Blog reader "kmt" had the following things to say in response to some of the comments we got on our post "Liar, liar, pants on fire. (P.S. Your flammable skin is a pre-existing condition, and your treatment will not be covered.) We love this comment...even though it uses a swear word. There is a considerable dearth of overtly persuasive messaging coming from the pro-reform side of the health care conversation. While everyone who is afraid of reform comes to the table armed with falsified images of "socialist death panels," "Soviet-style rationing," and other chimera from the deep PR pockets of private insurance propaganda, the stories of people who are left either dead or bankrupt on a daily basis by our current system are being drowned out. So, here's one. Thanks kmt.
On Friday Aug 14th, kmt wrote:
as for healthcare, for all you folks saying that all government cares about is the bottom line, what exactly do you think private insurers care about? the people? trust me, your private insurers don't give a shit about you. they don't care who dies--as long as they get their profits. i say this from first hand experience.
my mom was diagnosed with terminal cancer at 48 and given 9 months to live. her private insurance refused to cover her chemo. i considered selling everything i had and taking out a loan to get her chemo, but it would only cover 1 and a half rounds (chemo was $20,000 per treatment there are 3 treatments in a round). so to say that existing private healthcare insurers are somehow benevolent people acting in your best interest, has been proven to be ridiculous (we aren't just hypothesizing here, go see Erin Brokovich or sick or any other movie/documentary about healthcare in the US). if you're poor, trust me they are already euthanizing "your grandmother" and your mother.
they just don't aren't euthanizing the grandmothers of of rich, predominantly white folks YET. it's completely a class issue (you'll notice almost everyone arguing against some form of universal coverage has the money to afford good healthcare--or at least healthcare they 'think' is good until something goes wrong). you can try to scare folks with this rhetoric, but the truth is that we know the "scary things" that you're saying (government only cares about the bottom line) are already happening in our health care system. it's all just a lot of propaganda put out by private insurance companies and people who have a lot to lose if there is a public option. it's all just to scare people into having a knee-jerk reaction. it's all just people trying to hold onto their money and trying to scare us into making a choice that is actually against our best interests as a nation because "we're scared."
Friday, August 14, 2009
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"you can try to scare folks with this rhetoric, but the truth is that we know the "scary things" that you're saying (government only cares about the bottom line) are already happening in our health care system."
ReplyDeleteThis and exactly this.
i wrote this quickly and i wanted to clarify this statement, it should read:
ReplyDelete"the truth is that we know the "scary things" that you're saying (i.e., dealing with an insurer who only cares about the bottom line) are already happening in our health care system."
An ex-friend of mine was going on about the terrible rationed care in Europe and was daring me to provide him with one good story from a credible source. I told him: "fine, my sister had a baby in Ireland last year. She got more services, especially post-partum support services from their health system than my wife got from our 'good' insurance."
ReplyDeleteThen he tries to tell me that Ireland is a special case.
Back before the recession hit, medical bills had become the #1 cause of personal bankruptcies in the United States... the #1 cause. That's not hyperbole. It's fact. And if you don't think that forcing people into bankruptcy has ripple effects in our economy, you're crazy.
To paraphrase Einstein's comment on the McCarthy HUAC hearings, "anyone who does not stand up to the conservatives and the insurance companies deserves nothing less than the slavery that is intended for them."
There's also the myth that a government option would be unfair competition for the private insurance companies. Anyone seen how well UPS and FedEx are doing despite competition from the government run USPS? Seen how well private security firms are doing despite the existence of government run police departments? Heck, have you seen how well private hospitals are doing despite having to compete with hospitals run by various government entities ranging from county governments to the VA?
ReplyDeleteOff-topic, but just had to tell you -- on your home page, where you talk about the August flavor-of-the-month? You call it "shear summertime magic" -- it ought to be "sheer". Without the "a".
ReplyDeleteI'm sure nobody else is as syntactically fussy as I am, and therefore nobody has noticed it. But it made my eyelid twitch when I saw it.
(however that will not keep me away from your wonderful cupcakes, fear not!)
Arguing about healthcare for most of us is fairly esoteric--we get healthcare, at various coverage levels, via employers etc. The post by "kmt" really sharpens the optics.
ReplyDeleteA friend of mine who is married to a former Army colonel just completed chemo and radiation after battling breast cancer. I'm happy to say she's cancer free today -- but what would have happened if she and her husband didn't have the insurance?
We cannot expect those with no insurance to fight this battle alone. We all need to be involved.
"kmt" you are in my prayers. Thank you for the push I needed. Let's go win this thing!
dbb
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ReplyDelete