Brunch was good with my parents today, albeit the place I had picked out had happened to, of all days, be closed down due to an event that they were having in their parking lot, although they agreed to serve us. Mother is a picky eater these days and claimed that their golden brown pancakes and biscuits were burned, while my Dad and I kept trying to get her to eat some of omelet or migas. Dad and I enjoyed our meals though insomuch as we could while seeing her pout.
We continued to have a long conversation about the health care system and the quirks found within that don’t seem to help the person who is working, albeit not able to afford health care insurance on their own, but doesn’t work for a company that offers health care insurance to them because they are either (1) a small business owner or (2) claiming that the position that an employee works is just a part-time employee. What is wrong with claiming a person is working just “part-time” when they are putting in 40 hours a week?? Unfortunately, there are no laws governing this. According to a discussion I had with the Texas Workforce Commission several years ago when doing some research, they said that the employer has the right to dictate whether a position is termed “full-time” or “part-time”. Of course, that was based upon research that I did several years ago; perhaps, it is time to revisit this question again to see if anything new comes up on this.
Of course, there is a law dictating that emergency rooms must treat the patient whether or not they have insurance. This, in turn, puts the burden of the emergency room to treat everyone who cannot afford to go to the doctor because they have no insurance, even those with ear infections, etc. Then the emergency rooms charge excess charges, such as a $600 charge I had a few weeks ago for a scrape on my leg that didn’t require stitches, but was deep enough for some medical attention. That was the hospital bill, I am waiting to see the doctor’s fee as well. 
He agreed and even suggested that, while a doctor may charge a fee of $1500 for surgery, the insurance company might only pay for $400 of that fee. The insurance company then acts as an advocate to ensure that they don’t have to pay more than reasonable fees for their clients that pay (either themselves or through their companies they work for) for the insurance. Where is the advocate, then, for the person who cannot afford the insurance and/or isn’t offered insurance as one of their benefits from their employer?
Even Medicaid, which seemingly should be able to catch this group of folks that aren’t covered by health insurance (whether it be because of lack of benefits offered by their employer or the sheer affordability issue of obtaining health insurance), has a 200% poverty guidelines and it is based on the number of folks in the household. It is no wonder that families keep having children in order to qualify for the Medicaid benefit. This, then, eliminates care for the single person and or “empty nester” couples.
At any rate, I commented towards the end of our conversation that I wasn’t too sure that socialized medicine is necessarily the answer, but something needs to be done. He responded, “Maybe it is though in order to provide health care to everyone.”
I was surprised to hear him say that since, in the past, he hadn’t been a huge proponent of socialized medicine; however, I don’t think that the health insurance for the “haves” and not for the “have nots” says too much about the value we, as a society, put upon the quality of life of our fellow human mankind who may be a family member, friend, neighbor, coworker, etc. that we know. If not socialized medicine then health care in some form needs to be affordable and offered to everyone to offer each person an equal chance of having a quality of life. My own husband died two weeks before he was going to be “eligible” for insurance with the organization he was working for; his death could have been prevented with proper care and attention to his heath concerns. Where does the whole issue behind the health insurance issue become a priority for resolution? When do we value the health of our society as a whole?
Medical News: US House to Consider Health Care Legislation Next Month
[...] one and all alike in our society has to be an issue at all in today’s society. Read under my HEALTHCARE NOTES tab about this very issue that I discussed with my father today over a brunch we had while my parents [...]