In Sickness and in Wealth is sickening
This week the OSU College of Public Health presents as part of Public Health Week socio-economic marxist propaganda in a film produced by California Newsreel called, In Sickness and In Wealth, which I mentioned last week I saw on WOSU. It would make Michael Moore proud--my public library will probably buy dozens of copies when it is on DVD. Unbelievably one sided--at least the 10 minutes I saw before turning it off in disgust. The news blurb reports, ". . . state and local public health leaders will participate in a panel discussion, “In Sickness and In Wealth:” at 3 p.m. on Tuesday (4/8) in 160 Meiling Hall, 370 W. 9th Ave. The event, which is part of Ohio State’s College of Public Health’s celebration of National Public Health Week, is based on a new PBS series called “Unnatural Causes,” which explores America’s racial and socioeconomic inequities in health. “In Sickness and In Wealth” is the title of the first installment of the series. The episode investigates how a person [sic] a person’s work conditions, social status, neighborhood conditions and lack of access to power and resources can actually altar [sic] their human biology and, similar to germs and viruses, make them sick."Yes, I'm white, middle-class, college educated, married, never collected unemployment, worker's comp or welfare, saved my money, tithed my income, invested in a private pension, had married parents, married grandparents, paid a ton of taxes over my lifetime, purchased private health insurance, kept my weight down, exercised, don't smoke or drink--therefore, I'm causing someone else to be a victim of poor health? I'm altering their biology! They aren't responsible at all! Check out California Newsreel; where do they find these people? California, our proud and loud left coast, of course.
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3 comments:
Another propaganda film by PBS. I'm so disappointed in them.
I'm middle class, working and don't have Medicare yet. As with most places these days, I pay $350 (was $125 two years ago)a month to insure myself and my family. A year ago my husband's company turned to Health Savings Accounts-- and let me tell you first hand what that did to our family.
First, you pay $200 a month just to get coverage in case anything terrible happens. To reap any sort of coverage, you need to meet the $4000 deductible. Which is fine-- we're a healthy family and don't have but maybe one or two visits a year.
What killed us is that prescriptions were part of the deductible. With chronic health conditions that are perfectly controlled with medication-- we went from spending $100/month for 6 presciptions to $450/month. I stopped taking one of my asthma inhalers that went from a $20 copay to $130-- knowing that I risked a trip to the emergency room and just generally feeling worse-- but it was $490 a year. I also switched to a generic version of a drug I was on (which luckily Giant Eagle charges $4 for). I have gained 30 pounds because of the side effects from the change.
Anyhow, my son got sick and we had to visit the doctor 3 times in one month, I got pneumonia and needed xrays-- and by the end of the year we'd paid $4000-- not including that $200 we were paying just to hold our coverage. Sure, the company kicked in $1500 for the year-- but in the end it was definitely a hardship for us.
We pay about $4200 a year now for insurance, but at least the payments are monthly and we don't get stuck with huge bills all at once. What makes me upset is that the drugs I depend on to keep us well are so expensive that we begin to have to make choices (like not taking them) which eventually result in more expense to the taxpayer/insurance companies when we make a trip to the emergency room, etc.
We live within our means and don't have debt other than student loans and a $900/mo house payment. We used to put away $200/month into savings-- but these days we're having a hard time putting that away most months. It isn't just health care that's expensive... but it is certainly a factor. Not poor enough for government help and not wealthy enough to get the care we'd like. That's us.
You are correct--your health problems are not caused by your race or your income, which is what the PBS film will try to convince us. If the Bush tax cuts are not kept, you will be paying even more for other people's health care.
My grandparents (until they were elderly) had no health insurance, and my parents had no health insurance when I was growing up. My husband and I purchased hospital insurance in the 1960s--no one had preventive care insurance in those days. What raises the cost of our health care is the insurance, the advancing technology, and the secret belief that good health is a "right" like speech or voting, and that someone else is paying for it. And it will be even worse when everyone thinks the gov't covers it "for free."
You are paying even more than you think, because your employer is probably paying part of the cost, and NOT giving that cost to you in your paycheck so that you can shop for the best coverage.
We will pay auto insurance for 60 years and thank God if we never have to use it, but people don't feel that way about health insurance. Same for home or renters or travel insurance.
We also pay long term care insurance, because Medicare doesn't cover nursing home care, nor does supplemental health insurance. One year premium on L.T. insurance is about the cost of one month in a nursing home.
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