My Question of the Day for 25 March 2010 – UPDATED
My Question of the Day: How does having/not having healthcare affect your life?
My 2 Cents: I’ve been on three sides of the healthcare issue—yes, three.
As a civilian, whenever I had a fulltime job, I had healthcare. When I got sick, needed dental care or glasses, I’d pay my copay, receive my services and go about my business.
As a soldier, healthcare was even more exceptional than when I was a civilian. If I got sick or injured, I’d go to the base medical facility, get fixed up and get whatever medicine I needed. The same was true for dental and vision. Everything was included in my benefits as a soldier. I didn’t have to worry about copays or prescription-drug costs. Forget buying anything over-the-counter. One doctor gave me a prescription for multivitamins, and one of the dentists I visited gave me a prescription for toothpaste for sensitive teeth.
As a self-employed individual, after leaving the Army and before becoming a part of another company’s payroll, I didn’t even think about getting insurance. I knew the rates would be astronomical, and I just prayed I’d stay healthy. For two years, that worked, but then I got so sick I had to go to an urgent care facility. I had a temperature of 102°. They made me pay $200 upfront since I wasn’t insured, and then when the doctor came to examine me, he told me the cost of everything before he did this or that. In the end, I left with some drug samples and they refunded my $100 because I refused all services I couldn’t afford. I’ll never forget that experience. It wasn’t cool.
Having healthcare is the net. Not having healthcare is walking a tightrope without the net.
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Take a few moments to check out the tweets from Twitter on this subject:
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PROTECTED TWEETER not having healthcare 1) can’t buy my meds..they are too expensive 2) can’t go to the doc, too expensive..etc
JoshDamage having healthcare affects my life positively…I know if I get sick I can get treatment
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The commentary doesn’t have to end!
Please feel free to continue to add your comments below.
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thank the good Lord I am doing well in terms of health but i would hate to think about what would happen if something did happen> i currently pay a lot of money for my healthcare (work doesnt cover it unfortunately) and it's stressful trying to make the payments for a just in case situation
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LikeDislikeGrowing up my family could not afford health care, so I suffered because of it. Now I want to make sure that my kids do not go without health care. Unfortunately since we're self employed, our health care premiums are outrageous. We are paying $1300 per month for a family of four. Our insurance premium increases each year and will increase even more if we decide to have another child. I'm so happy to have an alternative to paying this exorbitant fee.
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LikeDislikeI agree with Inkognegro. If anything happens to me, I have no clue how I'll pay or what I'll do. Even my kids were w/o care for a while and they both have allergies and are asthmatic. Luckily, coverage kicked in shortly after the baby got a sinus infection (even though we still came out of pocket for initial treatment).
Yes, I've been healthy all my life but, as I approach 31, there are some things that I feel I need to get checked out and can't. There are some serious conditions running in my blood. The types of things that, if not caught early, could take me away from my kids. I have to just muddle through and hope that none of these aches, pains, headaches, and “spells” are anything serious.
It's ridiculous and the stress I live with about not getting sick is just another ailment to deal with.
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LikeDislikeAs a self-employed person, having affordable health care is HUGE.
From preventative care to getting coverage for pre-existing conditions this reform will not only help me but about 32 million others, as well, so Thank you, Mr. President for seeing this through!
For my minor children, the peace of mind knowing that they can attend college and still have coverage until age 26 through my policy is also nice.
The stress and worry that we as Americans have had to endure while the rich, Fat Cat insurance execs do their snow job on us ends now! We want fair and affordable coverage, we want to be healthy and live quality lives, and that is what any compassionate person would want. So why all the controversy? Why teabagggers, why?
Americans need to wake up and smell the coffee (not tea) and realize this is the RIGHT thing to do, RIGHT NOW!
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LikeDislikeI am perpetually afraid. Every sniffle, every twinge of my knee, every toothache heaps stress on my life. I KNOW i need to go to the doctor, but I wouldn't dare.
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