Health Care - Right or Privilege?
Why shouldn't all Americans be eligible for the same health care benefits they provide their representatives with in Washington? Why is it a privilege only available to the richest Americans and to those who represent the
government? Well, lets face the truth: as it stands today in the United States, those that have unrestricted
access to the best health care available make up an elite group of policyholders.
Like a house on fire, there are times when the urgent need to rely on others for help is of paramount importance.
When one person's home in a community catches on fire, the fire department comes without reservation. There are
no deductibles and co-insurance payments required, simply because the community had agreed to pay the
necessary taxes to share that life-saving benefit with everyone.
"In every house where I come I will enter only for the good of my patients, keeping myself far from all intentional
ill-doing and all seduction..." House visits are obsolete, but this statement taken from the Hippocratic oath
obligates doctors to provide their best care without exception. Most physicians have forgotten or do not
accept the oath that they had agreed to before receiving their license to practice medicine.
How can the welfare of the patient be the highest priority when HMO bureaucrats determine which procedures
a doctor can use? The watch dogs in managed care programs like HMOs know little to nothing about treating the
ill; but they do know about the costs of diagnostic procedures and treatments. The care of the patient is
sacrificed so that the cost of care becomes the priority. How can doctors treat and diagnose patients properly,
when diagnostic treatments are frequently denied?
Consequently, many physicians do not accept HMO patients. Some, who care about the quality of care that they
provide, do not want to compromise their skills and to jeopardize the well being of their patients. Others do not
accept HMOs because they do not pay as well. Often the doctors who sign up for HMOs are inexperienced
and are beginning their careers in debt from the cost of their schooling. The HMO provides them with a list of
new patients, which can help them establish and grow their practice. These doctors are willing to accept the
HMO's managed care and are willing to ignore its dangerous flaws. After selling out, what kind of doctors
will they become?
While physicians may sometimes encounter conflicting purposes that stem from welfare, the criminal justice
system, the need to conserve limited economic resources, and their desire for fair compensation, their failure
to provide the best available care to all patients is a complete contradiction to the Hippocratic oath. Other than
the 50 million Americans who are uninsured and the millions who are ineligible because of pre-existing health
conditions, health care is rationed according to each insurance plan's provisions and limitations; beginning
with those who can only afford an HMO and to those who can afford limited insurance plans that utilize a variety
of restrictive variables such as: deductibles, co-insurance payments, limits per illness, excluded types of illness,
and lifetime limits. Those fortunate citizens who are able to carry comprehensive insurance coverage consist of
wealthy American and those who are eligible for select group insurance. Although hospitals are not supposed to
turn away patients who require urgent care, chronically ill people without coverage in our nation often spend
years deteriorating before they pass on. In the privacy of their homes, these people silently live out the remainder
of their lives and surrender to the fact that they cannot afford health care. There is no excuse for this.
A public option would only make our nation stronger. The ability for American manufacturing to compete
internationally depends on reducing the costs of health care so that American labor can once again become an
asset and not a liability. The only losers in this scenario are the insurance companies; as they will lose the profits
that they are accustomed to receiving from the healthiest premium payers. Above all, however, this is a moral
issue. Are the ethics of our current system acceptable? Are they fair to all Americans?
Why haven't Church leaders stepped forward to support the public option? In the New Testament, Jesus makes it
clear that he supported care for the weakest and poorest in the community of human beings. Has the church
become the political voice of the wealthy? Why do they remain silent? Why is the church deaf to the voices of
those who cannot contribute to its wealth. Is it any different with the politicians who fail to represent the voters,
because their hands are stuffed deep into the pockets of the insurance and pharmcuetical companies?
Would Jesus oppose the public option that would provide access to all Americans, rich or poor, sick or healthy?
Would He support a church that only speaks on behalf of the richest and most elite? Or would Jesus support a plan
that would care for all its members regardless of wealth or status? A truly spritual leader knows the answers to those questions and would speak out without concern over the political fall-out that may or may not occur.
How do church leaders and health care providers live with these inequities? Never having to meet these people
eye to eye helps. I suppose that makes it easier for those medical providers who routinely deny care to patients
seeking help. "Sorry mam, the doctor does not take your insurance. Have a nice day." How many people have
heard a similar comment? How many people have called upon a doctor offering to pay the bill in hard cash?
Few will make those arrangements without all the cash up front, but the vast majority of those seeking care without
the aid of insurance discover the truth: medical care is too costly for most to pay out of their own pockets. Those
who withhold medical attention rarely meet with those they turn away. They do not have to see them in the
emergency rooms with their bleeding ulcers. They do not have to look into the eyes of the devoted wife
whose 55 year old husband is struggling for his last breath of air. They don't want to know about what happens
to those they turn away.
The other day at one of those town hall meetings Senator Coburn called on a woman who cried about her daughter
who was ineligible for health care insurance due to a pre-existing condition. He promised that his people would find
help for her. Someone called out immediately, "what about the millions of others in the same situation?" Coburn
insisted that this was a unique set of circumstances. That was a complete fabrication. There are thousands in this
country facing that same horrific circumstance.
Why should that woman receive medical attention ... because she begged for help on national TV? What about the
all the other people trapped in their homes with untreated illnesses and who cannot afford to see a doctor? Is that
true charity or political showmanship? Does it offer a tangible solution to all those others currently suffering with
the same issue? Where are those Christian values that the right-wingers flaunt so often? Did Jesus ask for the leper's insurance card before curing her? Was the leper rich? No, the leper was an estranged victim, the poorest of the poor.
Who among us deserves health care? According to the U.S. government and the insurance companies, they presume
to know the answer to that question. Deep down inside, I think most people know this is wrong. Most people know
our system has gross inequities that need to be changed, but some are afraid of change. They are afraid of Obama and
the irrational fears that the insurance companies spread on TV. Seniors are afraid they will lose Medicare or that it
will change. Though there are no stipulations in the health care proposals that should warrant any of these fears, the
insurance lobbyists, politicians, right wing reactionaries, and racists have all joined forces to combat any true health
care reform that is associated with President Barack Obama.
I reject the disengenous and abusrd warnings about health care rationing, because we already have rationing and it's
killing Americans! Quality healthcare is now only available to the privileged and the richest in our nation. The
average insured person usually discovers the limitations of their insurance policy when they get sick. Most insured
people believe they are among the well protected. Until that day comes most of them walk around believing that
delusion. Their insurance agent assured them it was the best plan available. The ignorance of most people regarding
their insurance protection is astounding. How many people really understand their policies? The remaining
population consists of uninsured, partially insured, and those who belong to an HMO. Now if you want to learn
about rationing ... there is nothing worse than an HMO when it comes to that.
Unfortunately, many Americans first have to get sick. That is when they discover that they do not have the benefits necessary to get well or to get the best treatments; and that is when it is too late to seek out other insurance. The
truth is that most Americans are exploited by the insurance companies and will not be eligible to receive the kind
of care that only a fraction of the people in this country can afford. Should quality health care remain a right for
only the privileged or should it be a right for all Americans?