’s, they are in the process of shooting themselves in the foot, and the rest of us in the back! They are doing the “heavy lifting” for people who have no interest in them, except for what they can extort from them in the way of higher fees for health care, and most likely, even less actual care.
The saddest spectacle of all has been the people who show up at Town Hall meetings, and elsewhere, insisting they are “not being paid” by the Health Care interests, decrying the attempt to make health care affordable, and accessible to all those without it. If they truly are doing this out of the “kindness” of their hearts, and NOT at the behest (or on the payroll of) the HMO’s, they are in the process of shooting themselves in the foot, and the rest of us in the back! They are doing the “heavy lifting” for people who have no interest in them, except for what they can extort from them in the way of higher fees for health care, and most likely, even less actual care.
The panderers on Fox News, they of “(Un)Fair and (Un)Balanced” coverage, doubtless significant shareholders in the HMO’s, are far more interested in what they, personally, can realize from the fight, like increased airtime, higher book sales, and maybe even a bigger audience. As H. L. Mencken famously said, “No one ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American public,” and intend to prove his words to the bitter end. On the other hand, P.T. Barnum offered, “The truth is, the more kind and liberal a man is, the more generous will be the patronage bestowed upon him.” In these quotes we find the conflict at hand stated succinctly and on target. On the “right“, are those who act heedlessly, with no scruples to affect how they dissemble and pander to their audience, and on the “left“, are those who give a thought for the others around, others who might be weaker, defenseless or unable to take care of themselves, less capable of coping with the cost.
Being poor, or disabled, is an unfortunate condition, and it is never OK to abuse, or take advantage of them. If someone made unfortunate choices some 20 or 30 or more years ago, does not mean they should have to exist at the mercy of those who might have been more fortunate, more perceptive then. That makes one a “bully”, in that case, if one does take advantage, or hold that misfortune against them. Just as a note, “UN”-fortunate, and “MIS”-fortunate, are merely other ways of saying “unlucky”--those who have been “fortunate”, or “lucky”, are merely that--the beneficiaries of a benevolent God, one who created us all, some to have, and some to have not, those to help provide for those who cannot. They are not better than you or I, just luckier.
In the end, we are held hostage by a few who feel they have the right to an inordinately large share of the moneys generated, more than the doctors who actually provide the care paid for, and by the politicians whose agendas have little to do with our needs or with doing their jobs. They have far more invested in a stalemate than in any solution to the problem and will probably see that the problem remains unsolved as long as possible, possibly forever. There are no winners here, unless you count those who rip off the money, or the pols who rip us off in the name of ideology. The rest of us will suffer one way or another until we pass from this vale of tears. It’s not a pretty picture, nor one I would recommend to any but those with the strongest stomachs, for among the losers are those who will wrench the heart out of you. Children and grandparents, brothers and distant relatives, sentenced to try to live with the least health care possible, all so some can have their cake and eat it too.
