The following post is a response to a comment on an earlier post:
Our society is radically different than it was in the 18th century. Everyone was independent then. There was far less of a need for govt regulation when the Constitution was written. We are now so dependent on others as a society. You can't just walk to where you need to go, you need a vehicle, which needs gas and maintenance, and a system of roads and highways (provided by the govt). Much different from a buggy you made and maintained by yourself, powered by your horse you kept in the pasture. Our society is so complex now. We can't even feed ourselves anymore w/o transportation, grocery store chains, credit/debit cards, and interstate shipping. We aren't able to be as self-reliant as we were in the days of our Founding Fathers. How can we expect to be independent in seeking medical care?
If we want to control the power of the insurance companies, it must be done by governmental control. Congress has already had to legislate minimum length of stay for child birth, when insurance companies were dictating that women and newborns had to be discharged within a few hours of birth. This was dangerous medically (not the doctor's decision), and ethically. Congress passed a law mandating a minimum 24 hr hospital stay after child birth. Congress has also had to intervene to mitigate the ability for people with previous or current health issues to obtain insurance (the gatekeepers of health/medical care), becuase the insurance companies want to deny them access for pre-existing conditions. The people who are most in need of health/medical care are too much of a risk. Gee...they might actually NEED medical care! That's not cost effective.
As long as we continue to allow medical care to be subject to the free market system, the insurance industry will have to be reigned in by governmental regulation and legislation. The Founding Fathers could not have forseen that our medical care would be so advanced, yet filtered through profit-minded insurance companies. The power of the insurance industry rivals that of the government, yet is ruled by those seeking profit, certainly not by the will of the people. In the case of healthcare, governmental intervention is a necessity in order to protect the well-being (or even the existence) of its citizens.
It is simply wrong for anyone to make decisions on caring for their body based on financial considerations. Yet millions have gone bankrupt from unanticipated (sometimes unforseeable) medical expenses. If you are severely injured in an accident, or are faced with an unexpected costly medical condition (such as cancer), you will suddenly find yourself in debt for thousands, or even tens or hundreds of thousands, of dollars. Your access to basic medical care should not be subject to the free market. Medical care is not a commodity.
It must be in the circles you run with that society has changed since the Founding Fathers. The circles I run with has not stopped depending on the country's foundation. We rely on the foundation because in the years of the Founding Father's all they had was each other-no medicare nor medicaid. It is so very important to keep the your foundation or you will crumble. I too am an ICU nurse. I the very need to strengthen traditional families for it is in this foundation the country is made strong. Family support is taken for granted. You may spend 4 years in college being socialized with concepts, but you will spend a lifetime with your families at least I will with 11 brothers and sister+++ posterity. The Founding Fathers looked way ahead most of the diseases out there are social diseases, habitual diseases, nutritional diseases. Compassion for the community doesn't start at healthcare reform. It starts at home. It starts at the Foundation of the Founding Fathers.
ReplyDeleteWow, someone I don't know has noticed my blog!! Thanks!
ReplyDeleteBut you missed my main point. This post was actually a response to a comment from a friend who is a strict Constitutionalist. Please see comments on posts below. I am not saying that we should not depend on the Constitution for the basis of our laws. My friend's point was that all social programs are Unconstitutional, and therefore illegal. I disagree.
I think that there should be some protection for U.S. citizens against the tyrrany of the insurance industry. The main topic of this Blog is that the healthcare industry needs changes beyond what is currently being discussed. I am quite upset that no one else seems to notice that all of our medical care is filtered through the insurance industry, and we will soon all be mandated to participate in funding said industry. As an ICU nurse, I'm sure you have also seen the abhorrent manner in which the insurance industry regards its customers.
Please see my previous posts (only a few so far). I wish I had more time for these discussions, but right now I have small children to get to bed. :) I hope to post more soon.
Take care,
Elaine