Health Care Reform

Wow, this sure is a hot button issue this morning.  After 40 years, the government has finally passed health care reform.  This isn't the end all be all of perfect health care, but it takes several important steps in the right direction.  The bill has flaws, it took too long to pass, and I'm not pleased with the 4 year delay in the major programs in it, but overall, I'm satisfied.  I'm not a fan of the pork or the kickbacks, or the bullshit in the bill, but for all it's flaws, it's going to do a lot of good.  I'll be blunt:  I support health care reform, and I'm happy this bill passed.

So, now I have to ask what the hell is wrong with everyone?  Why is there so much hatred, outrage, and anger over this bill?  This bill was very one sided.. The democrats were pushing hard for it, while the republicans were vehemently opposed.  However, the republicans have a much bigger hype machine (Fox News, Rush, Hannity, Beck, etc), and they stirred up a veritable shit storm over this bill.  But what I can't figure out is WHY?  Why are people so pissed off about this, and why has the republican opposition been so heated?

I admit, I stopped following the politics behind this months ago, I was tired of hearing about it by last August.  I know the bill was watered down, had lots of pork stuffed into it, and adds as many loopholes as it tries to plug.  It's not perfect, but it's better than what we have.  According to the CBO (the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office), most of us will see an approximate 4% drop in premiums, with added tax breaks being spread around to 95% of us.  The CBO went on to say that this bill will shrink the deficit by as much as 1.3 trillion dollars in the next 20 years, which is a fairly sizable chunk.  I think that's a pretty positive thing.  So, with that in mind, here's my take on this bill and what it means to people.

First off, the biggest voice speaking out against this is the 'I don't have insurance and I don't want it!' group.  In my opinion, these asshats have the least room to speak.  (FYI, my mother will no doubt fall squarely in with these folks.)  These are the cats who say 'I'm perfectly healthy!  I don't want to pay for health insurance!'  Hey, guess what... No one WANTS to pay for insurance.  We pay for insurance because one day, sooner or later, we're going to NEED it.  That's the whole point of Insurance.  No one plans to get cancer, or take a header down their steps on the way to work, or get knifed in a bar fight, etc.  Health care is not cheap, and when one of these uninsured people wind up in the ER, who do you think ends up paying for it, at the end of the day?  Here's a hint... YOU DO.

See, when an uninsured person winds up in the ER, the ER staff is required to treat him, no matter what the problem is.  Say someone... lets call him Crash for example, takes a spill on his bike.  He winds up unconscious at the bottom of a ditch with a broken collar bone.  Someone sees the whole thing and calls in the EMT's... sirens wail, the Ambulance pulls up, they strap him to a stretcher and carry him off to the ER.  Dozens of X-Rays, several hours of doctors, radiologists, nurses, and other hospital staff's time, and lots of shiny shiny meds later, Crash gets discharged for the night.  The next day, Crash goes to yet another doctor to discuss the surgery required to fix his shoulder.  The process continues....

Now... lets take a look at the costs tallied up so far.  The Ambulance trip alone is $5000... X-rays, hospital time and resources, and meds bring the cost up over $20,000, without even thinking about any possible surgery.  Lets say Crash doesn't have insurance when all this happens, and has no savings to speak of... maybe he's a freshman in college at the time, and his single divorced mother can't afford insurance.  How is Crash going to pay his medical bills?  Does his family go bankrupt trying to pay it all off?  Probably.  Eventually, the hospital will wind up soaking the cost of the whole thing... and it will redistribute that cost back to everyone else who DOES have insurance.  Their premiums rise, and it becomes harder and harder for everyone else to buy into the same insurance plans, so more uninsured patients wind up in the ER, and the cycle continues.

Now, fortunately for me, I DID have insurance when this happened to me... through my father, who had the state insurance plan from Kentucky, which mirrors the insurance this bill is going to be providing us.  (Incidentally, I wasn't called Crash until AFTER I got discharged from the hospital that night... but that was the night that earned me the name).  So, my family didn't have to go bankrupt taking care of me, which I'm thankful for.  The point of that story was to point out that we don't get insurance because we plan on needing it... we get it because of things we don't plan on happening.  That's the point of insurance, after all.  Still not convinced... Well, I'm all out of anecdotal stories, so here's a hypothetical one...

Lets say Lucy is your average uninsured American.  She's going about her day, business as usual, not a care in the world.  While getting dressed one day, she feels a small lump while putting on her bra.  However, because Lucy has no insurance, she brushes it off as 'probably nothing', and goes about her day.  Months pass.  Lucy notices that the lump hasn't gotten any smaller... has it gotten larger, or is she just being paranoid?  Oh well, no insurance, no use worrying about it..  Another year passes.  By now the lump has grown large enough to be seen from the surface.  It's also touch sensitive.  Lucy gets scared.  Lucy still has no insurance, and now she's got a pretty obvious pre-existing condition.  So, she does the only thing she can do:  Lucy goes to the ER.

The ER checks her out, verifies her worst fears, and runs her insurance... oh, wait... no insurance to run.  Sucks to be Lucy!  Lucy manages to find care in the form of Charity hospitals and medicare.  The first thing her doctor asks her is 'Why didn't you come and get this looked at when you first found it?  We could have knocked it out with 1 Chemo session or an easy operation... but now?  You're looking at disfiguring surgery, months of painful Chemo, and possibly even death...'  Lucy really wishes she had health insurance 2 years ago.  Lucy could have saved hundreds of thousands of dollars in health care costs if she had taken care of herself early on... and that's my point:  if everyone has health care, people will be more likely to seek preventative medicine or check out symptoms earlier, instead of waiting until it's too late and trying to fix the problem once it's gone bad.

So anyway, I'm pro health care.  I know a lot of people aren't.  I know there are pros and cons to both sides.  I'm ok with that.  No law is ever perfect.  I get that some people have legitimate concerns with the bill.  What I don't get and can't abide are these fear mongering reactionary jack-offs who can't think ahead past their next cigarette and think they are being 'robbed blind' by the system.  To those people I say 'Pull your head out of your ass, think about something bigger than yourself and plan ahead past your next double bacon cheeseburger, you fat fuck!  You're not the only one affected by this bill, and in the long run this is going to do far more good than harm.  So quit your bitching, suck it up and get over it!'

Anyway, I could go on with this for hours, but I do have work that needs to be done.

Crash

The Battle of the Bulge

So, I'm trying to get back in shape. This is good, right? I'm getting old... I know, 31 isn't really that old, but I can already feel the difference from when I was 25 and now. I tore up my back when I was younger and now it's coming back to haunt me... my knees are always sore or stiff, and I get winded walking up the 3 flights of steps to my client's office. This is no way to live. I miss the days of riding 100+ miles a week, not being ashamed to go visit my friends, and being generally more active. I also liked having a sub-40 waistline... So, I've decided to get back in shape and try to reclaim what I had in my mid 20's...

I'm on to a good start, I think. I've been working out every other day for about 2 weeks now. I'm down 2-3lbs, which is less than I would like, but I haven't done much to my diet yet, aside from cut out on the excessive junk food. I guess I'm taking baby steps. However, the work on my exercise bike is encouraging. I was able to do 22 miles in 1 shot earlier this week. If what they say is true, and every mile on a trainer is worth 2 on the road, I could ride a 40 mile bike ride already.... which is fortunate, since I've signed up for a 42 mile bike ride in Pensacola next month.

That's right, I'm getting back on the bike! The Tour de Cure, which was always one of my big summer rides back in TN, has a local ride here on the gulf. It's not a 150 mile, 2 day ride through the hills of North Georgia, but it still promises to be a good time. This one has a metric (62 miles) and a 42 mile option. I've signed up for the 42 mile option, but I have this subversive little thought in the back of my head that says if I get to the 62 mile split and I'm not considering sepuku, I'll do the full metric. I've never failed to finish a ride I started, and I want to keep it that way. Of course, the tour is a fund raising drive as well, and I have to bring in at least $100 to ride. I did that in the first 8 hours, but I haven't raised any funds since then. I've still got 3 weeks, I'm shooting for $500 to get the jersey.

Of course, all of this is lead up to the RideYellow this year. I rode in the first RY 3 years ago, when I first moved down to the gulf, and haven't been able to do much riding since. In fact, RY was the last major ride I did, and I regret that I've fallen out of it. So, if I can get through the Tour and then do RY, I'll be on the right track to getting my life back to where I want it.

My hope is that by doing all this, getting my diet under control, working out again, and getting healthy means that I wont be ashamed to go visit my old friends anymore. I'm going to Dragon Con this year in September, where I will see many of those old friends.... I want to be the happy, active person they remember from 5 years ago, not the fat ass couch potato from 10 years back, and that I've become again since I got off my bike last. I'll consider the effort a success if I can fit in my Umbrella Corp shock trooper costume for Dragon Con this year.

Speaking of self improvement, I've taken the first several steps to getting my eyes fixed. Living 20/110 vision has been a hassle since the 6th grade, and I'm finally ready to be done with it. I've gotten my initial screening out of the way and I've been cleared to go in for the full exam. I've also secured enough financing to cover the $5000 cost. I'm going in for a full eye exam next week to ensure I'm a solid candidate, and get the operation done. After my extended exam I could be on the table within a week.

After that, I'll need to look about getting established with a good dentist, get my teeth cleaned, and see about brightening them up a bit.... more on that after I get my eyes sorted out. One thing at a time, you see ;)

There's also Grad School to discuss, but there isn't much to talk about on that front. I'm doing the bare minimum in my Project Management class, which is kind of depressing. My Analysis and Design class is a cake walk, which suites me just fine. I'm having to evaluate if I really want to take summer classes, if of I want those 3 months off to sort of get my life back in order and get my head on right about Grad School. I'm kind of losing interest in school as I pile more and more shit on my life these days, and the thought of taking 2 summer classes right now just leaves a bad taste in my mouth. Besides, if I spread Grad school out over 3 years, that will give me enough time to pay off the Lasik before I have to start paying on my student loans again. The risk there is what happens if I lose my job between now and then, and don't get reimbursed for the grad school? I guess I can't worry about that right now, I just have to press on with what makes the most sense.

Anyway, I've got a lot going on right now, and a lot of choices to make in the near future. It's going to be an interesting summer, I imagine.

Crash