Exhibits A and B for the Health Care Bill Debate

After reading that "the overwhelming majority of Americans are satisfied with their health care," Ann Weaver Hart noted that those were general comments but she hadn’t actually heard many people say they loved their health care plans. She posed a question to Gather members to see how they would respond when asked how pleased they were with their specific plans. You can read her post and the over 200 responses here.

A seemingly polite, health-conscious, young (if the icon is him) man responded with,

“Very satisfied. Hardly use it. I go for a yearly routine check. My dental, I am less satisfied with. The out-of-pocket costs are too high. But I hardly use it too. What I do do, is eat extremely healthy. Compared to what I hear people out there eat and do, I consider my diet extremely healthy. There is not a week in the year where I don't do some form of high intensity workout 3 times (running at 6mph, weight lifting, swimming, ...). People need to take care of themselves and medical costs could be lowered. Nobody wants to tell anyone how to live their lives however. Free to be fat, free to eat unhealthy, free to smoke, free to drink, then they want our tax dollars to pay for their medical cares.”

I typed the following but, before hitting the send button, decided to expand it into this post instead.

What about the person who eats extremely healthy (a subjective analysis that we will have to trust dietitians would approve since we don’t know what he actually eats and the lab values of his body) but has a genetic problem that still causes illness? What about the person whose high-intensity workout causes joint damage and requires replacements? What about the person who is on his healthy 6mph run when a car veers off the road and hits him? The guy who is swimming and a shark takes his arm for lunch? The weight lifter who is in the wrong place at the wrong time and gets shot in the face?

These people took care of themselves. They were free to do all the wrong things, chose not to do them, and still ended up in need of medical care. It is possible that these people did not have insurance or finances to cover the costs of these things that happened to them regardless of how diligent they were in taking care of themselves. Nothing they could have done would have lowered the cost of medical care. They just might be one of the many people who need assistance, through no fault of their own.

You say, they want our tax dollars, as though you aren’t one of them, and the tax dollars can’t possibly be theirs. If you aren’t willing to buy, “We’re all in this together,” you must understand that any day your life could change and make you one of them. Having a tragic change of circumstances would be bad enough - what a shame if you had to add hoof-in-mouth disease as a complication.

Exhibit A – ME

I was born healthy. Perfect size, no problems, home in three days, adjusted well. I’m older than dirt so I experienced the usual childhood measles, mumps, and chicken pox without complications and before I started school. I didn’t get colds or flus. I was naturally thin and extremely strong for my build. Aside from routine visits for school check-ups, my elementary visits with the doctor were for aching knees and a tumble down the stairs at school. He diagnosed growing pains and that seemed apt, since I was taller than most children my age.

In my early adulthood, I walked faster than your 6mph runs, and could walk ten miles without breaking a sweat or taking a break. I parked four blocks from work, covered an eight-story building several times a day and seldom used an elevator. I was a tall, thin, muscular, exercise fanatic. I ate healthy – extremely healthy – by any dietician’s standards. I breezed through a pregnancy, dropped out a baby after three hours of almost painless labor, went home in size 5 jeans, and danced at a party the following weekend.

Everyone I worked under would tell you I was one of the most productive employees they’ve known. Most of them replaced me with two or more employees. People I did not work for would tell you they made terrific offers to try to lure me away from my employers. I loved my work and, more importantly, I loved knowing that I had done the best job I could possibly do and that I could support my family.

I worked a full time job while going to school and, at times, I worked more than one job. I did not miss a day of pay in twenty-five years, I had the best insurance money could buy, and provided the same for my family.

It turned out those were not growing pains. The pain worsened after I stopped growing. I was diagnosed with juvenile rheumatoid arthritis in my early thirties, multiple sclerosis in my early fifties, and a long list of other diagnoses in the years between. Doctors urged me to go on disability ten years before I did. I loved my life and refused to give it up until I was so exhausted I could not function. Even then, I went out fighting – taking temporary jobs, doing what I could from home - anything to delay the inevitable.

I don’t want your tax dollars for me. I’m doing fine with the social security and Medicare that I earned those twenty-five years I worked.

I’m eternally grateful that I supported our “socialized” system long before I knew I would not be able to continue working and giving to others, and that I gave generously to others while I could – even to people who didn’t want or couldn’t find the strength to do what I did. That is what enables me to hold my head high during this healthcare discussion and demand your tax dollars for people who aren’t as fortunate as I am.

It happened to me and it could happen to you. I’m fighting this battle for you, and all the others who still think in terms of they and our.

Exhibit B – My Father

My father joined the service straight out of high school and was a veteran of the Korean War. He returned and worked a federal job until he retired at age fifty-five. He saw doctors for routine check-ups and, in later years, for allergy shots - his only routine medication before age fifty-seven.

He was active, he didn’t smoke, he was a less-than-social drinker, and a healthy eater. He gave blood as often as permitted and his weight and blood pressure were never outside normal range. When he retired, he had missed fewer than ten sick days, and cashed in a lifetime of sick pay. His gray hair was the only thing that hinted at his age. He spent the first two years of his retirement building – his hobby - an addition on a house and a garage, almost single-handedly.

At fifty-seven, he went into the hospital for the first time in his life. He was diagnosed with cancer and died two weeks after his sixtieth birthday.

I can’t think of anything he might have done to live healthier and lower the cost of medical care in this country. There are many people just like him, who do the right things and still get sick, and many of them do not have jobs or insurance.

We cannot condemn people like my father, or even people who could have made better choices, to early or painful death because it’s easier to think they could have done something to change their fate or the cost of health care. Funny, that’s what obstructionists are accusing President Obama of wanting to do when, in fact, it is they who wish to let others suffer and die rather than spend tax dollars helping them.