Health insurance has become a means of social control. Not that I'm seeing a coherant conspiracy behind it, but this is what it has become.
By allowing the actual dollar cost of health care to go well beyond the reach of most workers, those workers are compelled to stay in their jobs, and stay docile, for fear of losing that all-important coverage. This case with the pneumonia probably involved hospitalization, etc. It obviously wasn't a case of recovering at home. But even an outpatient visit can easily reach $500 + prescriptions. Just one visit at that price would begin to jeopardize a low-income worker.
And stories like this one are there, to further terrorize people with the 800-pound Gorilla of what you will do without your health insurance when some shit goes down.
Working then has nothing to do with the spirit of capitalism, and the freedom to attain whatever we aspire to becomes little more than a punchline. (Apologies to the Obama-ites)
Remove that social control, and give everyone healthcare, and you have two problems: one is you have still not addressed the elephantine inflation of the costs themselves, and two, you've removed one of the hot coals put to the feet of the working class.
I still think universal health care is a more civilized way to go. It may cause a reduction in productivity in some sectors, but I think there would also be a boost in other areas. But I think it is unwise to go forward with healthcare reform without addressing the costs, and why they are so high. As the Boomers age, the need for healthcare is going to become enormous. Just the shortage in nursing and aides alone will become a crisis, and this is where care really suffers. I would hate to see the greater part of the Boomer generation go out in shortstaffed facilities busting at the seams, and suffering widespread, systemic neglect.
By allowing the actual dollar cost of health care to go well beyond the reach of most workers, those workers are compelled to stay in their jobs, and stay docile, for fear of losing that all-important coverage. This case with the pneumonia probably involved hospitalization, etc. It obviously wasn't a case of recovering at home. But even an outpatient visit can easily reach $500 + prescriptions. Just one visit at that price would begin to jeopardize a low-income worker.
And stories like this one are there, to further terrorize people with the 800-pound Gorilla of what you will do without your health insurance when some shit goes down.
Working then has nothing to do with the spirit of capitalism, and the freedom to attain whatever we aspire to becomes little more than a punchline. (Apologies to the Obama-ites)
Remove that social control, and give everyone healthcare, and you have two problems: one is you have still not addressed the elephantine inflation of the costs themselves, and two, you've removed one of the hot coals put to the feet of the working class.
I still think universal health care is a more civilized way to go. It may cause a reduction in productivity in some sectors, but I think there would also be a boost in other areas. But I think it is unwise to go forward with healthcare reform without addressing the costs, and why they are so high. As the Boomers age, the need for healthcare is going to become enormous. Just the shortage in nursing and aides alone will become a crisis, and this is where care really suffers. I would hate to see the greater part of the Boomer generation go out in shortstaffed facilities busting at the seams, and suffering widespread, systemic neglect.
