DOES AIR HAVE A PRICE?

CHARGING AMERICANS TO BREATHE…THE NEXT REPUBLICAN RUSE?

With Health Care Reform having been discussed and delayed ad nauseum, we have to take inventory of what our citizenry’s health really means. Is it a right? Should the health of our citizens be a commodity like pork bellies?

There are certain aspects of our society that can’t be handled by private enterprise. Yes, the temptation is there, the potential for profits are astounding. Take for example the electric/power aspect. Since this is a natural monopoly it can’t be subject to competition; therefore the one and only company that provides power has the consumer over a barrel. Why so? It is because we could not possibly have ten different electric companies to compete with one another. Can you imagine the infrastructure necessary to do that? In the streets or alleys of our nation ten different wires running from post to post?

Do the Insurance Companies think that they are entitled to monopolize the marketplace because they are motivated by greed? Do they provide a service? Is it a legitimate business? I think not. But if on top of that you add that; they not only monopolize the marketplace but also abuse and gauge the consumers with astronomical premiums, denial of claims and not covering a great number of people because they are deemed a risk to their profits, then you have a broken system as a result.

Everyone will agree that breathing is necessary for sustaining life. Everyone also agrees that taking in air should not cost those of us who still breathe. How would you like it if there was legislation that forced you to pay for cubic each feet of air consumed each day? There are a number of people who have to use oxygen for aiding them in their everyday function of breathing. But these oxygen tanks and portable devices cost money. Should we charge these people for their use? Can we just tell them “breathing is overrated” if you want to breathe you are just going to have to pay for it and pay dearly?

The same thing is true of your health. We are born healthy usually and we go on living encountering a number of illnesses along the way. Most are curable but it costs money to cure them. Can insurance companies just tell those who get sick “too bad, you got sick, now we won’t pay for your recuperation”?

In essence, what I am saying here is that health and living are part of everyone’s quest, our instinct of self preservation, our very existence depends on it. If you interject profit into this equation you are fucking up everything. Because the profit motive is good sometimes but in this case it is not. Greed has no conscience and the Insurance Companies have pushed the American people to their limits.

I for one will not be shedding any tears anytime soon if Humana or Blue Cross go belly up. I do want to see their corporate officers deprived of their obscene salaries and immoral bonuses. Really, they should not be allowed to make a profit out of human misery, that is absolutely immoral. So what if they have their houses in the Hamptons foreclosed? Millions of Americans have seen their houses foreclosed because their insurance didn’t cover their medical bills or because they just could not afford to pay their outrageously high premiums and when they got sick they had to declare bankruptcy.

PHOTO SOURCE: http://www.lancetcorp.com/NEW_PICS/oxygenbags.jpg

SOME BIRTHDAYS HAVE BEEN WORSE

By your blogger

I am thinking about the birthday from hell I had a few years ago. Hurricane Wilma hit us in South Florida the day before my birthday on October 24. We had severe damage to the house, the backyard fence was totally down and the roof would have to be replaced. We also had many broken windows and there was a lot of water inside the house as a result.

The repairs cost me over $30,000 as the insurance did not cover the roof because it was more than 15 years old. But that was not all, I lost a few days of work because since we had no electricity I could not connect to my job and at the time I was working from home. I had to go out and buy a generator which did not solve the problem.

Fortunately I live next door to the AMA (American Maritime Association) or Maritime Academy and they allowed me to run an electric cord to the house next door which belongs to them and since they had a power plant they did not go without electricity.

We were without electric power for a total of 16 days and on the third day after the storm it got very warm. Air conditioning here in South Florida is a necessity as much as heating is up north.

Today, I am grateful for my good fortune. At age 64 I enjoy relatively good health, still have my 94 year old mother living with me and although finances are tight, we are eating and barely paying the bills.

So…HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME