Back to the Issues

There is nothing like a meltdown in the financial sector to get people thinking straight again. Maybe the Palin bump is over.

But I promised to talk about healthcare, at least my take on it. McSame thinks health care is a non-issue because sick people can always go to the emergency room and be treated there. That shows he's never had to go to an emergency room and be treated by a doctor who doesn't know or care who he is. Band-Aid treatment, besides being very expensive, never provides a cure, and never provides preventive treatment. Even if the patient doesn't foot the bill, somebody does. And you'll never get a PSA test, or a mammogram in the emergency room.

But who else has an issue with healthcare besides the emergency-room walk-in? Right now, I'm reasonably healthy, and I'm covered by my former employer's plan. As a retiree of the State of North Carolina, I don't even have to pay a monthly premium. When I reach 65, Medicare will be my primary coverage, and the State plan will pick up from there.

What I do worry about is my children, mainly #2 son. He has worked in sales for about eight years, on commission, no benefits. Paying for a private plan is out of reach so he's gambling with his health. He has had two major health incidents in the last eight years, so guess who took up the slack. When he was too sick to work, he even tried applying for disability, but it was not a chronic or permanent illness, so he was on his own.

Then there are people who have health coverage, or thought they did, until a major illness in the family exhausted the limits of the plan. They end up mortgaging their house or giving up everything, and going on welfare to keep their sick child alive.

I've traveled in third-world countries that do better by their citizenry than we do when it comes to health care.

I hear people arguing about the differences between Obama's proposal and Clinton's proposal for healthcare. My guess is that whatever comes out of the Congress will be something that resembles parts of those two proposals, but not exactly either one. That will be the time for discussion of the fine points, and calling our representatives about what we want.

What we need now is President who understands why this is an issue.