Monday, June 14, 2010

The Problem with "Health Care"

The problem with health care is plain and simple...it is...PEOPLE. Yes, PEOPLE, and I'll back that up with examples...
People want to eat crap all day long, wash it down with something like pop, alcohol, or even toxin-laden water, and as long as their bellies are full, they are happy as can be. They want to drink to drunkeness, smoke cigarettes, sit on their butts watching television all evening, and wake up the next day and do it all over. People LOVE feeding junk food to their kids and wouldn't dare make them eat healthy food...because they don't eat it themselves. They are fed candy, soda, cookies, and french fries, and if they are lucky, they might get a veggie- corn- once a week. Almost everything kids drink has "sugar" or "high fructose corn syrup" in the first two ingredients, and when they DO drink milk, it's pasteurized and homogenized, making it practically useless. Kids then are given life-altering vaccinations that "people" trust are good for them, not really ever looking at the consequences, because they are sure someone has already done that, and our government SURELY wouldn't do anything harmful to our kids.
When people are sick, they just go to the doctor to get a pill, and if God forbid the doctor says ANYTHING about their weight, they will complain to anyone who will listen for at least two weeks. The problem is, SO many people are sick these days, because of diet, bad habits, and laziness, that it has tipped our health care system upside down. These sick, lazy people expect healthy people who eat right and exercise to pick up their tab. Which is essentially what "insurance" is doing; taking money from everyone to help pay for the sick. And unfortunately, the economically disadvantaged are usually the ones out of work, who smoke, drink, and feed their families crap.
Don't get me wrong. My mother told me a long time ago, "Just because you have no money doesn't mean you don't take care of what you've got." And we didn't have much growing up. But times have changed. Parents have gotten lazy, people have been handed too much, and nobody wants to work for anything anymore. It is much easier to sit on your front porch missing teeth, smoking a Marlboro, and swigging on that 40.
The people who are really getting jacked are the children who are born with diseases or birth defects, who can't get coverage because the insurance companies are panicking over all the other crap they have to pay out for. When our kid gets an ear infection we want to pay a $10 copay to the doctor, and pay $5 for the antibiotic. When our kid has the sniffles, we rush him to the doctor. I can't believe all the times I've heard parents say they were taking their kids to the doctor! You have to be bloody or blue in my house to warrant a doctor visit, and there'd BETTER be something seriously wrong with you!
We have been spoiled with employer-paid coverage and expect it to keep going. We blame corporations for not dishing out. Granted there are some companies that can pay and don't. There are others that can't, or they'd go out of business. You have the freedom in this country to get a job that provides good insurance, or start your own business and make enough money to afford your own coverage. And you'd better sit down for this. You know all that money you raise for your favorite health organizations like the American Cancer Society? Their employees have AWESOME insurance! So while you are barely scraping by paying premiums and still trying to keep enough in your pocket to actually go to the doctor if you need to, you are helping others have it better than you!
So before you blame the insurance companies, the government, the corporations and illegal immigrants (don't get me started on THAT!) take a look around at all the sick people you know who can afford their crappy lifestyle, and then think about people like me who make every effort to eat healthy, drink pure water, breathe clean air, exercise, and avoid toxins, who are paying insurance premiums "just in case" and getting pretty much nothing in return.
Health care begins at home. It starts with what you put in your grocery cart and stock in your fridge. Until people get that right, we will ALWAYS be in dire straits when it comes to health care. People need to wake up and be held accountable for their futures. Instead of saying, "help me," help yourself and make a change...because the alternative is no longer an option.

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