I wrote this for my Facebook notes. A lot of it is facts we've all seen before, but the topic revolves around that quote by Jon Stewart that I threw in the middle.
I refuse to believe that we can call ourselves 'the greatest country in the world' yet cannot find a way to adopt - and then improve upon - any one of the wildly successful health care programs in other nations. Below is what my Facebook friends saw:
"The Greatest Country in the World"
I'm getting really tired of hearing that phrase.
Last August, a Pittsburgh man walked into a gym and shot 3 women while injuring 9 others. Heather Sherba was one of the women injured after one bullet ricocheted off her teeth and another went through her leg and grazed the other. Her friends and family stood out in the street by a Pep Boys and washed people's cars to pay for her medical bills.
Sherba, 22, was a recent nursing school graduate with two degrees. She was at the gym taking care of her physical health. She had applications on the job market, but hadn't yet been hired. And yet she showed up on crutches at the car wash to assist her friends and family in raising money to pay the medical bills that she couldn't afford because she had 'aged out' of her parents' health plan.
The greatest country in the world?
In the greatest country in the world, citizens who get an education, apply for jobs, and take care of their physical health don't need to wash people's cars to pay for their medical bills.
Yet conservative commentators, bloggers,and politicians will gladly tell you that America is the greatest country on earth. That we can overcome anything. That we can solve any problem, cure any ailment, and defeat any foe.
So why can't we defeat our health insurance crisis? Why are we so okay with the status quo when the status quo means 44,000 Americans die each year due to lack of health insurance, domestic abuse can be used as a 'pre-existing condition' to deny women health care, 20% of Americans cannot pay their health care bills, and Americans pay a larger portion of their GDP than any other developed country?
Bill Caudle was laid off from his job in March and now his family can't afford his wife's cancer bills. So instead of staying at home to provide emotional support to his wife and children, he's joining the army and going to Iraq so that can he can make the salary necessary to cover her health care costs.
The greatest country in the world?
900,000 Americans go bankrupt every year due to medical costs, most of them "middle-class, well-educated homeowners".
Bankruptcies due to medical costs in Canada/Britain/Switzerland/Denmark/France/Japan/Germany: Zero.
The greatest country in the world?
I could sit here all day and quote horror stories about our current health care system; we've heard them so often by now that we're starting to grow cold to them. But it's not these anecdotes that I'm writing to gripe about - it's that phrase. "The greatest country in the world".
I believe it.
I stand by it and I support it. I fucking love this country, and all of the rights and benefits that I enjoy because I was fortunate enough to be born here. We may have a lot of blood on our hands, but who doesn't? America has caused some of the greatest scientific, economic, and humanitarian efforts the world has ever seen. And together with other civilized nations, we work toward a brighter future for all people of the world.
So why in God's name are we incapable of creating a health care system that doesn't leave millions of Americans dead or bankrupt without costing us more money than any other civilized country on this planet?
It's not my job to solve the health care crisis. I'm not sufficiently educated in economics and medical practice to write an effective bill to bring affordable health care to every American. That's why I vote. That's why I elect politicians who have the resources available to them to write an effective health care bill that can drop the number of medical related bankruptcies in America down to zero.
Yet to quote Jon Stewart, "The people who continually tell me how much they love this country and I don't [love this country] also say how little this country can accomplish to overcome the problems that all countries face."
It's time we pass a public option. It's time we lower the medicare eligibility age to 55 - no, 45 - better yet: your day of birth. If Canada can see a majority of satisfied citizens on a single player plan, so can we. If Switzerland can see 10% higher satisfaction with personal health on 20% less GDP so can we. If 7 other countries can see zero bankruptcies due to medical bills, so can we.
I'm tired of politicians telling us we can't fix our health care problem. I'm tired of John Boehner proposing health care bills that increase the number of uninsured by 3 million. I'm tired of Joe Lieberman blocking legislation that 61% of his voters want. I'm tired of Harry Reid and Barack Obama bending over to Olympia Snowe so that we can pass a bipartisan bill with a party that wants nothing to do with it. I'm tired of demagogues like Sarah Palin and Glenn Beck peddling lies such as 'death panels' and 'rationing care' without having a damned clue what they're talking about.
[I'm a little disgusted by the fact that I can google any health care myth followed by any conservative politician or pundit's name and get the quotes I need for this note.]
If we truly are the greatest country in the world, we can pass a health care bill that covers all Americans, lowers the medical related bankruptcy toll to zero, and ranks among the best in the world for cost to and satisfaction among citizens.
If we truly can solve any problem, we can adopt the successful systems of other countries and fix their flaws instead of citing them as reasons why nobody - even us - can do it right.
If our politicians/economists/experts truly are the greatest in the world, they can overcome this challenge and do what's best for everyone - young and old, rich and poor, employed and unemployed.
Until then, I don't want to hear that phrase uttered from a single politician or pundit who dares tell this citizenry that we cannot pass an effective and affordable health care bill.