A while ago, I posted about what a few of 2008’s Presidential hopefuls were planning to do about the sorry state of health care here in America. Democratic candidates were tight-lipped on what they planned to do about health care, but Republican candidates weren’t even acknowledging that there was a problem.
My question is … why isn’t the state of the health care system in America of more importance to these Republican candidates? Is it some ideological blindness – something akin to “people who don’t have health care don’t work hard enough to get it”? Do they simply not recognize that our health care system is as vital to our prosperity as any other piece of infrastructure? Do they (the wealthy ones, at least) think that health care is simply not their problem, since they can go see a doctor?
We’ve trained ourselves to avoid medical care. Even those of us with an insurance plan know that getting sick can mean huge bills or bankruptcy. For people with low incomes, even simple things like a round of antibiotics to treat a bronchial infection are often out of reach. Simply going to a doctor’s office for a prescription can cost a hundred dollars – and that’s before actually filling the prescription. The prescription could tack on another hundred to the bill, unless the medication’s available as a generic. So, people try to stick it out when they get sick and avoid treatment.
Saving money by avoiding medical treatment is “just what the doctor ordered” – if you happen to be a communicable disease.
Let’s say that you’re one of many middle-class families where both parents work to make ends meet. If that’s the case, you might have to make use of some sort of day care facility for your children. Day care facilities are not known for providing lucrative benefits packages (i.e. health insurance) for their workers. Chances are, the people you pay to care for your child while you’re at work don’t have access to adequate health care. When they get sick, they will be sick longer than if they would have had proper care. They’ll handle your child, too – unless they happen to get so sick that they’re completely unable to come in to work. That means your child is much more likely to get sick.
If you talk to these day care workers, they’ll tell you that most doctors won’t even see them. The ones that will see them demand a large chunk of money up front (which they can’t pay). They’ll also tell you that the hospital emergency rooms will often turn them away if they don’t seem to really be an “emergency” case.
So where’s the moral outrage, here? Or – at least – the enlightened self interest?