Many thanks to everyone who posted with advice on where to get an
ergonomic keyboard that I could use with a broken left arm.
I bought a flexible keyboard from Microcenter for around $20.
Unfortunately, it turned out that casts and splints are far more
restrictive and painful than I had anticipated. I'm now in a
removable splint and doing physical therapy, and I'll post a report
when I finally get to use the spiffy new flexible keyboard. (For
now, though, I'm still typing with one hand.)
I had a lot of time to think, though. I thought about the roughly 50
million Americans who don't have any medical insurance--and if you've
looked at the cost of insurance lately, you know pretty much why.
Can't we, as a country, do better than this? FYI, a simple broken
arm will cost you $10,000 to $20,000. How many people of modest
means can take that big a sudden hit, especially in this economy?
Fortunately, I did have some insurance--I'm one of the lucky ones.
For now, that is....
I also thought about the frequently made assertion that people who
are covered by insurance "overuse" medical care, choosing the most
expensive treatments; and seeing doctors when Grandma's home
remedies--and a day or two of bed-rest--would be just as good. If
people were forced to look at the price tag of their medical care,
and pay more of the actual cost, they would choose more economical
options, and the rising costs of medical care could be controlled.
Oh, really? When you break an arm, you don't have time to shop
around. Your only choice is what emergency room you go to; after
they patch you up, they refer you to an orthopedic practice for
immediate follow-up (like, putting the actual cast on your arm, which
needs to be done within hours of the initial break). You really
don't have the leisure to do a lengthy survey of all the doctors in
your area, comparing evaluations (when you can get them) and prices
(which usually aren't available anyway). And the stakes are high; in
my case, I really need two working hands for any job I could possibly
get, with my qualifications. If something went wrong because I
shopped around and chose cheaper but second-rate medical care, I
could be stuck with a crippled hand and permanent unemployment.
I'm just using my broken arm as an example. But there are many
medical situations that are comparable; in fact, many are much, MUCH
worse. It's something to think about....
--Constance Warner
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