A Bid for Universal Health Care

The other day, I had to go to the local hospital out here 50 miles north of the boonies, and I was surprised to learn that I had to produce a picture ID and health insurance card just to check in for blood tests and X-rays. Because of the new procedure, it was taking 10 minutes or more to process each person rather than the usual 1-2 minutes (because they scan all your documentation into the system to prove to the insurance company you're covered).

Now, let me add that up here, that's not typical. I've (unfortunately) had to go to the hospital for tests numerous times over the past year and this was the first time this process was in place. When I finally (half an hour into it) got called to register, I asked the clerk why the new procedure. She explained that the insurance companies were requiring them now to prove that the person with an insurance card actually was the person insured. In these desperate times, apparently, insurance fraud is way up.

While I happen to live in a state where - at least in part thanks to former Governor Howard Dean - about 93-94% of the residents have some form of health insurance (a much higher percentage than many states), it made me think yet again of the dire need for America, (one of) the last civilized country without such a program, to have universal health care.

Can we really afford to spend more than $500 BILLION - and that's a conservative estimate since so much more gets funneled to them - on the Defense Department and yet health care is really going to break the bank?

No, of course, universal health care isn't a panacea for everything. But folks, it makes sense! Especially at a time when a record number of Americans are now without it. Fuck Tom Delay who doesn't want it; we after all pay for his extraordinary care from our taxpayer dollars. In fact, most of the people who tell us we can't have it are people for whom we PAY to cover.