waxing nostalgic

i was communicating through email with a friend that i have had since oh- i think 4th or 5th grade. 5th grade actually because she moved to florida from ohio and was 'new girl'. we were reminiscing over technological advances such as atari- and the first hand held games circa 1982. anyhoo- as i think about getting older- 35 this year- i have been reflecting on the past 35 years. don't get me wrong- i don't want to travel back in time like michael j. fox- because i will be goddamned if i have to go through being 17 years old again. the only thing good about the 80's was the music.

anyhoo- we got talking about health care for older people and of course, that got me thinking. the fact that my other friend said that she would gas herself before she got old also got me thinking. it isn't old per se that is bad- it's the not being able to care for yourself that is bad. that of course got me thinking about the circle of life- born and your parents take care of you- old and your kids take care of you. many cultures still do things that way but the modern world is different. we live all over america and the world really- and don't have the familial connectedness that we once had. not that i think that everyone living in the same house is the answer either, but i think we should strike a balance.

of course, that got me thinking about the health care aspect. my mother worked all of her life and never had health insurance. she still doesn't and it breaks my heart to see her suffer needlessly because she doesn't have the money to go to the doctor when she needs to. it goes deeper than that, however, because she won't take medications either- and at this point- i really can't blame her. she has taken, i think, three medications in her lifetime and all three were recalled by the fda as unsafe. she takes aspirin and that's it. not to mention her experience with the last doctor she went to. when did it become ok to be rude and condescending to your patients because they don't have health insurance? when did it become ok to not order tests for people because you don't think they can pay for it? no dialogue- just across the board assumptions. for the record, my mother has always paid her medical bills and if she couldn't- i would.

this country has it's priorities in making money. that is evidenced by the fact that the fda pushes through drugs that have more side effects than benefits and then later recalls them. (see washington post) the pharma corporations are hand-in-glove with the fda and have managed to stall the production and distribution of generic drugs for people. the federal government with our fearless "second in command" leader, dick "never met money i didn't like" cheney at the helm has made it illegal to get cheaper drugs from canada- even though they sell drugs that have been manufactured here in america. if those drugs aren't safe, what does that say about the drugs we take? even wealthy people are afraid of healthcare costs. why? the majority of bankruptcies in this country today are caused by healthcare costs- not credit card debt.

i don't know that there is an easy solution to this problem- just like there isn't an easy solution to the education problem or the unemployment problem, etc., etc. i just think that it should be a priority. there is no reason in the 21st century with all of the technology and breakthroughs in science that we should have millions of people without access to the most basic healthcare. i am not pushing a socialist revolution, but we, as human beings, should provide our citizens with the basic necessities in life- access to affordable food, clothing, shelter, and health care. not giving it away, per se, but making it affordable. there is something wrong with the picture of people dying needlessly from problems that were supposed to have been eradicated decades ago.

medicare and medicaid already constitute a national healthcare institution. i remember that bill and hillary clinton were roundly criticized for their attempt at a national solution to the healthcare problem. so, we have medicaid and medicare by default and it is bankrupting our country. why not come out and call a spade a spade and address the problem? pretending that everything is ok because the people in washington say so- is not the answer. taxpayers are already shouldering the load for a very incomplete, broken system. why not chuck the system we have- insurance companies, pharma companies and the politicians in dc calling the shots- and start over with a decent system in place. true, some people would not be raking in billions of dollars- but people like my mom would have a chance at living comfortably and safely.