Date: 2007-01-23
To: Prep #72--What Are We Doing To Ourselves?
Miles today: 0.0

Alright folks...this entry might just be the #1 most angry entry I ever put in my journal (I hope so, because I don't like feeling this way). This is and isn't hiking related I guess. It isn't, because it pertains to my little trip to the ER on Christmas Eve, and it is related because I now know that if I get severly injured on my hike...I'm really really screwed. So here goes my rant....I am an American citizen. I have religiously and honestly paid my taxes my entire working life. I have served my country. I have stayed out of jail, I have stayed off drugs, I have committed no crimes. I have been consciously aware of how I treat my fellow human beings...and although I'm far from perfect, I make a huge effort to be compassionate and caring towards others as well as towards myself. I have 3 college degrees, all of which I have used for my survival and to contribute to the workforce of this country and all of which I earned by working and putting myself through college. I currently work over 40 hours a week. I have no health insurance.   WHY??????????????????????????I bet you can take one guess of what finally came in the mail today....the 2 bills from my 3 hour visit in the middle of the night to the ER when I was visiting my family for Christmas. See, you get one bill from the physician and then another from the hospital. Each took it upon themselves to charge me for the same things....and upon questioning why, I was told that the hospital charged for the IV bags of fluid and the doctor was charging to put it in me. WHAT??? I'm getting double charged for freakin' GRAVITY!!!!!!!? (and last I checked, the nurse administered the IV, so that person should get the $). And don't get me wrong here. I am not angry because I feel victimized by the system. I am angry because I know that I am not alone. I know that there are thousands and thousands of people, mothers, fathers, children, elderly, people that know that all it would take is one UNINTENTIONAL, IN NO WAY PREVENTABLE bad turn of health (because that is what happens to the human body by the way) and their financial futures, stability, well-being will be destroyed for possibly the rest of their lives. I sure hope playing big super hero (or bulley in my opinion) to the world is worth the health of this country's citizens. Capitalism (which I'm not a big fan of either) ONLY works because there are people around to work and want...supply/demand. We're shooting ourselves in the foot here.So perspective check, am I financially destroyed? No. Can I pay my bill? No. Do I have any other options? YES! I am going to try to utilize a program that the VA offers for people in my exact situation. No health insurance, made an unexpected visit to a private facility. It could take 3 months or more AFTER I get all the paperwork I need, so I'd bet that I'm still waiting to hear about this when I've completed my hike. It's all good though. I've called all of these places, explained that I'm going to apply for this aid from the VA and that it may take several months before they get any money. They've made note of that on my accounts. If it falls through then what? I pay what I can afford to pay for as long as I have to pay it until it's all paid off. It might only be $5.00/month, but I guess that's better than nothing. And for the record here....I'm not coming from a viewpoint of "entitlement." I don't think I'm special. I don't think I deserve more than others. What I think is that WE ALL deserve, WE ALL are entitled, WE ALL have a BASIC human right to AFFORDABLE health care. I'm just another face in a huge ugly picture and it makes me sick. When will this country/world figure out that life is about its people....nothing more. When will we start cherishing each other as much as we do our guns and cars and boats and big fancy corporate titles? What are we doing to ourselves? Ok...I'm finished.