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Tuesday, January 02, 2007

Money Can't Buy Me Love Health Care

People who are willing to pay for health care can't get it at any price.

As it turned out, Svonkin was rejected by not just one but three of California's biggest health insurers, which cited his history of asthma, among other things.

"I couldn't buy it at any price," said Svonkin, 40, who lives in Sherman Oaks. "I remember thinking, 'This can't be happening to me.' "

Health care/insurance is quickly becoming my number one concern in this country. Yet, almost none of our elected "leaders" are willing to do anything about it and it is basically left to the states (if you are lucky enough to live in one that even cares) to deal with the "uninsurables" (you know, those people like the poor sap above who was unlucky enough to be born with asthma).

There are good reasons why we don't privatize certain functions in this country. Imagine if we privatized police protection? Now apply the health insurance logic above: "Sorry, we are no longer going to cover your house for theft because you had a previous break-in last year. In fact, we can no longer offer services in your neighborhood because you live in the bad part of town and the risk is just too high. Maybe you can find coverage with the state-assisted protection program? That is, as long as the voters in this state are willing to foot the bill."

But this is America you say. In this country, we are all responsible for our own well-being. If you don't have health insurance, then get a job! Oh, you have a job, but you are self-employed? Well then, you must not be very good at what you do if you can't afford to purchase your own health insurance. Oh, you do make a comfortable living but nobody will insure you because of previous medical conditions? Well then, you should have taken better care of yourself instead of sitting on the couch all day and eating fast food. Oh, you were born with asthma but are otherwise healthy? America, love it or leave it you pinko commie socialist hippie!

Listen, I'm all for personal responsibility. The problem is, no matter how much we try to be responsible people, we don't always have control over the bad things that happen to us or the people who are dependent upon us (we can't help being born with asthma). So we as a society can continue to take the free market approach to health care and just shrug our shoulders and look away ("Life is unfair, deal with it") or we can start to realize that we are all better off when we protect everyone from the ravages of the health care free market. Most of the recent polls I've seen show that a majority of Americans are ready to make a change. Now if only politicians would pay more attention to the polls.
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