What follows is a rant. If you don't like rants, you shouldn't read it. If you don't like strong language, you shouldn't read it. In the event that you read it anyway, I apologize in advance for calling Mitch McConnell a $*!&%@, if that tea doesn't sit well in your cup.
Righteous indignation. The feeling you have when you are being done an injustice. Anger and dissapointment. The feelings you have when a system you trusted let you down, again and again and again. Fury. Open-mouthed, clenched-fisted, choirs of angels singing "O Fortuna"-ed fury. That's what happens when the majority leader of the Republican party goes on Meet the Press and states that uninsured Americans "don't go without healthcare", and in his next breath, implies that they get it for free. This is not the first time I have heard this talking point, but it had damn well better be the last.
The very first fucking thing he says: "Where will Canadians go for quality health care?" Well, Senator, it's good to know where your priorities are. I've been saying this for years, but it's glad to hear you say it. America has the best health care that money can buy. It's a system designed to serve rich people all over the world, not the citizens of this country. "...they come from 90 countries to save their lives." I wonder how much they pay. Considering that, if it were an affordable sum, patients would be falling out the windows. 90 countries indeed.
His first run at equalizing access...is tax credits. And we're moving right along the Safeway Company. That's excellent. I know. We'll have everyone work either for the federal government or for Safeway. It's genius! Cannot fail!
At least he thinks now is the time to act. He'd better check his talking points, though.
Michael: I don't want my chicken. The alligator can have it.
Back to Mitch.
ARGHADFFA!!! 3:10.
MR. GREGORY: Do you think it's a moral issue that 47 million Americans go without health insurance?
SEN. McCONNELL: Well, they don't go without health care. It's not the most efficient way to provide it. As we know, the doctors in the hospitals are sworn to provide health care. We all agree it is not the most efficient way to provide health care to find somebody only in the emergency room and then pass those costs on to those who are paying for insurance
So, genuine question. Is the Republican party SO REMOVED FROM REALITY that they think this true, or do they trust that their voters are same?
Yes, Mitch. When I have an axe in my head I'll get down to the emergency room. If, on the other hand, I'm spending a year languishing in my house with a host of mysterious symptoms leaving me incapacitated, I'm not going to go, because they won't do anything for me except write me a bill and send me away with a pamphlet about Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. Or, because ER doctors are not specialists, and patients with a psych history have low credibility, someone might read the fact that I have ketones in my urine as a sign that I'm suicidal, take my adament protestations as confirming evidence, lock me in a box for three days, and write me a much larger bill. I don't seem to remember any insurance companies ambling along and offering to pay my bills. No, I'm pretty sure I'm paying them off now, that the act of paying them off consumes more than half of my income, and that my life has been completely arrested by the fact that I have no medical insurance.
You know where I'm never going? That cancer hospital in Houston. Not because, thankfully, I don't have cancer. Because I could never afford it, Mitch. I think it's just spiffy that it exists, and I think it's super-duper that it exists in America. But don't you dare tout it as an example of the greatness of the American health care system. It's not for Americans, Mitch. You said it yourself. It's not for poor Canadians, either.
SEN. McCONNELL: Yeah. Not like it would if you had a government plan. I had a friend of mine in Florida who called up recently and said he'd just lost a friend of his in Canada because the government decided he was too old for a certain kind of procedure, and apparently he didn't have the money or the ability to get down to the United States for quality health care.
Ya know, Mitch, I consider myself a citizen of the world, so I feel pretty odd making these arguments. But really. Why do your anecdotes about Canadians trump our statistics about Americans? If I didn't know better I'd swear you were some kind of Maple Leaf Sleeper Agent. Of course, Mitch, I do know better. I know you're just bought and paid for by the Industry. Which is good for you, because that other thing? That would be like treason. Not upholding your oath of office. What you're doing now, though, well, that's just to be expected.
I know many people who do not have insurance. They routinely go without the kind of health care that people who have insurance take for granted. Want to get that cough looked at, make sure it's not pnuemonia? Pssh, crazy talk. Twisted your ankle, eh? Well, long as it's not broken. When's the last time you had a mammogram? A PAP smear? Well, if you had cancer, you'd probably know. It's not like time is that important in treating progressive diseases. Back been bothering you? I'm sure the warning label on that bottle of painkillers is just the company's, protection. Yeah, you'll be fine.
I also know many people who are insured, under SSD, but aren't fully disabled. Most of them have chronic conditions like diabetes. Disability was the only way they could obtain the insurance that would enable them to get the care they require to live. What they endured between applying and being accepted bears telling: waiting until their conditions became a matter of emergency, so they were jusitified in going to the emergency room. The economic bottom line is an entire class who are now contractually obligated not to work, because they are sick. It's a brilliant system, really.
I haven't even mentioned prescriptions. While I was waiting for my PAPs to get set up when I came back to the States, I went to "special" doctors: pay $100 for the appointment, and they'll give you samples. They weren't criminals, in my mind, they were fucking saviors. I would have otherwise gone through even more instances of withdrawal (almost all psychotropic medications have withdrawal effects, but they are poorly documented) then I did. But I've been comparatively lucky. I'm poor enough that I can use the county mental health services, as overrun, understaffed and generally bad as they are. Others have to ask themselves, "do I really need this medication?" And while we're an overmedicated society, I don't think we should be cutting down on the basis of affordability.
I'm extra touchy about this. In my last diary, I told a story with a happy ending: my mother, who has a mysterious leg swelling, saved at least $500 when an ER doctor, after examining her and writing a prescription for a particular test, said "I'm very expensive to see...you didn't see me today."
The happy ending stops there. My mother was fired from the small business she worked for two days later. The Doppler showed no clots, and our "family doctor" (we only have one because my brother is young enough to qualify for Medicaid) insisted she get an x-ray, immediately, to rule out cancer. She wrote a prescriptions for the test, and another prescription stating "DO NOT RETURN TO WORK UNTIL [next day]". She faxed that prescription to her place of employ, and her supervisor claimed she hadn't given adequate notice. The next day she was fired. The details of the whole situation are quite scummy, and I'm absolutely shocked that North Carolina's labor laws don't afford her any protection in this instance (firing her was not the only sketchy thing they did).
A leg swelling. It's not disabling, but it's painful and we still don't know what's causing it. She missed a few days of work, and now she has no job. She apparently has no legal recompense, and her employers are going to try to deny her unemployment as well. Depending on how a few variables play out, she might have to file for bankruptcy.
Because she demanded the access that most people go without. She put her health above monetary concerns, and here we are.
If it isn't a moral issue, Mr. McConnell, if it's just a matter of efficiency, as you say, I think you should try it. Try using the emergency room as your one-stop shopping for all your health care needs. Oh, and the OTC counter at the pharmacy. You can use that, too. See what you think about the best health care system in the world then.
Seriously. This talking point needs a beyond-smackdown. It needs a SMASHING.
Ranting isn't my thing, but good fucking gravy am I ever pissed off.