Obamacare

Hooray Obama! He gets four more years to fight the Republicans. I still have no idea why anyone would have voted for Romney. I read one article about Romney bullying kids at his prep school. There was one incident where he cornered a boy, held him down, and cut off his hair just because he didn't like his hair style. That was just the tip of the iceberg. I've never heard anything like that about Obama, true or not. The best the Republicans could come up with was he wasn't an American citizen.

But mandatory health insurance...hmmmm. Not so excited about that, but at least it's SOMETHING. At least someone is attempting the change the incredibly bad health care system we have in the United States. Although I'm not excited about being forced to pay money to a sleazy corporation for my health care, I am hopeful the system will evolve into something better. I am hopeful this may eventually move toward universal health care so everyone can be covered without paying a corporation.

As it is I don't have health insurance. At times it worries me. What happens if I get in an accident? I spent a lot of time on my roof this summer. Suppose I would have fallen off? I had a friend break his ankle a few years ago. He had that catastrophic insurance coverage so it cost him $5,000 to have it fixed at the hospital. Without that insurance, he said it would have been about $40,000. The cost of health care in this country is an atrocity.

What happens if I get sick? Illness tends to happen the older you get. It's just a matter of time before one of my body parts decides to give out. I'm relying on my healthy dietary practices, exercise, good habits, and lack of bad habits to get me through. Crossing my fingers. Without health insurance, one bad accident or one catastrophic illness could render me bankrupt. I'd lose everything. It's a worry.

I am looking forward to some of the changes we might see with the mandatory insurance starting in 2014. For instance, the insurance companies won't be able to deny health coverage due to pre-existing conditions.  The pre-existing condition clauses in the health insurance contracts always worry me. Michael Moore's movie Sicko addresses the problem of sleazy insurance corporations working hard to find loop holes so if you do need care, they will find ways to deny your claims.

The best election joke I heard was David Letterman asking President Obama what he would tell people who were suffering from Romnesia.

He replied, "Obamacare covers pre-existing conditions."

HAHAHAHAHA!!

But insurance companies not covering pre-existing conditions irritates me to no end and it's my number one reason for not getting insurance. I find it really difficult to pay money into a very bad system.

Other reasons I don't have insurance:

I like my money. Insurance is expensive.

I don't like doctors. I can't find a doctor in my area that doesn't stink of chemicals. I've had doctors tell me to go away because they wear perfume and will continue to do so. The stupidity astounds me. Doctors are disappointing. With regard to chemical sensitivity, most of them don't have a clue so what would I be paying for? I don't see the point.

I know with our system the way it is it's not smart to not have insurance. I'm taking a risk.

Oh well, I've always been a risk-taker.

Here's an hilarious take on Romney's concession speech:

http://therealnews.com/t2/component/hwdvideoshare/?task=viewvideo&video_id=74959

Ten Ways I Would Change Doctors

1.) Reform medical school education to focus on preventative care including health and nutrition, holistic treatments centered on cause of disease instead of symptoms, and emergency care. Hippocratic Oath training for everyone. I visualize medical school like a religious order or nunnery where charity work and serving the community take precedent over the preoccupation with income.

2.) Oversight committees. Devise workable standards based on nutritional values and healthy practices with oversight committees regulating decision making and procedures. Surgery must be approved by the oversight committee.

3.) Patient-centered care. In my perfect world, patients are treated like valued customers instead of impositions. Get rid of the "meet 'em and street 'em" money-making mentality. (I once worked for a doctor who called it this. It was his goal to have ten minute appointments so he could get patients in and out fast. He didn't think he was making enough money.)

4.) Take the doctors off the pedestals we've placed them. Granted, unhealthy people are desperate for answers but they've created a whole generation of physicians who believe they are omnipotent. (I once dated a doctor who agreed and told me he was like God. I didn't date him long.)

5.) Doctors get charged huge fines for prescribing drugs and supplements as the first line of defense instead of the last resort. The first line of defense should be lifestyle changes.

6.) Patients get paid for their time if appointments are running late or if the appointment is cancelled without a 24 hour notice.

 7.) Require doctors to volunteer a large percentage of their time in underprivileged communities and undeveloped countries as part of their licensing requirements.

 8.) Implement legislation restricting doctors from driving luxury cars. They shouldn't be able to afford them if they are giving to society as much as required.

 9.) Doctors practicing unhealthy lifestyles are restricted from practicing medicine: drug addicts, morbidly obese McDonald's addicts, smokers, alcoholics, domestic abusers, perfume addicts, etc.

 10.) Sleazy Independent Medical Examiners should be eliminated from society, arrested and sent to prison for some Hippocratic Oath rehabilitation. (Or is it a Hypocrite's Oath? I get confused....)

Did I forget anything? I limited myself to ten. Add your own ideas.

Stay tuned for my "Ten Ways I Would Change the Health Care System." I'm on a roll! :)