Until that 70% who say it's immoral to retain the current system gets fired up and stays fired up, the system isn't going to change. There is too much money changing hands between politicians and the medical industry. It's too profitable to write off 18,000 citizens who, let's face it, are probably too poor to matter in our wealth-obsessed culture. The worst of the disruptions are coming from paid protesters, and I'll give you one guess who's bankrolling them.
As a chronically ill American, I will never be eligible for private insurance. My health plan, as it stands, is to hope I don't ever need a treatment I can't administer myself. I cut my finger badly a few months ago, and since I couldn't see bone, we decided not to go to the emergency room. Communities hold raffles here for poor kids to get life saving surgeries they'll otherwise be denied. I consider myself a peaceful person, but the next time I hear a Republican whine about how they don't see why their tax dollars should pay for someone else's health care...
One positive I see in all this is that I don't think the old system will last. We tried health reform in the early 90s and it failed, but a few things have changed since then. First, the insurance companies have gotten even worse so more Americans are mad about it. Second, the Internet has put more Americans in contact with 'ferners' than ever. Americans are looking out and seeing that we aren't the envy of the civilized world. We're seeing that other countries are getting it right and that they... feel sorry for us? Ouch. Kind of makes the old lies harder to maintain.
I think the Americans who want change just have to get louder about it. In theory, being on the side of basic human decency should be enough, and yet...
Ahem! Sorry to spam your LJ. This is a topic in which I'm rather invested.
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Date: 2009-08-22 05:41 am (UTC)As a chronically ill American, I will never be eligible for private insurance. My health plan, as it stands, is to hope I don't ever need a treatment I can't administer myself. I cut my finger badly a few months ago, and since I couldn't see bone, we decided not to go to the emergency room. Communities hold raffles here for poor kids to get life saving surgeries they'll otherwise be denied. I consider myself a peaceful person, but the next time I hear a Republican whine about how they don't see why their tax dollars should pay for someone else's health care...
One positive I see in all this is that I don't think the old system will last. We tried health reform in the early 90s and it failed, but a few things have changed since then. First, the insurance companies have gotten even worse so more Americans are mad about it. Second, the Internet has put more Americans in contact with 'ferners' than ever. Americans are looking out and seeing that we aren't the envy of the civilized world. We're seeing that other countries are getting it right and that they... feel sorry for us? Ouch. Kind of makes the old lies harder to maintain.
I think the Americans who want change just have to get louder about it. In theory, being on the side of basic human decency should be enough, and yet...
Ahem! Sorry to spam your LJ. This is a topic in which I'm rather invested.