Healthcare

Here's what I think needs to be done with healthcare in America. All Congress, Supreme Court, and the Executive branch members and personnel should lose their healthcare benefits until we common Americans get what they have. I mean, really, there's little incentive to get healthcare reform initiated not to mention completed because the people who are assigned the task don't have a problem with healthcare. I also think we should do away with insurance companies but maybe I can talk about that in another blog - ya know, when I feel brave and carefree.

One of the reasons I feel healthcare needs to change is because I worked in the medical field for a few years and witnessed how insurance companies govern the medical decisions that affect our lives. It just didn't seem right that a clerk in some far-off insurance cubicle could make or break a person's well-being with the stroke of a keyboard key or a firm "no" on the phone when professionals such as doctors and therapists wanted a patient to undergo a particular treatment.

The main reason, though, is healthcare for my husband and myself has become the major expense in our budget. We're spending assets we worked for, invested, and saved all our lives on insurance premiums for health benefits we may or may not need or receive. Our home and vehicles are paid for - have been for over a decade. Our living expenses are minimal with the usual utility, grocery, and insurance bills everyone else has except for, of course, the health insurance premiums.

We used to get our health insurance at work, our employers paying some while we put in a bit ourselves. We took care of ourselves with very little help from the government and we liked it that way. Independence was and still is very important to us. But things happened - you know, life happened. Now, without going into the nitty gritty details of how our lives have changed, let me just say we're footing the bill for our health insurance - over $1000/month in premiums. Plus medicines each month totaling close to $2000/month. The insurance pays for a good portion of the meds after the deductible is satisfied which is why we pay those high premiums - it would cost more if we didn't have the insurance.

Here's the catch. Our income is less than the medical expenses. Now, it doesn't take a mathematician to quickly figure out the budgeting problem in our household. Where do we get the money to pay for premiums, living expenses and meds? A monthly social security check, money from my small business, but most importantly we're taking a lot out of our life savings - the savings we probably will need in our later years. Does the picture of living in a box by the river begin floating in your head at this point? If so, that's the future we're staring at right now unless something good is done with healthcare in this country. And I'm pretty sure we're not the only ones in this dire position.

Obama at least is trying to get something done, but what we need is leaders who will sacrifice their personal and political desires for the good of the country's citizens. Leaders in the government, insurance companies, and medical field need to step up to the plate and yank the power away from the greedy so that those of us who are hanging on by the skin of our teeth can keep our hard-earned money to take care of ourselves rather than line someone else's pockets.