Weekly Fix: Shot through the tubes

Rabble, Rabble, Rabble… Oh man, oh man. There are many who prefer to sleep all day and go out at night when it’s more peaceful and you are less likely to run into folk who they can not stand. I just happen to be one of these night persons. Nevertheless, I maintain connection to the outside world via these tubes. Despite all the actions that I take to avoid all circumstances that could essentially harm my well-being, it is inevitable and I still end up realizing that I am still a human and prone to illness, depression, sickness and accidents. I’ve been lucky to be relatively healthy throughout my years, despite an often-at-times unhealthy lifestyle. But like I mentioned before, I am still human. So there have been a few times over the years where I have had to go to see a doctor. In particular, I remember twice in the last 7 years or so. The first time I was in the United States and had an infection that needed to be taken care of; after a five minute inspection by the physician at the hospital and two pills, I was eventually to receive a bill of over three hundred dollars. But what else could I do? I had just lost my job, therefore my medical insurance and I was broke. That was about seven years ago and I have not been back to a doctor in the United States ever since.

I’m going to let you in on a little secret. I happen to have dual-citizenship. That’s right, not only am I a legal citizen of the great nation of the United States of America, but I am also a European citizen, via Spain. For the previous fifteen months, I had been living in Spain. And whilst there, I decided, “hey, why not take advantage of their universal healthcare system?” And so I did. Three doctor visits, a full blood analysis, and one prescribed medication cost me a complete total of two euros, or roughly three dollars and fifty cents. That’s right, $3.50. You can’t even get a slice of pizza and a soda can in the city for $3.50. But I was taken care of and a peace of mind and tranquility that I had not been able to experience in a long time came over me for only $3.50. And because of my first hand experience with a system that was quick, efficient, unbureaucratic (when it came to the treatment of a patient) and cheap. Because of this, I dedicate this week’s column to the Healthcare Debate.

We start today’s trip with one of the few medias in the United States that is actually fair and intelligent. Just don’t tell the right-wingers that it is publicly owned… Damned socialism for PBS. This relatively short film will give you a glimpse into what some countries with a one-pay system deal with by exposing the good and the bad.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/sickaroundtheworld/

Now, I’ve met people personally who have had their lives altered by an illness and/or and accident. In several of these cases, as if the ailment was not bad enough, the person with the problem, would also have to deal with the battle with the insurance companies. Yet they have been lucky if you take into consideration some of the cases that we see on the news. Mind you, these next two links are only from this week and from one state.

http://cbs5.com/local/cancer.treatment.denied.2.1007394.html

http://cbs2.com/local/nataline.sarkisyan.CIGNA.2.615167.html

I put Nataline Sarkisyan’s lost battle with CIGNA second to point out a very nice little piece of information that you can see in the following video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ULKJiRv-Lnk

CIGNA would not pay for something that might save Nataline, because the cost might be too high for something that might not work. I understand this philosophy if you might be short on cash, but when you ARE profiting extensively while the people you are supposed to help DIE. Frankly, you are a evil. Edward Hamway is Evil. But he’s in good company. Just watch the next video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vKI9be55N00

Can you feel the love? Can you feel the brotherhood? Can I get an Amen! Let us heal the sick, feed the poor and save the weak! Hallelujah let us not spend money on healthcare let’s go kill Muslims in Fellujah.

http://www.thenation.com/doc/20090817/scahill2

The good thing is that we live in a country where we have freedom of speech and the right to fight for those things that we believe in and that we feel are right. Unfortunately, we seem to fight for all the wrong reasons. Which brings us to the town hall mobs. Yes, the town hall meetings where we can all be part of an intelligent and adult-like conversation that would bring the facts out into the open and let us ADULTS find an adequate middle ground. Right?

http://belowthebeltway.com/2009/08/07/tampa-town-hall-turns-violent/

Oh, and then there is this too from the next link, “There was a telling incident at a town hall held by Representative Gene Green, D-Tex. An activist turned to his fellow attendees and asked if they “oppose any form of socialized or government-run health care.” Nearly all did. Then Representative Green asked how many of those present were on Medicare. Almost half raised their hands.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/07/opinion/07krugman.html?_r=3

FFFFFFFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU… For real America? Really? Really… Not only is this kind of behaviour (yes, I spelt it like the English on purpose) silly, childish and embarrassing but its also hypocritical. My entire life I’ve followed a simple rule, do not say anything that you can not backup. So for any of you planning on going to a town hall meeting, here is a nice little Fact Check:

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5g5ewCvsGcSPBeHJurb6qYZLVU8OgD99QOIH80

When discussing such an important issue, such as healthcare reform, it is very important to saturate yourselves with information. Luckily, the media has been completely saturated by this topic, but unfortunately, that can also confuse people. So my rant on healthcare ends here. I truly hope that as the greatest Nation in the world, that we are intelligent and mature enough, but also good-hearted enough to make a proper decision. And I don’t want to seem like a pessimist, but I feel like the following video sums up my feelings completely, in metaphor of course, as to how I think this will all end up.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8179857.stm

• Joe A. Melendez is a columnist for Bayridgistan.com. He also runs http://www.whiskeyandbeans.com and http://www.redmeatreviews.com . To contact Mr. Melendez please email: joeamelendez@whiskeyandbeans.com