There are a lot of things in this world that I don't understand and don't choose to understand. Politics is one of them. I despise politics. I don't do office politics, I don't play games with people, I feel like I'm a straight-shoting tell-it-like-it-is kind of person. So, I really don't like politics. Which means I don't pay attention to bills and votes and all that nonsense. I should, I've tried, but I don't.
I do know enough to know that the passage of the health-care reform bill today and the fact that it's being sent to President Obama's desk to be signed in to law (which it will) is a big deal.
When pieces of the bill are dumbed down for those of us who can't stand politics and choose not to pay attention to it I find myself disagreeing with some of the bill. I mean, really, this is a free country, so why should every person be required to have health insurance or pay a fine? That's just not right to me.
But I think for those of us with diabetes or who care for someone with diabetes -- or any "pre-existing condition" for that matter -- there lies in this bill something that may help us not be enslaved by our jobs anymore, as dLife blogger Rachel Baumgartel so eloquently put it.
Because, really, without health insurance I wouldn't be able to pay for all the supplies I need to survive. And as a person with type 1 diabetes, I simply can't get health insurance on my own. I have to be part of group health insurance because insurance companies won't insure me on my own (I've tried).
I'm not really sure what I'm trying to say. But I know that things are going to change. Some for the better and some not. But that's the way it is with politics. It's a compromise. At least I know that. I feel cautious and a little scared for the future.
The legislation scares me: anything that forces the nation to pay for high-cost care for all its residents will hike up taxes, hike up costs (both real and administrative), stifle innovation, and -- in the end, when we have been taxed beyond our means and the tax base shrinks to nothing (as it has been doing) -- cause a total collapse of the system, leading to preferential treatments, denial of treatment, and unavailability of service.
It is said that the provisions of this bill will cause 45% of all physicians to stop providing healthcare because the financial costs of conforming to the legislation will be too high for them to make ends meet, and the ethical costs of conforming to the government-specified protocols will cause them to provide patients with insufficient and/or inappropriate care for their medical needs.
The betting pool has opened for how long it will be until we are down to "hope and pray" as the only available medicine in the United States (and by extension, since much of the medical R&D conducted today is done by the US-based subsidiaries of foreign-owned companies, the world).
It scares me too. My mom has been sick for a while and has been to see several specialists. The average wait for each appointment is 3 monhts. With the passage of the new bill it's going to be longer. #1) everyone will be required to have health care, thus more people with insurance, more people trying to get into see doctors and #2) doctors will be dropping out like flies, meaning more patients to see and less doctors to see them. It is VERY scary to me. Also, I wonder how much this will affect what my son can and cannot get for his diabetes. Right now we get 400 strips a month. We don't use that many every month, but we have them if we need them. Those stips cost me $50. Will the new health plan put limits on how many diabetes supplies my son can get? The government limits the amount of stips those on Medicare can get and the number is ridiculous, setting those people up for failure. It's the unknown that makes it scary.
Michelle, don't feel dumb for not knowing what's in the bill. It's 2,300 pages. I bet none of the legislators who voted for it even read the whole thing.
Since I'm a physician, this legislation could have a major impact on my life and family. Yet, even now, I'm not sure how to respond to it.
There will be legal challenges and the whole thing could be rejected by a new Congress in the next few years.
One thing I know for sure is that greater government involvement diminishes individual freedom and options. And that is worrisome.
-Steve
I agree with Steve - they do it just so simple people like us wont get it. Its a complete opposite to whats written in kabbalah