Yep. Still thinking about taking the blog down, which is why I'm all "out" now or whatever. I guess I used to refrain from having my identity out there because I had lots of personal private stuff to say. And now that stuff is all safely tucked away in the privacy of somewhere else. So.
I thought about posting another video because it was fun and I was all worked up after the Vice Presidential debates, but then I got caught up doing like a million other things, including reading the debate transcript. Seriously.
Anyway, health care is an issue that has come up a lot for me lately, so I figured I'd say something about it. First, here is what Sarah Palin said tonight:
"[McCain is] proposing a $5000 tax credit for families so that they can get out there and they can purchase their own health care coverage. That's a smart thing to do. That's budget neutral. That doesn't cost the government anything as opposed to Barack Obama's plan to mandate health care coverage and have universal government run program and unless you're pleased with the way the federal government has been running anything lately, I don't think that it's going to be real pleasing for Americans to consider health care being taken over by the feds."
Huh. $5000. That's a lot of money for a lot of families. I wonder, if I was a low-income family that needed a lot more than just health insurance and maybe I wasn't the most fiscally responsible person ever...I wonder, would I spend it on health insurance?
Well I have a little extra money to squirrel away each month. Admittedly I'm not the most fiscally responsible person ever, but I do not spend any of my extra cash on health insurance. I'm a freelancer, and I could probably afford some kind of cheap and terrible health insurance if I joined the Freelancer's Union, but I don't because I have bigger financial fish to fry (like for instance a month of unemployment). And in fact, like I said in my last post, unless I've just been mugged I think I'm an invincible superhero, so I kind of feel like health insurance is just unnecessary. I go to the dentist and pay the dentist. I go to the doctor and pay the doctor. I go to the optometrist and pay the optometrist. It's just as normal to me as can be.
I feel like it is the responsibility of America to take care of Americans, I just do. In my mind there is only one difference between tax credits for privatized health care and socialized health care: money in pockets. And not my pockets, not your pockets....the pockets of the people who run those insurance companies that so notoriously deny nearly every claim that crosses in front of them.
I know it's kind of irresponsible or whatever, but I just cannot get on board with the current system and I feel very strongly that I would rather take my chances than buy into it. I also feel very strongly that if every American decided not to buy into private insurance because we "need" it (they make us need it, we think we need it, whatever) then the system would dissolve and we would have no choice but to be left with a solid public health care system. It would be soooo awesome.
And what difference does it make to me if my money is spent on taxes that pay for health care than on an insurance plan that pays for health care? Here are the differences:
Public: go to any doctor I want
Private: choose from a few specific doctors
Public: it's always the same from day one
Private: if I switch jobs or if my employer/Union switches carriers I could be looking at a major disruption in my life, depending on my medical needs
Public: what you want, they got it.
Private: often doesn't cover specific drugs or procedures. My favorite is when they won't provide birth control. The most common instance is pre-existing conditions.
Public: Deal with a lot of red tape
Private: Deal with a lot of red tape (have you ever had to contest a denied claim? It's a nightmare)
Public: Pay extra money into taxes
Private: Pay extra money out of paycheck
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