So, with BreAnne and the boys gone, I've filled the void with movies, including some notable documentaries. Say what you want about Michael Moore, but I've decided that I like him for a few different reasons, one of them being his most recent documentary, Sicko. In case you're not feeling depressed enough, or want even more reason to hate insurance companies, Richard Nixon, or Republican policy in general, then watch Sicko. It raises some good points and questions about a government's responsibility for it's own people. Michael Moore is not objective at all in his efforts (see also Fahrenheit 9/11), but at least he doesn't claim to be. Then again, how could you really take any other side in the debate? Objectivity is impossible when such issues are chosen as a subject for a documentary. Moore uses humor to bring points across that keep us from laughing too hard when we think of the reality behind his cynicism and wit. One thought that keeps going through my mind is why so many fail to hold a government responsible for something that virtually everyone in America acknowledges as a "broken system." Do we really fear paying more taxes that much that we're unwilling to join the rest of the industrialized world in offering everyone the same quality health care? I'm pretty sure Americans pay more in premiums, deductibles, and co-pays than we would pay in additional tax to extend preventative health care to everyone in the country. Even if we didn't, how do you attach a price to longer life-expectancy, lower infant mortality, and a higher standard of living due to fewer serious health problems? No, I'm not quoting the movie. I am interested, however, in thoughts as to how the "system" can/must be fixed. Certainly President Bush's attempts at cutting funding to teaching hospitals, Medicare, and research funding aren't helping (see relevant articles at
http://www.aamc.org/ ). Are we really so controlled by our fear of the "S" word (I mean socialized) that we will continue to vote for politicians who give more and more power and leverage to HMO's and pharmaceutical companies in exchange for a healthy bonus check?
Lets look at our so-called options for our next President of the US: John McCain proposes giving families a whopping $5000 tax credit to "offset" the costs of insurance premiums (
http://www.johnmccain.com/Informing/Issues/19ba2f1c-c03f-4ac2-8cd5-5cf2edb527cf.htm). Wow. And what about the fact that people who need insurance are consistently refused coverage because they actually need it? And what about premiums that cost well over that annually? And what about non-covered items that are ridiculously commonplace today? His campaign site doesn't mention any of this. He even goes on to suggest that encouraging competition will lower prices. In other words, keep the system like it is: privatized and for-profit. Wait, how will that work, again? Adam Smith has been wispering sweet nothings in your ear, John. Guess what, the invisible hand is missing a few fingers, which were cut off by its own proponents when it tried to work its magic unfavorably for insurance companies. Competition means more incentive to increase profitability, which may lead to lower prices (not likely), but will most CERTAINLY lead to higher instances of refused provision. Barack Obama's ideas sure sound good, including increasing funding for research, initiatives for modernizing treatment methods, a national health plan that can't refuse coverage, etc., but will that work? My guess is no, unless he actually has a real plan beyond the lip service on his site (
http://www.barackobama.com/issues/healthcare/) It could work, but only if he manages to convince people that it's OK to let the government have a lot more control over the health care system, which won't happen as long as people keep allowing their ignorance to breed an incomprehensibly illogical fear of a socialist government. Moore makes a good point along these lines that schools, fire departments, and police departments are social institutions. GASP!! No they're not! They're 100% American, you'll say (based on the not true assumption that American=Democratic=Capitalistic=Red, White, and Blue=Freedom=whatever else you associate with the term). OK, but when's the last time you got a bill for a cop to come and file a report for a bike that got stolen, or for that water that the fire department had to use to keep your house from burning down? Social institutions don't make a government socialist! Besides, if money keeps going where it's going, we might rid the world of the threat in the geographic region loosely referred to as the Middle East (not even close to likely, in my opinion, by the way... theocracies are as resilient as they are pathetic), but what's the point if people keep dying of preventable illness in our own country? What are we "fighting" for if we let our own country and its people deteriorate because of a fiscal ideal? Are we really that free if we can't reasonably decide to obtain needed health care because of fear of financial ruin? Please note that I am still critical of Germany's health care system, which has developed a bad combination of favoritism toward holders of private insurance (I give them 10 years before they slip into a situation similar to the US's current state) and basically univeral health care. But, nothing compares to the sheer idiocy that is US health care. What makes more sense: tie a doctor's hands, not allowing him/her to provide necessary treatment, or removing the burden of pandering for money from insurance companies unwilling to pay for the simplest and most necessary of procedures and treatments? Sometimes I really like rhetorical questions, because there's just no other way to fully express the absurdity of big, private businesses controlling the lives of Americans than to ask a question that lets answers so easily come to the mind of the recipient.
Some faculty gave a few short speeches and then they all of the med students lined up and when their name was called they made their way to the faculty and put on their white coat. It is quite funny because it really just means "I just spent $50,000 so that you throw a ceremony to give me a white coat that I will wear in a couple of years to get puked and crapped on". Notice that they are short, real doctors wear long white coats. He will get one of those in four years. It was a neat night and Graeter's ice cream hosted the social afterwards (really good, and it is made in Ohio).
Today is our wedding anniversary! We have had the best adventures together. In the past four years, we have lived in 10 different places, we have visited 4 countries, have had 7 of our own apartments, have owned three different cars, have had two cute boys, lived abroad for a year, have traveled to 25 U.S. states, have owned 5 laptops, sold our first car, got Patrick through undergrad, started medical school, we have eaten a lot of ice cream (probably too much), and we have laughed every day. The time has flown. I love being married to Patrick. He is an amazing dad and husband. I am the luckiest.
