Replies to Some Comments ~ Accompanied by Springtime Pictures

I took these pictures while the Wrangler was rolling, which is why they are a bit crooked. We went down the mountain to Bakersfield yesterday. There, the grass was green, flowers were blooming, and spring was in the air. I had two medical checkups and all was well both with my diabetes and my retinas (diabetes is, of course, a major cause of blindness, so I am much relieved). 

Dear blogger friends, I was really touched by your comments on my post about the high cost of medicine, so I will reply to some of your comments here: 

Karen, now I'm curious about your tricks of the self-employed and uninsured. I love that phrase. When my husband was denied the surgery he needed at two major hospitals and almost died back in 1986, I decided I just had to marry the guy. I worked for the University of California and had excellent health insurance that would cover him as well. Since we've been married for 26 years, it turned out to be a good decision.

Bobbi, I'm glad you found the right kind of insurance for you. We hope Gracie is doing OK. I will go check soon.

Dee, I agree with you, this country has to help not only the poor, but also small business owners who can't afford the high cost of health insurance, and those who work for companies that provide insurance, but don't realize their insurance is not enough. I don't think Obama care is the complete answer, but it is a beginning. I wish those opposed to it would understand that. This is a huge and complex problem, but we have to begin somewhere.

Sandy, I can't even imagine what you went through. Not only did you lose TJ, but then, at this, the worst time of your life, you got all these unfairly high hospital and medical bills to pay. I am so sorry this happened to you. There is something so cruel about it. "Do no harm," does not seem to apply.

D. G., the other day, after I read Janie Junebug's horror story about what actually takes place in a nursing home here, I also read Jim's story about visiting his dad in a Veterans Hospital home for seniors in Canada. The contrast, well, I don't have words for it. You definitely made a wise choice, as far as your medical needs go, when you moved to Canada.

Susan, if you still have that mile long hospital bill, check  the line items after you read the article. I think you would be astonished at the charges. Well, you probably were the first time, but the article shines a spotlight on the problem.

Feral Woman, I'm with you! I really care about this, but feel  helpless. I hope the younger generation will take it on.

Jim, thank you, but president material I am not. I was a fighter for human rights in a small way when I was younger, now I just don't have the energy. But I know for sure that America is at the end of an era and in the next 40 - 50 years, it will be a country of a different color, both in terms of its people and its policies. So I hope the younger generation will take on this complex problem and see it through to a good conclusion.

Rosalind, I heard about the situation in the UK yesterday from my doctor, whose daughter lives there. I was really shocked and, after reading your comment, I am very, very sad to hear that your system is that broken. That's just terrible. 

Lindsjo taxar, you wrote your comment in Swedish, but based on what you said and what I observed during my last visit to Sweden, the socialized Swedish healthcare system seems to be working well, if not perfectly, after all these years. 

Finally, my own take on this: I believe our system is broken and as long as people are quiet and either stay ignorant (me included); as long as people accept that congress listens to lobbyists more than it listens to the people; accept that the CEO of University of Pittsburgh Medical Center Presbyterian makes $5,975,462 per year (and they all make a ton of money, the rest of them too); and that you may be charged $1.50 for one aspirin tablet in a hospital, when you can buy 100 tablets on amazon for $1.49; I believe the system will not be fixed. I believe that half of the population in these United States are so against government and taxes that they will rather suffer all these medical horrors than work for change. While I believe that Obama care will not solve the problem, I hope it will be a first step toward affordable health care for everyone in this country. (And Janie, grammar police, I have no idea if those semicolons belong there or not.)

The article offers some ideas and thoughts on how the system can be fixed, at least to some extent. Maybe this article and the TV and radio programs, where the author was featured and the issues discussed, will make a difference. A beginning of something at least. 

Phew! Thanks for hanging with me, I guess I got on a soap box after all!!