Well, very respectfully, If conservatives get to call universal health
care "socialized medicine," I guess I get to call private health care
"soulless vampires making money off human suffering-ism." It used to be
that there some services and institutions like hospitals, the fire and
police departments were so vital to our nation they were exempt from
market pressures, and it wasn't called "socialism". When did that
become the new patriotism? Ask not what you could do for your country,
ask what's in it for Blue Cross/Blue Shield?
The problem with President Obama's health care plan isn't socialism,
it's capitalism. Because medicine is for-profit we have things like
"recision," where insurance companies hire lots of people to figure out
ways to deny you coverage when you get sick, even though you've been
paying into your plan for years.
When I was a kid, if you broke your leg leg playing ball, your parents
took you to the local Catholic hospital, the nun put a thermometer in
your mouth, the doctor slapped some plaster on your ankle and you were
done. The bill was $1.50, plus you got to keep the thermometer. Your
folks didn't have to file bankruptcy or sell your house because you got
hurt playing ball.
Then, some Wall Street wizard decided that hospitals could be big
business, so now they're run by bean counters in some corporate plaza.
In the U.S. today, three giant for-profit conglomerates own close to 600
hospitals and other health care facilities. America's largest hospital
chain, HCA, was founded by the family of Bill Frist, who perfectly
represents the Republican attitude toward health care: it's not a right,
it's a racket. The more people who get sick and need medicine, the
higher their profit margins, so forget preventative care.
But what can we expect in an age where war profiteering is no longer
treated as a scandal and treasonous, but business as usual?
Well, last comment from me. Time to end this and get back to Ercoupes. :-)
Art
N2666H
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