As many of you know, Nat and I flew up north to visit her folks and brother in Pittsburgh. Nat's dad has been going through the rigors of chemotherapy after he was diagnosed with colon cancer. Thankfully, although he has lost a ton of weight due in part to the chemo and in part to a strong dose of antibiotics to treat an infection he looked in great spirits. It is pretty crazy to think that the body can handle the abuse of chemo and still function somewhat ok. After all, the treatment targets actively dividing cells and there are lots of those in the body.
One aspect of the treatment that cannot be underscored enough is the incredible cost. Medical bills for the hospital stays, surgeries, treatments, drugs, and apparatus that are needed for all of this to work pile up incredibly fast. If I recall correctly, the cost of each treatment of chemo, of which there is going to be between 8 and 12, costs upwards of $10,000 (I think the actual figure is 12-16K). Since all of this started the medical bills have been upwards of $160,000!!! Thankfully, my in-laws have medical insurance in the form of Medicare as well as Medi-gap. What this means is that bills that would have otherwise bankrupted them are manageable and allow them to focus on the task of getting healthy again rather than worrying about the bills.
On the other hand, there are lots of people out there that do not have the luxury of medical insurance and are left with bills that will basically ruin their financial future. Where I understand that people worry that having nationwide health insurance may lead to abuse of the system, I find it hard to understand how people can so easily place a dollar value on someone's health. Yes, nationwide health insurance will undoubtedly lead to some people abusing the system, but the cost of such cases will be spread over such a large number of people (taxpayers) that the hit will be minute.
For those arguing that the quality of health care will be affected, I would like to point to several European countries that have excellent health care while still having nationwide coverage for their citizens. Furthermore, the rich can still pay for private health care if they choose so. And if this is too much of a stretch, how about at least guaranteeing that every child is at least covered? Is there any reason why a kid should not receive health care?
I just hope that when people hit the ballot boxes they vote based on principles rather than blindly based on party lines. There are as many good and bad Democrats as Republicans as Independents out there.
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On the issue of healthcare, I find myself working further and further down the ladder in hopes of eventually finding something around which we might be able to reach some sort of consensus. I'd hope that your point about children is one such point.
When it comes to kids, I see no difference between education and healthcare. A healthy society has to ensure both for children. A big part of that comes down to morality- I'd argue that it's simply immoral to deny a child QUALITY healthcare as a consequence of his or her parents' financial state.
Of course, I'd say the same thing about education... but make no mistake, plenty of folks could care less about the tragically poor education down the road so long as their Suzie or Johnny is in a good school district (funding education with local property taxes is almost sinful).
But I submit that those folks are dangerously short sighted. Even if you're a cold-hearted penny pincher unimpressed by moral arguments, it's still a no brainer. It's simply cost effective to educate children, and it's cost effective to make sure they're healthy. The costs for failing to do so are far greater (even if they aren't paid until many years later).
However, much more important than my rant is the news that Nat's dad remains in reasonably good spirits. Given the circumstances, that's wonderful to read. We think about him and all of you every day.
The main hurdle to government run healthcare is the cost in taxes. Many of the radiologists I work with believe that universal healthcare is going to happen eventually but it is going to mean a very large increase in taxation to fund it and we all know that the middle class is going to shoulder the biggest part of that burden.
I've heard a stat that suggest that medical bills trigger about half of bankruptcies. Had any of us been diagnosed with anything serious during grad school, we would have been S.O.L.
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