"Sicko", urban legend and the price of bananas
Well, the bananas WERE cheaper!
That was the conclusion I reached about nineteen years ago while comparing prices at local grocery stores to the commissary on the base where I was stationed. There had been a spate of articles in the local paper and Navy Times dealing with the commissary system. Seems the common opinion was it never-ever sold foodstuffs at prices lower than the civilian stores. In many cases it was said the prices were higher on base. Another supposed example of the military screwing it's helpless members. Boo frigging hoo.
Being newly sober and finding I had a lot of time on my hands I did my own comparison shopping. Maybe down in Norfolk or out in San Diego they were screwing the troops but up in the Groton/New London area almost all the prices on base were cheaper than out in town and the food was of comparable quality. Except for bananas. They were a lot cheaper at one store. But I don't eat that many bananas, thanks.
So it was an example of "tell a lie often enough, people will cite it as Gospel truth". Bet that one is still circulating, sailors like to cry the blues just like everyone else.
Which brings me to the movie, "Sicko".
My own experience with non-government health care is limited. I've been in CivLant since the beginning of 93 and the War Department has handled all those medical type problems for me for the last nine years. She's an RN and former pharmacy technician, what she doesn't know about handling health insurance companies might barely fill a thimble. So I leave all that stuff to her.
But from what I HAVE experienced I wonder about all the complaints surfacing after people have started seeing this movie. Is our health care system really that bad or is it another case of urban legend? Even my father-in-law, a man who is normally living with both feet firmly planted on planet Earth went off on a rant recently. He's a pharmacist who's been screwed over by the company he works for, maybe that plays into it. But when he was speaking to the War Department he evidently took off like a rocket on this particular topic. He's all for socialized medicine, ready to turn it all over to the government and let them "fix" it. I wonder if he ever heard of how the physicians fared in the workers paradise of Soviet Russia. They had universal healthcare, but even the garbage collectors got more respect than the doctors. There was a reason for that, while the life expectancy of every other industrial country continued to climb that in Russia continued to drop. Not a ringing endorsement IMHO.
So do we really have major problems? So major it would require the government running things? Boy, we really must be screwed!
In these days of constant hype and exaggeration I've come to depend more and more on personal experiences and conversations I've had with people I trust. So yeah, I've known folks from countries with universal healthcare. One woman from Canada that I dated back in the early 90's once said that if we ever wanted to follow that country's example John Q. Public better brace up for a tax rate starting at fifty per cent! Not what I would want, how about yourself?
I've also gone to other blogs that will have residents of the UK and other countries with healthcare systems similar to it making routine posts. They all agree what they have sucks on toast. Period.
So maybe we'd be asking for real problems if we went to universal healthcare as envisoned by Michael Moore and his ilk. Do we really have an impossibly broken system here?
If anyone reading this has information, opinions, etc. speak up cause I admit to being in the dark about problems with what we've got. My own healthcare is pretty good in some respects, sucks in others. But I've come to believe thats the nature of the beast no matter where you go and who your insurance carrier is, maybe I'm wrong.
Any comments?
5 comments:
the best thing would be to do away with ins companies altogether. Make it a straight capatalist system with competitive pricing. Turn what is now medicare into a medical stamp program like food stamps to help with the costs...not give everything for free like medicaid.
That being said, I do believe that ins co's spend vast fortunes every year lobbying for votes to prevent that very thing happening. So, learn how to use what you have folks. All this, including sicko, is just blowing fumes.
Subvet, as President Reagan once said: About the scariest thing anyone can hear is,
"Hello. We're from the government, and we're here to help."
I dunno, ask the Canadians how they like universal (socialized) health care. I know many of them regularly come to the US, pay out of pocket to get decent health care. Apparently there is a 2-4 month waiting list for even serious conditions, like brain tumors, etc.
I get all I need from the VA. - I hope I can continue to do so.
It's a tough problem, though for many people
especially children and old people, who often go without.
Reagan started a trend that is very bad for the USA, policymaking by anecdote. On the other hand, on his watch the two parties pulled together to pass a 20-year fix for Social Security that might last a couple decades beyond that.
Instead of searching for wonderful/horrible stories, look at the hard numbers. Canada, the major countries, Japan, Australia, all have health care at least as good as ours, for two thirds to three quarters of the cost per capita. Not all systems are 100% government funded. Germany, for instance, has a mandatory insurance scheme dating back to Bismarck, where employers pay for health insurance or into a government health insurance pool. Singapore, about as far from a socialist paradise as you can get, switched to a mandatory, universal scheme.
The point I'm trying to make is that we don't need government control to the extent of the British NHS, but just about any health care finance scheme would work better than what we have today, and produce better health outcomes overall.
The whole notion that government finance = lousy government control is nonsense. There are maybe 20 examples around the world, across a spectrum of options, that show what's possible if we really want to do things the right way.
Anonymous, I understand what you're saying and have no problem with it. However I'm still waiting to hear what problems our own health care system has and are they so terrible it justifies scrapping the entire system. That mindset seems to be the norm for those complaining about what we have yet I STILL haven't heard just what it is that specifically needs fixing.
Complain as we might, our system is working. Going just by anecdotal evidence from my own life I see that. Yeah, I know anecedotal policy making isn't the best in the world but when faced with the hyperbole that passes for debate these days it's what I'll fall back on.
Here's the thing, civilian insurance we have not had too much problems with...(current job we can't afford it, so we go without)
But during Hillary's health care fiasco of the 90's nearly destroyed the Pen of Jen family.
Her program was targeted on the military first. My husband was active duty, and we had our premie(Balboa Naval Hospital).She was born 10 weeks early and sent to Loma linda. $$$$$$$$$. She spent many months in the hospital...and the bills came. We met our catastrophic cap the first day. Paid it in 2.5 months(set up payment schedule) and everything else every bill every thing else was denied coverage. Let me remind you my husband was active duty army...we had champus(tri care). We began working with my husbands unit, then our base support then our local representatives, then we were up for reenlistment 14 months after she was born, and again in the hospital, and opted to leave the army.
We then took it to our new state reps. Chris Cannon, Orrin Hatch(ut)
Nothing could ever be resolved. We set up miniscule payments to each and every place, then consoladated the bills.
In my opinion health care is there unless you really need it, then it comes down to the almighty dollar. It costs too much for major medical.
Now for the day to day stuff, keep me here in the US. I have no problem before any treatment explaining that this is a cash appointment. You'd be surprised how little they need to really check if it is something basic.
Oh well I am just letting those out there in blog land what we can look forward to if Sheman Hillary is in charge. She will not be controlled like she was under Billybob.
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