I usually try to avoid any type of political discussion because people have a tendency to get a little heated during them. However, since this is my blog and the health care reform issues have been on my mind, I thought I would discuss it.
I wish I could say I felt one way or the other about it. Either for or against it. The truth is at this point I am confused about it. There is so much propaganda out there from both sides of the issue that for me it has become muddy. I do not like some of the behavior I have seen exhibited from both sides. Sometimes I think there should be a public debate about it, because at least that way, what each side is saying will be monitored and each side can present their facts without the emotions being involved.
On the one hand I am very nervous about a government controlled health care system. The government does not always have the best track record when it comes to running things. The example in my case, is from when I had medicaid for a short period of time. I went to have prescription filled for my insulin syringes and I was told that the pharmacy could not fill the prescription because I had to get some sort of authorization from medicaid first. The pharmacy told me it took at least two weeks to get that authorization. I was forced to buy my syringes out of my own pocket because I could not go two weeks without using my insulin. The same thing happened with one of the anti-depressants my psychologist wanted me to try. The doctor said the whole pre-authorization was a pain in the butt, so what he did is gave me a prescription for something else. If a doctor feels a patient needs a certain medication or something like syringes I do not understand why medicaid, a government controlled health care system, would insist on taking two weeks to get this pre-authorization. I actually did not have the money to pay for them out of pocket because Farrol was still out of work then. I had to borrow the money. What if I had not been able to do that? Because a government controlled health care system needed this pre-authorization on something I needed I would have had to wait two weeks. Two weeks without insulin would have made me feel pretty bad. If the new government run health care is going to be anything like the systems we already have in place, I am going to feel pretty concerned about the type of health care I would receive.
After listening to some of the stories my friends in Canada have shared with me, I am hugely concerned about possible wait times to see specialists or have procedures done. My friends have had to wait for months to have certain tests done, like an EEG or to see a specialist about their arthritis. In the mean time their conditions grew considerable worse or more painful as they were waiting. There are some illnesses that people cannot wait months to receive treatment for.
I worry that the government will use this health care plan as way to insert itself more into our lives and take away more of our freedoms. Also, that the government will use its involvement in our lives as an opportunity to pick and choose who will be medically treated and with what treatment or medication they will be treated with.
On the other hand, if we go to a government run health care system, I would know that no matter what my family would have medical insurance. It was horrible when Farrol lost his job and we lost our insurance. We had no idea how we were going to get my medications or how we were gong to pay for me to go to a doctor.
The other thing about a government run health care system is that it might be cheaper for us than what we are paying now. What we have now is so expensive, that depending on the paycheck amount in any given week, that sometimes we can barely afford to have it taken out of Farrol’s paycheck. We do have co-pays so we are not having to pay full price for medications and doctors, but when you add what we pay each week to the insurance company and what we pay in co-pays, it adds up to a lot of money. Sometimes the co-pays are not even all that beneficial. For example, when we did not have insurance I signed up for Walgreen’s W card. It cost me $20 for a whole year and gives me a discount on prescriptions or any Walgreen’s brand over the counter medication. The other day I had to go to Walgreens and get my Effexor and vistiral filled. The Effexor had a $30 copay. When the pharmacist was running things through the computer, she figured out it would be cheaper for me to use the W card to get the vistiral than using my insurance. My question is this, if we are paying so much for our medical insurance every week, why was it cheaper to buy that medication without using my insurance. That convinces me that the medical insurance companies are probably over charging us and because we are limited on where we can go to get medical insurance there is not enough competition between the insurance companies for them to feel the need to decrease their rates or our co-pays
My taxes are already going to pay for medicare and medicaid. I am okay with my taxes being used to take care of me and my family if we go to a government controlled health care system. Admittedly there is a great deal of fraud that exists in those systems, but I am sure that with a little effort the government could get it under control. When it was time for medicaid to drop me because Farrol had gotten a job, someone asked me why I just did not tell the Department of Family and Children’s services that Farrol and I had separated so that I could continue to receive medicaid. From what I understand, that is common practice. People get on it in a time of need and continue to receive it when that time of need is over because they cannot afford medical insurance from where they work. While I understand why they do it, I do not condone fraud. I bet though if the government chose to they could figure out who was participating in that kind of fraud and put an end to it.
In the end, I really do not have a choice in this matter as our governing officials in Washington are going to decide this issue for us. I will have to figure out a way to adapt to whatever changes they do decide to make. Unfortunately, I do see this issue dividing this nation and no matter which way this goes, I do believe there are going to be some big changes in the U.S.A