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Robin asked what I think of mandatory health insurance. My reply was so lengthy that I decided to copy it here.
Mandatory health insurance is important.
1) All of us who have health insurance and all of us who seek treatment at the hospital are subsidizing those who do not have insurance–regardless of whether they’ve chosen to spend their money on other things or if they simply couldn’t afford it. We aren’t talking about pennies. This is subsidy on a grand scale. However, it isn’t a logical and carefully targeted subsidy. (If I end up in the hospital this year and you don’t, does it make sense that I should take a greater share of subsidizing the insuranceless than you should, just because you happened to avoid the hospital this year? No.)
2) We should provide a basic level of health care for everyone. It is a shame for a nation with the resources ours has not to provide a basic level of health care for its people. Without health, it is difficult to pursue happiness and it is also difficult to contribute to society.
3) If we do provide basic health care to everyone, then everyone should help bear the costs. No young, “I feel immortal,” risk-taking freeloaders allowed. Because the fact is, we don’t want to leave even young and stupid, risk-taking freeloaders to suffer, taking their potential with them, if a basic level of health care could allow us to avoid that.
4) Therefore, if we continue under the current insurance-based system (as it now seems obvious we will) everyone should be required to carry insurance. Unfortunately, we will have to figure out how to help many people pay for this, because we can’t require insurance if it means people end up going without their groceries to pay for it. But how to pay for those more explicit subsidies is another bucket of worms . . .
Other recent C&G posts about health care:
American Health Care (the comments are worth reading also)
Sketchy Thoughts on Health Care
Did you write your senators and congressperson yet?
Don’t put it off. It is fun and the health care issue is worth it. Start by finding out what your representatives believe about health care already. Just google the name of your senator or the name of your state and the word “senator.” The official websites will pop right up. Usually, there is an “issues” tab. Read all about it! What is your man or woman in Washington up to? What does he or she have to say about health care? Do you agree or disagree? Or do you need to learn more before you can decide?
My congressperson is, in my humble opinion, a conservative loon. And I say this as a person who is in many respects conservative (true, despite my surprising advocacy for single payer health care). I wrote to ask him why health care wasn’t even listed as one of the issues on his website. I had to recheck that just now to make sure it was true. Yep, no health care under the issues tab. Wow. So I sent him an e-mail asking him why it isn’t there. No response so far. But my conscience felt unburdened. I gave him some reasons why a conservative ought to support health care reform (see this article on why health insurance should not be tied to employment). I let him know that amongst his conservative constituency, there are plenty of us who care about health care and would like him to tune in.
The importance of health care is difficult to overstate. Lives, health, happiness, the budget, and our children’s future is at stake. Even though I don’t delude myself in thinking that a stray e-mail will change a senator or congressperson’s vote, I still want to be counted. I want my representatives to know the views of the people they represent, including me. I want them to know that their citizen constituency is paying attention. Lobbyists have their place. But it is wrong if the only people our representatives hear from are AMA, health insurance industry and pharmaceutical lobbyists. They need to hear from us too. If it makes sense to vote, it makes sense to spend 5 minutes e-mailing your representative. Do it now!
I am suffering from brain block. My brain block started with the desire to write something super comprehensive and well-informed about health care. But that isn’t possible right now.
So instead, here is what I’ve figured out so far: a) I support a public plan (But it does matter what the details are. There are a lot of ways a public plan could go wrong and then it would be worse to have one than not to have one) for exactly the reason its enemies are against it. A public plan could get us closer to single payer.
Unfortunately, a public plan is probably off the table, politically speaking. Single Payer (my true ideal) is definitely off the table. (If single payer scares you, consider that–as others have pointed out–Medicare, for all its warts and it has them!, is a public plan where the government is the single payer. Consider where our elderly population was before Medicare. Do you want to rewind? I don’t.)
So–
Despite current political realities (single payer and public plan being on hold), I still believe we must do something about health care and soon. But if the number crunchers who studied the plan currently on the table in Congress are trustworthy, and there really is no cost savings (!) from the plan they’ve been considering, then we can’t go with that plan. No cost savings = disaster. We can’t move forward until we figure out how to pay for this. We need to cut health care costs and find additional sources of revenue to pay for it.
I’m not sure what we should do instead of what is currently on the table given that there is no public appetite for the best fixes. The health care coops might work–depending on the details, of course.
So, I am still reading and thinking about health care and probably will be for a long time.
Health Care Reading Recommendation: I found the material on health care at FreshThinking.org super helpful. I especially appreciated their links to the articles on Why Tie Health Insurance to a Job? in the Wall Street Journal and the article in the Washington Post on the 5 Myths about our Ailing Health Care System.
Zucchini Joy or I never promised you a rose garden
This was supposed to be a rose garden. It did have roses when we moved in, but they were sick and old and had to go. I had planned to put more roses in, and I planted “Royal Velvet” English lavender in preparation for this, envisioning a lovely vista from the picture window that looks out on this bed from our kitchen.
BUT
Our yard has lots of beds and lots of ornamental plants. What of edibles? In the past couple of years, Pdad felt reluctant to put food rather than flowers on display. But last year’s ornamental kale and jack-be-little pumpkins helped him come around. Food can be beautiful and fun and — delicious. Much as I loved the little pumpkins, this year I wanted a true food crop. So I planted my first ever zucchini. And today I discovered my first zucchini! I don’t know which I’m looking forward to more–Pdad’s grilled zucchini or my zucchini nut bread. Either way, I’m excited.
Given our zucchini plant’s fun foliar issues (is that powdery mildew?), it may not rank as our most beautiful specimen (the blossoms are gorgeous–although they have violated my anti-yellow proscriptions), but today at least, it’s near the top for “most satisfying.”
Disclaimer: This is a mommy blog. This is obviously a mommy blog. You know what that means: if discussion of bodily fluids makes you uncomfortable, surf elsewhere immediately.
Please reply in the comments:
If your 2 yr. old daughter peed all over you right after you had checked in for your son’s much needed, long awaited dermatology appointment, would you:
- a) Leave in haste, telephone to apologize, and ask for a new appointment
- b) Beg for a new appointment and then leave in haste.
- c) Put the 2 yr old in clean clothing. Return to the office carrying her in a strategic position to block the view of your wet clothing, apologizing to nurses and doctor.
- d) Put the 2 yr old in clean clothing. Return to the office carrying her in a strategic position to block the view of your wet clothing. Pretend that nothing has happened.
- e) Other — please elaborate.
I took Amelia to her allergist for the first time yesterday. Although I have spent a lifetime surrounded by family members with allergies (parents, siblings, husband, children), I had never been to an allergist before. Here’s how it was:
1) The trouble with having multiple young children:
The exam room was far too small to accommodate 2 yr old Kate’s energy and boredom. There were no magazines or books or anything to do but to attempt opening every cupboard and drawer. Said cupboards and drawers were all filled with medical supplies some which appeared dangerous to 2 yr olds. I stayed busy trying to keep them shut. Duncan was remarkably patient and well-behaved.
2) About Symptoms: [This part is boring. Skip ahead]
The doctor asked a series of questions about what symptoms Amelia had, when she had them, whether Claritin made any difference, etc. Then he stared at her eyes and poked into her nose. During this episode I had that fun sensation of: I’ve just wasted my money, my time, and to top it off I’m one of those paranoid, health-obsessed, pathetic parents. He asked if her eyes were itchy. She said yes. “A little itchy?” “No,” she said. “Very itchy!” He turned to his student observer: “See how her eyes aren’t red at all?” Later, “Now why was it you brought her in?” I tried to explain that sometimes she blinks so much that I’d started to worry that she had a nervous tic, but then felt a lot better when I realized the tic only appeared several months out of every year! He looked at me like “um, you know, it could be a tic.” I further explained that she clears her throat a lot. But I was forced to admit that her nose doesn’t run and she doesn’t sneeze. Her throat doesn’t hurt and she refused to admit any acquaintance with mucus.
3) The Skin Test:
Doctor and doctor wanna-be left. In came Nurse. Amelia’s slight back was soon decorated by 45 black magic marker dots. Then Nurse did something (I couldn’t see) that made a teeny-tiny hole near each of these dots. There was a little bit of oil (with a possible allergen in it, I assume) on each hole. I was surprised how non-compliant and generally difficult Amelia was during the procedure. (You who have had it done. Does it hurt? Is it awful?) In the midst of my toddler struggles, I couldn’t do anything but say “Stay still!”, and the Nurse finally had to threaten with, “Do you want me to have to do this again?” But Amelia has texture issues–significant ones. This is the girl who doesn’t wear pants because they are itchy. A paper gown and being poked repeatedly all over her back was apparently far more sensory stimulation then she could handle.
4) Results:
Although I heard an NPR program on how allergy skin tests are completely unreliable just recently, it was hard to help being convinced while watching it done. With the exception of three, none of the spots did anything. But those other three spots swelled up like hives. It was dramatic. The doctor came back and announced that she is allergic to dust and dust mites.
5) Dust and Dust Mites?
“But I thought her allergies were seasonal?!” “Well, dust mite problems can be seasonal. They are very sensitive to humidity. In fact, Amelia is lucky to live in such an arid climate. These allergies are much more of a problem elsewhere than here.” We had been on the verge of buying a whole-house humidifier. The doctor explained that we might want to rethink humidifiers because the cool mist ones especially cause dust mites to multiply like crazy.
Image from American Academy of Allergy Asthma and Immunology; Click picture to go to their site
6) Treatment? [How now, brown cow?]
Wash her bedding in hot water. Order those covers for encasing the mattress and pillow from the internet. Give her over-the-counter Zyrtec, as it’s a better antihistamine than Claritin. It might make her drowsy. Give her Zaditor, over the counter eye drops, because they are very effective. Finally, a prescription for Fluticasone, a nasal spray. Even those she has no nasal symptoms, research shows that taking nasal spray will help her eyes.
7) Vindication.
I’m not crazy. She does have allergies. And it’s not just because the skin test says so. He pointed out that what I thought of as the puffiness beneath her eyes is what is known as the “allergic shiner.” Of course, I knew that she had allergies–that’s why I was there. On the other hand, I felt better hearing him say it.
8 ) Don’t go all Pmom [paranoid, obsessed, and overreacting] on this one.
In other words, the kind Doctor said, when you go on the internet to find those mattress cases, you will find that a lot has been written about dust mite difficulties. Be careful what you read. Don’t jump to extreme behaviors right away. You could spray your house with arachnicides. You could rip out your wall to wall carpeting. But don’t do it yet. Boil the sheets, take the medicine, wait and see if it helps. Shots are always an option. But let’s go with medicine first.
I was cleaning the kitchen and noticed this in my fruit bowl:
I don’t know about you, but my fruit don’t usually have messages for me.
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Do you think this means I can put little “shut me” post-its on the cabinets? Perhaps that is too imperative mood. How about: “Would you like to shut me?” Or “Wouldn’t you like to shut me?” Maybe I should make a little sign for the apples to hold with toothpick arms. Their sign could say: “Wouldn’t you rather eat a cupcake?” like the cow at Chick-fil-A.
But perhaps that is the wrong direction to go with my apples. Perhaps they need a meeker, more on board with the nutrition program slogan like “You won’t regret eating me” or “Stop and think: Cheetos have fewer micronutrients.”
What do you think?
Category: Not What I Meant or Responses that Leave Me Speechless
Amelia: I don’t want to touch him. I don’t want [contagious skin condition]!
Pmom: Think of how Jesus treated the lepers.
Amelia: Well, I can’t heal him.
Only mildly apropros: This picture of Duncan is from a couple of weeks ago. The upside of a painful and difficult treatment: you can pretend to be Aladdin afterwards. It worked for this 5 year old!
Whiny
So I took Duncan to the doctor on Friday for his skin problem. I thought it was a hassle that I’d put off too long, but I knew what he had (impetigo) and I knew that getting antibiotics would take care of it.
I was wrong. He has molluscum contagiosum. For those of you not curious enough to click on the link, I’ll spare you most of the details, but trust me, you don’t want to get this. It is contagious, it is ugly, and it is painful to get rid of.
Duncan isn’t the only one with problems. Kate was diagnosed last week with a significant speech delay. We don’t know why she is behind, but it looks like we probably have lots and lots of speech therapy ahead. Given my own super-fun experience with speech therapy as a child, I am dreading it.
As I was driving home from the doctor with Duncan, I started to feel whiny. What nasty stuff Duncan has. Why are we so susceptible to skin problems? Why do we have these issues? What bad luck! I don’t want to deal with these things. I don’t want my children to have to suffer. I’m tired of it. Bleh. And so on.
A little wiser?
And then for no apparent reason, a ray of wisdom broke through my typically whiny self banter: Your children have been amazingly healthy this winter. You were so worried when it was discovered that penicillin was out of the question for Kate, and yet it has now been over a year and she has never needed antibiotics. What do you call a 2 year old who doesn’t get sick!?!?! A miracle.
And what of comparisons: You want to say how unfortunate and unlucky your family is, but what if someone actually had something serious? You could be taking a child with leukemia to the doctor—to the hospital. Or how about we disregard the hypotheticals? Pmom: you know people with children who have far more serious medical issues than the ones you are worrying about. WHERE IS THE GRATITUDE? WHERE IS THE PERSPECTIVE?
So then, I was ashamed. And thoughtful. And thankful. We are lucky. We are blessed. Molluscum isn’t any fun and I’m so sorry for Duncan. But I am glad for him too.
I haven’t been much of a blood donor. I was over 30 the first time I donated. I did not have a good experience.