I was watching the show The Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell on tv. The point of healthcare and the healthcare system in America was the general topic. One of the guests mentioned that healthcare and 'buying' healthcare isn't a luxury like going to a store to buy a television - which is basic common sense - so therefore healthcare is not a 'luxury' in the sense that people don't go to the hospital to buy anything luxurious(excluding cosmetic plastic surgery)- hence it is a basic human right and need.
Healthcare is something we need which puts many normal people in the position of having to bare high out of pocket costs to get even basic checkups done - and many insurance companies now require that you pay a certain amount out of pocket until your benefits start to kick in - be it 1000 or 2000 dollars worth of costs. I had to face this point recently because the insurance I am under has a policy that you must pay your healthcare costs out of pocket up to 2000 dollars and after that they will start to pay - where you will then only have to co-pay. This puts people in the position of having to pay out of pocket costs which many people if not most cannot afford - on my policy after the 2000 - there is a 250 dollar co-pay for a visit to the emergency room. Its such a basic important upkeep of one's health to go to an E.R. when needed and to receive regular tests/analysis of your blood but it is almost like going to a store to buy something expensive - because healthcare is really expensive - that is why it is reported as the #1 cause of bankruptcy in the United States. 250 U.S. dollars is like an entire months worth of groceries.
In Capitalism - Capitalists argue that the 'free market' creates a more competitive environment for healthcare - which supposedly leads to places like the United States to create 'the best healthcare in the world'. But is it really the best healthcare in the world? Do these hospitals and drug companies really spend that much money on their operating costs/building costs to charge an arm and a leg just to go to the emergency room for a bad case of bronchitis or to get a necessary blood test for some other ailment? Are the health insurance companies and the doctors really focused on preventing disease instead of just treating the disease? If the healthcare is so 'good' why is it leading to the unraveling of somebody's entire net-worth or making them file for bankruptcy?
If you watch some shows on TV and I have heard many cases that exemplify this - whenever somebody is sick or gets severely hurt - their stay - which is necessary by all means especially in the case of physical injuries - tends to rack up a bill so large that they would probably never be able to pay it off if they worked all their life with the salary they make. It is staggering the kinds of costs a disease such as cancer and the treatment thereof can accrue - I've heard of 500,000 dollar bills up to 1,000,000 dollars worth of hospital and treatment costs.
The costs of healthcare are staggering and yet the United States which has been deemed by some to have 'the best healthcare in the world' has the highest rates of heart disease and obesity - obviously exemplifying that we don't have the best healthcare in the world - when the evidence of the basic health of a nation is the standard to which to measure their healthcare system.
Healthcare has been deemed a marketplace by capitalists - where the drive to make more money outweighs all other considerations of good-will. So capitalists see the ailment as a way to exploit the human body for a profit - "who cares - I don't have to take that drug - so I will be fine". That is what goes through the minds of many capitalists that exploit the human for profit - "if its not me I will be fine - as long as I am making the money I will be fine".
Which is a sad state of affairs that people could actually know the harm of the drugs that are prescribed and still be willing to harm for their personal gain.
But the truth is healthcare Should Not be a marketplace - but as far as mainstream capitalist consumerism healthcare - that is exactly what it is - a means to exploit others for individual personal gain.
Healthcare is something we need which puts many normal people in the position of having to bare high out of pocket costs to get even basic checkups done - and many insurance companies now require that you pay a certain amount out of pocket until your benefits start to kick in - be it 1000 or 2000 dollars worth of costs. I had to face this point recently because the insurance I am under has a policy that you must pay your healthcare costs out of pocket up to 2000 dollars and after that they will start to pay - where you will then only have to co-pay. This puts people in the position of having to pay out of pocket costs which many people if not most cannot afford - on my policy after the 2000 - there is a 250 dollar co-pay for a visit to the emergency room. Its such a basic important upkeep of one's health to go to an E.R. when needed and to receive regular tests/analysis of your blood but it is almost like going to a store to buy something expensive - because healthcare is really expensive - that is why it is reported as the #1 cause of bankruptcy in the United States. 250 U.S. dollars is like an entire months worth of groceries.
In Capitalism - Capitalists argue that the 'free market' creates a more competitive environment for healthcare - which supposedly leads to places like the United States to create 'the best healthcare in the world'. But is it really the best healthcare in the world? Do these hospitals and drug companies really spend that much money on their operating costs/building costs to charge an arm and a leg just to go to the emergency room for a bad case of bronchitis or to get a necessary blood test for some other ailment? Are the health insurance companies and the doctors really focused on preventing disease instead of just treating the disease? If the healthcare is so 'good' why is it leading to the unraveling of somebody's entire net-worth or making them file for bankruptcy?
If you watch some shows on TV and I have heard many cases that exemplify this - whenever somebody is sick or gets severely hurt - their stay - which is necessary by all means especially in the case of physical injuries - tends to rack up a bill so large that they would probably never be able to pay it off if they worked all their life with the salary they make. It is staggering the kinds of costs a disease such as cancer and the treatment thereof can accrue - I've heard of 500,000 dollar bills up to 1,000,000 dollars worth of hospital and treatment costs.
The costs of healthcare are staggering and yet the United States which has been deemed by some to have 'the best healthcare in the world' has the highest rates of heart disease and obesity - obviously exemplifying that we don't have the best healthcare in the world - when the evidence of the basic health of a nation is the standard to which to measure their healthcare system.
Healthcare has been deemed a marketplace by capitalists - where the drive to make more money outweighs all other considerations of good-will. So capitalists see the ailment as a way to exploit the human body for a profit - "who cares - I don't have to take that drug - so I will be fine". That is what goes through the minds of many capitalists that exploit the human for profit - "if its not me I will be fine - as long as I am making the money I will be fine".
Which is a sad state of affairs that people could actually know the harm of the drugs that are prescribed and still be willing to harm for their personal gain.
But the truth is healthcare Should Not be a marketplace - but as far as mainstream capitalist consumerism healthcare - that is exactly what it is - a means to exploit others for individual personal gain.
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