With all the healthcare reform controversy, we hear plenty of outrage from those who already have healthcare and don’t want change, but not much from those who know what it’s like to NOT have any medical coverage. Those most opposed to the reform like to paint those without healthcare plans as slackers who don’t work and want something for “free” from those who do work.
Well, the Today Show has actually been doing a number of interesting stories focusing on those who are struggling to get or maintain medical coverage (wonder if FOX News has offered this perspective). Unfortunately for those who’d like to believe it’s only deadbeats who live in places like the ghetto, the projects, or trailer homes that don’t have healthcare, these Today Show segments expose the facts about people who are simply victims of the system and circumstance—and it could be any of us at any time, when we least expect it. A week or so ago, there was a story about a couple whose insurance company refused to cover their toddler because they considered her underweight!!! Refused a CHILD coverage because she was ‘too small’. Today, there was a segment about a married couple whose daughter has serious medical issues. The couple could not get either of their healthcare plans to fully cover their daughter. They were finally advised that the ONLY way their daughter could get the coverage she needed was if…wait for it…the couple was divorced!!! Which is exactly what they did out of desperation and for the well-being of their daughter. They got a divorce so their daughter could be put under a single parent’s healthcare, and now they live together ‘in sin’ as an unmarried couple.
Isn’t it tragically ironic that it is predominantly Americans most opposed to healthcare reform that would prevent tearing apart families like the above examples are those who are supposedly the biggest advocates of family values??? It really comes down to the despicable egocentric attitude that pervades this country. People say they care about freedom, morals and the welfare of others, but in reality, all they care about is themselves and their own position in society. It’s great to have a job with good benefits, or have a spouse whose medical coverage you can jump onto if you lose your job. But that kind of security seems to breed a lack of compassion for others that needs to be justified by assumptions and judgment about less fortunate people in dire straits.
I’ve seen firsthand the complications for Americans who are challenged with healthcare issues as a matter of circumstance. My own brother has been out of work for three years, and as a result, has been without health coverage, and for those three years, he has been living with a hernia. There’s a nice Catch-22 there. He can barely walk enough to make it to a job interview if an opportunity even opens up, and since he doesn’t have a job or health coverage, he can’t remedy his health issues, untreated health conditions that will likely domino into worse problems.
I’ve also felt firsthand the fears of not having medical coverage. Sure, me and my partner are both employed and both have our own health coverage and that’s great…right now. But with the way things are going, if one of us should lose his job (and it’s quite possible), neither of us has a medical plan that covers non-married partners. This also narrows employment opportunities for someone like me, who, as a writer, could actually work from home as a freelancer if I lost my job and had the option of being covered under my partner’s plan, an option I don’t have because we’re not allowed to be married. And what do you know? Those lobbying most against healthcare reform are also predominantly who lobby against gay marriage. Hey, maybe their arguments about the healthcare reform and the dangers it poses to those of us already covered are valid. I haven’t listened to a single one of their concerns. You don’t really expect me to listen to your point of view or take your side when you’ve boxed me into a corner that denies me the privilege of the healthcare security you have.
