by nyceve
Tue Nov 29, 2005 at 11:12:27 AM PDT
I read Booman’s incredible diary this morning The Girl With Faraway Eyes and just became so sad. What a crime. My question is do any political leaders who read these shocking diaries become as outraged as I do?
If my own experience with certain local NYS leaders (who I have deliberately decided not to name) is any indication the answer is no. The insurance problem is so immense that the political spill over is going to hit every politician–Republican and Democrat alike. If you are in a position to respond to this national crisis and you don’t–you’re going down.
Politicians: If you take good care of yourselves and ignore The Girl With Faraway Eyes–you’re going down.
Quite a few have asked me what’s happening with my own health insurance crisis. Here’s what’s happening.
I am jumping through hoops, so that I will qualify for a small group plan. Doing all this is not easy, it is complex, expensive and to what end? Essentially turning my life upside down–all to get insurance. I am able to do this. Many Americans cannot. This is not right.
But the problem extends well beyond the self-employed. Across the country, small businesses are being forced to give-up insurance because of the unaffordable, skyrocketing premiums. The Girl With Faraway Eyes is your sister, your mother, your aunt, your best friend. She is middle class, she is working class, she works hard and plays by the rules. The Girl With Faraway Eyes is an American citizen, God damnit!
When I had insurance–a PPO which allowed me to see doctors out of the network for a significant aditional charge (which then I must pray the insurance company will reimburse), I used to refer to those non-PPO doctors as my champagne doctors. These were the doctors I splurged on. Yes, it was a splurge! They were my luxury purchase.
This is no longer so amusing–and it shouldn’t have been then, but sometimes I have a mordant sense of humor. Seeing a doctor should not be on par with drinking some expensive wine–but sadly, in America, this is our nightmare reality. Many Americans are shoehorned into very inadequate health plans which allow little or no choice. Many Americans have health problems which require that they see “champagne doctors”. But they are not permitted to do so and as a result they don’t receive what we are told is the finest healthcare in the world.
Don’t ever forget The Girl With Faraway Eyes, she is the face of America. And what a shameful America it is.