Willimantic, Now & Then
Another leading cause of death in the US today is properly prescribed medicines, according to a report I heard not too long ago on Democracy Now! They are talking about medications prescribed by doctors that lead to fatal complications.
It would seem that going near a doctor’s office or hospital is a pretty risky thing to do. And my Government wants to force me to pay a corporation to underwrite this risky behavior.
By Mark Svetz
WILLIMANTIC –October 2009
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Health Care Is Bad for My Health
Someone left a copy of the Atlantic in the laundromat, and I read an article about health care in the US (“How American Health Care Killed My Father,” by David Goldhill: Atlantic, September 2009,). It was an interesting article, which I enjoyed reading.
Health care has been on my mind lately, in part at least, because I see another assault on my intelligence and my pocketbook coming down the pike in the form of “health care reform.”
Now, I understand our Congress is trying to give us a “reform” bill, the major feature of which is to require me to purchase health insurance from some corporation at who knows what cost. My government and its financial backers have been telling me how frightened I should be to live without health insurance. I have learned when people want me to be afraid, they’re usually trying to sell me something.
One thing I know is that health insurance is not health care. I’m pretty sure about that, and I think the confusion in our minds and conversations on that subject is deliberately fostered. Health and money are the two big factors in this equation. We spend a lot of money and we are not very healthy.
There are also a few things I might be a little frightened about in connection with our health care system in the 21st Century US. Oddly, this discussion about health care reform has not addressed a few serious concerns.
In this article the author points out that there are approximately 100,000 deaths each year from infections acquired after patients enter hospitals. That’s more than twice as many people as die on our highways each year.
He also reports that something like 200,000 people die each year from blood clots following surgery or illness, which are described as “preventable deaths”.
Mr. Goldhill, in the Atlantic, has a proposal for reforming our system. He thinks we must “put the consumer at the center” of the system. He would do this by making it the responsibility of every adult to pay for his or her own routine and preventive medical care. The government would provide catastrophic health insurance to cover emergency, high-cost care for everyone.
I think he has a point. I have lived most of my life without health insurance, and I have been in the hospital, seen doctors and generally done what I could to stay healthy. I have never had much money, but I have usually managed to pay for the care I need. It’s not always easy.
I remember one time I was in the hospital for some tests. I asked what they would cost, since I was paying myself. No one in the office could answer my question. I insisted and was taken into the Lab area where technicians were working with patients. One of these technicians was interrupted and asked to look up the prices of the test I was asking about.
Needless to say, none of us was very happy about that situation. I have chosen a different lab on the few occasions I have needed tests since then.
And that, really, brings me to the closest thing I have to a proposal for health care reform. And that is to stay away from this system we have as much as I can. If I get hit by a car, I won’t really have much choice, but otherwise…I think I might just try and eat well, get plenty of exercise, and cross my fingers
I know some of us can’t stay away. We have heath problems that must be attended to. I have some of those myself, and I do take my blood pressure medication religiously. I have some other issues that will probably shorten my life, but 90 was never a goal of mine.
I would like to live in a society and time that valued human life and health enough to provide a nurturing system of care. I would like to live in a country that valued peace, education and freedom as much as it does war, ignorance and oppression. But I don’t.
One way I bring some of those positive values to my own world is to love and treasure my life and the lives of those around me, and to live in the greatest harmony with Nature I can manage in this crazy world. One important corner stone of that philosophy is to accept what the fates have in store for me.
Too often, we spend so much time and energy (and money!) fighting against Nature. I think health, not health care or health insurance, just health, is one area where we could try to live more harmoniously. We might find the reduction in stress and fear is good for our health.
Mark Svetz and Sarah Winter own Clothworks, a shop on Church Street in Downtown Willimantic, where they make and sell clothing and bags. They try to maintain a healthy atmosphere for themselves and the Earth!
He vaguely offers some kind of affordable insurance, government or private, for those of us who cannot afford any kind of professional health care. He also offers some kind of government-forced savings for health care. I don’t really understand or agree with a lot of this, but I like the idea of having the consumer at the center.
Mr. Goldhill believes that this proposal will create a competitive situation where health care professionals will be forced to offer more value to consumers. He says this value is missing from the equation now.
