HALF A MILLIONAIRE

The physician: I have spent twelve years in high school, four years for undergraduate study, four years in medical school and two years in residency, so I have the right to charge you whatever I want. My student loans total about $300,000, so I have the right to charge you whatever I want. This clinic costs me thousands to operate, so I have the right to charge you whatever I want. My malpractice insurance costs me about $100,000 per year, so I have the right to charge you whatever I want. If I make a mistake, you can take me to court. And, probably, you will be awarded millions. I did have passion when I was in school. But, in the real world, I must protect myself. And, I have the right to make a lot of money because I am a licensed professional. Not everyone can do what I do. You pay a high price to see me because I am one of the best. That is how capitalism works. You can seek another doctor if you want to save some money.

The patient: (silent)

The insurance company: If you read section IV, Part 3, Paragraph (i), Point (a), it tells you that your condition is not covered by your current plan because it is classified as a pre-existing disease, meaning you had had it for years before you bought our product. We understand that you possibly did not know about it. Or, perhaps, you did know about the disease but lied to us when you purchased our product. Honestly, had you told us about your condition, I am assuming that if you had known, we would not have sold our product to you in the first place anyway. Sorry, we are in this business to make a profit. 

The patient: That is ridiculous. I have been paying a very high premium. And, now, when I need it most, you deny to take care of me. Honest to God, I did not know anything about the condition. I am not a doctor, you know. But, the reason I buy insurance is to protect me in a situation like this one. Is there anything that I can do? Can I appeal?

The insurance company: We have to charge you a high premium to cover our costs. Again, we are a publicly traded company, so we must make a profit. Also, when you have time, take a look at your bill, last month you had a cataract surgery on your left eye, your doctor charged us ten thousands dollars. There are doctors out there who are very greedy and dishonest. They overcharged us. And, many of them even charge money for procedures that they do not perform. To answer your question, I do not know exactly how the appealing process works, but I will be glad to find out. Can I call you back in a few days?

The patient (confused and lost): Yes, please. Bye now.

President Obama: I am deeply sorry to hear your story. I know that many others are facing the same problem as you are. I want everyone to have health coverage because I believe that it is one of the fundamental rights promised to us and that is that we all have the right to pursue “happiness”. To be happy, we must feel secured about our job, our family, our retirement, our health, etc. My idea is to insert into our current healthcare system a public option that is more affordable and most importantly covers all members and their dependents without the pre-existing condition bull, please excuse my language. But, there are many cowboys and hotshots in Congress who oppose my plan because they think it will cost too much money to run. They are afraid that the government will fail because everything the government touches turns into cow dung. I just want to do it because we have been waiting for too long. So many have been suffering. Let us use tax payers’ money to take care of tax payers. I know the line will be long when you go to the hospital, but at least you know you will receive care. The doctors might not be the best and brightest, but they would be good enough to get the job done. I know that many will abuse the system to steal money from tax payers. But, hey, no system is perfect. I will fix it as I go. I hope I will be re-elected because there are so many things that I want to do for you. And, I need more than four years. And, I need your support to bring changes to America. I promise you that.

The patient (smiled and felt comforted): Thank you.

My personal opinion

I support the public option because my heart tells me that it is the right thing to do. I am willing to pay higher taxes to take care of my less fortunate neighbors. I am not trying to be a hero. Simply, I just believe that because life is short, we all need to be less greedy and more compassionate. However, I will not stop fighting to become wealthy because although money cannot buy happiness, it can buy me a lot of time. And, time is what I value the most.

The poor cannot afford health insurance. The rich are afraid that the government will take their money to pay for the poor. Ruthlessly, insurance companies seek new ways to deny claims because they want to make a profit. Healthcare providers charge high fees to cover their malpractice insurance. How do we solve the healthcare problem?

We can make health insurance more affordable by introducing new competition to the industry. To compete with the powerful insurance companies, the government must become a player. Of course, we do not want the government to control how we take care of our health, but we do need it to step in because we must think for our poor fellow Americans. We must create a law to force the insurance companies to cover everyone, regardless of pre-existing conditions, but we must choose our method carefully because we do not want to kill the industry with governmental overregulation. We have to hold everyone accountable by creating a functional managed care system that will provide checks and balances. We must utilize technology to make our healthcare system more efficient because it will lower costs. We must focus more on preventing diseases, in lieu of just treating them. In short, we must be proactive when it comes to reforming our healthcare system.

Personally, I do believe that we all must have a choice when we take care of our health. However, the current healthcare system eliminates that choice for the poor because they can no longer afford health insurance. And, I know that many are ready to point out the reasons why they are poor in the first place. Please hold your thoughts. I used to be poor. For more than a decade, I lived without health insurance. I told my roommates that “if I fall sick, do not call 911 or take me to the hospital because my family will not be able to pay the bill”. When one knows that one has no options, one must adopt the “I have nothing to lose” approach. Because I used to be one of them, I must advocate for healthcare reform. For those who are afraid that the government will take away your money to help the poor, I would like to offer an alternative view.

Poverty will never disappear in our society because our free market economy is based on competition. And, competition produces losers and winners. However, our society shall not lose compassion because it defines our American culture. Life is a circle. The rich shall help the poor. And, when the poor become rich, they shall help the other poor. And, unfortunately, there will always be poor people in this world. Therefore, the rich must be willing to take on the responsibility of pulling the imperfect circle of life.

Honestly, I am not afraid that the government will take away my money to improve social structures and our standards of living. However, sometimes, I am doubtful that it is capable of doing as good a job as we expect it to do. I know for sure that the healthcare reform will not be perfect for everyone, but I also know that it will improve the lives of many Americans. When everyone is healthy, everyone will be happy. When everyone is happy and healthy, productivity will increase. And, America will be prosperous, again. We all will be better off.

We all can dream and hope. Therefore, I hope that the Obama administration and current Congress know what they are doing. I hope that they will not bury our nation in debt. I hope that their healthcare reform will not put us in a worse situation than the one that we are in now. I hope that these patriots do care for the American people as they say they do. 

Just having the audacity to hope sometimes is not enough because one must face reality. For me, I will continue to pursue my goal of accumulating $500,000 because I know that in reality I am the one who will help me and my family.